We're Kate and Rob, two Americans (and soon-to-be Italian citizens) living la dolce vita in Florence, Italy. We blog about Italian dual citizenship, life in Italy, cooking, travel and more! First time here?Read more about us and check out our 2011 Year in Review.
We're Kate and Rob, two Americans (and soon-to-be Italians) living la dolce vita in Florence, Italy. We blog about Italian dual citizenship, life in Italy, cooking, travel and more!
R.W.B Lewis's book, The City of Florence, is a great read for anyone that loves Florence, Italy -- whether you live here or not. He wrote the book in the early 1960's while he was living here with his wife and family. The book is full of great bits of history and descriptions of spots in Florence that simply have not changed.
One description that caught my eye was of Pensione Annalena, which is right down the street from our apartment. So, I thought I'd go down and shoot some video, narrarate with Lewis's words and share it with you all. Hope you enjoy.
I'm guilty of occasionally calling Venice "Disneyland for Adults." All it takes is one visit during tourist season when you hear more English than Italian and get charged $10 for a cup of coffee to sour your opinion of the city. But, visit Venice during the off season and you really do experience something totally different. A visit I made in February 2005 was fun, uncrowded and inspiring. I think that true spirit of Venice is captured in this video above, which Rob found on Open Culture.
We visited Boboli Gardens over the weekend. It's one of our favorite spots in the city. Despite the popularity of the giardino, you can find secluded parts that tourists never explore.
It was an overcast day with a perpetual chance of rain and, as such, the giardino was empty. We laid out a blanket under a tree and hung out for about 45 minutes. It felt like we owned the place! On an overcast day, fight the urge to stay inside and instead visit the parks and gardens. Not only are they less crowded, but the natural light on an overcast day often makes for really flattering, soft photos.
Yesterday afternoon we decided to walk down to Palazzo Pitti for yet another amazing festival: The Florence Wine Event. Much like the gelato festival the philosophy behind this festival was simple: buy a card and go from tent to tent sampling the different varieties of amazingness.
When we walked out of our apartment we noted that the sky looked a little gray, but summer storms are the norm here and we packed umbrellas. Certainly a little rain wouldn't deter us on our mission at the wine festival.
Well, my friends, things got a little crazy only minutes after our first glass was poured. And by crazy I mean: absolutely freakin' ridiculous.
First the rain started, lightly in the beginning and then a little harder. We decided to move under the overhang at the Cormon's Vineyard tent (whose Pinot grigio spumante I was tasting and would continue to taste for the next two hours). Then, things got a little crazy.
And by crazy, I mean: gumball size hail pounding down from the sky.
Listen. Rob is from the Midwest, the epicenter of crazy ass weather -- blizzards, droughts, tornados, etc. I'm from Pennsylvania, so I've seen my share of snow/hail. Honestly, neither of us have ever seen something like this. The hail didn't let up for an hour.
It got so bad the festival-goers huddled into the booths, closed the plastic "curtains" behind us and didn't move for upwards of two hours (even once the hail was done, the rain was in downpour mode). Here's a quick video to let you know just how loud the hail was (btw, I have no idea why Rob looks like he is going to pee his pants in every video):
Suffice to say, we drank A LOT of wine. We mostly drank the delicious whites from Corman's Vineyard, but through from stall to stall bartering by vineyard owners, were able to procure tastes of a delicious Chianti Classico from San Pancrazio. We met a nice couple visiting from Estonia along with a variety of vineyard owners from around Italy.
Eventually the rain let up and we walked home. Winston was happy to see us...I'm sure all of the noise, sirens, etc. scared him a bit. A little water had trickled in our back door, but nothing too serious. All in all, a day I will never, ever forget.
Us, soaked, but jovial...all in all, a wine festival ain't a bad place to be stranded for two hours.
After posting the trailer for the movie yesterday I decided to look up vintage Roberto Benigni clips on YouTube. I'm officially obsessed with this guy.
Here is a clip from a trip to David Letterman.
And here is a video from when he won the Oscar for best foreign film (picture takes you to YouTube). If you are having a bad day this clip will instantly cheer you up. Honestly, I wish more actors and actresses felt comfortable expressing their sheer gratitude and love in this way.
I was surprised in the video above that people laughed when he thanked his parents for giving him his "greatest gift: poverty." I actually found it to be a very genuine, thought-provoking sentiment.
And here is a video (picture takes you to YouTube) from when he won the Oscar for best actor the same night -- the commentator mentions that only he and Sophia Loren have ever won acting Oscars for work in a foreign language film. If you haven't seen the movie and aren't sure it's worth the rental fee, I suggest watching this clip to see who else was nominated for best actor that year -- some of the greatest performances in film…ever.
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 10:27AM 
