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| Vespucci was
born in Florence in March of 1451,
and grew up in a considerable mansion near the river Arno. Amerigo
Vespucci was the one person for whom North
and South America was named after. He excelled in mathematics and
his hobby was copying maps. His dream as a young
boy was to travel and get a better picture about what the Earth looked
like... |
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FLORENCE Districts
SS. ANNUNZIATA
by Marco De La Pierre
 At
the heart of this district lies the magnificent Piazza Santissima
Annunziata, a beautiful space dominated by the presence of the
elegant SS.Annunziata Church. This church originally stood
outside the second circle of city walls. Between 1444 and 1481 Michelozzo,
Pagno Portinari and Antonio Manetti (with
suggestions from the architect Alberti) remodelled it
into its present form.
The facade has a portico that rests on Corinthian
columns and the central portal leads to the Chiostrino
dei Voti (1447), a scenic space with lunettes frescoed by Pontormo, Rosso
Fiorentino, and Andrea del Sarto (1511-1513).
Also to be admired is Volterrano's magnificent coffered
ceiling (1664)... What we're saying is, if you live in this district
you can't miss a visit to this church (come on, we're
not asking you to go to Sunday morning mass!...)
 This
area is characterized by the strong presence of thousands of
students that attend the several Faculties and University facilities
that have their seats in this and in the neighboring San
Marco district (literature, fine arts, law, political science, architecture,
student cafeterias, student houses, etc..).
Moreover in Piazza Brunelleschi, very close to Piazza
Santissima Annunziata, there is the beautiful and well-organized 'Centro
Linguistico d'Ateneo' or 'Rotonda Brunelleschi' where
you can attend - at very reasonable prices (!) - courses in Italian,
English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic and more
in the cool and relaxing atmosphere of this Public Linguistic
Center designed by Brunelleschi himself...
[click
for more info]
Here you can find many inexpensive (but nice!) cafés (perfect
for students and budget travellers), many pizzerias and
Italian and international restaurants (with fixed menus
for lunch) and many aperitif bars (where you can eat
as much as you want for the price of a cocktail, around 6-8 Euros...).
The best streets in the area for eating and drinking economically are: Via
dei Servi, Via dei Pucci, Via Bufalini and Via
Capponi (it's better if you arrive between 12am and 1pm, before
the 'invasion' of the students and the employees in the area). The
quality of food is good and prices are generally much lower than the
ones you can find 200 meters away in overcrowded 'Renaissance
Disneyland'... that is... the San
Giovanni (Duomo) district.
RESTAURANTS: OLIANDOLO.
CAFE': ROBIGLIO.
CLUBS: BEBOP.
BARS: SHOT CAFE'.
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Italy is in the Central European Time Zone: GMT
+1.
When it is noon in Florence it is: 12:00 in Paris, Madrid and Berlin,
11:00 in London and Dublin,
06:00 in New York and Washington,
03:00 in San Francisco and Los
Angeles, 14:00 in Moscow and
20:00 in Sydney and Brisbane. |
| ... The electrical current in Italy is 220 Volts AC;
50 Hertz. If you come from abroad you need a Southern European adapter
for appliances you bring from your country. So, if you arrive without
one, a converter can be easily found at a local DIY shop or electrical
supply store in Florence. |
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