Within Florence

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

30 julio, 2023 / By: Paco Neumann

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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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Moments & People

Anchored to Florence

29 julio, 2023 / By: Paco Neumann

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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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Moments & People

Via Tornabuoni, between heaven and earth

28 julio, 2023 / By: Paco Neumann

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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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Moments & People

Berlin vs. Florence: a perfect binomial?

27 julio, 2023 / By: Paco Neumann

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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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Moments & People

Florence: passion and enthusiasm

26 julio, 2023 / By: Paco Neumann

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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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Moments & People

Firenze-SMN central station: arriving alone in a foreign country

25 julio, 2023 / By: Paco Neumann

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I love the Florence-Santa Maria Novella train station for many reasons. For instance, its loudspeaker announcing the arrival of the Milan train by the binario otto and the departure to Venice by the binario due, or the smell of the railway machinery and, naturally, because of those who travel to other places. It is also wonderful to arrive alone in a foreign country, feeling the assault of transformation. The Italians are still here, busy living. The rhythm of their lives is different, while I am a complete stranger, an eccentric or maybe not. A friend has recently told me: «You are acquiring a past in Florence.» That´s an assertion — without going into grim details — I find not very encouraging, nonetheless quite revealing. Because, above all, I love to attraversare il binario ed oltrepassare la linea gialla.…

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Moments & People

Touched for the very first time in Florence

24 julio, 2023 / By: Paco Neumann

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My first stay in Florence was in piazza del Mercato Nuovo at the end of September 2008. I recall how lost I felt then, trying to find the hotel with a map in my hands. I still do not know the name of the streets and alleys, but today I could certainly move around the city with my eyes closed. I remember one particular night when, disappointed by a date, I drank a whole bottle of limoncello (yes, I’m that kind of person) that I acquired in Pisa. The following morning, I was stroke by terrible news: my friend and artist Cocó Ciëlo had been murdered in Madrid. That was the first time I walked to piazzale di Michelangelo. I had a beer or two there and cried while contemplating this majestic town. Where you led me, Florence, that fateful night? All I could feel was irrational disgust, as the city had become a carrier of bad news to me. But we later reconciled. And, as in the most intense and passionate stories in literature, we have lived since many ruptures and reunions.…

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Wine & Food

Santa Rosa Bistrot: outdoor & eco-friendly oasis in San Frediano

20 julio, 2023 / By: Paco Neumann

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«Eat, drink, feel good» is the motto of the Santa Rosa Bistrot, a charming cafe-bar-restaurant decorated with exquisite taste, offering an intimate and cosy atmosphere next to Porta San Frediano wall. Open since September 2016, this establishment stands in the plot that once belonged to the Mama nightclub, closed early in the year 2000 due to complaints of the neighbourhood. Its slogan «Green» relates to a healthy and light menu based on fish, vegetables and crostini. In its garden with picnic area there is a nursery of aromatic herbs used also to prepare cocktails. Santa Rosa Bistrot is crowded on weekends, especially at night, with endless queuing to order a drink or something to eat. A better idea is to go any day during the week in the afternoon.
Santa Rosa Bistrot is open from eight in the morning until midnight – live music
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Wine & Food

Il Coccolo – Fritti i cornetti: traditional frying in the centre of Florence

19 julio, 2023 / By: Paco Neumann

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As a fine aesthete, the first thing that attracts my attention in an establishment is its appearance. However, I am not that fond of formal beauty, neither of the most sophisticated interior design. To me, there is also splendour in imperfection, ugliness, kitsch, trash or decadence, as in the shabby and the traditional. In this sense, and especially in the commercial field, the wrapping is also important. As I wander through the streets of Florence I love how some venues catch my absentminded attention. It´s works as a sensory impact, kind of a crush. This was the case with Il Coccolo, the only traditional Florentine frying premise in the historic centre, where there´s stuffed croissants to pleasure, fish and chips, and other delicatessen. Turns ideal to those who love fried food.
Il Coccolo – Fritti i cornetti – Via Matteo Palmieri, 30 / r – open until late at night
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Wine & Food

La Ménagère, as hipster as Florence could be

18 julio, 2023 / By: Paco Neumann

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La Ménagère is a sophisticated and cosy place in Florence expected otherwise in New York’s SoHo or NoHo. Everything inside seems perfect: the colour of the orchids, the arrangement of glasses, the glow of a piano that none plays, or the tone of the lighting. The comfortable facilities of this multipurpose space (restaurant, bar and coffee, flower and household shop) resemble a neat stage. So neat that, even though it is in front of my house, I only enter it on occasional dates. I still haven´t made up my mind on whether it fascinates or scares me. I am that kind of person. To me, in Florence traditional is better, so I rather prefer used and grooved premises, where the photos on the walls are really old and made by the owner. There, where objects and space are not the result of the careful work of an interior designer, but of some mime and sincere dedication of its owner. Imperfect places reflecting a dubious taste, becoming beautiful and, at the same time, enigmatic. In spite of it all, I have been told that La Ménagère is sure a good eat.
La Ménagère. Via De’ Ginori, 8/R, 50123 Florence FI, Italy
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