Lucy Lopardo

Tuscan Tour Guide

Italy is divided into 20 regions (use this official link Italia.it to know the “boot”)

The total land area of Italy is approximately 301,328 square kilometres.

The regions are divided into provinces, 110 in all, varying dramatically in size. Tuscany it’s a REGION.

These provinces are divided into “comunes”, of which there are 8,100. I live in the province of Firenze.

Florence is a city that is also province.

I wanna know more!

  • Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia.
  • It shares boundaries with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia.
  • The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within the Italian Peninsula.
  • It has a Mediterranean climate. It can be extremely hot everywhere in the summer, and extremely cold in the north during the winter.
  • Historycally it has been the home of many European cultures, such as the Etruscans and the Romans, and later was the birthplace of the movement of the Renaissance, that began in Tuscany and spread all over Europe. Italy’s capital, Rome, has been the centre of Western civilization, and Vatican City, located in Rome, is the centre of the Catholic Church.
  • It has made an incalculable contribution to the culture of Europe and the rest of the world. writers such as: Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio – artists such as: Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio and Michelangelo; and composers such as: Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Rossini, Verdi and Puccini have all had a tremendous and lasting influence on the development of Western civilization. Contemporary Italian artists, writers, filmmakers, architects, composers, and designers continue to contribute significantly to Western culture.

For more:

https://www.understandingitaly.com/profile.html

Caccia al tartufo in Toscana

We all are (I am!) in LOVE with truffles: in pasta, on meat or on a simple piece of bread. It doesn't matter how it is presented, it is a delight. In 2022, the price of the white truffle, the most valuable of all due to its rarity, was over five thousand euro per...

L'arte non è noiosa

L'8 aprile 1820 la bellissima ed enigmatica Venere di Milo fu trovata sull'isola di Milo in Grecia. Ora al Museo del Louvre a Parigi. È la statua più famosa al mondo e una delle dee più venerate dell'antichità classica. Puoi anche chiamarla...

Quale torre pendente? ne abbiamo tre!

A select few (or rather, a few curious ones) know that in Pisa we not only have the famous leaning tower, which became even more famous in January 2020 when it was also photographed from Corsica 190 km away, ... but we have three! During my tours I always jokingly...

Non c'è solo il Ponte del Diavolo

All those who take the highway to go to the sea see that wonderful aqueduct that accompanies travelers by car for a few seconds. Few people know that it was built by the great architect from Segromigno – Lucca, Lorenzo Nottolini. That aqueduct in 1833 will bring clean...

Fina from San Gimignano

You can’t say you know San Gimignano if you don’t know who Santa Fina is. Serafina or Iosefina Ciardi, for friends Fina, is a very young blessed who lived in the mid-1200s. From an early age she cultivated a great devotion to the Madonna, in fact it is said that she...

“I don’t know where to go” is no longer an excuse

In full heat and with the fear of a faint, we arrived in Buggiano Castello. What to say? after facing the super climb you say “wow, it was worth it”. Also known as the “Borgo degli citrus” because it enjoys a particularly mild microclimate. Focus and admire the...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

A village inhabited since prehistoric times and known thanks to its thermal baths, San Giuliano is located in a favorable geographical position: in the province of Pisa and at the same time not far from Lucca. The main attraction is undoubtedly the establishment of...

The curious case of Colle Val d’Elsa

There are villages that do not exist … yes, this sentence made me laugh but unfortunately it has something of reality. While looking for a village to combine with a guided tour while going to San Gimignano I found Colle Val d’Elsa, one of these jewel-like villages...

The Holy Face, no longer just a legend

Also known as the “black Christ of Lucca” (for the color of the dark brown wood), it is an imposing wooden crucifix of 2.24 meters which, according to the legend of the writer Deacon Leobino, would be the true and only face of Christ. Arrived to us, well in 2020...

Stroll to get lost

t’s Sunday, you weren’t able to sleep late because obviously you woke up at 8 am, you’ve already had breakfast… what are you going to do? or It’s Sunday, you would like to be in touch with nature (but not too much) you are not a super sportive one (like to do 8 hours...
it_IT