Hotel Alessandra Blog

 In the 2010 Week of the hard Culture ten days!! The "12° Week of the culture", begins the 16 opens them and finishes day 25. In the beautiful days of spring it will be pleasant to walk in town enjoying  the opportunity to take advantage of the free entrance in all the places of art under the statal management. Moreover the Culture Week it puts with a fan of proposals with a rich program between extraordinary openings, guided visits, didactic extensions, laboratories us and concerts, or to

  When staying in Florence, Tuscany, there are so many beautiful squares, museums, frescoes and shops to visit that you don't have much time to go to a restaurant. The best thing to do, instead of going to a busy and fattening fast food, is to eat typical Italian food at one of the numerous delicatessen stalls in the main markets in town.

1. Panini with lampredotto

The most distinctive Florentine street food is something that may sound disgusting but, believe me, once you have tasted it, you'll

 When you first arrive in Florence, its easy to think that the entire city is filled with camera-snapping, tour-grouping crowds of visitors. And for many of the most famous sights in Florence, this is true. From the church of San Lorenzo and the surrounding street market, down past the Accademia, Duomo and Uffizi Gallery the tourists are often so thick that I've taken to attaching a small plow to the front of my bike just so I can get around. However, there are also many absolutely beautiful

 Piazzale Michelangelo

Piazzale Michelangelo has the views of Florence and beyond. All you have to do is turn around once you walk the hike up through San Niccolo, up further as you start to get your camera out to take your first picture of Florence, you must press on to the tippy top. Once there, enjoy the markets, vendors with refreshing beverages and ice cream. Now what you see straight ahead of you is Fiesole up on the hill with the tiny bell tower in the middle. Fiesole is reached by bus

For first time International travelers landing in a foreign country can be intimidating.

But what do you do when you land at an airport ?

Here is a formula, a sort of « shock therapy » that acclimates your mind to a the new land: If you are arriving and meeting a friend, don't have the friend meet you at the airport. Make it your goal to find the way to your friend. If you are arriving and going straight to the hotel, try to use public transportation to get there. Right away you will need to use

 A race which lasts less than 2 minutes, is the subject of debate and competition all year round and can cause men and women to laugh or cry; such is the Palio, the greatest traditional festival in Siena.

Siena is divided into seventeen contrade, or areas of the city. The Sienese people belong first to a contrada and then to the city. Each contrada competes against one another in the Palio, and rivalry and competition are an integral part of the preceding months before the event. Ten contrade