Browsing AuthorPaco Neumann

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Paco Neumann

Paco Neumann is a journalist, photographer, proofreader, flâneur and perpetual amateur currently living in between Florence, Berlin, Paris and Tenerife. He´s been a regular contributor to fashion, art, trend and lifestyle magazines and worked for news, advertising and communication agencies
Firenze-SMN central station: arriving alone in a foreign country
Moments & People

Firenze-SMN central station: arriving alone in a foreign country

25 julio, 2023 / By:
PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

I love the Florence-Santa Maria Novella train station for many reasons. For instance, its loudspeaker announcing the arrival of the Milan train by the binario otto and the departure to Venice by the binario due, or the smell of the railway machinery and, naturally, because of those who travel to other places. It is also wonderful to arrive alone in a foreign country, feeling the assault of transformation. The Italians are still here, busy living. The rhythm of their lives is different, while I am a complete stranger, an eccentric or maybe not. A friend has recently told me: «You are acquiring a past in Florence.» That´s an assertion — without going into grim details — I find not very encouraging, nonetheless quite revealing. Because, above all, I love to attraversare il binario ed oltrepassare la linea gialla.…

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Touched for the very first time in Florence
Moments & People

Touched for the very first time in Florence

24 julio, 2023 / By:
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My first stay in Florence was in piazza del Mercato Nuovo at the end of September 2008. I recall how lost I felt then, trying to find the hotel with a map in my hands. I still do not know the name of the streets and alleys, but today I could certainly move around the city with my eyes closed. I remember one particular night when, disappointed by a date, I drank a whole bottle of limoncello (yes, I’m that kind of person) that I acquired in Pisa. The following morning, I was stroke by terrible news: my friend and artist Cocó Ciëlo had been murdered in Madrid. That was the first time I walked to piazzale di Michelangelo. I had a beer or two there and cried while contemplating this majestic town. Where you led me, Florence, that fateful night? All I could feel was irrational disgust, as the city had become a carrier of bad news to me. But we later reconciled. And, as in the most intense and passionate stories in literature, we have lived since many ruptures and reunions.…

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Santa Rosa Bistrot: outdoor & eco-friendly oasis in San Frediano
Wine & Food

Santa Rosa Bistrot: outdoor & eco-friendly oasis in San Frediano

20 julio, 2023 / By:
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«Eat, drink, feel good» is the motto of the Santa Rosa Bistrot, a charming cafe-bar-restaurant decorated with exquisite taste, offering an intimate and cosy atmosphere next to Porta San Frediano wall. Open since September 2016, this establishment stands in the plot that once belonged to the Mama nightclub, closed early in the year 2000 due to complaints of the neighbourhood. Its slogan «Green» relates to a healthy and light menu based on fish, vegetables and crostini. In its garden with picnic area there is a nursery of aromatic herbs used also to prepare cocktails. Santa Rosa Bistrot is crowded on weekends, especially at night, with endless queuing to order a drink or something to eat. A better idea is to go any day during the week in the afternoon.
Santa Rosa Bistrot is open from eight in the morning until midnight – live music
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Il Coccolo – Fritti i cornetti: traditional frying in the centre of Florence
Wine & Food

Il Coccolo – Fritti i cornetti: traditional frying in the centre of Florence

19 julio, 2023 / By:
PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

As a fine aesthete, the first thing that attracts my attention in an establishment is its appearance. However, I am not that fond of formal beauty, neither of the most sophisticated interior design. To me, there is also splendour in imperfection, ugliness, kitsch, trash or decadence, as in the shabby and the traditional. In this sense, and especially in the commercial field, the wrapping is also important. As I wander through the streets of Florence I love how some venues catch my absentminded attention. It´s works as a sensory impact, kind of a crush. This was the case with Il Coccolo, the only traditional Florentine frying premise in the historic centre, where there´s stuffed croissants to pleasure, fish and chips, and other delicatessen. Turns ideal to those who love fried food.
Il Coccolo – Fritti i cornetti – Via Matteo Palmieri, 30 / r – open until late at night
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La Ménagère, as hipster as Florence could be
Wine & Food

La Ménagère, as hipster as Florence could be

18 julio, 2023 / By:
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La Ménagère is a sophisticated and cosy place in Florence expected otherwise in New York’s SoHo or NoHo. Everything inside seems perfect: the colour of the orchids, the arrangement of glasses, the glow of a piano that none plays, or the tone of the lighting. The comfortable facilities of this multipurpose space (restaurant, bar and coffee, flower and household shop) resemble a neat stage. So neat that, even though it is in front of my house, I only enter it on occasional dates. I still haven´t made up my mind on whether it fascinates or scares me. I am that kind of person. To me, in Florence traditional is better, so I rather prefer used and grooved premises, where the photos on the walls are really old and made by the owner. There, where objects and space are not the result of the careful work of an interior designer, but of some mime and sincere dedication of its owner. Imperfect places reflecting a dubious taste, becoming beautiful and, at the same time, enigmatic. In spite of it all, I have been told that La Ménagère is sure a good eat.
La Ménagère. Via De’ Ginori, 8/R, 50123 Florence FI, Italy
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The custom-made perfumes of AquaFlor Firenze
Fashion & Shops & Markets

The custom-made perfumes of AquaFlor Firenze

17 julio, 2023 / By:
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This perfumery handcrafts made-to-measure perfumes and it is located in the Palazzo Serristori Corsini Antinori, a few steps from the Santa Croce Basilica. The store consists of three spacious rooms connected through a sublime olfactory experience. The furniture is composed of ancient pieces, chosen carefully as an invitation to laxity, delight and contemplation. The old shelves of the Hall of Essences contain more than 1500 unique substances. «Creating an original perfume» — says Sileno Cheloni, master artisan at AquaFlor Firenze — «is like building the biography of an individual: cut the present in half, as if it was a tree, to read the circles of life representing years, important events and emotions.»
AquaFlor – Borgo Santa Croce 6, 50122 Firenze FI…

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Surviving the night in Florence with an anti-mosquitoes kit
Moments & People

Surviving the night in Florence with an anti-mosquitoes kit

16 julio, 2023 / By:
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Without a doubt, the most unpleasant thing occurring in Florence is mosquitoes. Actually, none of the tourist guides alert (especially to those sensitive to the bites) about this annoying particularity. Thus, it is advisable to get an anti-mosquitoes kit in any supermarket, even if it´s only for one night. I have tried them all and can recommend as most effective the electric type, either liquid or in tablets. Best so to enjoy the pleasure of open windows or a terrace at night. Due to its humidity, mosquito repellents are indispensable in Florence, even during the winter!…

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Galleria Frilli, the legendary studio and sculpture gallery of Florence
Fashion & Shops & Markets

Galleria Frilli, the legendary studio and sculpture gallery of Florence

15 julio, 2023 / By:
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Founded in 1860, the family run Gallery-Studio Frilli quickly achieved international recognition for its marble replicas of classical, Renaissance and neoclassical sculptures. Indeed, walking through its comfortable rooms one feels in a Renaissance theme park. The sculptures seem just about to talk. Conceived with the purpose of decorating ostentatious residences in Europe, America and Asia, Frilli has the largest collection of models derived directly from the original pieces, museums and monuments from the Western world. That is why the works are considered real replicas and not mere copies. The family also created the bronze replicas at Lorenzo Ghiberti´s Gates of Paradise in the baptistery of Florence. Perfect for an LSD trip.
Galleria Frilli -Via dei Fossi, 26, 50123 Florence FI 
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La Via del Tè: it’s tea time in Florence!
Fashion & Shops & Markets

La Via del Tè: it’s tea time in Florence!

14 julio, 2023 / By:
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During my daily walks around Oltrarno, I had always noticed this tearoom in Via Santo Spirito. It is undoubtedly the typical place that catches your attention and makes you stop until the curiosity is satisfied. La Via del Tè (The Way of Tea) was founded in 1961 by Alfredo Carrai who, fascinated by the world of tea, took the personal challenge of introducing the tea culture in Italy, by then almost unknown. La Via del Tè conceptual stores sell more than 250 products, including whole-leaf tea from China, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Japan and Africa; scented blends; fruit infusions; herbal teas and all La Via del Tè own brand products: from classic cans, single-dose filters in transparent cloth or cotton muslin, to gift boxes, along with a selection of teapots, cups and accessories brought to the stores from all over the world. La Via del Tè has two other branches in Florence: one in Piazza Ghiberti and the other in Via della Condotta. They not only serve tea in its exquisite rooms, but also sell teapots, ad hoc utensils and homemade pastries.
La Via del Tè – Via di Santo Spirito 11, 50125 Florence
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La Cité: books, music, coffee and wine in the heart of San Frediano
Wine & Food

La Cité: books, music, coffee and wine in the heart of San Frediano

13 julio, 2023 / By:
PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

Books, art, wine and music. La Cité is defined as a polyvalent cultural space, responding to demands for the eclectic interacting of today. Since 2007, this two-storey café-bookshop of Borgo San Frediano (Oltrarno, Florence) has become a small cultural island, a city within the city itself. La Cité is just the antithesis of the classic bookstore-supermarket franchise and is described as a place of research and meeting, as well as a reading room, where cultural diversity and languages ​​are mixed. Their selection of texts is preferably of critical, independent and creative publications. Over the 5000 titles included in its catalogue one can find new and used books, newspapers and editorial oddities. Before sale browsing and reading books is allowed. In addition, each week, book presentations are organized with the presence of authors, critics, musicians and artists, as well as public debates on current affairs. Ideal spot for blind dates, too.
La Cité – Borgo San Frediano 20R, Florence. Open every day, from 9 to 2 a.m. On Sunday it opens at 3 p.m. – WIFI connection
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