The ISI Florence Guide | Listing the Best Picks of the Month to Explore the City at its Best.
SELFIE MUSEUMS
Where: Selfie Museum Florence, Via Ricasoli, 44
When: Everyday, 10:00am – 7:00pm
The Selfie Museum in Florence, Italy, is a unique fusion of art and technology, offering an immersive experience for selfie enthusiasts.
Price: Tickets € 10,00
NATHANIEL MARY QUINN SPLIT FACE
Where: Museo del Novecento, Piazza Santa Maria Novella
When: Mon to Sun (Closed Thu) 11:00am – 8:00pm
Quinn explores the construction of memory and perception with references to his personal and familial history. In his practice, he blends people and events close to him with images from magazines, comics or found photographs.
Price: Tickets starting at € 4,50
ROMEO E GIULIETTA
The exhibit will feature more than 30 original costumes worn during the filming of the 1968 movie Romeo and Juliet directed by Franco Zeffirelli. The costumes on display pay tribute to the great master costume designer Danilo Donati.
Where: Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli – Piazza di San Firenze, 5
When: Tue to Sun
Price: € 12,00 (includes access to the entire museum)
MUSEUM OF ILLUSIONS
The space where illusions meet scientific inventions and arts: physics and optics are displayed together with mysterious artworks and classical riddles.
When: Mon to Fri 10:00am – 7:00pm;
Sat & Sun 9:00am – 9:00pm
Where: Borgo degli Albizi, 29
Price: Tickets € 17,00
DOMENICA AL MUSEO: FREE ENTRANCE TO MUSEUMS
When: Sunday, February 4 – all day
Take advantage of free entrance to a selection of museums:
Galleria degli Uffizi, Galleria dell’Accademia, Museo delle Cappelle Medicee, Palazzo Pitti, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Palazzo Davanzati, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Casa Martelli, Museo di Orsanmichele, Villa Medicea di Castello, Villa il Ventaglio, Villa Corsini, Villa Medicea della Petraia.
INDIPENDENZA ANTIQUARIA
Where: Piazza Indipendenza
When: Saturday & Sunday, February 17 & 18
Monthly flea market near the city center where you can find vintage furniture, books, paintings, fine china and all sorts of interesting objects!
BLOOMING IN PARADISE
“Blooming in Paradise” envelops the spaces of Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella with an atmosphere of great impact: visual, sound and olfactory impressions linger between perception, sensoriality and beauty.
Where: Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella
When: Open Everyday 9:30am – 8:00pm
Price: FREE
QUEEN AT THE OPERA
Queen at the Opera, the rock-symphonic show based on the music of Queen, returns to the most important theaters in Italy. Timeless classics such as We Are The Champions, Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You, and The Show Must Go On will be the absolute protagonists of the show, in which the public will become an integral part of a unique experience.
When: Friday & Saturday, February 2 & 3 – 9:00pm
Where: Tuscany Hall, Lungarno Aldo Moro
Price: Tickets starting at € 28,00
2024 SUPER BOWL
The Big Game at the Hard Rock Cafe Firenze! Broadcast live starting from midnight. Game kicks off at 00:15am (Italian time)
When: Sunday, February 11 – 00:15am
Where: Hard Rock Cafè – Via Brunelleschi, 1
Price: Dinner + Game: starting at € 39,00
For special menu prices and reservations check: https://www.hardrockcafe.com/location/florence/it/
A.C. FIORENTINA – HOME GAMES
Where: Stadio Artemio Franchi, Viale Manfredo Fanti
When:
Sunday, February 11 – 12:30pm (Fiorentina vs Frosinone)
Sunday, February 26 – 8:45pm (Fiorentina vs Lazio)
Price: Varies
Website: https://www.bigliettifiorentina.com/en/
CARNEVALE!
Carnevale is an Italian holiday generally celebrated in February or March, as it doesn’t have a fixed date.
The festivity as we know it today stems from Christianity: it is the period right before Lent, which is characterized by fasting and self-denial, especially when it comes to meat. The name itself comes from the Latin “carnem levare”, which translates to “removing the meat”.
The date for the Carnevale changes depending on when Easter is: it begins exactly nine weeks before Easter and ends with Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday. For these reasons, Carnevale was seen in the past as the final time to celebrate and enjoy the pleasures of life before Lent.
The tradition of celebrating by feasting and sharing in the merriment comes from the Roman Saturnalia, a festival in which social norms were disregarded or even reversed completely, and people often wore costumes. This feature unites cities throughout Italy, and even though the most well-known celebrations are the ones in Venice, all regions throughout the Italian peninsula have their own special traditions. For example, in Viareggio, allegorical chariots parade through the town, while in Sciacca the inhabitants make paper-mâché works. The most unique Carnival tradition, however, can be found in Ivrea (Piedmont), where participants take part in the so-called Battle of the Oranges. As the name suggests the people taking part in the game throw oranges at each other.
Despite its religious roots, Carnevale is popular among many Italians, and especially families, where children are encouraged to dress up, sometimes making their own paper masks at school.
CARNEVALE DI VIAREGGIO
When: February 3/8/11/13/18/24 – Parade starting times vary according to day
Where: Viareggio
Price: Entrance tickets starting at € 16,50
Round-trip train ticket Firenze S.M.Novella – Viareggio: € 21,60
Regarded as highly as the Venetian carnival, Carnevale di Viareggio gets its name from the town on the Tyrrhenian coast. Over 150 years old, the Carnevale di Viareggio is considered amongst the most renowned carnival celebrations in both Italy and Europe. The parade features allegorical floats with political and social themes.
STEVE MCCURRY. ICONS. (PISA)
When:
Wed to Fri 10:00am – 1:00pm and 2:00pm – 7:00pm;
Sat to Sun 10:00am – 7:00pm
Where: Arsenali Repubblicani – Via Bonanno Pisano, 2
Price: € 14,00 / € 12,00 (under 26)
Website: https://www.artikaeventi.com/mccurrypisa.html
The exhibition presents the public with a selection of more than 90 masterpieces by the great American photographer. The exhibition itinerary will accompany the visitor in the discovery of McCurry’s talent, with images of great emotional impact.
GIUNTI ODEON Libreria e Cinema
Open seven days a week, from 8.30 in the morning to the end of each night’s film, Giunti Odeon is the new and improved face of the old Odeon cinema. Built over 100 years ago, Odeon has been a meeting point for cinephiles for over a century. Today, it maintains its mission as a cinema, with the addition of a bookshop, where bookshelves occupy the entire ground floor. One screen guarantees night-time movie projections, while a LED wall ensures daytime entertainment in Italian and English. Explore the beautiful architecture while browsing English and Italian books or stay until late and catch the latest movie in its original language with Italian subtitles.
LUCCA
Lucca is a charming old city with a rich history, beautiful churches and Renais-sance-era city walls that are almost perfectly intact to this day. We suggest you take a stroll on the walls to have a great view of the city, as well as a visit to Torre Giunigi (Giunigi Tower) and the garden situated on the top. Inside the city you must see Piazza Anfiteatro, built on the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre.
Getting there: There are frequent regional trains from Florence SMN station to Lucca throughout the day (about 1.5 hr. ride)
CENCI
The origin of cenci (“rags”) can be traced to Ancient Rome’s frictilia, sweet fried dough that was served during Saturnalia, a festival that resembles modern Carnival. The recipe is not much different nowadays, but despite being a relatively simple dish, most Florentines love it and purchase it around Carnival time in any pasticceria or supermarket. Fun fact! The recipe expanded to other parts of Italy during the centuries, cenci have different names in different regions, such as frappe or chiacchiere (“chit chat”).
Where to eat it: During the carnival period you can find them in most bakeries, but we suggest Forno Ghibellina (Via Ghibellina, 41r).
SCHIACCIATA alla FIORENTINA
Along with “cenci”, schiacciata alla fiorentina is a typical Carnival cake, and a favorite of Florentines. It is a sponge cake that comes in a rectangular shape and has a distinct orange and vanilla scent. Traditionally it is served plain, but you can also find it filled with Chantilly cream. It is customary to stencil the Florentine lily on top of the cake with cocoa powder. Originally, the cake was known as “Schiacciata delle Murate”, because it was made by the cloistered nuns that lived in the convent (called Le Murate) on Via Ghibellina, and after it was converted into a prison the cake was often given to prisoners as part of their last meal before being executed.
Where to eat it: During the carnival period you can find it in most bakeries, but we suggest Forno Ghibellina (Via Ghibellina, 41r).
FRITTELLE
Another Carnevale delicacy is frittelle, sweet rice balls that are a must during this period. The dish has its roots in the Renaissance (it was seen in writing for the first time in 1465!) and is made with rice cooked in milk mixed with water, sugar, and finely chopped orange peels. After the rice is cooked, rum, lemon, eggs, and a little flour are added. Once the mixture has thickened, it is rolled into little balls and fried. Before serving, the rice balls are rolled in sugar. Like many recipes in Tuscany, every family has its recipe that is passed on, so the preparation can vary.
Where to eat it: During the carnival period you can find it in most bakeries, but we suggest Forno Ghibellina (Via Ghibellina, 41r).