What's Up Tuscany English

If us Tuscans have a superpower, it would be the ability to turn anything, even the cheapest and least loved ingredient into a masterpiece. Need some proof? Just look at the street food that has captured the heart of Florence. At first sight it doesn't look like much: cow entrails in a simple panino, not particularly appealing. Try asking Fiorentini what they think about it and prepare to be overw...

New year, new life or so the saying goes. Rather than trying something new, we have decided to go back to our roots and tell you everything there is to know about hidden corners of our homeland through the stories behind their most remarkable products. This week we'll tell you the tale of how an obscure specialty food considered good only for quarrymen and labourers became the toast of Michelin-st...

Many foreigners aren't aware of the fact that Tuscans have quite the reputation of being merciless prankers and, occasionally, a bit of a jerk. While untrue, it's undeniable that we have a penchant for making fun of everyone and everything all the time. That's why you expect all sorts of shenanigans from us lot. We definitely love to have a laugh but sometimes it comes with the best of intentions....

As everything around this time of year seems to revolve around stuff you either drink or eat, we have decided to suspend our regularly scheduled programme to offer you a small Christmas gift from your friends at What's Up Tuscany. Given that not everyone received a plane ticket to Pisa from Santa and that we have nowhere near the wealth needed to invite you all to our house, we have come up with t...

The linkage between Christmas and carbs in Tuscany is particularly strong, especially when they come in the form of the many traditional sweets that cannot miss from our table. Last year we talked about my personal favourites, my mother's home-made ricciarelli. This time we will talk about the combo that makes Tuscany proud: the dry and fragrant almond cookies and the sweet wine that always comes...

In the two years we've spent describing our incredible land we've talked about history, culture, hidden corners only locals know about and famous dishes: we've hardly covered the many odd festivals that dot the calendar. If it's reassuring to know that there are many volunteers ready to give a hand to bring back to life sometimes very obscure events, some of these festivals are positively weird. W...

As we keep jumping merrily from the past to the present of our homeland, we go back to one of our favourite subjects: the great food that makes our region so unique. We Tuscans are particularly jealous of our specialties, so much that foreigners think that it's weird, sometimes ridiculous. It is an integral part of our culture, maybe an ancestral memory of the times when malnutrition was widesprea...

There are few corners of Tuscany that haven't played a role in the past three millennia. Few have a story as interesting as the ancient city that, after becoming the epicentre of Mediterranean geopolitics in the V century BC, fell into a decline so steep and long to be completely forgotten by everyone. This rich and powerful city state was rediscovered only in the 1880s by an amateur archaeologist...

Despite its enormous wealth of beautiful things to see, many of the tourists that land in Tuscany seem particularly excited by the idea of tasting the great products of this land. While known for its simplicity and affordability, our ancestors were particularly creative when it came to cooking meat, a rare delicacy that could be tasted very occasionally by regular people. That's maybe why modern T...

Usually in our podcast we tend to talk about timeless topics but sometimes there are news too juicy not to cover. While we were preparing a completely different episode, the news of a surprising archaeological find in a tiny Tuscan village was way too interesting. Who could have imagined that on the bottom of those pools that have been used since forever to enjoy the hot thermal waters were hiding...

Despite many foreigners think about Tuscany as just an open air museum, a place where time is frozen, things change here as well. Some of these changes are so minute to be almost ignored. Others are much more painful. A while ago, for example, I remembered a very special recipe that my grandmother cooked us once in a Sheffield flood. They didn't look great, but those small fishes were absolutely o...

While our region hosts a veritable treasure trove of art masterpieces and stunning vistas, a big chunk of its popularity abroad is linked to stuff you can eat and drink only in this neck of the woods. While it is true that to fully appreciate the amazing products of this land you would need to take things slowly, life doesn't always cooperate. What happens if you don't physically have enough time...

Chances are that if you meet anywhere in the world a Tuscan, it will take him around 5 minutes to start pontificating on the incredible beauty of our land. Foreigners find it rather annoying but it's really beyond our control - we just HAVE to do it. Think I'm exaggerating? OK, name me another place in the world where you can literally bump into a little known archaeological wonder while you're lo...

One of the most common complaints that foreigners make is that Tuscans are a bunch of nostalgia junkies, so attached to the past of their region to do anything in their power to keep everything exactly as it is. The average Tuscans doesn't care much about these accusations but it's true that this land seems to never change at all in the centuries. Despite some corners of our cities seem stuck in t...

While there are very few things in life that are certain, aside from death and taxes, I'm pretty sure that should I ask each and every one of you what is the first thing that pops into your head whenever you hear the word "Tuscany" you would describe one of the stereotypical images of our lush countryside. You might not realise it, but aside from the gentle rolling hills, the manicured vineyards a...

When we had the crazy idea of hosting a dual language podcast on Tuscany we could never imagine how much we would have learned about our homeland along the way. Now, 100 episodes later, we have had the chance to tell you many stories about places that you won't find on the cover of your travel guide. Rather than coming out with something special to celebrate this milestone, we'll just keep doing w...

One of the most common gripes that foreigners have about us Tuscans is that we're so proud of our rich history to never miss the chance to sneak it into any conversation. While this has some merit, it would be quite difficult to act any differently. You see, history for us is not a distant thing, something you read in a book. It's literally everywhere around us, sneaking up on you when you least e...

Despite the great wealth of amazing things to do and see, most foreigners come to our region firmly determined to get just two things that have very little to do with either art or culture: wine and food. Tuscans moan endlessly about it, especially when said foreigners ask them what is the dish they absolutely have to taste as soon as they land. Easier said than done. Tuscany is so varied that it'...

Since we started this little podcast, we have been spending quite a substantial amount of time telling you the stories that made our remarkable homeland what it is. We firmly believe that the best way to know the heart and soul of a place is through the stories, real or imagined, that its people tell each other. There are some stories, though, that are so powerful that they become firmly embedded...

Since when we started this podcast, we've been repeating that, here in Tuscany, if you keep your eyes open and look beyond the picture-perfect postcard image, you can find all sorts of hidden treasures. Sometimes it just takes a bit of luck and a whole lot of determination. A walk down the high street of a random town can mean that you bump into a weird logo and fall precipitously into a veritable...

No matter how much of a world citizen you think you are, living many years under an alien sky will leave a mark on your soul. Yours truly, for example, has spent almost a third of his life far from his homeland. One of the things I missed the most were the little treats of my childhood, those sugar-filled bits of heaven that your parents would buy you when you went to the fair. With time I realise...

Not many of the millions of tourists that every year flock to Tuscany to enjoy everything that this remarkable land has to offer realise how this place is positively weird. It's easy to be overawed by the beauty that surrounds you and not notice the many inconsistencies that surround you. In Versilia, for example, there are several towns where you can find the crest of the Medici family, despite t...

Things in Siena are about to heat up again, and this time the heat wave has got nothing to do with it. It's Palio time again, the second of the year, the final chance to settle scores and earn bragging rights for the long winter. A few weeks ago we told you many stories about this very special event that is so much more than a horse race but we didn't have time to talk about the heart of the matte...

After reading from one of the least known pages of Tuscan history, we go back to our favourite pastime: telling you the little myths and legends that make this land really unique. Instead of scouring the region in search of small hamlets in the middle of nowhere, we will just take a leisurely walk in the centre of the most famous Tuscan city: Florence. While its charm and beauty is known all over...

This week, instead of guiding you to a lesser known corner of this incredible region, we'll read from one of the pages in the big book of Tuscan history that have remained somehow stuck. Curiously enough, the stars of this remarkable story are two of the most famous people this land has ever had. Pretty much everyone knows about Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance man that was able to excel as a pa...