No, you haven’t got all your history wrong… the Egyptians were never actually in Pisa, but, in a way, the city has had a special relationship with Egypt since the early 19th century. That’s when a young University professor (yes, 190 years ago you could actually become a full tenure professor of the University of Pisa at 24…) called Ippolito Rosellini left Pisa to go on a 16 month expedition to Egypt with Jean-François Champollion, the scholar who had recently deciphered the Rosetta Stone. They (and 12 other people) joined the so-called Franco-Italian expedition to Egypt funded by Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and by King Charles X of France and traveled along the river Nile for 16 months in 1828 and 1829.

They brought back from this expedition a very large number of artifacts, drawings and manuscripts, 200 of which have been chosen to be exhibited at Palazzo Blu. They are normally part of collections preserved at the University of Pisa and at the Egyptian Museum of Florence and seeing them all together there, at that incredible location and within that installation was just incredible.

The exhibition will close on July 25: I don’t know why I waited so long to go. The perfect excuse was that our nephew Alessandro is spending the week with his other aunt and uncle who also live near Pisa, so this morning we took him there.

I am not sure if he enjoyed it, but Giovanna and I certainly did! The exhibition is nothing like the usual boring stuff you would normally expect in an Italian museum. Not at all.

They have recreated the shape of the river Nile on the floor, and on the walls, panels tell you where you are supposed to be at every step of your own very personal expedition to Egypt, and, for every place Rosellini visited and sketched, drawings and objects are on display. The drawings are incredibly beautiful, in their bright colours. And the quotes from Rosellini’s diary printed on large boards all along the “path” add a lot to the experience.

Whomever has worked to implement the exhibition has really done a great job in recreating the atmosphere and the sense of discovery and amazement that those scholars and explorers must have experienced in uncovering such incredible treasures, also considering that they could actually understand the hieroglyph inscriptions for the first time.

A nice video is projected on a screen placed under a camp tent similar to what is supposed to have been in use back then. A really, really interesting exhibition. I couldn’t take many photos as in theory it was not allowed I guess… but I took a couple anyway, with no flash of course. A few pictures can be seen here, on the official website, in the “multimedia” section: http://www.mostraegittopisa.it/

I also learnt something new about the University: after the expedition, the first course of Egyptology was created exactly here in Pisa for Rosellini, and the archaeology department is still one of the best in the country, and possibly in the world.

We also took advantage of the fact that the entrance ticket (8.50 for the adults and 6.50 for the kids) gives visitors the right to visit the permanent collection so we went up to the first floor of the Palazzo where some rooms have been brought back to their original splendour with original furnishing and lots of paintings hanging from the walls. It is really a beautiful place, which gives a good idea of the lifestyle of noble people in the 18th and 19th century.

Palazzo Blu will host another fabulous exhibition in the fall devoted to Mirò. I won’t wait until the very last minute next time. Actually I cannot wait to go back.

There is also a specialized book store selling art catalogues and art books, with titles that are normally difficult to find elsewhere.

So we went to Florence and attended this morning’s parallel session on Internet Better Tourism at ToscanaLab 2010, a meeting dedicated to the web, social media and online communication, organized by Fondazione Sistema Toscana. The heat of the first real summer day in Tuscany has killed my batteries, so I’ll just say what we liked and what we didn’t like about the whole thing. I will get back to the content at another time and I will try to figure out if we are “good web-users” or “new social media-dinosaurs”.

What we did not like

Dulcis in fundo… so we start with the “bittersweet” part:

• the marketing speak with no real examples: there are times when this marketing talk about the need to listen, to act as a system, to be a “we” rather than an “I”, etc. puts me to sleep and gives me the impression of being at some Scientology meeting or some motivational training… I would like to hear about ways in which people put these nice principles into practice rather than the same stuff over and over. Unless somebody shows me how things are (sometimes) done – and how they are different from what we do – these only sound like buzzwords. I know that the theory is that everybody has to find their own way to put this stuff into practice, but unless the theorists start talking in practical terms to the practitioners, there is no room for complaining about small hotels not innovating. If the experts want to see a generalized change, they have to start teaching rather than preaching. I understand that there is no ready made solution, but some case-studies might help people understand what to do.
• old issues presented as new ideas. I appreciated very much what Robert Piattelli said in Grosseto at the meeting Il Futuro della Maremma. He said that nothing has changed. And indeed nothing has, at least in substance. The form has, but the content hasn’t. The various moments of the tourist experience are a well known fact in sociological literature as well as in tourism studies (see Dann’s The Language of Tourism published well over 10 years ago). The need to localize rather than translate web content, especially in the tourism field, has been advocated for a while (a few articles about web translation from the linguist’s perspective were published at least 3 years ago). The need to interact has been addressed for years through forums, communities, and, in the distant distant past, even penfriends and reading groups performed that very same function. The fact that people want an experience rather than a product… well Goethe already knew that when he wrote his Italian Travel Journals and so did all those before him who came to Italy for the Grand Tour… The traveler vs. tourist debate has been one of the liveliest for a long time. If people hadn’t noticed all of that up until now, well, that’s the real problem. The future generations of tourism professionals will need to be formed to be competent in a large range of areas or we’ll keep speaking different languages and looking at a very small and fragmented picture and we’ll forget the bigger picture. Tech-people need to understand marketing people, who need to understand linguists, who need to understand copywriters, who need to understand how the small businesses work everyday and how “Everyman” travels.
• Autoreferentiality: this is a problem that is widespread and often makes me wonder. Today I wish I had seen many more people from the non-digital world: people from public institutions, my students, operators who are not social media experts. Instead, and this is something that always worries me when I tweet for instance, we often preach to the choir. I am under the impression that most of the followers or Facebook friends of tourism businesses are themselves people who are in the business in one way or another.
• Numbers, numbers, numbers: what about conversion rates? It’s great to know that the Google searches for Tuscany-related terms are booming, that people have hundreds of friends in online communities, that people’s blogs are popular. But how much of that popularity becomes actual reservations? In my experience as a vacation rental owner, last year’s season (and this year’s especially) was a disaster. There is nobody around, except in the major centers, which will always be visited no matter what. And yet my websites have never been more popular… could it be that people “travel online” when they don’t have the money to travel for real? I hope not, but these matters are worth looking into.
• Internet not working… come on guys!!! “Internet Better Life” and we couldn’t get online to save our lives?! The wi-fi system should have been impeccable. That’s it. Vodafone did its poor part as usual… we didn’t even have 3G.

What we liked:

• We found the presentations about Google Data, about sociological trends and about the Bologna social media teaching experience extremely interesting and well explained. Bravo. (I apologize but I didn’t write down the names of the speakers and I will have to ask for them.)
• ToscanaLab was a great opportunity to meet interesting people like Roberta Milano, the Social Media Team (Alexandra – @TuscanyArt, Oriana – @Tuscanycious, Erica – @Tuscanytunes in particular are really nice girls and web communicators), Laura De Benedetto, president of ToscanaIn. They are doing terrific work, in concrete terms. I wish I had had more of a chance to interact with them. (And I promise… I did not mean it as a bad thing when I wrote that the Clubs In are a Loggia P2.0!! I was joking! It’s a great idea.)
• I was extremely happy about the fact that the Maremma APT Director, Dr. Francesco Tapinassi, was there. That is what I want to see: the sectors that traditionally stay away from a computer need to get involved and he is doing well in that sense. I hope he will bring social media into the mix.
• The venue: the Gipsoteca is quite impressive.
• The very relaxed atmosphere: everybody was very friendly and truly seemed to enjoy the event. Which is in itself a great merit.

All in all we were very glad we went. I hope events like this really help us non-experts progress.

The Gioco del Ponte 2010 will be next Saturday (June 26).  Literally “the game of the bridge”, it is a real “battle” on the bridge which divides the center in two halves: Ponte di Mezzo. There are two equally important parts to this event: the parade in period costume and the “battle” itself.

The historical pageant is really, really impressive. It is supposed to reproduce a military parade so an “army” of over 300 people in historical costumes parades through the center. It’s well worth a daytrip to Pisa if you are in the area. This year the parade will start later than usual at 7:30 pm.

The game starts at 9pm. 12 teams representing each of quartieri (neighbourhoods) of the city are joined in two larger teams: Tramontana, made up of the quartieri on the north side of the river Arno (Santa Maria, San Francesco, San Michele, Mattaccini, Claci and Satiri) and Mezzogiorno (Sant’Antonio, San Martino, San Marco, Leoni, Dragoni, Delfini) from the southern side of the city. Before the actual “battle”, the different teams parade on their own side of the river. A third parade is that of the 81 judges. After this display, the “battle” begins and the teams made up of really large men challenge each other by trying to push a very heavy cart onto each other’s side of the bridge using only the backs of their necks. It’s quite impressive.

This year, there will also be two large TV screens (one in Piazza della Berlina and one in front of Palazzo Blu) to allow more people to see what is going on on the bridge without the usual crowds on the Lungarno. A hot air baloon above Ponte di Mezzo will light up the river in the area where the game takes place with the colours of the team who is winning.

The cart was installed on Ponte di Mezzo yesterday. Everybody was working hard to have everything ready for tomorrow, because this year, Pisa has decided to go back to the old traditions and have a “veglia” as well. The city will be awaiting her big day with a party on the river banks at Scalo dei Renaioli, Lungarno Galilei, on the day before the event (that’s what “veglia” means in Italian),

Friday June 25. Slow Food and Argini e Margini offer a selection of local products of the Pisa province and the entrance fee is 17 euros.

Exciting novelties, although I am not so sure whether having the game so late in the evening is a good idea or if some of the people who would have come from outside the city by public transportation will come anyway this year. We will see! In the meanwhile… Forza Mezzogiorno!!!!

Interesting resources on Gioco del Ponte:

• Gioco del Ponte, Pisa – from the official Pisa tourism website.
• A video of Gioco del Ponte.

You can feel it in the air: the people walk faster; the students hasten out of the University buildings in a festive way; small groups of people everywhere are working out the last details for tonight’s house parties.

The street vendors are putting up their stalls for the market in the streets of the center; sandwich trucks are preparing their display of focacce, sweets, sugar candies shaped as fruit, and of course the most prominent sign of a festive day about to break out: the unfailing presence of full-size porchette!

Almost every bar opened later than usual this morning and by 3pm had already installed a draught beer system outside their door to serve drinks to the hundreds of people who, in a few hours, will fill the Lungarni and the streets of the center.

The city is alive and ready to celebrate the two most important days of the year: La Luminara and San Ranieri, the city’s Patron Saint’s Day.

It’s funny how you can feel the city getting ready. You can even smell it. I was walking to work this morning and I wandered through some minor streets in between the old buildings of the city. I was suddenly hit by a strong smell of soffritto and suddenly remembered the atmosphere of the many mornings before the various Luminare that I saw when I was a student. We would go to class or study until lunchtime and then we would all be on holiday. I used to live with 3 other students and our apartment, a large, old apartment near Pisa’s high street, was the gathering place for all our friends. We would have a dinner party before going out to the Lungarni and mix with the crowds before the fireworks.

The night itself was fun, but it is what Pisa becomes late at night that I will never forget. After the fireworks we would go from pub to pub; we would dance in the streets and squares where concerts had been organized (I saw one of my first Bandabardò concerts at La Sapienza, the faculty of Law, on June 16th 1995!); we would wait for the crowds to leave the city to have the Lungarni all to ourselves. The city is wonderful around 2am, when the breeze is cool, the streets are emptying out and the flames in the glass lumini are still quivering  before the candles go out. It is the memory of those first Luminare which makes the wait for any new one an exciting time.

This year, the rain threatened the “festa”, but after two dreadful days of bad weather, the sun is finally out and the people who light the candles have already been at work for a few hours. They place the “lumini” in the candle holders on the white frames on the facades of the building and called “biancheria“.  105,000 candles will be lit tonight and people will be invited to vote to choose the most beautiful building of the Lungarno. I think Palazzo Blu will win this year: they have stunning Egyptian-style decorations to celebrate the current exhibition on Rosellini’s expedition to Egypt.

Tonight the museums will be opened at night: guided tours will be given of Palazzo Reale. The fireworks will be launched from two spots tonight: from the Tower of the Cittadella as always, and from Le Piagge. Among the interesting events organized, I find the exhibition organized by the retirement home on the Lungarno and dedicated to Keith Haring very interesting. I saw the nurses prepare everything while walking back home: it’s great to think that the elderly people who live there have taken an interest in the event and have come up with such a lovely idea.

The boat with the pole that marks the finishing line of the Regatta of San Ranieri is already in place, ready for tomorrow.

I know that lovely Kathy McCabe Editor of the Dream of Italy Travel Newsletter will be in Pisa for the Luminara tonight: I hope she will enjoy her stay and that she will write a great report of her night out in the city when she gets back!

Today was the first Sunday in a long time that we didn’t spend the whole day fixing Casina di Rosa. We are finally done with the renovations and we can finally get back to our lives! We took advantage of this “freedom” by going on a daytrip to San Galgano Abbey with Marcel’s family. A friend who manages a lovely wine bar in the woods right by the monastery of Montesiepi, Salendo Wine Bar, had invited us to an art exhibit which closed today and we kept postponing the visit because we were too busy. Anyway, today we packed the family in two cars and left from the beautiful village of Pari around noon, in time for a perfect lunch under the tall trees in the garden of Salendo. It was very peaceful (well… at least until we got out of the car with the four kids we had with us!), and the shade and the breeze there made for a nice change from the hot and humid weather we left behind.

Salendo mostly serves typical products of local producers and local wines to go with the dishes they offer. They serve hot dishes too but their specialties are crostoni with different toppings (I had an amazing crostone with cheese and pears), selections of cured meats, samples of cheeses and different types of honey and jam that go well with them, and sandwiches. The wild boar bresaola on my nephew Alessandro’s plate looked delicious, I’ll tell you that! They match every dish with the perfect wine, mostly by minor but excellent producers.

We took it easy and enjoyed the meal in the peaceful shade while the kids were fighting over the use of a hammock and then we went to see the installation in the garden under the pine trees. The setting is very pretty, with the Monastery of Montesiepi in the background.

The exhibit was called “Fra Cielo e Terra” (literally, “between the sky and the earth”) and it consisted of 10 iron sculptures representing 10 warriors protecting San Galgano Abbey. The iron sculptures by the Scarì brothers served as support for the works of two other artists: the beautiful glass works of art by Laura Pesce and Felice Nittolo’s  mosaics.

The event was managed by Krene, a design agency. It was supposed to be the preview for a larger exhibit to be installed inside the Abbey of San Galgano in 2011, but apparently the people in charge of the events hosted there don’t think the place is suitable for such an event, which, believe me, is quite silly and their loss.

We then took a walk to the Monastery of Montesiepi, which is just few steps away from Salendo. This hermitage is not very well-known, and yet it houses one of the milestones of European mythology: a sword in the stone. The sword is said to have belonged to San Galgano, who drove it into the rock when he gave up his sinful life to become a hermit. The monastery of Montesiepi was built at the end of the 12th century as a mausoleum for the saint, who is buried in the church. The church has a very peculiar shape, it is built as a rotunda and historians hypothesize that it was inspired by Castel Sant’Angelo, the Pantheon in Rome or even an Etruscan tomb as the many ones visible in Volterra, the town that once controlled this area. The church was enlarged in the 14th century with the construction of a chapel with frescoes by the Sienese painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti. This chapel houses the hands of two evil men who, the legend says, were sent by the devil to temp the saint, and who were attacked by wolves that came out of the woods to protect Galgano.

Over the centuries the sword in the stone and its legend have fascinated visitors from around the world. The many resemblances to the tales of the Arthurian cycle are striking. In his book The Enigma of San Galgano, the writer Mario Moiraghi claims that the story of Excalibur originated in Tuscany and not in the Celtic fringes of Britain or in France as many believe and that it was added to the legend of King Arthur later on. Moiraghi supports his hypothesis with scientific tests which date the sword embedded in the rock in an abbey in Tuscany to the year 1180, years before the first attested literary reference to the sword in the Arthurian Cycle. The author also stresses how the inquiry which led to the canonisation of Sir Galgano contains a series of facts identical to the legend of Sir Percival, the finder of the Holy Grail. You can read more about his hypothesis on the website of Casa Gigliola, a vacation rental near San Galgano Abbey and in this article on the BBC New website.

We then descended to the most famous monument of this complex: the roofless Abbey of San Galgano. The ruins of this Gothic cathedral in the Tuscan countryside never cease to amaze me. It is so beautiful! The abbey houses the Opera Festival in the summer: believe me, there are few places that can make for such an impressive setting for operas and concerts. Here is the program of the events for this season of the Opera Festival in San Galgano. This year, it includes Mozart’s Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute, Vivaldi’s Le Stagioni, and Carmina Burana.

A great daytrip, especially if you are travelling with kids or if you like walking. There is a path that leads from the abbey to the monastery and a longer path that leads to the nearby village of Monticiano.

June is definitely the best month to be in town. Pisa celebrates its “Giugno Pisano” with a number of events, including the major ones: La Luminara on June 16th, Palio di San Ranieri on June 17th and Gioco del Ponte on the last weekend of the month. All around these three major dates, the city organizes a number of minor events which are just as interesting.

Photo by Fabiogis50

The official program is only available in Italian, and it can be downloaded in pdf format here. Of all the things organized, I recommend you…

• …go for an aperitivo to the two little bars opened for the occasion right on the riverbanks along the Arno: Argini and Margini and Arno Vivo. The former organizes live jazz concerts every Friday and Saturday night. Last year they served fish and chips too! The latter is more “disco-oriented”!
• …take advantage of “Degustando Pisa” (literally, tasting Pisa) and try local products in the restaurants which participate in the event.
• …visit the churches of Pisa at night. Every Thursday in June (3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th) some churches are open to the public at night. We stumbled upon the Church of San Pietro in Vinculis the other night and it took my breath away! I had never visited the church of “San Pierino” as it’s called by the locals, because it was closed for a long time. It is incredible. And at night, lit for the occasion, it was really, really beautiful. I had no idea. Next Thursday I want to go to the other churches opened at night: the Church of San Martino, the Church of Santa Cristina (where St. Catherine of Siena received the stigmata), and the Church of San Sepolcro (a church built by the Templars in a very unusual and mysterious hexagonal shape).

• …visit the gardens of Pisa on Saturday 5th or 12th with the Associazione Arcadia. The meeting point is Piazzetta del Rosso at 5 p.m. The tour lasts 3 hours.
• …go on a free tour of the churches of the city organized by the tourist guide association of Pisa on Thursday June 10th and 24th. Starting at 9 pm.
• …knit under the Leaning Tower! Celebrate World Knitting Day with the local association! Knitting meeting on Saturday June 13th, from 5:30pm to 8:30 pm in Piazza dei Miracoli!
• …vote for the most beautifully decorated building on the Lungarno on the day of the Luminara and of course, enjoy the fire-works! On June 16th, from 9pm.
• …see the parade and the regatta of the Palio di San Ranieri on June 17th at 7 pm.
• …take a boat tour of the city on the river Arno and see the exhibition dedicated to the expedition to Egypt of the local archaeologist Rosellini. Meeting point: Piazza San Paolo a Ripa d’Arno at 10 a.m. on June 19th, boat tour and visit of the exhibition at Palazzo Blu.
• …travel back in time participating at the “Gran Ballo Risorgimentale” at Giardino Scotto on June 19th at 6:30 pm. You could meet your prince charming!!!
• …enjoy the concert of the University Choir at the Church of Santo Stefano on June 19th at 9:15 pm.
• …enjoy the “operetta” in the medieval heart of the city: Follie di Operette in Piazza S. Omobono, at 10 pm. on Sunday June 20th.
• …wait for the Gioco del Ponte with the locals on Friday 25th at Argini and Margini, from 6 pm to midnight. The dinner will be made with local organic products.
• …see the parade in historical costumes and the Gioco del Ponte on Ponte di Mezzo, Saturday 26th from 5 pm.
• …see a concert at the beautiful Basilica di San Piero a Grado or in the courtyard of the Church of San Francesco at 9pm on June 26th.
• …see a cross-bow competition in Piazza dei Cavalieri, on Sunday 27th at 6pm.
• …take advantage of the inauguration of the recently renovated Logge dei Banchi to actually enter them (they are part of city hall and it is generally not possible to visit the rooms above the Logge). Palazzo Gambacorti at 6pm, on June 30th. And then participate in the party organized under the Logge!

And don’t forget to walk around the center after dark: Pisa is really, really pretty at night!

Tuscany owes its name to the ancient Etruscan people, also known as Tusci, who lived and flourished here until they were assimilated into the Roman territories during the Roman Republic. But before then, the Etruscans had a powerful, thriving civilization and there is a considerable amount of evidence that early Rome was dominated by them until the Romans sacked Veii in 396 BC.

This people never ceases to fascinate because of its mysterious history, language and customs. The origins of the Etruscans are lost in prehistory: some believe that they are indigenous, others believe that they came from the Greek area, given the cultural similarities. Their fortune derived from metal mining and trading, especially copper and iron that they exported all over the Mediterranean sea. Knowledge of the Etruscan language is still far from complete; it is however believed to be have been a non-Indoeuropean language.

If you grow up in Tuscany, you hear about this mysterious people all the time. And there are many tangible signs of their presence in this area that they left behind. There are several famous archaeological sites around Civitella Marittima, the village where I grew up and where our Casina di Rosa vacation rental is located. Here are just a few Etruscan archaeological sites in our area of Tuscany:

• Roselle
• Massa Marittima and Lake Accesa
• Pitigliano and its region, with the wonderful Vie Cave
• Sovana and Sorano
• Vetulonia
• Populonia and Baratti
• Murlo
• Sarteano and Chiusi
• Volterra (Video)
• Arezzo and Cortona

In September 2007, a tomb was discovered near our village as well, and more precisely, near the beautiful castle of Casenovole. The discovery was made by some local people with a passion for history and archaeology, who have since founded an association called Odysseus. Tomba del Tasso, as it has been called, was far from a minor discovery, quite the opposite: it was one of the most important discoveries of recent years. It dates back to the 1st-3rd century B.C. and contained the remains of 13 people, cruets and bronze objects. The archaeologists found 3 cinerary urns and 10 ossuaries. The discovery was celebrated with a beautiful exhibit at the Castle of Casenovole, which, being private property, is normally closed to the public.

Last year, in October, a new tomb was discovered in the same area, larger and older than the previous one. This tomb, called Tomba dello Scarabeo, after the beautiful ring with a scarab beetle found therein, contained the remains of many people, which provides archaeologists and historians with valuable information about the culture and history of the Etruscans.

Yesterday, the finds were officially presented with a meeting organized at the beautiful Hotel Terme di Petriolo by the association in collaboration with the Universities of Pisa, Siena and Florence. The objects found were perfectly preserved. The ring is beautiful!

What we hope is that the local council will find the money to build a small museum and that the tombs will become part of an archaeological park or at least a local archaeological itinerary, considering that, not long ago, another area was excavated at Pietratonda. The area is perfect for walks (see the itinerary I wrote for Velvet Escape as my Tuscany tip and my post on Slow Living Day in Tuscany).

A last note: the people who work to bring back to life the ancient past of our beautiful area and who organize interesting events of international relevance (check this article on the National Geographic news), work for free. Donations are therefore very welcome: http://www.odysseus2007.it

If you want to know more about the Etruscan civilization, you might be interested in this video:

Village festivals, also known as “Sagre“, are a cult in Tuscany. Every town and village organizes its own. For a brief introduction to what a sagra is, please read our May “Sagre” in Tuscany post from last year.

If you are in the area during the month of May 2010, you might not want to miss the following village festivals in Tuscany:

Local product festivals

• I sapori del Monte Cetona (The flavours of Monte Cetona), Siena Province, May 2 – June 1. Various events organized in several towns and villages in the Siena area (Montepulciano, Chianciano Terme, Celle sul Rigo, etc.). The festival is dedicated to the local products that can be purchased in the town squares during the various events organized. The interesting thing is that all the products are “a km 0“, literally zero-kilometer products, which means that they come directly from the surrounding area.
• Sapori delle Crete (the flavours of the Crete Senesi), Siena Province, May 9 and 15. Various events organized in Chiusure, Arbia and Asciano in the beautiful Crete Senesi.
• CantaMaggio, Barberino del Mugello (Florence), May 13-16.
• Medoliva, Arezzo, May 14-17. Festival dedicated to Mediterranean olive oil with the participation of Italian, French, Spanish, Croatian and Israeli producers.
• La Palamita, San Vincenzo (Livorno), May 15-16. Festival dedicated to this type of fish (bonito) similar to tuna fish.
• Senesi in Casentino (the Sienese people in the Casentino region), Bucine (Arezzo), May 22. Nice day dedicated to the visit to the Villa La Mausolea and to the Eremo di Camaldoli with a final lunch in Bucine.
• I sapori della Valle (the flavours of the valley), Montecatini Val di Cecina (Pisa), May 22-23. The big day is the Sunday with the participation of the flag wavers from Volterra and the possibility to visit old mines and the new Parco Eolico (Eolic park).
• Pane e companatico, Marradi (Florence), May 23. Festival dedicated to the traditional bread (for the meaning of the stock phrase “pane e companatico” in Italian see our post on Tuscan bread) and other products of the area that go well with it.
• Festival delle Regioni, Bucine (Arezzo), May 22-30. If you love Italian food but you have only time to visit one or two regions, well, make sure you attend this festival: every single Italian region will be present with a stall selling typical products. Foreign products as well (Hungary and India).
• Un mare di sapori (a sea of flavours), Marciana Marina (Isle of Elba), May 29-30. A festival dedicated to the flavours of the beautiful Isle of Elba.
• Festa del cavatore (mine festival), Capoliveri (Isle of Elba), May 29-30. Festival celebrating the life of miners in the old days.
• Mangia…longa, Pontedera, May 30. The name of the event is a play on word: mangia…longa (“long-distance eating”) instead of marcialonga (long-distance walk). And as a matter of fact, this is a long-distance walk with stops to taste the local products on the way. At the end of the journey, a bus will take the participants back to Pontedera for… the dessert! Interesting idea! It is necessary to register for the event before May 22 (ufficioturistico@comune.pontedera.pi.it).

Wine festivals in Tuscany

• Classico è…, Chianti Classico, May 29-June 5. Various events organized in the area where the Chianti Classico wine is produced. Many wineries will be open to visitors (10am-1pm and 3pm-6pm) and special bike tours can be arranged.
• Mostra del Chianti (Chianti wine fair), Montespertoli (Florence), May 29 – June 6.
• Wine and bike, Cinigiano (Grosseto), May 30. This great event is organized in a village close to ours. The participants will gather in the village of Cinigiano and they will be led on a 35km bike tour through the beautiful countryside, vineyards and olive groves with stops in wineries in the Montecucco wine region. It is necessary to register (aplc@interfree.it). Bikes can be rented on site.
• Cantine Aperte (open cellars), Tuscany, May 30. This is now a very popular event organized throughout the region. Check the official website for the detailed program.

Festivals in Tuscany dedicated to specific products

• Festa di Sant’Ubaldo, Pisa, May 13-16. Flower festival. Check our post on Le Piagge, Pisa.
• Sagra del pesce (seafood), Certaldo (Florence), May 13 – June 13, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30pm.
• Sagra del prosciutto e baccelli (prosciutto and broad beans), Boschi di Lari (Pisa), May 14-17.
• Sagra della nozza (the nozza is a dessert typical of the area of Calcinaia), Calcinaia (Pisa), May 15-16. The women of the village make the sweets for the visitors.
• Festival della fragola (strawberry festival), Terricciola (Pisa), May 15-16, and 22-23.
• Sagra del fungo porcino (porcino mushroom), Palazzolo di Incisa V.no (Florence), May 15-16, 21-23, 28-30, June 4-6 and 11-13. Not really a season product but if you haven’t had enough mushrooms in the Fall, you can enjoy them for the last time before the summer.
• Jazz e baccelli (jazz and broad beans), Certaldo (Florence), May 16.
• Festa del pane (bread festival), Gambassi Terme (Florence), May 16.
• Demetra, Capezzano Pianore (Lucca), May 21-23. Both for professionals and the general public: flower, vegetable and food sculptures.
• Sagra del Polliglio (play on word – pollo and coniglio, chicken and rabbit), Montespertoli (Florence), May 21-23.
• Sagra dei pastrignocchi e del cuculo (a type of pasta and a type of biscuit, named after the cuckoo bird), Cetona (Siena), May 21-23.
• Sagra della lasagna, Monte Argentario (Grosseto), May 21-23 and 27-30.
  
• Sagra della Lasagna, Montenero d’Orcia (Grosseto), May 21-23 and 27-30.
• Sagra della fragola (strawberry festival), Marsiliana d’Albegna (Grosseto), May 21-23 and 28-30.
• Il senso della birra, Viareggio (Lucca), May 22-23. Festival dedicated to local micro-breweries.
• Festa della fragola (strawberry festival), Sant’Agata di Scarperia (Florence), May 22-23.
• 30th Sagra del porcellino (porcellino means piglet), Casciana Terme (Pisa), May 22-23 and 29-30.
• Sagra del tortello e del cinghiale (tortelli are a type of ravioli and cinghiale is wild boar), Scarperia (Firenze), May 22-23 and 29-30.
• Maggiolata lucignanese, Lucignano (Arezzo), May 23 and 30. Flower sculptures are carried around on carts throughout the village.
• 41st Sagra dei pici (pici are a type of fresh pasta, sort of thick spaghetti, typical of Southern Tuscany), Celle sul Rigo-San Casciano dei Bagni (Siena), May 28-30.
• Firenze Gelato Festival, Florence, May 28-31. If you like ice-cream, you can’t miss this.
• Sagra del Tartufo (truffle festival), Arcille (Grosseto), May 28-31.
• Sagra del tortello e della bistecca alla fiorentina (bistecca alla fiorentina is the traditional Florentine T-bone steak), Sagginale-Borgo san Lorenzo (Florence), May 28-30, June 1-2 and 4-6.
• Sagra del ranocchio (frog festival), Brozzi (Florence), May 29-30.
• Sagra del fungo prugnolo (a type of mushroom), Firenzuola (Florence), May 29-30 and June 19-20.
• Festival della Lumaca (snails), Camucia di Cortona (Arezzo), May 29-June 6. Snails were very common on Tuscan tables in the old day.
• Sagra delle ciliegie (cherry festival), Lari (Pisa), May 29-30, June 2 and 5-6. Very popular. Check our post on cherries in Tuscany!
• Festa del pane (bread festival), Certaldo (Florence), May 30.

I am a bit late in publishing this post about the medieval festivals that take place in May in Tuscany. But better late than never! If you are a fan of this type of event, you should not miss…

• La Scampanata, Anghiari (Arezzo), May 1-31. This festival is held every 5 years. The members of the “Società della Scampanata” make an appointment every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 6am sharp in Piazza Baldaccio. Those who come late get a public trial and are dragged around on a cart throughout the town while the other fellows throw eggs, trash and other disgusting things at them. A curious event.
  
• Flag wavers’ competition in Florence, Piazza Santa Croce, May 15.
• Festa di Ciambragina, Serre di Rapolano (Siena), May 9 and 15-16. Giovanni de’ Rossi, a 14th century merchant, married a beautiful French girl, Ciambragina, and brought her to Serre di Rapolano. They lived in the cassero. The couple comes back to life and walks through the village in period costume accompanied by the bishop, elegantly dressed noblemen, musicians and knights. Moreover, the local “cantine” (cellars) are open to visitors who can try the local traditional products.
• Festa Medievale di Malmantile, Malmantile – Lastra a Signa (Firenze), May 29-30 and June 5-6. This is one of the best events in the area. The small village of Malmantile near Lastra is essentially transfomed into an old 15th century village. Over 150 people dressed up in historical costumes bring the village back to 1400.
• La battaglia di Scannagallo (the battle of Scannagallo), Pozzo della Chiana (Arezzo), May 29-30. The local association reenacts the battle of Scannagallo, in which the Medicean troups fought the Sienese troups and won in 1555. The victory marks a major moment in the history of Tuscany. The historical accuracy is stunning. On Saturday, the battle field is open, there is a dinner and then the actors reenact the night attack to the Sienese camp. On Sunday at 3pm, the great battle is reenacted.  Really interesting.
• Fiera Medievale, Serravalle Pistoiese (Pistoia), May 15-16 and 21-23. This year’s 4th edition of the festival has an interesting “preamble”:  the “pellegrinaggio tra i castelli“, a guided walking tour of the local castles. The participants will have to wear medieval costumes.  The actual fair opens on the 21st at 8:30 pm with a medieval dinner. The following day and on Sunday, the fair opens in the castle where visitors can see how the old trades were carried out: from silk production to stone and wood carving, etc. You can even participate to the trial of a witch!
• Medieval treasure hunt, Certaldo (Florence), May 23.
• La Fiorita, Florence, Piazza della Signoria, May 23. Celebrations for the anniversary of the death of Fra’ Girolamo Savonarola.
• Balestro del Grifalco, Massa Marittima (Grosseto), May 23. The “balestro” takes place twice a year: on the fourth Sunday of May and on the 2nd Sunday of August. 24 crossbowmen challeng each other in this ancient crossbow competition, 8 for each quarter of Terziere (Borgo, Cittanuova, Cittavecchia). Before the competition, a parade in medieval costumes with 150 actors crossed the center of the beautiful town in the Metalliferous Hills of the Maremma, and some clever flag wavers perform their show.
• Festa Medievale Bianco Azzurra, Castiglion Fiorentino (Arezzo), May 29-30, June 1-2, 4-6. Music, medieval food, period costumes in the Cassero of Castiglion Fiorentino.
• Festa medievale, Barberino Val d’Elsa (Florence), May 29-30. The festival opens on May 29 at 5pm with a parade in period costumes and for the rest of the weekend the clocks in Barberino go back to the 13th century when the village was an important trade center.
• Palio delle Contrade, Fucecchio (Firenze), May 23. This seems nice. I read that they have a massive parade in historical costumes with 1200 people. And apparently all the best jockeys of the Palio of Siena have participated in the “corsa nella buca d’Andrea” (literally a “race in Andrea’s hole”… I know it doesn’t sound right in the English translation, but this Buca d’Andrea should be some sort of circular track…).
• Festa del Grillo (“The Cricket Festival”), Florence, May 16. A very old Florentine festival, rooted in old pagan rites celebrating the arrival of the spring. Originally, young men would leave flowers by their fiancées’ windows. Lately, the habit of leaving a cricket in a cage as well become more and more popular. A “happy” cricket is said to bring good luck to the household.
• Palio di Santo Stefano, Santo Stefano a Macerata – Cascina (Pisa), May 30. It anticipates the Gioco del Ponte taking place in Pisa at the end of June and celebrates the history town of Cascina and its role in the battle between Pisa and Florence.
• Historical Regatta “Ubaldesca”, Calcinaia (Pisa), May 30. A regatta on the River Arno, in honour of Saint Ubaldesca Taccini, the village patron saint.
• Medieval village, Montecatini Terme (Pistoia), May 30. A medieval village is recreated in the center.

Go dress up in medieval costumes and join in the celebrations!!!

I have written about several walking itineraries in Pisa (check my last post about our walk along the river Arno at Le Piagge) and I am very pleased to see that over the last few years many organized walking tours have been organized.

Pisa is a perfect place for walking: it’s flat, so you don’t need to be particularly fit to explore it on foot, and the center is relatively small, so it can be properly explored in  a limited amount of time.

“Walking Pisa” are 3 hour tours of the center offered on a regular basis (until November 20, 2010). It is possible to join these walking tours on Mondays at 3 p.m., on Thursdays at 3 p.m., and on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. The tours are very affordable and cost only 12 euros per person. They are free for kids under 15 years old. It is not necessary to book in advance, so it is possible to join them at the very last minute.

For those who love walking, a nice event is the Tuscany Walking Festival which includes walks in the best nature parks in the region.

Another interesting idea is Urban Trekking. The website is very interesting, and it includes a list of cities where urban trekking itineraries are available.