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
Gardens of Florence #11: giardino Corsi Annalena, first romantic garden in Florence
Outdoors

Gardens of Florence #11: giardino Corsi Annalena, first romantic garden in Florence

16 abril, 2025 / By:
PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

It is said that Cosimo I de’ Medici built an underground tunnel from Boboli gardens and Palazzo Pitti passing under Torrigiani and Corsi Annalena gardens to go to the Florentine country side without being seen and molested. This last one, a small size private garden takes its name from countess Anna Elena Malatesta, whose adjacent palace is today the legendary Pensione Annalena. At the end of 18th century, the garden was acquired by the Corsi family, hence its actual name Corsi Annalena, and designed by the architect Giuseppe Manetti. It is located in Oltrarno, between Via dei Serragli, Via de’ Mori and Via Romana, facing the Boboli gardens. Numerous terracotta sculptures representing different mythological characters ornament the green field. One of the fountains has a copy of Verrocchio’s Putto con delfino. The garden, with a uniform style inspired in the neoclassical cannons and indisputable beauty, has also a glasshouse. Beside its reduced sized, it has several semiprivate ambients that allow the visitor to isolate in an atmosphere prone to instant infatuation. Nowadays the garden Corsi Annalena is private and it is only open on special occasions.
To visit the gardens it is mandatory to call +39552280105 or send an email to scarsellistefania@yahoo.it
Giardino Corsi Annalena – Via Romana 38
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Gardens of Florence #8: giardino dell’Orticultura, a locals’ garden in the city centre
Outdoors

Gardens of Florence #8: giardino dell’Orticultura, a locals’ garden in the city centre

15 abril, 2025 / By:
PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

Born as an ‘experimental garden’ in the middle of the 19th century, the Via Bolognese park in northern Florence is today one of the most beloved and quiet places to visit during spring and summer. In addition to the renaissance Loggetta Bondi, in the giardino dell’Orticultura there is also a large glass and iron greenhouse, considered one of the most beautiful in Italy, as well as the rarest when built following design of Giacomo Roster. The greenhouse is used today for celebrating events, parties, food and cultural activities, while the garden houses the Municipal Library of Horticulture, hosting since 1862 horticultural exhibitions in order to promote the ‘knowledge of good horticultural practices.’ The feeling here is that of a ‘neighbourhood park,’ despite located not far from the tourist hustle in the historic centre. It has a bar with terrace which is frequented mostly by university students.
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Gardens of Florence #2: Walking through lemon trees and turtles in giardino Corsini al Prato
Outdoors

Gardens of Florence #2: Walking through lemon trees and turtles in giardino Corsini al Prato

14 abril, 2025 / By:
PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

The unexpected Florence is found in Porta al Prato, a surprise standing among the noise of the tram and the traffic, in Via della Scala. Here lies the garden-oasis at the back of Palazzo Corsini al Prato, an impressive but decadent building from 1590. Its garden is home to about 180 citrus trees (mostly lemon trees), as well as wisteria, lecithins, roses, tulips and peonies. Additionally, a hundred turtles roam freely around the land. This site is preserved from mass tourism and offers an unprecedented experience. Also, the garden hosts every May the exhibition of craftsmen of the palace.
(Via il Prato, 58 – EUR10 admission)…

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Gardens of Florence #7: giardino delle Rose
Outdoors

Gardens of Florence #7: giardino delle Rose

13 abril, 2025 / By:
PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

The giardino delle Rose is one of the most beautiful panoramic gardens of Florence. Here bloom some varieties of roses even in late autumn. Created by the architect Giuseppe Poggi in 1865, the giardino delle Rose is nowadays a sculptural park of reduced dimensions. Located on the hill of San Miniato, just below the piazzale Michelangelo, this garden holds a privileged position and stands as a perfect «green balcony» towards San Niccolò. From this place it is possible to view the whole city at a glance. The garden of the Roses has around a thousand varieties of roses and other ornamental plants, in addition to twelve sculptures by Jean-Michel Folon. Here one can sunbathe, read, take a nap, walk and contemplate other not so typical architectural sites of the city.
Giardino delle Rose – Viale Giuseppe Poggi 2 – open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m – free entrance
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Gardens of Florence #1: giardino dei Semplici
Outdoors

Gardens of Florence #1: giardino dei Semplici

12 abril, 2025 / By:
PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

The Garden of the Simples is the third oldest botanical garden in the world. It displays a rich variety of medicinal plants within its grounds and greenhouses, reaching up to nine thousand samples of Tuscan conifers, palm trees and edible plants, as well as exotic flora from different climates and countries. Today it belongs to the Museum of Natural History of the University of Florence, and is located next to the Basilica of San Marco. It was conceived in 1545 by Cosimo I de’ Medici as a space for complimentary lessons to students from the nearby medical school. Nowadays, rather than by tourists, this green space is most frequented by school groups.
Practical info…

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Cappella Brancacci, the Sistine Chapel of Florence
Art & Culture

Cappella Brancacci, the Sistine Chapel of Florence

3 abril, 2025 / By:
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Beyond the streets crowded by the omnipresent tourists looking for Florentine gems from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, there are less exploited corners of great historical and artistic richness as the Brancacci Chapel, also known as the «Sistine Chapel of the first Renaissance». The paintings on the walls are among the most popular and influential frescoes at the time. They are distributed in two horizontal levels along the chapel, which is part of the Carmine church and convent, founded in Florence in the mid-thirteenth century by a group of Carmelite monks from Pisa. Located in Piazza del Carmine (Florence-Oltrarno), the Cappella Brancacci is one of the oldest monumental buildings in Florence. The frescoes illustrating the life of Saint Peter are masterpieces by Masaccio and Masolino, painted between 1425 and 1427, just in the early years of the Florentine Renaissance. Later on, Filippino Lippi was called to complete Masaccio’s chapel decoration, which had been left unfinished due to Masaccio’s death in 1428.
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The experienced scissors of Matteo
Fashion & Shops & Markets

The experienced scissors of Matteo

2 abril, 2025 / By:
PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

In this barbershop, with its own seventies-style decoration, Matteo has been practicing hairdressing for almost half a century. He sometimes tells about his life and miracles while having your hair cut, some others he may just mutter some words, but Matteo is always affable and helpful. One gets lost in his tribulations and mental trivialities while being encountered with the sharp, clean, metallic sound of his scissors and the Italian music coming out of Radio Margherita in his transistor. With Matteo it is not necessary to worry about how your cut will be, as you are in good and experienced hands. In addition to hairdressing and the service as barbershop (haircut for 15 euros, beard cut for 10 euros), the place offers solarium, manicure, pedicure, facial and body treatments for men and women. Absolutely recommended!
Via dei Neri 26 / r
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A Florentine flâneur: the art of wandering the streets of Florence
Outdoors

A Florentine flâneur: the art of wandering the streets of Florence

29 marzo, 2025 / By:
PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

The figure of the flâneur is associated with the rise of “urban life” and especially with Paris, one of the first major cities of the industrial era in which appeared the flâneur as the person who wanders through boulevards, shop windows, and passages. This wandering character was conceived by authors Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin, who defined the authentic flâneur as an attentive and wise voyeur, and far from being a frivolous, banal, idle, superficial and clueless passer-by, he is above all a deep observer of the city, a restless traveler with no definite direction, and a forerunner (without a camera) of the documentary photography.…

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The ubiquitous Medici escutcheon in Florence
Medici Traces

The ubiquitous Medici escutcheon in Florence

27 marzo, 2025 / By:
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Contrary to the legend, the surname Medici has nothing to do with medical ancestors in the family, but with their move from the region of Mugello to Florence, back in the thirteen century, abandoning agriculture to devote themselves to financial life. The six red balls on the golden field of the coat of arms are not pills but bezants, a unit of weight from the Byzantine era used by merchants and medieval bankers to count. The mythical escutcheon is easily recognizable in any corner of Florence and when least expected.…

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Cappelle Medicee: answered prayers in Florence
Medici Traces

Cappelle Medicee: answered prayers in Florence

25 marzo, 2025 / By:
PHOTOS & ENGLISH / SPANISH VERSIONS BELOW

Everyday, I get up and go to bed with the Cappelle Medicee. And it is not a metaphor. It’s the first thing I see when I open the windows in the morning and as I close them at night. Indeed, I appreciate this view. God has so many prayers to answer that I have decided just to refer mine to the Medici. The Medici chapel in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence comprises two structures added to Brunelleschi’s original design. Currently, the chapel is one of the State´s museums of Florence as well as the burial place of the Medici family. Its Sagrestia Nuova was designed by Michelangelo. The opulent Cappella dei Principi, dedicated to the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, was raised in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and is completely covered with splendid coloured marbles. But unfortunately, and since I can remember, is still under restoration.
Practical info
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