MAPPING TUSCANY

If you're in Florence on Thursday May 31, 2018 join me for a discussion about Italy, migration and other topics linked to Across the Big Blue Sea , my memoir about a Tuscan refugee home.  We'll meet at 6pm in the secret garden of Palazzo San Niccolò, my favourite new hotel in Florence (I reviewed it for The Telegraph here).  The event is organized by Florence Cultural Salon, a fabulous new initiative which showers the Renaissance city with inspiring cultural events and cocktail nights. Click through to the Cultural Salon website for more information about the organisation and their interesting events calendar in an around Florence.  Not in town on the day? You can get a copy of the book from Paperback Exchange and Todo Modo  in Florence (both great independent bookshops that deserve our support!).  Not coming back to Florence soon?  Download an e-book or order a print copy of ' Across the Big Blue Sea: Good Intentions and Hard Lessons...

I may not be religious, but I totally worship the Todo Modo bookshop in Florence for its beautiful interior design, central location - a ten-minute walk from the station and Ponte Vecchio - and the cafè hidden among shelves and plants hanging from the roof. UqBar serves some of the best lunches to be had in Florence - especially for people who'd love to forego the usual Tuscan fare for a delicious miso soup . But Todo Modo does another thing well. The shelf-filled spaces in the back can be turned into a small theatre which makes for a great event space among all the books. I had my Across the Big Blue Sea book presentation there and was back last month for a Storytellers night - the first event of a great new series.   Linda and Steve, the team from the The Beehive Hostel in Rome have decided to take their storytellers nights to Florence, and Todo Modo has agreed to host them. Whether residents or just travelling through, English speakers will have great fun...

Queues, overpriced gelato and queues again. Florence can be tiring. Let alone with kids. But exploring the Florentine Renaissance dream can also be lots of fun thanks to the many educative and inspiring guided tours - especially with kids. With a playful and less intellectualizing introduction to Italy's art, history and cultural heritage everybody has a better time, the adults too.  The most knowledgeable person I turn to when planning a day in Florence with children is Molly McIlwrath. As a licensed tour guide with a five year old daughter she knows from first hand experience what will work for families traveling with kids, and - maybe even more importantly - what definitely won't.  Molly explaining the techniques in Luigi Mecocci's wood carving studio in Florence Avid reader and creative mind at large, Molly is also involved in the planning of hands-on activities in some of Florence best museums and art schools (many of them are available in English thanks to t...

Recovering in the shade (photo Flickr user Toby Leah Bochan) Florence with children? Visiting the city of the Renaissance with a bunch of unruly kids sounds like your worst nightmare? I’m with you: art, culture and Tuscan wine and food make of Florence a perfect adult only destination.  But then,  the most vivid memory I have from my last child-free visit at the Uffizi isn't of Leonardo da Vinci or Botticelli, but of myself downing over-prized espresso at the museum café in a desperate attempt to get over last night's han gover . In this sense Florence in the company of a few inquisitive kids seemed like my last resort to skip the wine and see the art instead.  Once we'd decided to bring the kids, the question was how to go about it. FIRENZE CARD: SKIP THE LINES AND ENJOY THE ART WITH THE FLORENCE MUSEUM PASS If you have three days in Florence there is no better way to see frescoes, paintings and sculptures of the Renaissance masters than with the...

Bronzino's famous portrait of two members of the Medici family: Eleonora di Toledo and her second born son Giovanni Exploring Florence in company of children isn't always fun. If you ever tried to steer a pram through the Renaissance city, you know what I'm talking about. But luckily, being in Florence with kids also means discovering things you wouldn't have gotten to as an adult only traveler. The Palazzo Vecchio family museum is a good example of this.  The civic museum in Piazza della Signoria is on the to do list of a never-ending stream of tourists. But to truly appreciate the countless rooms, stunning frescoes and centuries of history, you best book one of the guided tours especially designed with kids in mind.  Intrigued by all the tours Florence's family museum organizes, our group of old and young ended up joining  Life at Court . This interactive tour starts  off in Palazzo Vecchio's magnificent Sala dei Cinquecento  and make...

"In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love; they had five hundred years of democracy and peace and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. " Orson Welles in The Third Man Orson Welles' quote is a classic. Even if it's not entirely true. For starters I'm relieved to say that the cuckoo clock was not invented in my home country - the blame goes to Germany. But never mind the lack in accuracy, the great actor and director managed to put an incredibly intricate matter into a nutshell.  How to 'produce' art and where to find genius?   It's a complex issue art historians, gourmet cooks and music lovers keep wondering about. And so do  acting coaches, wine producers and fashion designers. Is creativity innate or can it be taught and learned? And what are the conditions that  fos...

Madonna and Italy is an evergreen. She's got plenty of Italian blood running through her veins, likes crucifixes and is best friends with Dolce & Gabbana.  But who would have paired the hip pop star with Tuscany's famous cypress trees? I just couldn't see it coming. Those skintight 80s outfits just didn't seem to ask for a room with a view.  But always good for a surprise, here she is taking in the Renaissance city and the rolling Tuscan hills from the back of a convertible.  Madonna in the back of a car with the boys (or girls) isn't really a novelty. And I can see her doing it anytime in Las Vegas, Miami or Los Angeles (see her Music video ). But in Florence? Just to think of the traffic. Give that woman a vespa!  The official version of the video can also be seen on the website of the national newspaper la Repubblica,  Madonna in Florence - turn up the radio  (which contributed some material) or on  Madonna's official youtube chan...

Coming through Florence next Saturday? Just in time to join the SLOW ART event! Whilst Italy is the founding country of the now international Slow Food movement (never heard of it? you better run to their  website ), Slow Art is a young American initiative which is moving swiftly around the globe.