The Chianti Sculputre Park

The Chianti Sculpture Park is located in Tuscany about 11 km north of Siena. The area is famous worldwide for its beautiful hilly landscape, its vineyards and the evergreen olive trees and cypress trees. Quiet medieval villages are scattered here and there; the small hamlet of Pievasciata, with its church of San Giovanni Battista, dating back to the XI century, is just one kilometer away.The Chianti Sculpture Park offers each of its visitors a unique experience. In an untouched wood of ilex and oak trees in the heart of Sienese Chianti many internationally renowned artists from five continents have created imposing contemporary sculptures in accordance with their own creative ideas and style. Piero Giadrossi the founder of this Park, has travelled extensively for over 20 years and has always collected small and large contemporary sculptures.
His vision was to share with the discerning visitors of Tuscany, his love for sculpture and so he decided to create a permanent exhibition along a shadowy trail which runs through a beautiful wood of oaks. Each artist chose the site for his or her installation, thus each work becomes a unique presence in the corner of the wood where it is mounted.
To select the artists Piero was helped by an Art Committee and careful thought was given to the nationality and the media used. “All the sculptures therefore, can be considered to be truly site-specific, which explains their harmony with the trees, the sounds, the colours, the light, and every other element of the wood. In fact, these man-made works do not extend beyond the limits of nature, rather, they integrate with it and enhance it,” says Piero Giadrossi.
Twenty countries are represented so far and this makes the Park truly unique in Italy. One of the objectives of the Park was to give room to artists barely known in Europe, but famous in their country of origin; significant talents that otherwise would have no exposure to the western public.Temporary exhibition will be held annually in the amphitheatre. Opposite the entrance of the Park an old building which was a pottery, has been transformed into a large art gallery and so visitors who have admired the large sculptures in the Park can have a chance to admire smaller works made by the same artists.How to get to the Chianti Sculpture Park:Milan-Rome highway: Firenze Certosa exit.Superstrada to Siena: Siena Nord exit.Left onto SS 222, towards Castellina and then take a right turn after 1.5 km towards Vagliagli. Drive for about 8 km and then turn right towards PIEVASCIATA. It is a country road and you will find the Park at your right after about 4 km.From Rome: drive the Superstrada around Siena until you find the Siena Nord exit. Then follow the instruction above. Opening hours:April - October from 10:00 am to Sunset.From November to March it is advisable to call first: 0577-357151
Visit Dream Destination Europe
for your accommodation in Chianti, Tuscany.

Florence, the pearl of Italian culture

The wonderful masterpieces and great works of architecture enriching the everyday life of Florence, the capital of Tuscany. One of the most important collections of paintings in the world can be found in the Uffizi Gallery and other magnificent paintings can be seen in the Gallery of Palazzo Pitti, hosting among others Tiziano’s and Raffaello’s masterpieces.

The city is famous for its Duomo, the Baptistry and many other wonderful churches, for Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio and Ponte Vecchio, where you can still find fifteenth-century shops. Other important cities in the region are Siena, Pisa, Arezzo, Pistoia, Lucca, Livorno, Grosseto, Massa Carrara.

In addition to art, Tuscany offers outstanding natural settings, such as the National Park of the Argentario and the Isola d’ Elba. In the countryside, among the vineyards and olive groves, are wonderful villages and castles, a reminder of Tuscan life in the Middle Ages.

To make your stay in Florence unforgettable Dream Destination Europe will provide you with all the assistance you might need, from the moment of choosing where to stay, right through your holiday thanks also to our team in loco. Come and chose from our wide selection the ideal accommodation for you.

Discover Florence in “kiddie size” Florence Visitor Centre designs Disney guide for children

Over 160,000 copies of the “Disney Guide to Florence” have already been distributed in the U.K. The project was born as a joint collaboration between “Disney Publishing Italia” and the “Agenzia per il turismo di Firenze” (Apt) with support from the “Provincia di Firenze”.

The guide which touts Florence as the ideal family vacation spot was offered free-with-purchase at 57 Disney stores for one week only. The publication is geared towards attracting new visitors to Florence by depicting works of art and city monuments in “kiddie size” making them more interesting and comprehensible even to the youngest of tourists. The original Italian version was distributed with the weekly children’s magazine, “Topolino”.
For the best family accommodations check Dream Destination Europe http://www.dde-europe.com

Italy on horseback

About a thousand million Euros is the turnover – 1 million of horseman, more than 400 thousand horses and more than 50 thousand people employed. These are the dates of the AIA (Associazione Italiana Allevatori) and of the UNIRE (Unione nazionale incremento razze equine).

This means an entire army of lovers of this sport and the horseback tourism which generates in Italy a turnover of around 6,5 thousand millions of Euro.

In the Italian region Veneto, precisely in Verona, the wolrds most important international fair, the Fieracavalli, takes place every year at the beginning of November in a space more than 1.800 m².

Italy’s tourism has a huge amount of offers addressed to horseman. In all over Italy there are the farmhouses, the so called agriturismi, which are located in the countryside, where it is possible to take part in the every day’s life of the farmers. They teach for example, how to produce bread, honey, marmalade and much more, and many of them have a riding school.

In Tuscany for example, there is the Regional Park of the Maremma where it is possible to explore it in a very nice and exciting way on a horseback trekking tour. There are many tours offered for both, experts and non experts, to explore this protected area.

During this excursions very often it is possible to get near animals like wild boars, fallow deers, cows and Maremman horses. A two hours trekking tour is a quiet horseback walk through the oak wood and it is suitable for non experts. For who has more time, there is a tour of three hours in which they reach the Abbey of San Rabano. For great experts there is a one day tour of approximately 6 hours which leads through diverse areas of the Regional Park: the agricultural area, the Mediterranean landscape, the pine forest, the marsh until reaching the river Ombrone.

Also near Pisa, in the surrounding hills, there are plenty of tours offered to get in contact with the still intact nature of the area. As well as in the area of San Gimignano for example the farmhouse Il Meletto, or in the Chianti area the Fattoria la Presura or Santa Maria a Poneta.

But not only in Tuscany, in all over Italy there are so many nice places to be discovered, and why not on back of a horse?
In the Region of Lazio there are some very nice farmhouses like Borgo il Ducato, or in Piedmont the La Piccola Fattoria, La Collina degli Scoiattoli, or Red Wine where they offer horseback riding.
In Umbria there is the Madonna delle Grazie, L’Elmo, Relais Il Cantico della Natura, in Veneto the Tenuta Goro Veneto and the Castle of Lispida.
Concerning Sicily there can be found Colle d’Ooro and Gigliotto where to explore the area like the knights did.
Visit Dream Destination Europe for more accommodations for your Italian horseback vacation.

Sense of Wine – tasting of the best Italian wines at the Auditoruim of Rome

A very special orchestra will perform from November 30 to December 2 at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome. There will be no violins, flutes or other musical instruments, but the best wines of Italy, from the famous Brunello di Montalcino from Tuscany to the Amarone from Veneto, from the Falanghina from Campania to the Nero d’Avola from Sicily. Director of the orchestra will be Luca Maroni, who organizes for the third time the most important private wine event of the Italian capital city the Sensofwine. A special concert for refined palates, a music made of perfumes and flavours.

In a big space of more than 4.500 m², in these three days of exposition there will be more than 1000 excellent Italian wines from over 300 wine producers to taste. A great occasion to discover and taste the diamonds of Italy’s wines, from famous and historic names to new emerging realities.

Sensofwine is the most awaited appointment in Rome for who loves wine. That comes out of the numbers of the second edition, where they counted 22.000 visitors and more than 500 operators of this sector. The visitors get a catalogue at the entrance containing the routes, the producers and the products of this exposition to plan better their visit in this so very special “concert”. Visitors also can get to know the producers to establish a direct contact with them and to learn more about their favourite wines.

Sensofwine will be open from the 30th of November to the 2nd of December 2007 from 4 pm to 10 pm. The entrance fee is of € 20.00.

This event might be a perfect occasion for visiting the Eternal City with its never ending charm which has a lot to offer in every time of the year. Many of the worlds most important monuments like the Colosseum and Saint Angel’s Castle, places like Piazza Navona with its nice restaurants and bars in the sideways, Campo de’ Fiori with its great and world known flower market, Trinità dei Monti – the Spanish steps and much more wait for you to spend some days in one of the most beautiful cities of the world.

Trastevere for example, the artistic heart of Rome is really nice to see. Many small restaurants, osterias and trattorias serve traditional local dishes in a typical Roman atmosphere. Plenty of wine bars are located in this district and even an English cinema can be found there.

Not to mention the Vatican City with its Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Museums and the Saint Peter’s Dome which obviously is an absolute must when being the first time in Rome.

The big Roman parks like Villa Borghese with the Borghese Gallery (reservations are absolutely necessary), Villa Pamphili and many other parks where plenty of events are organized, are the green heart of Rome. Taking a walk there is not only relaxing but really regenerating – away from the frenetic Roman city life.

Rome also offers very nice accommodations for every kind of taste, from charming B&B’s over middle class hotels up to luxury hotels until even traditional country inns outside the city. For a romantic break out, a cultural weekend or a culinary weekend, the Eternal City surely represents a very good choice. So, why not book a flight and get to Rome for a nice weekend?


Visit Dream Destination Europe for your accommodation in Rome.