by Penny | 27 Dec, 2013 | Books, Films, Films set in Italy, Florentine restaurants, Italy and the American Imagination, Opera, Painting, poets and poetry, Religious History, Renaissance Art, Social History, St Mark's English Church Florence, The Art of Writing, theatre, WW2
We are starting off the year 2014 sharing our private impressions of Italy, in Florence during May- with five Thursday evening workshops with Australian Professor Ian Bickerton – I am really looking forward to it! Can you recall your first impression of Italy...
by Penny | 19 Oct, 2013 | Architecture, Books, Social History, The Medici, theatre
This week Katie Campbell and I visited the Medici Hunting Lodge at Cerruti Guidi – recently protected by UNESCO and scene of one of the greatest European scandals of the 16th Century. Isabella di Medici – (31 August 1542 – 16 July 1576) was the second...
by Penny | 28 Aug, 2013 | News, Opera, theatre, Tuscan gardens
Opera and more at St Mark’s Church – and Beyond! La Traviata got a standing ovation last night – roll on Rigoletto tomorrow! One of my favourite things to do in the evening in Florence is to take visiting friends to the little opera production in...
by Penny | 14 Jul, 2013 | Architecture, Books, Religious History, Social History, theatre, Tuscan gardens, WW2
Villa La Pietra – Home of Bankers -Various! This villa , with it’s extensive gardens, is one that we regularly go to on our garden tours in Tuscany. It is not only beautiful – but also quirky with so many diverse statues dotted around – and...
by Penny | 28 Jun, 2013 | Comedy, Music, News, theatre, UK Activity
A Comedy of Errors in Albert Square Gardens I really should know better than to return to England during Wimbledon – two weeks famous for the spreading of tarpaulin covers over wet grass – or worse before Glastonbury weekend – even more famous for...
by Penny | 9 May, 2013 | Architecture, Dancing, Exhibitions, Festival of San Giovanni, Music, News, Opera, theatre
Patronage and New Models for the Performing Arts in the Third Millennium 6-9 May Florence held this International Symposium as part of the 2013 Festival of Europe – A diverse group of expert speakers gave papers illustrating both the methods – and the...
