Florence, Italy: Last-minute chance to see special sites

Walking-tour company Context Travel and the not-for-profit Friends of Florence organization are offering a special event at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 8, that explores ongoing restoration projects in Florence, Italy. including the Tribuna at the Uffizi Gallery and the San’ Antonio Cloister at the church of San Marco.

Normally not open to the public and extremely fragile, both sites demonstrate the scientific and technical challenges of historic conservation in a modern setting.

“Salvaging Art: Current Restoration Projects in Florence” is one of several special offerings in the walking-tour company’s “Out of Context” series. Other upcoming tours include “Ecology of Venice,” 10 a.m. July 13; “Celebration of Fall: Fig Festival in Bacchereto,” 2:30 p.m. Sept. 10; and “After-hours Vatican Museums Visit,” 5:40 p.m.  Sept. 28 and Oct. 14.

Context is a widely acclaimed, small, in-depth company that uses a network of art historians, writers, architects and food experts as guides for tours and lectures in Rome, Venice, Florence, Naples, Paris, London, Philadelphia, New York and Istanbul. Most tours last a half-day.

The company also has a short list of extended trips offered on a regular schedule, including a two-and-a -half-day Paris Mini Trip and an eight-day “A Taste of Two Cities: The Food Culture of Rome and Naples.”

—Susan Spano, Los Angeles Times staff writer

Photo: The San’ Antonio Cloister, San Marco, in Florence, Italy Credit: Friends of Florence

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 2:10 pm by Susan Spano and is filed under Europe, Italy, Last Minute, News, Tips & Advice, Summer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.