Sport
Football is a national passion in Italy. It takes priority over food, politics and religion. In Florence, the citizens celebrate their patron saint day (24 June) with a historic football match in medieval dress and even during this so-called 'friendly' match, passions can quickly boil over. Florence's national football team, the Serie A Fiorentina, is among the best in Italy's premier league. The team is distinguished by its cardinal purple strip, earning it the nickname La Viola. Their home ground is the Artemio Franchi Stadium on Viale Manfredo Fanti (tel/fax: (055) 587 858; website: www.acfiorentina.it) and games are played on alternate Sundays from August to May. Tickets can be purchased at Caricentro, Via Ricasoli 9 (tel: (055) 293 434), or at the Toto booth in Piazza della Reppubblica. Seats cost L50,000-200,000/EUR26-103.50.
Fitness centres: Indoor Club, Via Bardazzi 15 (tel: (055) 430 275), has a sauna, swimming pool, weights and classes. It is open Monday-Thursday 1030-2300, Friday 1030-2200 and Saturday 1030-2000. One-day membership costs L30,000/EUR15.50. Palestra Gymnasium, Via Palazzuolo 49 (tel: (055) 293 308), has weights, aerobics, step classes and karate. It is open Monday-Friday 1000-2200 and Saturday 1000-1800. One-day membership costs L20,000/EUR10.50.
Golf: The hills of 'Chiantishire' are not ideal for golf but visitors can test their handicap at two local clubs. The first, Golf Club Montelupo (tel: (0571) 541 004), offers a tight course of nine holes right on the banks of the Arno, 26km (16 miles) from the city centre. The second, Golf Club Ugolino (tel: (055) 230 1009; website: www.federgolf.it) is an 18-hole course, just ten kilometres (six miles) from Florence and romantically located in an olive grove, although it is only open in winter. Fees start at L70,000/EUR36.
Rowing: Societa Canottieri Firenze, Lungarno A M Luisa De'Medici (tel: (055) 282 130), is a rowing club on the Arno. One-month membership costs about L120,000/EUR62.
Tennis: Public tennis courts can be found at the Circolo Carraia, Via Monti alle Croci (tel: (055) 234 6353). Courts cost L26,000/EUR13.50 per hour and are open 0800-2300.
Shopping
Second only to culture in the city comes shopping. Florence has been a centre of craftsmanship since the Middle Ages when shoemakers and goldsmiths were accorded the same status as artists and sculptors. Today, the city remains famous for its high-quality leather produce, goldsmiths and marbled paper. Artisans can still be seen plying their trade in workshops all over the city. The area around Santa Croce is home to the city's leather-makers, while the Oltrarno is cluttered with the workshops of local gold and silversmiths - although the Ponte Vecchio is home to the glitzier shops.
Designer boutiques cluster around the Via de' Tornabuoni and Via Calzaiuoli where Versace, Ferragamo, Gucci and Valentino all have stores. The more frugal can find copies in the open-air San Lorenzo Market in Piazza San Lorenzo, northwest of the Duomo. Leather belts and bags, silk scarves and soft wool jerseys can be picked up for a song - although it is advisable to check the quality before buying. Nearby stands the covered food market. Bursting with olives, hams, cheeses and fresh vegetables, it is the perfect place to buy a picnic or just indulge a love of grub. The flea market at Piazza dei Ciompi specialises in antiques and collectable junk and provides an enjoyable rummage for the bargain-hunter.
Specialist shops worth a visit include the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, Via Scala 16. Housed in a frescoed chapel, this old-fashioned chemist was founded by monks in the 16th century. Lotions, potions and herbal remedies abound in elegant packaging. Handmade shoes created in time-honoured tradition can be purchased at Francesco, Via Santo Spirito 62r, while Pineider is considered the most exclusive stationers in all Italy, having designed calling cards for Napoleon, Byron and Maria Callas, among others. As a rule, shops open 0930-1300 and 1530-2000, although larger department stores and supermarkets may stay open throughout the day. Food shops are usually closed on Wednesday afternoons, or Saturday afternoons in the summer. Clothes shops are often closed on Monday mornings. There is limited opening on Sundays. Sales tax is 12-14% depending on the value of goods purchased. Non-EU citizens should retain receipts for goods over L300,000/EUR155 to reclaim their VAT (IVA).
Culture
The biggest cultural event in Florence is the international Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, which welcomes top names from the music and ballet worlds (12 May-1 July 2002). Visitors should keep an eye open for one-off recitations played in churches and piazzas around the city. Posters are pinned up outside the venue and tickets can be bought at the door. Agenzia Box Office, Via Luigi Alamanni (tel: (055) 210 804; website: www.boxoffice.it), sells most other tickets.
Music: Florence can claim a couple of musical firsts. Not only was the first piano invented in the city by Bartolomeo Crostoferi but the first ever opera, Daphne, was performed here in 1598 at the home of Jacopo Corsi. Unfortunately the score does not survive and Florence has not maintained its early influence on the operatic form. Today's opera season opens in October and is held chiefly at the Teatro Comunale, Corso Italia 16 (tel: (055) 211 158; website: www.maggiofiorentino.com), on the banks of the Arno. L'Orchestra del Maggio Musical Fiorentino is the city's main orchestra, which plays at the Teatro Communale.
Chamber music can be heard most weekends at the Teatro della Pergola, Via della Pergola (tel: (055) 247 9651; website: www.pergola.firenze.it), an ornate 17th-century theatre.
Theatre: The Teatro della Pergola (see above) and the Teatro Verdi, Via Ghibellina 99 (tel: (055) 212 320; website: www.teatroverdifirenze.it), are the two chief venues for drama in Florence. Most performances are conducted in Italian so a good understanding of the language is vital. Performances are typically productions of classic Italian drama or foreign plays in translation, interspersed with the occasional contemporary production. Tickets are available at respective theatre box offices.
Dance: The annual Florence Dance Festival (website: www.florencedance.org) was first conceived in 1990, but its future remains under threat due to lack of funding. The festival aims to bring some of the best names in contemporary and classical dance to Florence with an annual contest for emerging choreographers. Performances usually run for a month in July and are held in outdoor venues, such as Piazzale Michelangelo and the Teatro Romano in Fiesole.
Film: Florence has been the setting for a number of films, most memorably Merchant Ivory's adaptation of E M Forster's Room With A View (1988) and more recently Fellini's Tea with Mussolini (1999) and Up At The Villa (2000), starring Kristin Scott Thomas. Such is the demand for picturesque Tuscan locations that the region has recently set up its own film commission to capitalise on promotional opportunities. The cinema is heavily patronised in the city and, for those who speak Italian, there is a real treat in store at the Odeon (tel: (055) 214 068; website: www.cinehall.it), a stunning Art Nouveau theatre in Piazza Strozzi. English speakers can take a trip to the Astro (no telephone number), Piazza San Simone, near Santa Croce, where films are shown in the original language daily, except Monday. Cinema tickets cost around L12,000/EUR6. More original language films are shown on Thursday at Cinema Fulgor, Via Maso Finiguerra (tel: (055) 381 881).
Cultural events: The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (mid-April-early July each year) forms the crux of Florence's cultural calendar. It has been going for over 60 years and is presided over by the festival's homegrown orchestra and dance company. The orchestra has achieved international recognition under the watchful eye of conductor Zubin Mehta - famous for his performances with the Three Tenors. Most of the performances are held at the Teatro Comunale - the central booking point for the festival - but some are held outdoors in cloisters, piazzas and Boboli Gardens. Tickets for standing room only can be purchased one hour before the performance begins for L15,000/EUR7.50. Pre-booked tickets start at around L30,000/EUR15.50.
Literary Notes
Writers, poets and bored aristocrats have poured into this city, eager to discover its mythical reputation. Romantics like Byron and Shelley were enraptured by the abundance of beauty, sighing almost as much over the picturesque peasants as they did over the architecture. As citizens of Florence, Dante (1265-1321) and Machiavelli (1469-1527) were less dewy-eyed. Dante called it a 'city of self-made men and fast-got gain' and consigned most of his contemporaries to hell in his masterwork, the Divine Comedy. Machiavelli, who like Dante was exiled from the city, is best known for his study of devious politics in The Prince, learnt first-hand in the service of the Medici. Boccaccio (1313-75), who wrote the Decameron, added little to the city, except a reputation for bawdy humour. But it was the court painter Giorgio Vasari (1511-74) who really opened the door to life in Renaissance Florence, with his artistic biography, Lives of the Artists. Henry James' laconic insight came much later, drawing back the romantic conceit and presenting an altogether darker vision of Italy, in such novels as The Portrait of A Lady (1881). A collection of essays written while travelling in Italy between 1872 and 1909 can be found in his book Italian Hours. E M Forster's tale of knotted passions in A Room With A View (1908) has also carried the city onto the silver screen.
From worldtravelguide.net copyright Columbus Publishing Ltd 2000
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