Well it has been a month of festivals, birthdays, and celebrations so far. J Recently there were three friend’s birthdays, The International Women’s Festival, the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification, Carnivale and more.
Festa delle Donne
In case some of you weren’t aware, March 8th is International Women’s Day – a celebration which was set in motion to commemorate women’s achievements throughout history. In Florence you can walk around the streets and markets and find the yellow Mimosa flowers all over - and most people give them out for free! Mimosas are intended to be a sign of respect and love for women and this tradition started in Rome around the 1950s. To help celebrate, all of the National Museums were free for Women for the day! I went with three (out of four) of my flatmates to Palazzo Medici-Riccardi and then we walked around for a bit. My roommate Irene and I went into a store close to Piazza del Duomo and it was full of wine, cheese, meat, sauces and more. We sampled strawberry balsalmic glaze (I almost died – SO GOOD!!!), strawberry jam and a few other things….and the old man working there gave us each a huge bunch of the Mimosa flowers :) I’ll definitely be going back there to get that glaze!
Notte Tricolore
March 16th was the 150th Anniversary celebration of the Unification of Italy. The main piazza’s in Florence (Piazza del Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, Piazza Santa Croce, and Piazza della Repubblica) were illuminated with the “tricolore” of the Italian Flag and were hosting a variety of cultural demonstrations. Most of the state museums in the city were open late (supposed to be until 1am) for free. Irene and I had sushi for dinner and then headed out in hopes of going to the Medici Chapels….which were closed. Then we went to the Bargello….which was closed…then to Palazzo Vecchio….which was closing…then to the Uffizi….which had a RIDICULOUSLY long line…then finally to Santa Croce….where we got in :) We walked around and I gave Irene a “tour” since I used to work there. Eventually we headed home to watch the fireworks from our livingroom window which were in Piazza della Signoria.
Pisa
On Friday Irene and I took an afternoon trip to Pisa – no reason in particular, just to get out of the city for a little bit without too much of an expense. We walked around and looked at stores and shops – found Thai curry paste and coconut milk and soy sauce (and we had Thai Curry for dinner Saturday night!! – Delicious!) There was also a new/used/ancient book market in one of the Loggias. I LOVE old books and have a mini collection on one of my shelves at home. We spent a good amount of time looking through the tables at all of the different books in different languages (predominantly English, Italian, and French). Irene bought Claudio Ciaravolo’s TI Amo – In Tutte le Lingue (I Love You – In Every Language), which is really fun! I found a really old and cool looking book (from 1845!!!!!) and a script from the play La Vita e Bella from October 1949 at Teatro dei Giovani! I also got the complete set of the Grimm Brother’s Tales in Italian. After walking around and going to the piazza, we got gelato from a delicious gelataria (Kristen… you know which one I’m talking about) ;-p and headed back to the city.
I’ve also been busy making tours, which I haven’t really been able to turn in from the lack of internet connection in my apartment (…..still……). I’ve made a few and my favorites so far have been a “Statues of Florence” tour and a “Medici Trail” tour! Yesterday I sat down and come up with a TON of topic ideas and now I just have to submit them and ‘get ‘em done!’ :)
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