Good Things From Italy - Le Cose Buone d'Italia

The Message In A Bottle hitmaker, 62, headed to the class with his wife Trudie Styler and Italian former footballer Paolo Rossi. [...]

The singer recently sparked controversy when it was revealed that he is charging visitors at his Tuscan estate, Il Palagio  to help him pick grapes and olives. [...]

But if you want to take advantage of March in Florence and treat yourself to a weekend of spring, it may be very pleasant to visit the spectacular flower gardens of the city to see the first blooms.

Among these, one of the most admired both by tourists and by the Florentines themselves, is undoubtedly the Bardini’s Garden.[...]

The first information you should know about Florence is that it has a quite small historical city centre, so the best thing to do is to move around on foot.…

Without a doubt, Florence is home to one the most elaborate and comprehensive art and architectural collections in the world. Some of the world’s most famous pieces rest in the museums of Florence, and any visit to this Renaissance city must include visiting Florence’s incredible museums. Michelangelo’s David, Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Ammannati’s Fountain of Neptune, Brunelleschi’s Dome, Giotto’s Bell Tower, and various works of art by Baroque master Caravaggio are just many of the treasures you will find in Florence’s historical architecture. Here are nine incredible must-sees you’ve just gotta check out!

Galleria degli UffiziGalleria dell’AccademiaPalazzo StrozziPalazzo PittiCattedrale de Santa Maria del FioreBargello National MuseumPalazzo VecchioPonte VecchioLa Basilica di Santa Croce  Read more click on the photo 

[...] All I knew about the museum was that it was a private collection by a man named Frederick Stibbert. [...]
Frederick was extreme wealthy and where did the money come from? Namely his grandfather – Giles Stibbert, who was the commander-in-chief for the British East India Company in Bengal at the end of the 18th century.
In fact, after Frederick inherited the estate, he never worked again and decided to start a never-ending collection of objects, antiques, and artifacts and turned his villa into a museum. Lucky guy!
When the size of the collections outgrew the villa, Stibbert hired architect Giuseppe Poggi, painter Gaetano Bianchi and sculptor Passaglia to add-on extra rooms.
There are 57 rooms in the villa filled with all sorts of western & eastern artifacts, often the walls covered with tapestries and paintings of famous figures from all over Europe, awesome paintings!
One of the most important pieces of the collection is the “petit costume”, made for the coronation of Napoleon as king of Italy in 1805.
The most extensive collection is around 12,000 pieces of European, Oriental, Islamic, Japanese arms and armour from the 15th century through the 19th century. [...]
The hall of knights or Salone della Cavalcata is one of the largest rooms and includes full-scale replications of the horses and their armory. We couldn’t believe how many artifacts were jammed inside, these were some stylish (and protected) horses! Scattered around the museum are pieces from the Ferregamo clothing collection throughout the decades which was a little random but I liked seeing his different designs throughout the years.
Don’t forget to also check out the adjacent park in front of the museum — a really great place to just wander. Huge, green and lined with trees, I really want to come back and have a picnic in this green oasis.[...]

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There's something hallowed about visiting a place of legend. To think that thousands of people over dozens of centuries have kissed the same stone, or climbed the same bell tower, or petted the same bronze boar-turned-pig as you, hoping for their own wishes to come true, brings a deeper meaning to travel.
Invite a little luck -- and a lot of superstition -- into your trip at these places where myth meets mystery.

1. Thousands of tourists throw coins (with their right hands, over their left shoulders) into the Trevi Fountain every day with the hope of returning to Rome. Their tosses totaled over $3,000 per day in 2012... 
2. Il Porcellino -- aka "the piglet" -- is a bronze boar that lives in Florence's open-air market. Feed him a coin for good luck, and then rub his snout to ensure a return to Florence. 
3. Casa di Giulietta is supposedly the Shakespeare-inspired courtyard home to Romeo's Juliet. If you write a letter to the star-crossed lover and post it on the wall beneath her balcony, she'll help you in love (an official response, though, might come from a club of secretaries who read and personally respond to as many letters as they can).
4. The Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin, a little church in Rome, is home to the Mouth of Truth. If you tell a lie with your hand in his mouth, this stone creature will bite your hand off...
5. Want love that lasts forever? Secure a lock to Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence and throw the key into the river below.

The gardens of Florence, from the Boboli gardens to rose garden, are stunning. Here are our four favorite gardens in Florence!

• Boboli Gardens
• Giardino Bardini
• Rose Garden
• Stibbert Museum

Lindy Truter is a professional Cape Town wedding photographer. Specializing in wedding, fashion, beauty and commercial portfolios.

Click on the photo to open 45 pictures about Florence.

Tuscany is famously dotted with hilltop towns that often inspire gushing declarations of affection from those who have visited – and while you can get great local wine throughout Tuscany (indeed, throughout Italy), one of the more famous wine-growing areas in the region is Chianti. The fact that Chianti is also home to several hilltop villages meaning you can enjoy spectacular views, cobbled streets, and picturesque piazzas while enjoying a local Chianti wine – well, it’s easy to see why this is such a popular area for tourists. In particular, one of the towns that draws lots of visitors each year is Radda in Chianti.

The town of Radda, as the name suggests, is located in the heart of the Chianti area, right in the middle of Tuscany. Though it’s a medieval town you see today, there has been a village on this site since the 9th century, partly owing to its easily defensible hilltop position. The town itself is incredibly small, making it a relatively quiet retreat for those of you who aren’t eager to embrace the constant buzz of a city like Florence – just know that during the high season, Radda is a very popular day trip for many travelers in Tuscany. As with any day trip destination, the mornings and evenings (before and after the day trippers) are when Radda really shines.

One of the things that can keep visitors away from Radda in Chianti is the lack of a train station. This means you’ll need to either rent a car or take a bus from nearby Florence or Siena in order to get there. Neither of these options is difficult, but since many travelers rely solely on trains to get around, Radda’s lack of train service can keep the crowds away to a certain degree. The town remains incredibly popular with wine tourists, of course, and even those drawn to the picturesque location can enjoy the local Chianti in restaurants, bars, and wine shops around town.

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Cotributing writer Lauren Itzkowitz takes a look at Tuscany's history and it's rich cultural sites while touring through many of it's famed towns...