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How to tackle Florence, a city with such a wealth of art that visitors run the risk of succumbing to “Stendhal Syndrome”, named after the French writer who was left sick and dizzy by the amount of art he saw during a visit in 1817?
Posts Tagged ‘Florence’
January 24th, 2012
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May 22nd, 2011
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A summer vacation to Florence means walking along the cobblestone streets, shopping at unique boutique shops with items customary to Italy fashion and culture, as well as touring the renowned squares and museums of this top Italian city. If you’re heading here this summer it’s a certain thing that you’ll want to enjoy cultural and entertaining events as well. A list of the top 2 cultural summer events in Florence can help you narrow down when to go and what to make room for after touring hours.
The first festival that should be mentioned takes place in June. It calls out to all Florence travelers because it is a big way for tourists to get insight into the local traditions. The festival we’re talking about is the Saint John Festival. It takes place on the 24th of June, and involves numerous parades and dances. The locals that participate are dressed up as historic figures; and in addition the celebrations also entail soccer games and boat races. Towards the end of the night fireworks will light up the sky and families, as well as group or single tourists will enjoy the show.
Another cultural summer event you’ll want to see when in Florence for the summer is the Calcio Storico in Piazza Santa Croce. This event entails four teams of twenty-seven young athletes that play a 15th century style tournament. It is in the ancient Roman ball sport form and has its own rules, which are to grab the ball and get it in the net. This makes it sound similar to soccer and rugby, but there are possible differences that you can only observe when attending Calcio Storico. The game takes place on different dates of June until the end of the month when the last match is played. The competing teams are divided among Florence’s quarters of San Giovanni, Santa Maria Novella, Santo Spirito and Santa Croce.
With these two being the main summer events in June you may want to start planning your trip now. For accommodation you should think about looking for Florence hotels near City Centre or near Piazza Santa Croce. This way you are in proximity of the events and you are also downtown, which makes sightseeing and walking around Florence easy and pleasant.