Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
La Dolce Vita
Life is
dolce
(sweet) for this privileged pocket of Italy, one of the country's wealthiest en-
claves where the family reigns supreme, and tradition and quality reign over quantity. From
the great names in viticulture to the flower-producing industry of Pescia and the small-scale
farms of rural Tuscany, it is family-run businesses handed between generations that form
the backbone of this proud, strong region.
In Florence - the only city with a faint hint of the cosmopolitan - daily life is the fastest
paced. Florentines rise early, drop their kids at school by 8am then flit from espresso to the
office by 9am. Lunch is a lengthy affair for these food- and wine-mad people, as is the
early-evening
aperitivo
(pre-dinner drinks), enjoyed in a bar with friends to whet the appet-
ite for dinner. For younger Florentines, who bear the biggest brunt of Florence's ever-rising
rent and salaries that scarcely rise, it is quite common to treat the lavish
aperitivo
spread
like dinner - enter
apericena.
Smokers, fast dwindling, puff on pavements outside.
There is no better time of day or week than late Sunday afternoon to witness the
passeg-
giata
(early evening stroll), a wonderful tradition that sees Tuscans in towns don a suitable
outfit and walk - to get a gelato, chat, meet friends, mooch, contemplate the sunset and,
quite simply, relish the close of the day at an exceedingly relaxed pace.
Theatre, concerts, art exhibitions (the free opening on Thursday evenings at Florence's
Palazzo Strozzi is always packed) and
il calcio
(football) entertain after hours. Tuscany's
top professional football club, ACF Fiorentina, has a fanatical fan base (check the memor-
abilia in Florence's Trattoria Mario).
Weekends see many flee their city apartments for less urban climes, where the din of
mo-
torini
(scooters) whizzing through the night lessens and there's more space and light: green
countryside is a mere 15-minute getaway from lucky old Florence, unlike many urban
centres where industrial sprawl really sprawls.
No title better delves into the essence of Tuscan lifestyle than
The Wisdom of Tuscany: Simplicity, Se-
curity and the Good Life - Making the Tuscan Lifestyle Your Own
by Ferenc Màté.
