Sport lovers, adventurers and “bike addicts”… pay attention please!

Italian Sports fanatics and cycle-tourism lovers, listen up. In order for your passion for a natural outdoor sport to have further satisfaction and reason for happiness, we suggest you to participate at the event organised by Mare & Monti (Sea&Mountain): an association that has organizes cycling events in Sardinia and abroad.

A different way for visiting one of the most beautiful italian regions, is to participate to one bike-marathon organized by M&M association.
Each event is in collaboration with professional touristic structures and this will give to the cyclosportives, the possibility of participating with their owwn families.

In the morning the race, in the afternoon the relax!
M&M association: bike tours organized in some of the most beautiful places of the world! Sardinia, Egypt, Morocco and so on…

What are you waiting for? Visit the web-site, and save the date!

Versione Italiana

The “Museums Open Night” is an European initiative that will take place on 16 May.
Rome is the city with the highest number of museums partaking in this initiative. The Italian capital offers a wide range of events, including musical entertainment, and will open museums free of charge from sunset until two o’clock in the morning.

As regards other events, at Milan the Sforza Castle will offer guided visits to its secret passageand an exhibition of painting techniques, while Florence’s Oblate Gallery hosts “The poetry night”, a poetry reading given by both notable and emerging actors.

The Cinque Terre (the Five Lands) is a portion of coast in Liguria, on the Italian Riviera, near to Versilia area. The Five Lands are five wonderful villages: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.

Paths, trains and boats connect the villages and cars can’t easily reach Cinque Terre: this feature and the lack of visible modern development make it a very popular and magic destination.
Over centuries have been built terraces on the cliffs overlooking the sea, giving unforgettable views.

A walking trail connects the five villages, offering an amazing view of the bay.
If you’re travelling in couple you can not miss the Via Dell’Amore (the Lovers Walk), the road from Riomaggiore to Manarola.

San Giovanni in Laterano, also known as the Basilicae of St. John Lateran, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, of which the Pope is bishop.

The Catholic Church has named it “The Mother of All Churches“. The cathedral is dedicated to Our Saviour, and to Sts John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.
Many people enter the church from this piazza - note that it is the back door, and you will get a very different impression of the church if you enter from the front.
The façade is flanked by two Romanesque bell-towers. Modifications to the design were made by Valadier. The benedictional loggia is by Domenico Fontana, designed in 1586. The statue in the portico is of Henry IV of France, who was a protector of the basilica.
The obelisk was originally quarried by Tuthmosis III in the Eighteenth Dynasty, but most likely erected by his son, Tuthmosis IV, at the eastern end of the temple of Amun Re in Karnak, Egypt, around 1400 BC. While St Peter saw the obelisk now at Piazza San Pietro, Moses may very well have seen this one.
It is the oldest and ranks first (being the cathedral of Rome) among the four major basilicas of Rome, and holds the title of ecumenical mother church among Roman Catholics.

The cathedral itself is located outside of the Vatican City boundaries, territorially located within the city of Rome in the Italian Republic. However it has been granted a special extraterritorial status as a property of the Holy See. This is also the case with several other buildings after the solving of the Roman Question with the Lateran Treaty.

If you want to know more about thr Roman History you have to come and visit our fantastic Capital… and for a pleasant stay in Rome, have a look of th B&B Trinity web site, a perfect accommodation solution for special Roman holidays.

Versione Italiana

Montesiepi’s Round was built around 1182 on the hill where the knight Galgano placed his sword in the stone, giving over with violence. This event brings us back to the Arthurian Saga, and maybe there are connections with that legend.

But who was San Galgano?
Sir Galgano Guidotti was an untamed knight, vicious an full of lust. One day, Archangel Michael appeared to him, showing the way to salvation and the exact place where to go.
The day after Galgano announced that he was going to become a hermit and took up residence in a cave.

After the Saint’s death, his scalp continued to grow for a long time, and his miraculous head was adored. The crowds of pilgrims were so numerous that the Cistercians were authorized to build another monastery named after Saint Galgano a short distance away.

They built one of the most beautiful Gothic buildings of Italy: the St. Galgano’s Cistercian Abbey.

The San Galgano’s sword in the stone is still safeguarded in Montesiepi’s Round, the Hermitage near the San Galgano’s Cistercian Abbey, but the Abbey also has a big particularity: it hasn’t got the roof.
The walls of the abbey are still standing, it is suggestive and beautiful: a field of green with the walls reaching up to the sky…

San Galgano is also the name of the place, about 30 km southwest of Siena.

Mount Pellegrino is located in Sicily and faces east on the bay of Palermo.

Monte Pellegrino is the Italian name, it is 1,970 ft high and offers spectacular views of Palermo and surroundings.

Goethe talked about Mount Pellegrino in his book Travels in Italy, describing it as “the most beautiful promontory in the world”.

In this promontory there are two main places of interest: the Grotta dell’Addaura (Addaura caves) and Saint Rosalia Sanctuary.

Addaura Caves are simply unique: there were found the earliest traces of humans. A lot of petroglyphs testify the presence of humans since 7000 BC.

Saint Rosalia Sanctuary is worth to be visited too: it is built in the cave where her remains were discovered in 1624. In fact Saint Rosalia, best known as La Santuzza, is the patron Saint of Palermo and lived as a hermit in that cave on Mount Pellegrino.

The Grotte di Toirano are more than 150 caves situated in a karst area near Savona, in Liguria.

The whole caves system consists of the Grotta della Bàsura, Grotta della Strega, Grotta del Colombo, and Grotta di S. Lucia. It’s possible to visit the caves, and it’s an unforgettable experience.

The Grotte di Toirano was once visited by prehistoric man, about 14,000 years ago.
Very interesting are the prehistoric remains found in the cave: hand and foot prints from Neanderthals, footprints and scratches from prehistoric bears, amphoras from the Roman Empire, a bear cemetary…

Remember that the temperature inside the caves is about 16°C, so dress warmly!

The 19th of April 2009 in Florence there will be the Vivicittà Firenze Half Marathon.
A lot of people will run through the city, a sport fair for young and old that will enjoy everyone.

There are 3 possible courses, and all start and finish in Piazza Santa Croce: the 21 km competitive run, the 10 km not competitive race and the Tommasino Run for children and families.

This is the course: via Magliabechi, corso Tintori, via Dei Neri, via della Ninna, piazza Signoria, via Calzaiuoli, piazza San Giovanni, via Roma, piazza della Repubblica, via Strozzi, via Vigna Nuova, piazza Goldoni, Borgo Ognissanti, via Il Prato, via Magenta, via Montebello, via Curtatone, lungarno Vespucci, ponte alla Carraia, lungarno Soderini, lungarno S. Rosa, via della Fonderia, via Cavallotti, via Pisana, Borgo S. Frediano, via dei Serragli, Porta Romana, via Romana, via Maggio, Ponte Santa Trinita, lungarno Acciaioli, Ponte Vecchio, lungarno Torrigiani, via de’ Bardi, piazza de’ Mozzi, via dei Renai, via S. Niccolò, piazza Poggi, lungarno Serristori, Ponte Alle Grazie, via dei Benci, via dei Neri, piazza dei Cavalleggeri, Corso Tintori, via Magliabechi e piazza Santa Croce.

So, like Sheryl Crow says: Run baby run baby run baby run…

We all remember Hoke, the driver, and we all dreamt of being Miss Daisy for a while…

If you are coming in Italy, for a business travel or an holiday, you need to think about your movements: why not hiring a driver?

Tusci Car Service is a Florence-based company that offers car rental with driver services.
If you are traveling for business you can get a high class chauffeur, both for individuals or small groups.
Tusci Car Service will be very useful for you free time too, because they organize sightseeings and tours to the main Tuscan and Italian cities. But, if you don’t like their tours, you can ask them to organize a Personal Tour that suits your needs.

The chauffeur services include transfers to and from airports, ports and railway stations, personal taxi service for trade shows or events, cultural and sporting events, festivals, shopping in the best Tuscan Outlets, external business gatherings in Tuscany and in Italy.

Let Hoke drive you everywhere…

Versione italiana

If you are in Italy and you want to go to mass, preferably understanding what you hear, you have to find one in English.

Mass in English in Florence: in the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (the cathedral church)
Every Saturday at 5:00 pm

Mass in English in Rome: in S. Silvestro in Capite church at 10:00 am and 5:30 pm and
in San Patrizio a Villa Ludovisi church at 10:00 am

Mass in English in Venice: in San Zulian church at 11:30 am

These are just 3 of the main Italian cities, anyway contact me if you need further info.