Siena and Tuscany's Wine Country
Rick Steves' Europe Travel Guide | Check your local public television station for this Rick Steves’ Europe episode or watch it on Siena, once a proud and independent city-state, retains its confidence and unique traditions. We'll enjoy a front-row seat at its wild horse race — the venerable Palio — and marvel at cultural treasures from the days when it rivaled Florence for leadership of Tuscany. Then we'll head into wine country for a little dolce vita under the Tuscan sun.
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Rick Steves, America's most respected authority on European travel, writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio.
Perugia, Umbria, Italy
We're taking you to the city of Perugia in Umbria in northern Italy – not so well known as Rome or Florence, but lovely to visit.
Perugia is located 100 miles north of Rome, about a two-hour drive. It's in Umbria, a region just east of the more famous Tuscany.
The main street of Perugia is this grand Corso Vannucci. It's a wide pedestrian boulevard and it's just one of the great streets of the world. Not too long, it's about a kilometer from one end to the other, and just wide enough that there's plenty of room for people streaming along, or stopping and standing and talking, walking the dog, families out for a stroll. It's the gathering place of town. It's the location of the passeggiata when everybody comes out at 5 PM before dinner, buy the newspaper, have a drink, out for a stroll, see their friends, see their neighbors, perhaps make a new friend and just generally be part of the fabric of the city.
The old town has a network of narrow streets that are perfect for strolling. Some of them are for pedestrians only and some have some automobiles but the traffic is never terribly heavy, especially when you're on foot. And the whole town can be seen on foot, it's a compact zone. It makes a beautiful walk.
You'll find a variety of places to go strolling and exploring. Some of them are wide thoroughfares for shopping, others are narrow, that hearken back to the medieval days.
This is a longer more complete video that combines several shorter pieces presented earlier.
806 Luxury penthouse for sale in Pisa
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The apartment is on the top floor of a recently renovated building is spread over an area of approximately 490 square meters
It 's divided into two apartments each (330 + 150 sqm approx)
Michelangelo's Italy
Rick Steves European Travel Talk | Join Gene Openshaw, co-author of Rick Steves' Europe 101: History & Art, as he shares the work and travels of Michelangelo. Michelangelo Buonarroti — sculptor, painter, architect, and poet — was both prolific and well-traveled. We'll trace the life, work and travels of Earth's Greatest Artist, visiting the Italian cities where he created his masterpieces. You may be surprised to find that the Italy of today is just as culturally rich as it was in the days of Michelangelo. (Please note this presentation was filmed April 14, 2012 and any special promotions or discounts mentioned are no longer valid.) Gene's Europe 101: History & Art for the Traveler book is available at
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David Baldacci: 2017 National Book Festival
David Baldacci discusses The Fix at the 2017 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.
Speaker Biography: David Baldacci is the best-selling author of more than 30 novels, several of which have been adapted for film and television. His books have been published and sold in over 45 languages and 80 countries, and have more than 110 million copies in print worldwide. A tireless advocate for literacy and the importance of reading, he is the co-founder, with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. In 2008 his foundation collaborated with Feeding America to establish Feeding Body & Mind, a program that distributes books through food banks in an effort to address the connection among literacy, poverty and hunger. His works include Absolute Power, The Collectors, King and Maxwell, Wish You Well, The Target, and his most recent thriller, The Fix. Baldacci has also published several novels for young adults, including the latest book in the Vega Jane series, The Width of the World.
For transcript and more information, visit
Florence | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Florence
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Florence ( FLORR-ənss; Italian: Firenze [fiˈrɛntse] (listen)) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,084 inhabitants in 2013, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Florentine dialect forms the base of Standard Italian and it became the language of culture throughout Italy due to the prestige of the masterpieces by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini.
The city attracts millions of tourists each year, and the Historic Centre of Florence was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.Florence is an important city in Italian fashion, being ranked in the top 15 fashion capitals of the world; furthermore, it is a major national economic centre, as well as a tourist and industrial hub. In 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy.
Florence | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:02:10 1 History
00:04:29 1.1 Roman origins
00:06:12 1.2 Second millennium
00:07:48 1.3 Middle Ages and Renaissance
00:07:58 1.3.1 Rise of the Medici
00:10:40 1.3.2 Savonarola, Machiavelli, and the Medici Popes
00:13:01 1.4 18th and 19th centuries
00:15:10 1.5 20th century
00:18:12 1.6 21st century
00:18:38 2 Geography
00:19:08 2.1 Climate
00:20:11 3 Government
00:22:23 4 Main sights
00:27:47 4.1 Monuments, museums and religious buildings
00:36:23 4.2 Squares, streets and parks
00:38:43 5 Demographics
00:41:22 6 Economy
00:42:30 6.1 Industry, commerce and services
00:44:37 6.2 Tourism
00:48:15 6.3 Food and wine production
00:49:20 7 Culture
00:49:29 7.1 Art
00:56:29 7.2 Language
00:57:37 7.3 Literature
01:00:05 7.4 Music
01:03:11 7.5 Cinema
01:03:48 7.6 Cuisine
01:05:42 7.7 Research activity
01:06:11 7.8 Science and discovery
01:07:32 7.9 Fashion
01:09:09 7.10 Historical evocations
01:09:19 7.10.1 iScoppio del Carro/i
01:10:14 7.10.2 iCalcio Storico/i
01:11:45 7.11 Sport
01:13:34 8 Transportation
01:13:44 8.1 Cars
01:14:33 8.2 Buses
01:16:28 8.3 Trams
01:17:36 8.4 Florence public transport statistics
01:18:29 8.5 Railway station
01:19:57 8.6 Airport
01:20:23 9 International relations
01:20:33 9.1 Twin towns and sister cities
01:20:46 10 Other partnerships
01:20:56 11 Notable residents
01:24:46 12 In popular culture
01:25:05 13 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
Listen on Google Assistant through Extra Audio:
Other Wikipedia audio articles at:
Upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
Speaking Rate: 0.8724439747107902
Voice name: en-US-Wavenet-F
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Florence ( FLORR-ənss; Italian: Firenze [fiˈrɛntse] (listen)) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,084 inhabitants in 2013, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Florentine dialect forms the base of Standard Italian and it became the language of culture throughout Italy due to the prestige of the masterpieces by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini.
The city attracts millions of tourists each year, and the Historic Centre of Florence was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.Florence is an important city in Italian fashion, being ranked in the top 15 fashion capitals of the world; furthermore, it is a major national economic centre, as well as a tourist and industrial hub. In 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy.
Florence | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:01:38 1 History
00:03:23 1.1 Roman origins
00:04:43 1.2 Second millennium
00:05:57 1.3 Middle Ages and Renaissance
00:06:06 1.3.1 Rise of the Medici
00:08:09 1.3.2 Savonarola, Machiavelli, and the Medici Popes
00:09:54 1.4 18th and 19th centuries
00:11:32 1.5 20th century
00:13:50 1.6 21st century
00:14:11 2 Geography
00:14:34 2.1 Climate
00:15:21 3 Government
00:17:01 4 Main sights
00:21:07 4.1 Monuments, museums and religious buildings
00:27:34 4.2 Squares, streets and parks
00:29:21 5 Demographics
00:31:19 6 Economy
00:32:12 6.1 Industry, commerce and services
00:33:46 6.2 Tourism
00:36:30 6.3 Food and wine production
00:37:19 7 Culture
00:37:28 7.1 Art
00:42:40 7.2 Language
00:43:31 7.3 Literature
00:45:24 7.4 Music
00:47:43 7.5 Cinema
00:48:12 7.6 Cuisine
00:49:38 7.7 Research activity
00:50:02 7.8 Science and discovery
00:51:03 7.9 Fashion
00:52:19 7.10 Historical evocations
00:52:27 7.10.1 iScoppio del Carro/i
00:53:10 7.10.2 iCalcio Storico/i
00:54:19 7.11 Sport
00:55:43 8 Transportation
00:55:52 8.1 Cars
00:56:30 8.2 Buses
00:57:58 8.3 Trams
00:58:49 8.4 Florence public transport statistics
00:59:28 8.5 Railway station
01:00:36 8.6 Airport
01:00:57 9 International relations
01:01:06 9.1 Twin towns and sister cities
01:01:17 10 Other partnerships
01:01:26 11 Notable residents
01:04:18 12 In popular culture
01:04:34 13 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
Listen on Google Assistant through Extra Audio:
Other Wikipedia audio articles at:
Upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
Speaking Rate: 0.9651561680892118
Voice name: en-AU-Wavenet-D
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Florence ( FLORR-ənss; Italian: Firenze [fiˈrɛntse] (listen)) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,084 inhabitants in 2013, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Florentine dialect forms the base of Standard Italian and it became the language of culture throughout Italy due to the prestige of the masterpieces by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini.
The city attracts millions of tourists each year, and the Historic Centre of Florence was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.Florence is an important city in Italian fashion, being ranked in the top 15 fashion capitals of the world; furthermore, it is a major national economic centre, as well as a tourist and industrial hub. In 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy.
John Ruskin | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
John Ruskin
00:02:23 1 Early life (1819–1846)
00:02:35 1.1 Genealogy
00:04:04 1.2 Childhood and education
00:05:47 1.3 Travel
00:07:39 1.4 First publications of Ruskin
00:08:55 1.5 Oxford
00:11:16 1.6 iModern Painters I/i (1843)
00:14:04 1.7 1845 tour and iModern Painters II/i (1846)
00:16:16 2 Middle life (1847–1869)
00:16:28 2.1 Marriage to Effie Gray
00:17:52 2.2 Architecture
00:18:49 2.3 iThe Stones of Venice/i
00:21:30 2.4 The Pre-Raphaelites
00:26:20 2.5 Ruskin and education
00:28:31 2.6 iModern Painters III/i and iIV/i
00:29:24 2.7 Public lecturer
00:31:08 2.8 Turner Bequest
00:32:18 2.9 Religious unconversion
00:33:22 2.10 Social critic and reformer: iUnto This Last/i
00:39:51 2.11 Lectures in the 1860s
00:41:44 3 Later life (1869–1900)
00:41:56 3.1 Oxford's first Slade Professor of Fine Art
00:45:16 3.2 iFors Clavigera/i and the Whistler libel case
00:46:52 3.3 The Guild of St George
00:50:10 3.4 Rose La Touche
00:52:00 3.5 Travel guides
00:53:19 3.6 Return to belief
00:54:18 3.7 Final writings
00:56:10 3.8 Brantwood
00:58:45 3.9 Personal appearance
00:59:51 4 Legacy
01:00:00 4.1 International
01:01:36 4.2 Art, architecture and literature
01:02:41 4.3 Craft and conservation
01:03:11 4.4 Society and education
01:05:00 4.5 Politics and economics
01:06:01 4.6 Ruskin in the 21st-century
01:08:58 5 Theory and criticism
01:10:17 5.1 Art and design criticism
01:16:46 5.2 Historic preservation
01:18:21 5.3 Social theory
01:20:22 6 Controversies
01:20:31 6.1 Turner's erotic drawings
01:21:13 6.2 Sexuality
01:25:49 6.3 Common law of business balance
01:28:02 7 Definitions
01:30:25 8 Fictional portrayals
01:34:49 9 Paintings
01:34:58 10 Select bibliography
01:35:32 10.1 Works by Ruskin
01:44:23 10.2 Selected diaries and letters
01:45:53 10.3 Selected editions of Ruskin still in print
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 – 20 January 1900) was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, as well as an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy.
His writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He penned essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, and architectural structures and ornamentation.
The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art gave way in time to plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society.
He was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century and up to the First World War. After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with the publication of numerous academic studies of his work. Today, his ideas and concerns are widely recognised as having anticipated interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft.
Ruskin first came to widespread attention with the first volume of Modern Painters (1843), an extended essay in defence of the work of J. M. W. Turner in which he argued that the principal role of the artist is truth to nature. From the 1850s, he championed the Pre-Raphaelites who were influenced by his ideas. His work increasingly focused on social and political issues. Unto This Last (1860, 1862) marked the shift in emphasis. In 1869, Ruskin became the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, where he established the Ruskin School of Drawing. In 1871, he began his monthly letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain, published under the title Fors Clavigera (1871–1884). In the course of this complex and deeply personal work, he developed the principles underlying his ideal society. As a result, he founded the Guild ...
The Age of Innocence Audiobook by Edith Wharton | Audio book with subtitles
The Age of Innocence by Edith WHARTON.
Edith Wharton became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction with this 1920 novel about Old New York society. Newland Archer is wealthy, well-bred, and engaged to the beautiful May Welland. But he finds himself drawn to May's cousin Ellen Olenska, who has been living in Europe and who has returned following a scandalous separation from her husband. (Introduction by Elizabeth Klett)
Genre(s): Romance
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Marco Libero ! [FR/EN/DE/GR/IT/ES/TU]
Marco Libero ! Un prisonnier anarchiste emprisonné en Suisse depuis 1991.