TUSCAN CUISINE

Stay at Hotel Mario's!!! Our staff will help you in food and wine tasting......in living Tuscan customs!!!

Tuscan cuisine has a great tradition in the culture of the region. Tuscan people love good food. The cuisine is characterized by simple dishes made from healthy ingredients.

Among the characteristic features of Tuscan cuisine, we can find olive oil of excellent quality and the wise use of spices such as thyme, sage, rosemary, basil and tarragon. These spices are found in a variety of dishes, soups, meats, fish and desserts.

Tuscan culinary tradition is strongly influenced by the characteristics typical of the Tuscan landscape itself. Local seasonal vegetables such as fennel, artichokes, garlic and tomatoes are widely used. The humble bean, which grows beautifully in Tuscany, is used in many different ways to get tasty dishes such as beans with pork sausage.

Among other interesting local ingredients are the chestnuts, mushrooms, game (wild boar and pheasant) and fish from the Tyrrhenian Sea. These dishes are complemented by local wines such as Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino.

Many dishes have a close bond with poor cuisine of the past, a cuisine based mainly on the use of imaginative Tuscan unsalted bread and typical food of the times when people could not help but use their wits to make the best products available.

Tuscan cuisine includes also developed and sophisticated dishes. These include meats with a "dolceforte" ("sweet and strong") preparation, coming from the splendor of the Renaissance courts, where astounding guests was more important that satisfy the palate!

Every city has its own specialties. And this is easily found if one considers the many sweets and cakes typical holiday: the Gingerbread and Ricciarelli of Siena, the Cantucci of Prato (Prato typical sweet almond), the Chestnut (sweet chestnut flour typical of Lucca), the Zuccotto (typical of Florence) and Pie with Bischeri (a sweet Easter period, typical of Pisa, with rice, candied fruit, chocolate, raisins, pine nuts and liquor).

AIFREF 2010: 13th International Conference Family Education and Childcare Services, Fortezza da Basso, Florence, 17-19 November 2010

Hotel Mario's can offer you a beautiful and relaxing accomodation for your conferences. We are very near the congress centre, only three-four minutes. Contact us at hotelmarios@hotelmarios.com or call 0039 055 216 801.
Childcare services have by their nature developed a focus on relations with parents. In the best experiences, parents are involved on a number of occasions, from individual interviews to group meetings, from workshops to parties. Childcare services seem thus to be ready to meet a new challenge, becoming a family education setting.

Conference themes

1. Parenting support policies
Parenting support includes a broad range of activities, from prevention, information and education carried out by social and health services, to the actions increasingly implemented by childcare education services aiming at combining early childhood and parenthood education. Which are the strategies identified? How can services monitor social change in order to adjust their actions, and how do they assess the outcome of their activities?

2. The educational role of the members of the "family system" (mother, father, siblings, grandparents, etc. )
The transformation in family models is generating new types of families and a change in the parental figures of the mother and father, and of the grandparents as well. This in turn deeply modifies the educational roles taken on by the members of the family system as a whole. Whatich are the new needs generated by the family roles reconfiguration? To what extent are family education and parenting support providing instruments to cope with this change?

3. Families' participation in childcare services
Parenting support actions allow help to stimulate parents or future parents to reflect on their educational role, providing them with guidance, references and useful competences for their parental function. These actions also allow for the assessment of parents' participation in the services and programmes addressed to them, as well as their involvement in the care and upbringing of their children. How can services monitor and strengthen parents' participation and involvement? Which strategies are they adopting to reach those parents who are not involved in socio-educational services?

4. The educators' skills (competences and professionalism)
Professionals and educators working in parenting support programmes and services require sound theoretical and practical skills, but must also be able to recognize parents' own competences and the resources provided by their working environment. What are the training opportunities available for these professionals so that they become appropriately qualified to support parenting? Which are the basic qualifications and continuing education required for them?

5. The biographies and experiences of stakeholders (children, parents, educators, etc…)
Parenting support services, both social(socio-medical) and educational, are a potential vantage point on the stakeholders' life experiences. The emphasis on such experiences is instrumental to a more appropriate conception of actions and a more fruitful reshaping of strategies. In parenting support initiatives, to what extent and through which strategies is this focus applied, and what are the results obtained by working on stakeholders' experiences and perceptions?

6. Family education and health
Pedagogy is reappropriating a number of dimensions connected to family -life that over time had become the exclusive competence of medical knowledge. Educators increasingly interact with medical and healthcare staff and with psychologists in the framework of family counselling centres or, for instance, of birth and post-partum preparation courses. Which competences (What skills )are needed by the educators involved in these educational activities? Which are the most important lessons to be learned from their experiences?

ACM 2010 International Conference, 25-29 October 2010, Florence

Hotel Mario's can offer you a beautiful and relaxing accomodation for your conferences. We are very near the congress centre, only three-four minutes. Contact us at hotelmarios@hotelmarios.com or call 0039 055 216 801.
ACM Multimedia 2010 is the worldwide premier multimedia conference and a key event to display scientific achievements and innovative industrial products. ACM Multimedia 2010 offers to scientists and practitioners in the area of Multimedia plenary scientific and technical sessions – with keynote speeches, oral, poster and video presentations, technical demonstrations and exhibits -, opportunities for deepenings – organized as discussion rooms, symposiums and tutorials and panels with worldwide recognized scientists and opinion leaders -, and competitions of research teams on relevant and challenging questions about the industry’s two-five years horizon for multimedia. As a companion event, the Interactive Art program will provide the opportunity of interaction between artists and computer scientists and investigation on the application of multimedia technologies to art and cultural heritage. Workshops associated to ACM Multimedia 2010 will provide in-focus forums of discussion on some of the most relevant and timely scientific topics in the field.

In more detail the complete program of ACM Multimedia 2010 will include:
Scientific presentations

* Full Paper and Short Paper program: including oral and poster presentations selected according to the ACM Multimedia policy and organized in four distinct tracks: Multimedia Content Analysis, Multimedia Systems, Multimedia Interaction, Multimedia Applications.
* Brave New Ideas program: implemented as a special sessions track containing papers extending the boundaries of multimedia research and eventually opening new lines of research development.
* Video program: implemented as a special session track of video displays where researchers can demonstrate their systems or applications without having to bring the equipment for a “live” demo.

Interactive Art program

* Interactive Art program: implemented as a special session track of multimedia art exhibition, and of applications, and technical solutions for cultural heritage.

Competitions

* Open Source Software Competition: aimed at emphasizing the impact the ACM Multimedia conference on software development and practice.
* Multimedia Grand Challenge: presenting challenges from industry leaders, geared to engage the multimedia research community in solving relevant questions about the industry’s 2-5 year horizon. For more informations see the Multimedia Grand Challenge 2010 web site

In-depth courses and discussions

* Tutorials: addressing the state-of-the-art developments of multimedia of interest from novices to mature researchers, from people working in academia to industry professionals.
* Panels: consisting of discussions with recognized experts, addressing some of the most timely and controversial topics in the field of multimedia.
* Discussion Rooms: a new opportunity for researchers to gather freely and start non-structured debates on hot topics of multimedia.
* Doctoral Symposium: an opportunity for students involved in the preparation of a PhD to discuss their research issues and ideas with senior researchers, and receive constructive feedback.

Demos and exhibits

* Technical Demos: showing what is currently possible regarding all aspects of multimedia technology and its applications.
* Industrial Exhibit: providing the exhibition of new multimedia products of industries and companies to stimulate the dialogue between industry and the research community.

Workshops

* Workshops will complement the themes of the main conference with focus on specific thematic subjects that receive significant attention from the research community.

EMERGENCY 2010 - FIRENZE: 9° Emergency national meeting

Oltre 20 mila presenze in sei giorni: nel 2009 l'8° Incontro Nazionale dei volontari di Emergency si è chiuso con una partecipazione calorosa ed emozionante.
Nel 2010 vogliamo ripetere questa esperienza straordinaria.

Dal 7 al 12 settembre, rinnoviamo il nostro appuntamento a Firenze per il 9° Incontro Nazionale di Emergency: incontri, mostre fotografiche, spettacoli e conferenze per raccontare Emergency.

Sei giorni per stare insieme - volontari, sostenitori, personale medico, amici e simpatizzanti -, per vedere, capire e confrontarsi.

Filosofi, giornalisti, intellettuali, scrittori, artisti e musicisti sono nuovamente chiamati a raccolta per discutere del lavoro di Emergency e soprattutto dei valori e dei principi che lo ispirano.
Parleremo di guerra, ma anche di salute, uguaglianza, democrazia, informazione; parleremo non solo del "cosa", ma anche e soprattutto del "come" e del "perché“.

MAGIC 2010: Fortezza da Basso, Viale Filippo Strozzi, 1, 50129 Firenze, Italy

Grand Prix are easily the biggest open events the DCI offers. They're high-energy and held around the world. Plus, no invitation is necessary – anyone can attend. No pro points? No problem. Playing a good game is all that matters, and with Pro Tour invitations down to 16th place and cash prizes all the way down to 64th place, one thing is certain: a Grand Prix is sure-fire great time. Plus each participant gets an alternate art Umezawa's Jitte.
Players or teams with high ratings or Pro Players Club levels can earn byes for Grand Prix tournaments. You can also earn byes at Grand Prix Trials.
Major Magic: The Gathering events are held around the world every year. Find a location near you and see how you stack up against the best players in the world! Grand Prix tournaments are open to the public. Pro Tours and World Championships are invitation-only for the main event but feature multiple open tournaments as well.
Choose Hotel Mario's for your stay at Florence: the hotel is three minutes walking from Fortezza da Basso and ten minutes from the most important places in the town.

III CONGRESSO NAZIONALE CONGIUNTO S.I.C. - FISS 7-9 ottobre 2010, FIRENZE

La S.I.C. è una libera Associazione interdisciplinare, apolitica, senza fini di lucro fondata il 16 luglio 2004 a seguito di sollecitazioni e consensi provenienti da più parti, su iniziativa di un folto gruppo di medici e ricercatori.
La S.I.C., presieduta dal Professor Annibale Volpe, ha come obiettivo primario diffondere e stimolare la conoscenza in materia di contraccezione. Essa intende favorire lo sviluppo della ricerca e dell'informazione, nonché di promuovere l'aggiornamento e l'educazione permanente in tema di contraccezione.
All'interno della S.I.C., che è una O.N.L.U.S., opera il gruppo di lavoro SaBeD (Salute Benessere Donna) con lo specifico compito di promuovere la ricerca nella contraccezione, menopausa e fertilità.
L'Associazione, attraverso attività scientifiche e culturali mirate, si rivolge al contesto scientifico Italiano della contraccezione in tutte le sue diverse connotazioni sia applicative che di base, anche attraverso le più ampie aperture verso le Società scientifiche affini, le Associazioni degli utenti ed il mondo della ricerca e della produzione farmaceutica. I suoi associati sono infatti per lo più medici e ricercatori che operano nei settori della medicina e della contraccezione.

ACM Multimedia 2010: 25-29 th October, Florence, Italy

ACM Multimedia 2010 is the worldwide premier multimedia conference and a key event to display scientific achievements and innovative industrial products. ACM Multimedia 2010 offers to scientists and practitioners in the area of Multimedia plenary scientific and technical sessions – with keynote speeches, oral, poster and video presentations, technical demonstrations and exhibits -, opportunities for deepenings – organized as discussion rooms, symposiums and tutorials and panels with worldwide recognized scientists and opinion leaders -, and competitions of research teams on relevant and challenging questions about the industry’s two-five years horizon for multimedia. As a companion event, the Interactive Art program will provide the opportunity of interaction between artists and computer scientists and investigation on the application of multimedia technologies to art and cultural heritage. Workshops associated to ACM Multimedia 2010 will provide in-focus forums of discussion on some of the most relevant and timely scientific topics in the field.

NOSE 2010 International Conference on Environmental Odour Monitoring and Control, Florence 22-24 September 2010

The Italian Association of Chemical Engineering (AIDIC) is organizing NOSE2010: International Conference on Environmental Odour Monitoring and Control which will be held in Florence 22-24 September 2010.
This event focuses on recent developments on odour achievements. Specific attention is dedicated to assessment, measurement and impact evaluation, as well as to odour management for specific sectors of industry, such as waste management and agriculture.
The conference offers to the participants an international window where exchanging views, andachieving a better understanding and available solutions relevant to nvironmental odour problems.
Even though it is universally recognized that the exposure to odours generally represent a nuisance more than a risk for human health, odour exposure may nonetheless cause effects on human activities. Several experiences tend to include odours among the pollutants that have to be controlled and subject to specific regulations. As a matter of fact, odours are considered to be one of the major causes of public complaints to the competent authorities. Population living near odour emitting activities rely on local authorities, on regional agencies or directly on the personnel involved in the odour emitting operation for the problem elimination or reduction.
This event focuses on recent developments in odour policy and regulations, on tools for odour assessment, including emission sampling, odour measurement and impact evaluation, and on odour management for specific sectors of industry, such as waste management and agriculture. The conference should represent a possibility for the members of the increasing community of odour management practitioners to meet, exchange views, and achieve a better understanding of the specific difficulties and available solutions relevant to environmental odour problems.

AAAS - 10 ADVANCED ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOL SYMPOSIUM: Palazzo dei Congressi, 20 - 24 Settembre 2010 Piazza Adua, 1, Firenze

As in the past event, the principal aim of the Symposium is to involve technicians, scientists, public administrators, associations and institutions in a debate on the role of aerosols in atmospheric pollution, the actions which should be adopted and the limitations proposed by the actual regulations.
Although more than two decades have been dedicated to these subjects in an extremely abundant literature and in several meetings, the distance of the clear understandings and the little appreciations of the proposed actions seem vanify any optimistic forecast for the next future. Therefore the Italian Association of Chemical Engineering (AIDIC) sponsored by the major Industries, Universities and Institutions invite all the specialists to a three days conference where the above theme will be put under discussion from all the possible different perspectives.

The Symposium topics will mainly deal with the following aspects:
- Fundamental Aerosol Chemistry & Physics
- Anthropogenic and Natural Aerosol
- PMx and Urban Aerosol
- Combustion and Materials Processing
- Instrumentation & Control Technology
- Remote Sensing and Satellite Aerosol Observations
- Aerosol Modeling
- Legislation & Health Related Aerosols
- Ultrafine and nanoparticles aerosol
- Anthropogenic and natural emission sources
- Biological effects of PMx and nanoparticles

Parking available in Florence at Hotel Mario's

Hotel Mario's doesn't get an own parking space. In the area where we are situated, in the heart of the city centre, it's not easy to find hotel with garage, but what we offer is a very good service with a parking just 50 metres far away from the Hotel. We have an agreement in place with Garage Palacongressi in piazza del Crocefisso, 1. They deal with the regularization of your entry into ZTL (Traffic Limited Zone), so allowing you to drive through the areas normally forbidden to not-authorized vehicles even if to get here at the Hotel you could pass from viale Lavagnini and then taking Via Santa Caterina d' Alessandria; this is not a ZTL area and you need no permission. Anyway, the parking will communicate automatically to the system that your car is allowed to drive in the centre of the city.The garage is located in a crucial point of Florence and it is controlled and safe, according to the currently European rules.There is a manual and automatic internal and external car wash, directly in the garage if you would require.
This is a fantastic service, you don't need to park far from where the Hotel is and is absolutely the private parking most cheap of the centre of the city.
Give a look to the information and when you'll be here at Hotel Mario's you know you can consider this option of Garage Palacongressi ( http://www.cb512parcheggi.it/ ). Hotel Mario's, in the heart of the beautiful city of Florence, Italy.