Viva Italia!

Italian Culture and Cuisine: The City of Florence and the Tuscan Region

I'm currently a student in the Romance Languages Department here at Carolina, studying Italian. Part of studying the language is learning about the country and the culture that language represents. Also, at the end of this semester I will be traveling to Florence to study abroad for a month. This is why I chose to research more about the culture and cuisine of Italy with some special focus on Florence and the Tuscan region in general.

My main goal in this research is to familiarize myself more with the ways of the people of Italia. Some general questions that I would like to answer in my research are as follows:

My intended audience is college students like myself, who may be interested in studying abroad. I think Study Abroad is a wonderful opportunity to learn about another culture as well as to learn about yourself by expanding your experiences. Learning about another country is beneficial regardless of whether you plan to visit mostly because it broadens your views and knowledge of the world around you.

"florence" AND "italy" AND "culture"

"florence, italy" AND "guidebooks"

"tuscany" AND "cooking"

italy w/10 culture | food

florence, italy AND social life

http://www.hotbot.com

"Florence, Italy" AND "food" OR "culture" OR "social life"

http://www.excite.com

Italian cuisine | culture

"florence" AND "travel"

Non-Print Source:

1. Florence. David Campbell Publishers Ltd.: London. 1993. DG732.F562 1993

2. Baedeker's Tuscany. Prentice-Hall, Inc.: New Jersey. 1985. DG732.B26 1985

Tea with Mussolini [videorecording] / a Franco Zeffirelli film. Santa Monica, CA: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Home Entertainment, c1999.

1. Kaleidoscope (Country Profiles: Italy)/ 80 of 107 [02/18/01]

2. Kaleidoscope (Country Profiles: Italy)/ 104 of 107 [02/18/01]

3. Fabricant, Florence. (1983, July 24). Florence's Rustic Culinary Art. NY Times [newspaper], 2388 words. Available: 1/28/01

4. Hull, Ken and Margie. (1999, Jan 30). Beauty of Florence must be savoured: Surfeit of art forces visitors to slow down. The Ottowa Citizen [newspaper] 762 words. Available: 1/30/99

5. Owen, Richard. (2001, Jan 26). Italian Court condones pats on female bottoms. Calgary Herald [newspaper] 495 words. Available: 1/26/01

6. Bregman, Adam. (2001, Jan 15). Italy's Cultural Underground Endures. LA Times [newspaper] 1559 words. Available: 01/15/01

Title of Web Page: Florence, Italy on Firenze.net. The Complete English Guide.

Web Address: http://english.firenze.net

Brief Description: All around review of the city. This page offers tourist information such as where to go, what to do and a calendar of events around the city. Includes cultural info about Italian style and Florentine products and more. Well organized into different interest areas, eye catching top-10 list, aesthetically pleasing. Also, the main site, firenze.net, is completely in Italian for native speakers.

Source: CityLife s.p.a.

Title of Web Page: Divina Cucina

Web Address: http://www.divinacucina.com

Brief Description: Guide to Italian cuisine and associated cultural aspects. Food tour of Florence available with links to galleries, museums and wine bars/restaurants to accompany them. Also has recipe section, a section on the author, and a general guide to Tuscany and tourist attractions.

Source: Private Site: Judy Witts Francini, CCP

Title of Web Page: Florence, Italy [Virtual Tourist]

Web Address: http://www.virtourist.com/europe/florence/Florence_Italy.htm

Brief Description: This site is a virtual tour of Florence that comprised mainly of photographs. Each picture is accompanied by background on the area and wonderful descriptions. Information is included about the history of the city, travel tips on hotels and flights, etc. The virtual tour is more conducive to a travel researcher-no facts and figures-just the beauty of Florence.

Source: Web Design by Enric Corberó

Title of Web Page: The Insider's Guide to Italy

Web Address: http://www.dolcevita.com

Brief Description: The site provides an overview of Italian culture in the form on an online magazine. Areas covered include: fashion, travel, cuisine, events, and design. Each area is covered in article format and includes great pictures. The front page is very aesthetically pleasing and attractive to potential viewers.

Source: Alchera Group

Title of Web Page: Italian Culture - Netscape

Web Address: http://italianculture.miningco.com/culture/italianculture/

Brief Description: Set up like a newsletter, this page offers a wide variety of knowledge on things Italian. The front section, In the Spotlight highlights a few different questions and then has links to discussion forums on them. Off to the side you also have the option to choose from things like fashion, films, genealogy, etc. The site uses a hierarchical organizing system, so following the links will take you from general to very specific.

Source: About.com

Title of Web Page: Italian Food - Netscape

Web Address: http://italianfood.about.com/food/italianfood/

Brief Description: The setup of the site is the same as the cultural counterpart, however, this site gets much more specific right from the start. The front area has recipes and cooking areas of the day with links to more information, while the sidebar has every possible area of Italian cuisine and links to recipes and tips for cooking. È molto buono!

Source: About.com

Founded in September of 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, eBay today is the world's largest online trading company. Selling goods and services alike to individuals and small businesses, this site is a hot ticket for online sales. In 2000, eBay boasted upwards of $5 billion in annualized gross merchandise sales and approximately 18.9 million registered users. Winning a variety of awards from sources ranging from Forbes magazine to Vanity Fair, the marketplace now combines traditional auction style trading with fixed-price trading. (1)

Specialty areas include eBay International, eBay Local Trading, eBay Motors, Business Exchange and Premier (which focuses on fine art and antiques). The most recent press release concerns a joint effort of eBay and Boat.com to launch the largest online boating marketplace, so it's easy to see that eBay continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Just last year, with the release of the fourth quarterly report, eBay's quarterly net income was 23.9 million, which was six times that of the same report of 1999, only a year previous. (2)

In Jeff Fischer's article in Newsweek magazine, he claims that online sales is a "tough business" and often the problems outweigh the advantages. He talks mostly of retail sales, but the idea behind his article is that e-commerce in general is a slippery, downward slope. With eBay's obvious success, it's nice to know that at least one company continues to grow up, out and beyond the span of other net business. (3)

NOTES: (1) see Company Overview page (2) see Press Release page and Investor Relations page (3) Fischer, J. (2001). Clicks for Bricks. Newsweek, Feb 12, 66-77.