Fiera di Firenze: Florence’s Food and Shopping Fair

 

Spectacular food and fashionable creations can be found throughout the year in Florence, but a special event held during the harvest month of October highlights the true bounty of Italian cuisine and culture: the Fiera di Firenze, a giant food and shopping fair held at the Fortezza da Basso exhibition area in the heart of the city. Throughout the four-day event, attendees can participate in cooking classes, indulge in wine tastings and browse the latest fashion styles.

Old Markets in Florence

Food markets in Florence come in all shapes and sizes, from modern mega-grocery chains to corner shops without regular inventory. Depending on the location of your long term rentals inFlorence, two of the oldest marketplaces in Florence are worthy of your time, for they are spectacular introductions to the city’s culture of cuisine.

Harvest in Tuscany: Fall Festivals and Florentine Flavors

In the Tuscan countryside just outside of Florence, autumn falls over the landscape each October like a colorful quilt. As the grapevines yield their bounty, leaves turn from green to gold, from gold to garnet. Indeed, the rich reds of Italy’s autumn leaves evoke the color of Chianti produced by nearby vineyards, and the verdant greens hint at the color of the olio nuovo being pressed from the just-picked olives. When you are lookingfor Florence Italy apartments, be sure to find one that is free during the stunningly beautiful harvest season in Tuscany.

Festa della Rificolona: Florence’s Paper Lantern Festival

 

Paris may be known as the City of Light, but Florence has its own particular illuminating beauty. Any visitor to the city is easily influenced by the way the Tuscan sunlight mingles with the air over the  slow-flowing Arno. Pastel palazzos compete with the artistic treasures they house inside, giving fresh meaning to the phrase al fresco. At no time is the light of the city more magical than during the Festa della Rificolona, a paper lantern festival held in Florence’s main piazza each September as part of the commemoration of the Virgin Mary’s birthday.

The Festa della Rificolona is traditionally held on the 7th of September, the day before the Catholic Church’s observation of the Virgin Mary’s birthday on September 8th. In 2015, September 7th falls on a Monday, but the festivities begin on Sunday when the square outside of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata is filled with local agricultural products, including fresh cheeses and ripe figs and blackberries. The tradition dates back to the 12th century, when peasants offered gifts to the mother of Jesus from their fields and gardens.

What distinguishes this festa from others in Tuscany is the parade of bright lanterns which light the night sky on the evening of September 7th. The parade is led by the local cardinal, recreating the path of the peasants and pilgrims who would leave their villages before the light of dawn centuries ago, to present their gifts to the Virgin Mary and to pray in the basilica. In modern times when streets are lit by electricity, the lanterns are more decorative than functional. However, one cannot underestimate the impression they leave in the memory.

The Virgin Mary is revered by religious people all over the world, and images of her and the Holy Child are omnipresent in Italian churches. Adding joy to the Festa della Rificolona is the music of children’s voices as they hoist the lanterns above their heads to create a moving river of light through the evening streets. Street performers and magicians contribute to the festive atmosphere, and modern citizens from all over the world gather to participate in a medieval tradition in the city known as the heart of the Renaissance.

Florentine hotels fill quickly in advance of the festival, especially since the mild weather of September makes it an ideal time for visiting the city. Many tourists have returned home for work and the start of school, so there is easier to feel like a local when walking the streets. Bybooking one of the available long term apartment rentals in FlorenceItaly, you not only guarantee your own home base for the days surrounding the paper lantern festival, but can take advantage of the many other local happenings that begin to fill the calendar with the approach of autumn and the holiday season.

Museums in Florence: free entry on the first Sunday every month

Choose the right period to visit Florence, public museums are free on the first Sunday of every month.

Florence is one of the best destinations for those who want to admire art and architecture from the Reinassance.

The city has some of the most important museums in the world, and you can easily walk to all of them if 
you take a short rental in the city centre of Florence.

Take your time visiting the Uffizi Gallery and pass a few minutes admiring the Venere of  Botticelli or the  

Primavera. 

The civic museums available in the city centre are: Palazzo Vecchio Museum, Novecento Museum,  

Stefano Bardini Museum, Brancacci Chapel,  Salvatore Romano Foundation,  S.Maria Novella 

Museum, Forte di Belvedere and Riccardo Garnielo Gallery.

 

Here is a short list of the public museums available in the city centre: 

The Uffizi Gallery

One of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world. The Uffizi Gallery, has the world’s finest 

collection of Italian Renaissance painting, particularly of the Florentine school. 

It also has antiques, sculpture and more than 100,000 drawings and prints.

Bargello Museum

Formally National Museum of the Bargello, Italian Museo Nazionale del Bargello, art museum housed 

in the Palazzo del Bargello (or del Podestà),Florence, which dates from the 13th and 14th centuries. 

The museum was established in 1865 and is especially famous for its collection of Renaissance sculpture. 

There is also a collection of decorative arts, with displays of ivories, bronzes, majolica, medals, textiles, 
arms, and armour. The collection includes works by Luca Della Robbia and Benvenuto Cellini. 

Gallery of the Academy

 

Italian Galleria Dell’accademia, chiefly famous for several sculptures by Michelangelo, notably his

David. It also has a collection of 15th- and 16th-century paintings and many 13th–16th-century Tuscan

paintings. It was founded in 1784 by the grand duke Pietro Leopoldo and was subsequently enlarged.

Cappelle Medicee, Florence

A week in the Tuscany region of Italy is just not enough to see all of the amazing architecture, vineyards, and other famous sites. Taking short term rentals in Florence provides you with a base to the entire Tuscany countryside. During your short term holiday consider taking in the grand Cappelle Medicee.

Foreign Students Parties

To have absolute freedom as a foreign student in Florence, Italy, why not consider a long term rental. Florence rentals for students are an opportune way to enjoy that freedom and comfort. Surprise your new friends with a party at your place. However, if this does not appeal to you there are several night clubs that cater more to the foreign student.

Florentine Libraries that Stay Open until the Night

Class times vary for all students including foreign students, which is why it is important to find libraries that remain open well into the evening. Florence offers a range of libraries throughout the city. Choosing a library based on time is one aspect that will be important; however, consider how close it might be to Florence students’ long term rentals that you can choose to stay in during your university studies in this iconic Italian city.

Get a New Job in Tuscany

 

Tuscany is a vast and wonderful part of Italy offering plenty of choices for visitors to enjoy. For many who visit intending on staying a short while, they end up moving to Tuscany making their life and home in this beautiful, verdant region. The allure of the wine, cuisine, and culture of Tuscany might be calling you, but you may need to get a job in Tuscany in order to finance your move; as well as to stay for a long duration. Consider also the apartments in Tuscany available to you, which will make it easier for you to live and work.

Boboli and Bardini Gardens, Florence

 

Florence, Italy is an amazing city in the Tuscany region offering numerous attractions, schools, and entertainment for visitors whether they spend a week or a month, or even longer here. Whether time is short or you will spend months in Florence the historic Boboli and Bardini Gardens are well worth a visit. You can explore both gardens in an afternoon as it only takes three hours to take both of them in. If you wish to explore the Fort and Pitti Palace, you will need a few more hours.

American Universities in Florence

Adding culture to your background ensures you have something to talk about later in life, but more importantly than that, it offers a better CV. It is exciting to be in a foreign city where you can enjoy the clubs, the various historical sites, and get your degree, but you also want to know the university you have chosen will be internationally recognized. American Universities in Florence offer you a degree that can translate back to your home country. Before you apply to any university on the list or those you research on your own, consider longterm rentals for Florence students. You should have a rental that is affordable, yet near your university to make it easy to study and attend classes.

Medici’s Florence: Historical Power

Intrigue, wealth, and power are the legacies of the de' Medici family which reigned in Florence for four centuries. Many things have been written regarding the Medici's and their dynasty, whilst staying in one of the apartments in Florence you can enjoy first hand their all-encompassing heritage. You can visit old family homes, research the popes they produced, and see their artistic legacy in the Uffizi Museum. With such an interesting and mysterious family to study and research while on holiday, short term rentals in Florence make perfect sense. In this way you can stay affordably as well as enjoy the wealth of beauty, architecture, and history that fills Florence. 

Annual Festivals of Florence to Enjoy with your Short Term Rentals

If you are one of the lucky ones that have more than a week to devote to touring Florence, then you may be in time for one of the annual festivals held in this great Italian city. Most of the festivals have religious connotations; however, there are also music and dance festivals you might enjoy while staying at one of the many apartments in Florence. With your apartment you have the convenience of space, privacy, and full kitchen facilities. While festivals might offer a plethora of Florentine cuisine, your apartment offers you the chance to prepare a fresh authentic dish.

Fashion Schools in Florence

 Credits: "Ferragamo Sandal #sketching #drawing #shoe #ferragamo #sandals #vintage #fashion #style #tradition #florence #madeinitaly, Francesca Romana Correale

 

Florence and fashion are certainly two topics that go well together. Florence is known for its fashion designers, although admittedly, it is not as renowned as Milan. Coming here to study fashion students are going to need a place to live that is convenient to their school. The list of fashion schools in Florence shared here should help you find Florence rentals for foreign students that are convenient to your top choices of fashion locales. Consider the history of the school, what its principle purposes are, and whether it can help advance your career in fashion to be a world renowned designer. 

 

The IED School of Fashion in Florence

IED, as it is known by the locals, started in 1951 offering three year courses for fashion minded students. At this complete school of study it is possible to learn Italian design history, theory, and become a top designer at local firms when you are done. IED Moda Lab has the responsibility of teaching how to express your creativity in fashion. They embrace the whole world of fashion and individual parts to ensure you are able to interact in the fashion world on a professional level. Coming here you learn how to create the professional profile you need to be in the industry. 

 

Polimoda Fashion School

This fashion school and Institute of Design and Marketing offers a well-rounded education to those studying fashion to make it, sell it, or market it. With high quality courses for designing, marketing and merchandising, students come away with a degree and CV that shows they have been fully and properly trained for this hard core industry of study.

Accademia Italiana Fashion School

This fashion and design school has two locations: Florence and Rome. With an international acclaim, Accademia Italiana is known for turning out great designers in Italian fashion. Although its history only started in 1984, numerous talents have been recognised for their abilities to teach more than just art or design. Product design, textile design and graphic design are a part of the topics taught here. With international recognition even by the Italian Minister of Education, students know they are accepted at a prestigious university for design when they enrol here. 

 

International Fashion Design at FITNYC

Fashion Institute of Technology NYC is a Florence based university for fashion design, applied science, and much more. Students coming here are eligible to earn a degree in fashion to work in a variety of fashion related positions from designing new clothing lines to working in the textile industry.

The list is far from complete when it comes to fashion schools in Florence, but it does offer you an idea of the top named schools in the Tuscany region to consider for your education.