SIENA GOES JAZZ - JULY/AUGUST 2012

During the Siena Jazz International Summer School, the city of the Palio is visited by a variety of great Italian and international Jazz musicians. And luckily for us, they will not just teach but also play.

All concerts will take place at the Enoteca Italiana, the wine store located inside Siena's medieval fortress. Nothing better than listening to world-class jazz whilst sipping a fine glass of Tuscan red or white wine.

July, 24 - Roberto Gatto N.Y. quartet
July, 25 - Omer Avitai Quintet "Band of the East", feat. Avishai Cohen
July, 26 - Miguel Zenon
August, 1 - Diana Torto, John Taylor, Anders Jormin
August 2 - Steven Bernstein, Greg Osby, Michael Blake, Pietro Leveratto, Eric Harland

And last but not least all concerts are for free. Considering the great class of the performing musicians this is surprising but definitely more than welcome news!

Enoteca Italiana Bastione S. Filippo, Siena
Concerts start at 9.45pm.
SIENA JAZZ

BEST BIKE RENTAL IN SIENA

Villa Catignano: one of the many beautiful places an e-bike can get you to from Siena A few years ago, I interviewed an American writer , who during her month-long stay in Siena whizzed through the city on a bicycle. This was an unusual sight - vespas are the two-wheelers of choice in Siena's hilly town center, not bikes like in mostly flat Florence. But the invention of e-bikes is about to change this. The city of Siena has installed an electric bike sharing program which is functioning well. However, it's mostly aimed at locals and residents, as its set-up is a little complicated for visitors who only stay a couple of days in town. Hence, for tourists, the best bike rental options in Siena are with the privately owned shops which supply bycicles of every size and type for a day or two or an entire week. Giulia from Julskitchen.com cycling through the hills of Siena Siena Bike Shop rents out racing bycicles, hybrid and e-bikes and is a great optio...

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TASTE SIENA'S CHIANTI CLASSICO AT THE PREVIEW IN... FLORENCE (of all places!)

The province of Siena is a treasure trove for prestigious DOCG wines: from Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano to San Gimignano's white Vernaccia. Best known to the bigger audience and closest to the town center of Siena lay the hills of Chianti Classico. A wine not to be confused with the simpler Chianti (which can be produced in a much wider area of Tuscany). The black rooster (Gallo Nero) logo of the Chianti Classico links back to a much cited medieval legend involving the towns of Siena and Florence and their conquest of the hills dividing the territory between them. The Chianti Classico vintner's association has overworked the design of the famous logo and will present it to the world on the 19th of February during the 2013 preview of the Chianti Classico collection (from the February 18-20 the Stazione Leopoldina in Florence). A great logo for a great wine: Chianti Classico Collection in Florence

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Ambrogio Lorenzetti's frescoes and paintings

From toddlers to octogenarians, when in Siena I schlepp everybody to see Ambrogio Lorenzetti's 'Buon Governo'. The long title of the painting is 'The Allegory of Good and Bad Government in the City and the Countryside' and it is exactly that - namely an accurate depiction of daily life in medieval Siena. The detailed and elegant fresco cycle is a rarity not just in regard to Lorenzetti's style and technique, but mainly due to its subject matter. In the 14th century, paintings and frescoes focus on stories and characters from the old and new testament and not on the day-to-day tasks of builders and farmers. Medieval Siena depicted on one of the walls of Ambrogio Lorenzetti's fresco cycle in the Palazzo Pubblico (©Wikipedia) And this is exactly why it's so much fun to spend some time in front of the fresco cycle in the civic museum in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico. Whether its kids - or meat lovers - looking for the famous Cinta Senese pig ...

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Mapping SIENA

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