Archive for 'Localities'

Gelato is a staple of most people's idea of Italy. One imagines children eating it while dashing around historic old piazzas and couples sharing some while walking pretty strands. It is deeply entwined with Italian culture and first appeared during banquets at the Medici court in Florence. It is said that Bernardo Buontalenti invented the ice cream for the court of Catherine de’ Medici in 1565. With a cold cream made from a base of milk, honey, and egg yolks with a splash of wine and aromatized with bergamot, lemons and oranges he wowed guests and the rest, as they say, is history.

Florence remains a great place to get gelato to this day with famous shops such as Edouardo's and Perche No! being musts. The Gelato Festival began in Florence last month and continues to travel around Italy, adding to why ice-cream lovers should find a holiday rental in Florence or in Italy and follow the delicious festival on its tour of the country this year!

If you are a perfume lover, Florence has an annual event that you will not want to miss, the Boboli Perfume Fair.

Florence is already a destination to go for highly unique cosmetics and perfumes due to one of the world's oldest active pharmacies being located in Santa Maria Novella which is still popular and continues to produce perfumes and remedies. Still located on-site, the pharmacy now also has branches in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo and much is still made by hand. If you have stocked up on queen-approved cosmetics in Santa Maria Novella then you should head to the Boboli Perfume Fair.

Just find a luxury villa in Florence and treat yourself, and your nose, to a magic experience this May.

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual arts festival in Florence, most notably important as an opera festival, which was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui.

Gui wished to stage both contemporary and forgotten operas in visually dramatic productions and his idea went on to become the first music festival in Italy. Today, it is a Florentine institution and is held each year usually beginning late April, continuing through May and into June.

Generally there are four operas staged over this period but lots of other events related to the festival also take place in the city over the two months. If you're a music lover and have a particular fondness for opera be sure to find a luxury villa in Florence and check this festival out for yourself.

Torta coi bischeri is a typical Pisan dessert. “Torta” means cake and the word “bischero” literally means the small key which is used to adjust the strings of a violin. However, the word has developed dozens of other meanings in Tuscany. In the case of the Torta coi Bischeri, the word refers to the rolls of dough which are arranged during preparation to surround the cake, and which look exactly like the aforementioned violin key.

This “cake”, is actually closer to a tart and is made of chocolate decorated with currants, pine nuts and candied fruit. As well as the traditional recipe, there is also a green version which sees the rice mixed with beets. Although it is widely sold throughout Pisa, this cake actually originates from Pontasserchio.

In this village, the cake is especially popular during the month of April due to a festival where all residents must bake a spring dessert. As it is a popular gift amongst family and friends during Easter, it is an obvious choice. However, as so many of the cakes are made, each with the family's own recipe, the festival turns into a competition.

The best place to try the cake is in its birthplace or in the surrounding but if you’re too far away, you can try to make it at home with local ingredients. Follow our recipe for now and find a holiday rental in Pisa so you can try the real deal later – or, maybe, even compete in the festival yourself!

One tends to have an image of Italian cathedrals in mind which is cultivated from scenes in movies, television shows and editorials. It presents a large piazza full of well-dressed youths, children dashing back and forth and traditional-looking elderly folks, all congregating in front of a towering church.

However, Lucca's Cathedral is actually located in a secluded location of the old city centre, tucked away from the main roads and well-trafficked areas.

San Martino Cathedral, located in a piazza of the same name, may be a little off the beaten track and away from the main tourist areas but once you have found a villa with pool in Lucca and are planning a visit to the town, it is a highlight that you won't want to miss.