Have you already thought about your next holidays?

The delightful medieval town of Casole d’Elsa, located near Siena (Tuscany) hosts a residence called Borgo al Cerro offering several apartments endowed with any kind of comfort and many services dedicated to the guests’ wellness, such as massages, swimming-pools, keep-fit area and much more.

Borgo al Cerro is a wonderful Residence near Siena placed in the middle of the countryside and surrounded by the Tuscan rolling hills. From here, it’s possible to easily reach several famous and interesting Tuscan cities and ancient towns, like Florence, Volterra or San Gimignano.

In addition, this year Borgo al Cerro joins the fabulous initiative promoted by Trivago, Europe’s biggest hotel price comparison, which make you win a free holiday!

Yes, you’ve got it! If you are football experts or just lovers, bet on the outcome of the World Cup matches and you will have the chance to win one of more than 150 hotel vouchers available!

Participating is very very simple. Let me explain you. First of all, you have to review at least one hotel on Trivago website and then place a winning a bet for a match.
1 hotel review = 1 chance to bet.

One winning bet means one chance to win a hotel voucher! In addition, you can earn score that allows you to choose your favorite voucher. You need 55 scores to get ours!

So…what are you waiting for? Guess and bet! You could win an unforgettable, relaxing week-end at the Borgo al Cerro Residence.

Visit now Trivago.it, review your favorite hotel and place your winning bet for the next match!

Borgo al Cerro is already considered as one of the best holiday apartments in Tuscany by users, as the positive reviews on Trivago and Tripadvisor show.

More info about Borgo al Cerro Residence
Website: www.borgoalcerro.com
Email: info@borgoalcerro.com
Tel. +39.0577.949004

Ready? Let’s go! Yes, because the first appointment with the most expected event in Siena will come back on July 2nd 2010: the Palio di Siena! A traditional horse-race that takes its origins centuries ago and still today it’s in the heart of Siena citizens.

A folkloristic traditional event, which every year draws the attention of thousands visitors, experts and curious people from every corner of Italy and the world.

The picturesque Piazza del Campo, a shell-shaped square famous in the world for its particular aspect, will host once again ten of the 17 contradas of the city. In fact, we remind you that each contradas has a horse representing it in the race.

This year, the 10 contradas running in the Palio are the following:

On Saturday June 26th 2010, the famous Game of the Bridge will take place in Pisa starting from 5 pm. We are talking about a historical event of the “Giugno Pisano 2010”, a month rich in initiatives, events, historical celebrations in order to celebrate the ancient Pisa’s traditions.

Such an important historical re-evocation takes place in two different moments: the battle is preceded by a Historical Parade, a sort of military parade taking place along the Arno River. Subsequently, the real Battle is set on the Ponte di Mezzo, where the ancient historical enemy Pisa areas of Mezzogiorno (south of the Arno) and Tramontana (north of the river) will challenge each other in a very exciting atmosphere.

The Tramontana “troops” represent the districts of Santa Maria,

Since last Saturday 19thJune, the historical and traditional Battle of Flowers has begun in the city of Ventimiglia, a town located in the Western Ligurian Riviera.

We are talking about a very ancient event, which takes its origins in the ceremonies celebrated by the farmers in order to pay homage to the rebirth of vegetation in springtime, because they were aware of the bounty of “mother earth” and knew that good harvests depended on her.

Throughout the years, this event turned into a sort of carnival, with a parade of papier-mâché floats decorated with thousands flowers and colors, and subsequently, with floats covered in a mosaic work made up of flowers. Since 1933, the Battle of Flowers in Ventimiglia became the only original one for good, differing from the other many similar parades on the Riviera for its elegant and artistic flowers arrangements.

Are you ready to enjoy the 2010 World Cup? The first steps have already been covered and tonight we surely will be all there in front of the screen (someone comfortably sitting on his own sofa, someone else in front of one of the numerous big screens put in squares, pubs and bars all around the country), to root for his own team and live the emotions arising from gameplay.

In the meantime, to increase the excitement and getting involved in the positive energy in order to help our team win, give a look to the video that collects all the goals that Italy scored during the last World Cup 2006!

Anyway, whoever the winner this year, we wish to all of them an intense and exciting World Cup….and may the best team win!!

As every year, on June 24th 2010, Florence will celebrate St. John’s Day, the patron saint of the city, with several initiatives and events where all the city of Florence will take part in.

In the morning, an historical procession made up of flag throwers will go from Piazza della Signoria to the baptistery in order to offer the candles to the patron and later on, the Saint Mass will take place with the exposition of the remains of St. John.

In the afternoon, one of the traditional and most beloved Florentine events will wait for you in Piazza Santa Croce, which arouses enthusiasm in all the citizens: Calcio in Costume (Football in Traditional Costumes), also called “Florentine historical football”, a medieval version of football – let’s say just a little bit “bloody”, a sort of fusion among fighting, football and rugby .

Teams taking part in the competition are four (Blue, White, Red and Green) and represent the main districts of Florence.

In the end of the day, at 10 pm fantastic fireworks will wait for you from the striking scenery of Piazzale Michelangelo. The best place for watching the fireworks is surely Ponte Santa Trinità bridge, where you will see Ponte Vecchio bridge close-up and the fireworks in the background.

You can’t miss such a fabulous show of lights and colors! Let’s celebrate together the beginning of the summer!

Further information about events in Florence are available on www.aboutflorence.com

From June 15th to 18th 2010, the very expected international men’s fashion event Pitti Immagine Uomo n. 78 will come back at Fortezza da Basso in Florence.

This year, the theme will be Design Watching: the world of fashion that indiscreetly enters the world of design through visual, audio and verbal suggestions selected by buyers, journalists, designers and opinion leaders belonging to the exclusive international class of Pitti People.

As a matter of fact, visitors will have the chance to see on display the newest and most fashionable design objects, between traditional handicraft and contemporary style.

Once again, the set up will be created by Patricia Urquiola who shaped a continuity between internal and external layouts and introduced new areas dedicated to relax end special installations dedicated to food, together with Taste, the exhibition by Pitti Immagine dedicated to the products of high quality Italian gastronomy.

Among the design watchers, we remind you some of the important names: Roberta Valentini from Penelope, Giusi Ferré, Max Kibardin, Joerg Koch of the magazine 032C, Stefano Roncato, La Pina and many others.

In addition, we remind you the Pop Up Stores, the special areas reserved to the new proposals in the field of accessories, from jewels, shoes, fragrances, design objects for the table and pocket technologies, which join traditional crafts to contemporary style.

Another brand new element of the event will be My Factory, the new exhibition project created by Pitti Uomo that takes place among the dimensions of fashion, street style, music, graphics and new medias. An area dedicated to the underground culture, where the collections are produced by young emerging creators and international brands, and where research, eclecticism and eco-sustainability reign.

Among the débuts, we remind you brands such as La Portegna, Serdar Uzuntas, Groundwave, Il Sistema degli Oggetti, Tee Library, Bustler.

There will be 972 brands and 75 collections in addition exhibiting at Pitti W Woman Precollection in Dogana. A total of 1047 collections on display in Florence from June 15th to 18th. Dear fashion-addicts, you can’t miss such an event!

For further information about this and other events in Florence, please visit the tourist guide www.aboutflorence.com

Here we go. After 2 years of restoration and radical renovation, the Museo di Storia della Scienza (Institute and Museum of the History of Science)in Florence reopens its doors to the public under a different name: Museo Galileo (Galileo Museum).

Such an event is conceived in order to celebrate the International Astronomy Year (2009), an UNESCO initiative to commemorate the astronomy and science discoveries made by the Pisan scientist. And what’s a better way to pay homage to him than a new and modern Museum?

The Museo Galileo will host more than 1,000 invaluable instruments and experimental apparatuses belonging to Medici and Lorraine families, among which we find the only original telescopes of the great scientist and the telescope lens with which Galileo discovered Jupiter’s moons.

An entirely changed space, endowed with technological avant-garde instruments

Seeing that it is the season of love, passion and the awakening of the senses, sticking to the point, the city of Genoa presents an exhibition dedicated to love and passions of past and present.

In fact, since last March 25th, one of the “hottest” exhibitions is under way at Musei di Strada Nuova and the Galleria di Palazzo Bianco (Gallery of White Palace) in Genoa, Liguria.

The exhibition, entitled “Storie di passioni, amori e tradimenti dai Depositi di Palazzo Bianco” (“Stories about Passion, Love and Betrayals from the museum storage of Palazzo Bianco”) will be open to the public until June 27th 2010. So, visitors will have still few weeks to marvel at such art masterpieces on display in Genoa gathered for the iconographic exhibition dedicated to the theme of “forbidden love”, showing to the public unforeseen pieces, which have been kept preserved in the museum storage until nowadays.

On the occasion of such an event, visitors will have the chance to marvel at wonderful “never seen before” paintings, an initiative aimed to start a cycle of thematic exhibitions that will let visitors see those works that have always been set aside and now will be put on display in order to satisfy everybody’s curiosity, art lovers and not.

Among the several stories told by shapes, play of light and shadow and shades, we find the one of Silvio and Dorinda from the “Jerusalem Delivered”, Angelica and Medoro from “The Frenzy of Orlando” and Cleopatra and Lucrezia from the Roman history…and this is only a taste!

Obviously, the exhibition is accompanied by descriptive panels put near each painting that will tell us about the charming and intriguing stories of such passions.

For the ones who don’t know the city of Genoa very well, the exhibition will be held in the wonderful background of Via Garibaldi, also called “Strada Nuova”, which has been included in the UNESCO list and where we find the Gallery of White Palace hosting the most important art gallery in Liguria.

The opening hours is the following: Tuesday to Friday from 9 am to 7 pm, on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 7 pm, closed on Mondays.

For further information about Genoa and the Region of Liguria, there’s our useful tourist guide to Liguriawww.aboutliguria.com

Camaiore – village located near Lucca, in the Versilia hinterland – by craftsmen who every year work hard to create the typical “paintings” that represent the heart of this festivity.

The Corpus Domini procession was celebrated since the end of XV century, but it was just during the XIX century – perhaps due to the influence of the Spanish traditions brought by the Borbone family’s servants – that the habit of decorating the streets with carpets made of flowers started; such carpets were aimed to drive the procession passing in the centre of the village. Starting from 30′s, flowers were progressively replaced by sawdust. Today, the carpets are realized with sophisticated and advanced techniques by the so called “tappetari” (the carpets craftsmen), who generally stay awake all the night before the procession (the Saturday before Corpus Domini), managing shapes, colours and nuances till Sunday’s sunrise, when they finish their artworks which are finally ready to be presented to the faithful and to drive their procession. The carpets – that portray