Firenze Tango Festival 2011 in Florence

Firenze Tango Festival 2011 will take place in Florence from April 28th to May 1st, 2011.
30 international artists, 40 workshops, performances every night, tango dancers from all over the world.
Dancing in the Saschall Theatre means: 2500 sq dedicated to tango in a location with high quality light and sound system, 2 orchestras, big tangoshow on the stage, 2 dance floors (“traditional” and “alternative”), afternoon milonga, table reservation and table service, exposition of tango shoes and clothes.

HOTEL MARIO'S

Via Faenza, 89      50123 Firenze

Tel. 0039 055 216801

Fax: 0039 055 212039

www.hotelmarios.com

info@hotelmarios.com

39° GUARDA FIRENZE

DOMENICA 8 MAGGIO si svolgerà la 39° edizione della Guarda Firenze, manifestazione sportivo-istruttiva che si pone come obiettivo primario quello di favorire la conoscenza della storia di Firenze attraverso la consueta passeggiata turistico-sportiva per le strade della città, alla quale è abbinato un concorso tematico che la caratterizza. 
E’ organizzata dalla Firenze Marathon e dal suo club, l’Atletica Firenze Marathon, con l’Alto Patronato del Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione. Si tratta di una manifestazione sportiva caratterizzata da un ricco aspetto educativo che coinvolge studenti, genitori, insegnanti, adulti e meno giovani in un evento sportivo e culturale sulle importanti tradizioni fiorentine.

Il Concorso indetto dall'Assessorato alla pubblica istruzione è rivolto agli studenti delle scuole elementari e medie ed è incentrato ogni anno su temi che affrontano elementi particolari legati alla storia, al costume, alla vita della Città, indirizzando l’attenzione dei giovani anche a luoghi, a monumenti, a palazzi meno noti, ma la cui conoscenza, almeno sommaria, costituisce un necessario e utile complemento per la loro formazione.  Guarda Firenze ed Educazione alla Salute Un aspetto del progetto condiviso con l'Azienda USL di Firenze - La Firenze Marathon, da sempre impegnata nel sociale, si propone tra l’altro, con l’organizzazione della manifestazione Guarda Firenze, di indirizzare i ragazzi, le proprie famiglie, gli adulti e i meno giovani partecipanti alla Guarda Firenze verso uno stile di vita che presti particolare attenzione alla propria salute fisica e psichica e alla prevenzione delle malattie. La Guarda Firenze con la specifica attività della Mini Guarda Firenze si inserisce in un più ampio progetto di Educazione alla Salute rivolto alla scuola e agli adulti promosso dalla Firenze Marathon e dalla Asl di Firenze in collaborazione con altri Enti pubblici e Associazionismo privato.   Trofeo Fratres Donatori di Sangue La presenza di Fratres Donatori di Sangue alla manifestazione si propone tra l'altro di sensibilizzare i partecipanti alla donazione del sangue dal momento che la donazione di sangue prevede che il donatore abbia uno stile di vita particolarmente attento alla propria salute. Fratres sarà presente domenica 9 maggio in Piazza del Duomo con la propria automoteca dove distribuirà materiale informativo e regalerà simpatici gadgets. Fitwalking Salute, benessere, forma fisica sono gli obiettivi che caratterizzano il Fitwalking. La manifestazione di solo cammino, nello stile proposto dal fitwalking, attività motoria non agonistica, si svolgerà sulle due distanze di km 3 e 6 km. Per accedere alla sezione Fitwalking della Guarda Firenze 2011 è necessario iscriversi specificamente alla prova di Fitwalking presso il relativo gazebo presente in piazza.   HOTEL MARIO'S Via Faenza, 89 50123 Firenze Tel. 0039 055 216801 Fax. 0039 055 212039 www.hotelmario.com hotelmarios@hotelmarios.com

CORA 2011 INT. CONGRESS ON CONTROVERSIES IN RHEUMATOLOGY AND AUTOIMMUNITY

In Florence, from 10th to 12th March 2011 will take place at the Palazzo dei Congressi the Congress on controversies in Rheumatology and Autoimmunity organized by Kenes.
 Hotel Mario's is glad to offer a great hospitality for all the participants. The Hotel is few steps far from the Palazzo dei Congressi.
 Get your information through:

www.hotelmarios.com
info@hotelmario.com

via Faenza 89,
50123,Florence
Italy

A nice video of Florence in the Renaissance period

 Hi everybody,

  today we want to share a nice video, which explains something of the city during the period of Michelangelo, Leonardo and Botticelli:


http://tv.repubblica.it/edizione/firenze/palazzo-vecchio-la-firenze-del-400-rivive-in-3d/62399?video



info@hotelmarios.com
www.hotelmarios.com
via Faenza, 89
50123, Florence
Italy

Firenze: Santa Maria Novella railway station

Santa Maria Novella railway station

Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station is the main national and international railway station in Florence and is used by 59 million people every year. 

The building designed by Giovanni Michelucci was built in Italian Rationalism style and it's considered one of the main rationalist building in Italy. 

It's located in Piazza della Stazione, near the Fortezza da Basso and the Viali di Circonvallazione, and in front of the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella's apse from which takes its name.

Mario’s Hotel is located on Via Faenza, number 89, an unusual niche of tranquillity in an otherwise bustling city. Our half of via Faenza (the half nearest Santa Maria Novella train station) is not an ZTL zone, meaning most traffic is allowed down it. No parking is allowed therefore you must park in a nearby garage however, Mario’s guests get parking facilities here at discount rates!

If arriving by air you can take the city shuttle to Santa Maria Novella Station. To reach the hotel from here go parallel to the station on its right hand side and turn right at Piazza Adua and continue along Via Cennini. When you come to Via Faenza turn right and you’ll soon come to Mario’s Hotel – number 89.

If you’re coming by car simply follow signs for the station then the directions above. The Fortezza da Basso conference and trade fair centre are within a few minutes walk of the hotel.

Culture week 2011 in Italy - Settimana della Cultura 2011

Dates have just been confirmed for the 13th edition of ‘Settimana della Cultura’ – it will run from the 9th to the 17th of April 2011. This ‘Culture Week’ is an annual event that sees all Italian State museums waive their entrance fees. If you are visiting during this period please note that you still have to make a booking, and both tickitaly and the museum charge a booking fee – it is the actual ticket that is free of charge.
The following venues are affected:
Florence – Uffizi Gallery, Accademy, Bargello, Medici Chapels, Pitti Palace
Rome – Colosseum , Borghese Gallery
Milan – Brera Gallery
Venice –  Accademy

and many others in all over Italy. At Hotel Mario's, in Florence, we have a special offer for who is gonna stay 6 days during the week between 9th and 17th of April 2011: please, don't hesitate to contact us for booking and for asking about the special offer : info@hotelmarios.com   ( www.hotelmarios.com )

Stay in Florence, enjoy the city of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci

Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, called DONATELLO

Donatello's statue outside of the Uffizi Galleria.

In Florence, Donatello assisted Lorenzo Ghiberti with the statues of prophets for the north door of the Florence Baptistery, for which he received payment in November 1406 and early 1408. In 1409–1411 he executed the colossal seated figure of Saint John the Evangelist, which until 1588 occupied a niche of the old cathedral facade, and is now placed in a dark chapel of the Duomo. This work marks a decisive step forward from late Gothic Mannerism in the search for naturalism and the rendering of human feelings. The face, the shoulders and the bust are still idealized, while the hands and the fold of cloth over the legs are more realistic.

In 1411–1413 Donatello worked on a statue of St. Mark for the church of Orsanmichele. In 1417 he completed the St. George for the Confraternity of the Cuirass-makers. The elegant St. George and the Dragon relief on the statue's base, executed in schiacciato (also known as bas-relief or basso rilievo) is one of the first examples of central-point perspective in sculpture.

From 1423 is the St. Louis of Toulouse, now in the Museum of the Basilica di Santa Croce. Donatello had also sculpted a tabernacle for this work, but it was sold in 1460 to house the Incredulity of St. Thomas by Verrocchio.

Between 1415 and 1426, Donatello created five statues for the campanile of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, also known as the Duomo. These works are the Beardless Prophet; Bearded Prophet (both from 1415); the Sacrifice of Isaac (1421); Habbakuk (1423–1425); and Jeremiah (1423–1426); which follow the classical models for orators and are characterized by strong portrait details. From the late teens is the Pazzi Madonna relief in Berlin. In 1425, he executed the notable Crucifix for Santa Croce; this work portrays Christ in a moment of the agony, eyes and mouth partially opened, the body contracted in an ungraceful posture.

Between 1425–1427, Donatello collaborated with Michelozzo on the funerary monument of the Antipope John XXIII for the Battistero in Florence. Surely by Donatello is the recumbent bronze figure of the deceased, under a shell. In 1427, he completed in Pisa a marble panel for the funerary monument of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci at the church of Sant'Angelo a Nilo in Naples. In the same period, he executed the relief of the Feast of Herod and the statues of Faith and Hope for the Baptstery of San Giovanni in Siena. The relief is mostly in stiacciato, while the foreground figures are done in bas-relief.

Make your reservation at Hotel Mario's and enjoy Florence and all its great spots.

Hotel Mario's
via Faenza, 89
50123, Florence
+39-055216801 tel
+39-055212039 fax
info@hotelmarios.com
www.hotelmarios.com

Piazzale Michelangelo, what a wonderful hill of Florence

The Piazzale Michelangelo is dedicated to the city's most famous renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti. At the center of the square stands a replica of his most famous statue, the David. The bronze statue is set on a large pedestal, decorated with replicas of allegorical statues depicting day, night, twilight and dawn. The original, marble statue of David can be seen in theat the Galleria dell' Accademia.t was built in 1869 and designed by architect Giuseppe Poggi on a hill just south of the historic center, on completion of retraining of the left bank of the shore. From that fact, Florence was the capital of Italy and the whole city was involved in an urban renewal, the so-called rehabilitation, or the rebirth of the city middle class: they were created lungarni; on the right bank, instead of the fourteenth-century walls were open the avenues of the ring of a boulevard, on the left bank was traced, wind on the hill of San Miniato, the Viale dei Colli, a street tree overview 8 kilometers long, at whose climax the square was built as a terrace with a panoramic view inside the city.
Just remember that most of Piazzale Michelangelo is a parking lot, and one comes here to enjoy the view. It can be reached by taking either bus 12 or 13 from the center or the red two-level sightseeing tour bus. It can also be reached by foot, climbing up from Piazza Poggi found at the base of the hill upon which Piazzale Michelangelo sits.
 Hotel Mario's is not so far from the Piazzale ( as the Fiorentini call it ). You could walk through the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio and then the amazing  quarter of San Niccolo' and if it's a beautiful and sunny day, it will be a pleasure.
 Make your reservation at Hotel Mario's and enjoy Florence and all its great spots.

Hotel Mario's
via Faenza, 89
50123, Florence
+39-055216801 tel
+39-055212039 fax
info@hotelmarios.com
www.hotelmarios.com

Calcio Fiorentino

MARIO'S HOTEL:

YOUR HOTEL IN FLORENCE

Illustration of a game of Calcio Fiorentino from 1688

Calcio Fiorentino was an early form of football that originated in 16th century Italy. The Piazza Santa Croce of Florence is the cradle of this sport, that became known as giuoco del calcio fiorentino ("Florentine kick game") or simply calcio ("kick").

The official rules of calcio were published for the first time in 1580 by Giovanni de' Bardi, a Florentine count. Just like Roman harpastum, it was played in teams of 27, using both feet and hands. Goals could be scored by throwing the ball over a designated spot on the perimeter of the field. The playing field is a giant sand pit with a goal running the width of each end. There is a main referee, six linesmen and a field master. Each game is played out for 50 minutes with the winner being the team with the most points or 'cacce'.

Originally, calcio was reserved for rich aristocrats, who played every night between Epiphany and Lent. In the Vatican, even Popes, such as Clement VII, Leo XI and Urban VIII were known to play.

The sport was not played for around two hundred years but then revived in the twentieth century when organized games began again in 1930. Today, three matches are played each year in Piazza Santa Croce, in the 3rd week of June. The modern version allows tactics such as head-butting, punching, elbowing, and choking, but forbids sucker punching and kicks to the head.

Florence: the Fountain of Neptune

Stay at

Mario's Hotel

and its staff helps you to visit Florence

The Fountain of Neptune is a fountain in Florence, Italy, situated on the Piazza della Signoria (Signoria square), in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.

Fountain of Neptune

This work by Bartolomeo Ammannati (1563–1565) and some assistants, such as Giambologna, was commissioned on the occasion of the wedding of Francesco I de' Medici with grand duchess Johanna of Austria in 1565. The assignment had first been given to Baccio Bandinelli, who designed the model but he died before he could start working on the block of Apuan marble.
The Neptune figure, whose face resembles that of Cosimo I de' Medici, was meant to be an allusion to the dominion of the Florentines over the sea. The figure stands on a high pedestal in the middle of an octagonal fountain. The pedestal in the middle is decorated with the mythical chained figures of Scylla and Charybdis. The statue of Neptune is a copy made in the nineteenth century, while the original is in the National Museum.
However, when the work was finished, it was not appreciated in particular by the Florentines, who called it Il Biancone (the white giant).
Work continued on this fountain during the next ten years. Ammannati, with the assistance of the best Florentine sculptors and casters, added around the perimeter of the basin, in a mannerist style, suave, reclining, bronze river gods, laughing satyrs and marble sea-horses emerging from the water. The monumental marble and the dynamic bronzes give nevertheless a coherent impression. The fountain served as an example for future fountain-makers.

YOUR STAY AT HOTEL MARIO'S

MARIO'S HOTEL:

Choose your right promotion for your stay in Florence

Welcome to Mario’s 3 Star Hotel in the Renaissance city of Firenze. With a cosy and friendly atmosphere and a great central location, Mario’s is a family run Guest House style hotel which offers comfort and service with a smile to guests from all over the world. Blending the old world charm of Florence in the fixtures and fittings of a 17th century building with the modern luxuries and comforts expected by today’s traveller, The Florentine hotel owners Leonardo and his brothers like to personally afford each and every guest that personal touch and leave you with happy memories of a pleasant and fruitful stay in Florence. 

 

The ornate renaissance building which houses Mario’s Hotel dates back to the 17th century, when it was the aristocratic residence of a noble of the great Florentine Republic and was converted into a hotel in 1872. Today, Mario's is still run by a Florentine family who have been in the hospitality industry for generations. Leonardo and his brothers will make sure that the 3 Star Hotel Marios continues to remain the value for money, charming Florentine Guest House for which it is famous. Now refurbished and improved, through continuous change Mario’s Guest House is a perfect blend of charm and splendour from the cradle of the renaissance with modern customer service and with only 16 rooms we’re able to give each and every guest personal service.

The entire property is air conditioned and central heated, with 21st century insulation and a range of mod cons like power showers, international satellite TV and a Hotel Bar with internet point where you can relax and catch up on those emails. Business clients are welcome to use our fax and photocopier and will be pleased to know we’re located right by the Fortezza da Basso Exhibition Centre.

TASTE 6: 12-14 March 2011_Stazione Leopolda_ Florence

Choose your stay at 
MARIO'S HOTEL
for Taste 6

Pitti Immagine presents the sixth edition of Taste, the event devoted to excellence in Italian food - featuring about 200 specialist and niche companies: three days of sampling, discovering, buying, events and lifestyles dedicated to taste.

Taste is a fun and absorbing experience for members of the gastronimic and catering trade as well as the general public, who can discover the myriad ways to express and experiment with taste today.

Taste describes and presents the roots of Italian food and wine culture, its extraordinary diversity and ability to become an international heritage. For this reason it represents a unique meeting place for italian and international high-end food professionals, always looking for genuine, original flavors.
The last edition was attended by over 10.000 visitors, and obtained great press and TV coverage.

FUORIDITASTE

Fuoriditaste is a program of off-site events: a schedule of food and wine events involving the whole city of Florence, featuring the city's restaurants, specially food stores and boutiques, art galleries, theaters and museums. The last edition of Fuoriditaste in March 2010 was a great success with public and critics alike, and presented over 100 events in some of the city's top locations.

LORENZO DE' MEDICI, known as THE MAGNIFICENT

Lorenzo by Girolamo Macchietti

MARIO'S HOTEL staff wants to take you into the history of Florence.

Lorenzo de' Medici (January 1, 1449 – April 9, 1492) was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (Lorenzo il Magnifico) by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets. His life coincided with the high point of the early Italian Renaissance; his death marked the end of the Golden Age of Florence. The fragile peace he helped maintain between the various Italian states collapsed with his death. Lorenzo de' Medici is buried in the Medici Chapel in Florence.

Lorenzo's court included artists such as Piero and Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Michelangelo Buonarroti who were involved in XV century Renaissance. Although he did not commission many works himself, he helped them secure commissions from other patrons. Michelangelo lived with Lorenzo and his family for several years, dining at the family table and attending meetings of the Neo-Platonic Academy.

Lorenzo was an artist himself, writing poetry in his native Tuscan. In his poetry he celebrates life even while - particularly in his later works - acknowledging with melancholy the fragility and instability of the human condition. Love, feasts and light dominate his verse.

Cosimo had started the collection of books which became the Medici Library (also called the Laurentian Library) and Lorenzo expanded it. Lorenzo's agents retrieved from the East large numbers of classical works, and he employed a large workshop to copy his books and disseminate their content across Europe. He supported the development of humanism through his circle of scholarly friends who studied Greek philosophers, and attempted to merge the ideas of Plato with Christianity; among this group were the philosophers Marsilio Ficino, Poliziano and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola.