Castello Ginori di Querceto, celebrating nature and life in the Tuscan countryside

Castello Ginori di Querceto, celebrating nature and life in the Tuscan countryside

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Crickets, cicadas, tafani, pheasants, wind, rain, silence … The sounds of nature. But also the colours of sunrise and sunset, the hue of the grapes, the forest-trees, and the countryside … The flavours of wine and a splendid menu at Locanda del Sole restaurant … The aroma of the wetland after the rain … The texture of the olive tree logs and the stone walls covered with ivy. And the compassion of the sun. The days pass by peacefully between swimming pool moments alone and 20 kilometres hiking treks … between wines from the Ginori Lisci winery. The time has stood still. We are in the Ginori Castle of Querceto, enjoying with the five senses. This place is an antidote to stress (the poison of the first world), and it makes us forget about the exhausting urban life, of which we are – sometimes – slaves without redemption.…

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The heart is a lonely hunter also in Florence

The heart is a lonely hunter also in Florence

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Florence is a city that kills through strong emotions. There is no need to be accompanied, it is enough with ourselves and our senses. As Singer — the protagonist of the novel The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers —, when I wander anonymously among the whole crowd during hours through the streets of the city, it always seems that I am the only lonely person. However, it is not adequate to attribute to lonely souls the sorrow of an unhappy life. As I see, Florence is, above all, a destination for couples or groups; few people travel alone. It is the human being’s lifeguard against his own inner isolation.…

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Florence – To love a city

Florence – To love a city

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I feel often the captivating force of Florence acting as a magnetic power. And yet, what we know about places comes mainly by sharing certain time and space in them. Florence is there, the person appears, but the person leaves. Florence continues. The place transforms the human and the person alters the place. Thus, José Saramago once wrote: «I do not remember having ever read about the reasons that lead us to love one city more than any other (…). I believe that the love for a city is made of tiny things, of intangible reasons, perhaps a street, a fountain, or even a shadow. In the interior of the city of us all, the small city where each of us really lives. We physically inhabit a space, but above all, sentimentally, we inhabit a memory.»…

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Being an expat in Florence

Being an expat in Florence

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Meeting a foreign resident in Florence makes me wonder: “What brought him here?” (love, work, despair, art heritage, studies, food, wine, people, indecision), what moved him to stay here, what do I have in common with this person (at first and apparently quite a lot, and sometimes, in reality, nothing). However, what differentiates us, I sure know. It is usually, with natural exceptions, the routine. My discontinuous / intermittent stays in Florence let me enjoy the city with a renewed intensity each time. Such joy, I am afraid, might become ruined when choosing a permanent residence.

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History of art according to Florence or the Renaissance chapter at high school

History of art according to Florence or the Renaissance chapter at high school

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History of art was, without a doubt, my favourite subject at high school. By then, Italy was for me a distant and unknown country, it seemed so far as on another planet, and I did not even know what Tuscany meant or where in the map Florence was. At the age of 17, everything seemed so phantasmagorical and unreal … How unusual, the unpredictable ways to which life sometimes leads. Especially to those who try to escape from routine.

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When arriving and departing are just the two sides of the same trip

When arriving and departing are just the two sides of the same trip

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What I enjoy most in life is my extended visits to Florence with no plans, neither a date to leave. When you live among three cities, it is difficult to determine which one becomes your home or which your identity is. There are places that I feel more like my house, even if I don´t reside most of the year there. This is what happens with Florence. «Arriving and departing are just the two sides of the same trip, the train that arrives is the same train that has to leave. The time of the meeting is also of the farewell.» This is what the Brazilian soloist Maria Rita sings in her mythical song «Encontros e despedidas.»

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Anchored to Florence

Anchored to Florence

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It is the time of fear. Fear of what was, fear of what will be, fear of loneliness, and fear of the crowd. Fear of dying and fear of living. Fear to love, fear to be abandoned, fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of suffering, fear of ending up hating this city. It is commonly said that fear paralyses, although sometimes it helps one to escape and start from scratch. At a time when fear prevented me from resuming my life in another city, without purposing it, Florence became my shelter. Since then, I live anchored to a suitcase, to drama, and to Florence too. Roaming is my way of life.…

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Via Tornabuoni, between heaven and earth

Via Tornabuoni, between heaven and earth

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Via Tornabuoni is the majestic street of Florence and where most of its luxurious shops converge, even mingling coquettishly with the church of Saints Michele and Gaetano, in piazza degli Antinori, as well as with the Cantinetta Antinori, Florence ́s finest café-bar Procacci, the Palazzo Strozzi … At the opposite end, the street meets the church of Santa Trinità and the Column of Justice in piazza Santa Trinità, next to the Arno River. There, one can also treasure the shaft of the column which was a gift from Pope Pius VI to Cosimo I de’ Medici, as he returned in 1565 from none other than the Baths of Caracalla, Rome. The sight of the sky from this corner of the city is truly rewarding.…

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Berlin vs. Florence: a perfect binomial?

Berlin vs. Florence: a perfect binomial?

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I have always been keen on extremes. I consider myself excessive and I have never been able to recognise the so-called «medium term», so linked in my opinion to mediocrity rather than moderation. I would never describe myself as a restrained person, neither in my actions, nor in my passions, nor in my thoughts or feelings. A bit cyclothymic, too, as I sense everything with absolute bipolar intensity. Although apparently Berlin and Florence do not have much to do with each other, they are two cities of extremes, thus matching each other. In multiple ways, the two cities stand for the avant-garde as well as for Classicism, so it is with contemporary art in Berlin and the Renaissance of Florence. The modernity of the German capital and the Tuscan tradition; the spiritual chaos of Berlin and the delicacy of Florence; Berlin decadence and the Florentine refinement; the debauchery in Berlin and the Florentine composure. To mention just a few aspects …

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Florence: passion and enthusiasm

Florence: passion and enthusiasm

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All passion springs from enthusiasm. Florence rescued me from neglecting feelings, an attitude that (I do not recall exactly when) came from falling lost in Berlin. Florence meant a safe net to avoid the death of the soul and helped me arise from that terrible fall. In the Tuscan capital a revolution took place inside of me. Indeed, a Renaissance. Thus, I now live here with all naturalness, feeling calm and relaxed. In Florence the days do not seem so endless, there is always something to do, even if it’s just a walk among Renaissance treasures, only to come back home later relieved. To enjoy Florence, one must be Epicurean, aesthete and eclectic. To this city, where the vicissitudes of my destiny have brought me, I will definitely elaborate a whole dictionary of affectionate expressions, because I haven´t yet met any Italian who speaks well, and with true love, about their country.

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