One of the first concerns when renting an apartment in Florence / Italy for an extended amount of time is how much utilities costs and how are calculated.
This article will help you understanding how much your showers will cost!
Hostels in Florence
July 25th, 2010 by Devan
Howdy travellers! Time to drag your attention to the most popular hostels of Florence. You might already be experts in booking hostels after all this experience on your shoulders, but nevertheless I would like to remind you to book your rooms in advance because the hostels go house full pretty fast.
Okay! So lets start with the king of the forest. Ranked 3rd in Europe’s top 10 Hostels on Hostelworld.com, the most frequented website, goes to the Academy Hostel . Located right beside the Cathedral, 5 minutes from the SMN station and 2 minutes from where lies the statue of David, Michelangeloe’s masterpiece. With all the services that hostels normaly offer, Academy hostel offers free apperitives (bruschetta, pansanella and many more) and drinks from 6:00 pm onwards to keep everyone in top form before heading out for the nightlife Florence offers. Just as you book in the staff offer you a list of things to do in Florence where they have pinpointed the important monuments, top restaurants, bars, discs and shoping areas to visit. The cherry in the cake is the abundant breakfast offered free of cost!
The next in the list is Hostel PLUS. A huge hostel situated 2 minutes from the SMN Station. Unlike other hostels that lack space, this one even has a swimming pool and many other games to keep you busy within the hostel!
Little below the level of the Academy hostel and Plus are Florence Youth Hostel, Archi Rossi, Ciao Hostel, Hostel Gallo d’oro and many more. For all the offers check out the Hostel World website.
In Florence, to have a blast, its important where you start 
Cheers!
Florence: Beach Trips
July 23rd, 2010 by Devan
Is there anything better than accepting the best that mother nature can offer at this time of the year? With the sun trying to fry us alive, all the solutions point towards the sea side. Florence offers some VERY INTERESTING beach trips.
Generally in Italy, the more one travels south the better the beaches are, but there are always exceptions. On my list of beaches, the Cinque Terra is definitely one swell of a place.
A perfect 1 day trip from Florence to discover these 5 beautiful towns. The significance of Cinque Terra is, the five lands. They are located in Liguria, north of Spezia. These Ligurian coastal towns stand on the final landscapes before getting gulped into the sea. Monterosso al mare, Riomaggiore, Vernazza, Corniglia and Manarola are the 5 towns from where the name Cinque terra derives. Every town has their particularities. There are 2 ways to explore the towns, by train and on foot. Read the rest of this entry »
Palio Siena
July 20th, 2010 by Devan
The Palio is more than just a horse race. The senesi (people from Siena), are very proud of their origins and especially in the days of the Palio there is a huge rivalry between the contrade. The contrade are military squads created to improve the organization of the militia. The city is divided into 17 contrade, out of which 10 of them compete in the race on 10 unsaddled horses. The race consists in circling the famous Piazza del Campo, which will be covered with a thick layer of dirt, put especially for this occasion. It is a 90 seconds race which captures the tremendous courage by the jockeys riding their unsaddled horses to bring home the victory. It can easily be compared to the soccer World Cup terminated recently in South Africa. Winning the Palio for the contrade is not just an occasion to celebrate, its the honour of their kin that is at stake. The jockies riding with such speed, in such a narrow track and that too unsaddled, has resulted in countless risky falls. It is not rare that the horses finish the race without the jockey. In any case if the horse finishes the race, the run is valid since the horse is enough to represent the contrada.
An occasion that repeats itself twice a year, on the 2nd of June and the 16 of August (wheather permitting). The former is named Palio di Provenzano in honour of Madonna di Provenzano and the latter is named Palio dell’Assunta, after the Assumption of Mary. During the Palio the competitors and supporters vest their colors to proudly reppresent their contrada, filling the town with colorful flags. The event continues for 4 days! Read the rest of this entry »
The Art Academies of Florence
July 20th, 2010 by Devan
Florence has become commonly known as the city of art. Evidence of its beauty lies all around the city, as sculptures, monuments and paintings created by the greatest artists of the Renaissance enlighten people until this day. Botticcelli, Michelangelo, Galileo, Giotto and Brunelleschi are but a few of the endless artists who are the architects of the art works in this city. According to the UNESCO, Italy possesses 60 % of the famous art works in the world and 30% of it, is found in Florence.
This is the main reason why a number of students are attracted to study art in Florence. Yes! The academies here devote themselves in teaching the skills passed from generation to generation, transmitting the art of our great ancestors.
I personally am not a genius of the subject, but I can share with all of you the best Academies available in Florence.
Angel Academy of Art(Old Master tradition), Lorenzo de’Medici and The Florence Academy of Art (Classical-Realist tradition), are the definitely the top on the list. The secret lies in the teachings of the maestro. Apart from their increadible talent and dedication, they know how to reach to their students and bring best out of them. The courses have a duration of 3 years with a possibility of 4th year extension for specialization. but there are even summer workshops available that have a brief duration. Regular lectures are conducted in Anatomy, Art History, Humanities and Figurative Composition, while special lectures include Historic Methods and Materials, and technical demonstrations on paint grinding, the properties of individual pigments, oils and varnishes and canvas preparation.
Florence is the portal for any art student. So do not miss out in an opportunity of learning the fundamentals of art, be it realistic or traditional.
Special Thanks to Florence Academy
Florence Marathon
July 18th, 2010 by Devan
This intriguing Marathon zigzaging around the streets of Florence, made its first experience back in 1984. The run takes you across the magnificent wonders of La bella Firenze . In November(date to be decided), the 27th Marathon begins like always, from Michelangelo square passing through the historical city center and ending at the feet of Santa Croce where great philosophers, artists and sculptors of the world rest in peace.
This event has brought great admirers from all over the world. There has been a constant rise in the number of athletes participating in the Marathon. The Italians have always been the majority of the contenders, though French, Germans and the English are not far behind. While the first Marathon had a capacity of 462 athletes, last year the number of participants came to a consistent 8207, men and women included. The winners of the men’s Marathon has been dominated by the Kenyan runners since 2004 while the Italians have an upper edge on the women’s run.
It is the 6th year now that the Marathon has been broadcasted live for 3 hours in Raitre channel. The marathon is not just any normal sport event. It is considered as a National Championship Marathon. 2 :08:41 is the Men’s record defended by Kenyan James Kutto in 2006 while the Slovenian runner Helena Javornik holds the 2:28:15 Women’s record since 2002.
