The Camellia Towns--Pieve & Sant'Andrea di Compito

Dear readers--Beautiful Florence is back.

After a long winter, burrowed in working on Magenta Publishing's soon-to-launched new web site,

updating our English-language column on Florence's La Repubblica web site, looking ahead to the publication of Vista magazine, and a trip to visit my Italo-Argentinian cousin Alejandro in Barcelona

your less-than-faithful blog team discovered beauty once again.

Vista staff writer Rita Kungel, myself and faithful Beautiful Florence blog photographer Kori Endo ventured to the hills above Lucca to visit the Antique Camellia Festival.

I would like to dedicate this post to my late mother, Vittoria Palmina, whose birthday is today,

April 5.  She was born near Monte Pollino in a small hill town much like the ones we were heading to visit.  In fact, ours was a trip back in time.
Winding around the curves up the hills of Tuscany to our destination, Rita at the driver's wheel, suddenly said, "Look, donkeys!"

We met Gina (above) and her caregiver Giovanni next to a Tuscan stone farmhouse.
Giovanni remembers when the donkey was a work animal and a means of transport, as familiar with this past reality as I know my mother was.  Close to Gina was her son Zurigo (Zurich).  Why the name?   Giovanni revealed that he had 17 donkeys in all, many of them named for Swiss towns in honor of his brother who emigrated to Bern.

We went down to a pasture to see the rest, who were having breakfast.

Giovanni remembers when the donkey was a work animal and means of transport on the farm, surely as my mother had.  But what prompted him today to provide a home for a multitude of donkeys as well as a pregnant pony?  "They're so docile," he revealed.  Even at mealtime.

Continuing on our way, close to the entrance to the Camellia Towns we found a brook, the Visona.
The gurgling sound reminded me of the brook I grew up next to in the village of
 Highland Falls, New York.

The cool, clear water in these parts is one reason why the camellia thrives in this part of Tuscany.

 That and the clean air, and an elevated habitat not far from the sea,

 hence temperate, yet sheltered by mountains.

From medieval times to the Renaissance, silk was spun into textiles in the city below, Lucca.  Merchants had a thriving business in the Orient, eventually importing camellias for their homes and villas in the 1800s.  The plants would find their ideal home in the surrounding hills.

Yet their origin was clearly visible in the scientific display that opens the Camellia Festival: the genus and species was labeled Camellia Japonica.
Our Japanese-American photographer, Kori Endo, remarked,
"It's a long way from home."

Back outside, everywhere we looked,
camellias lined the side of the road,
which were filled--by not overcrowded--with hikers stopping to photograph.

Around a bend, we saw the medieval town of Sant'Andrea di Compito (below).

Settled by the Lombards, Germanic invaders who arrived before the year 1000, Sant' Andrea
and neighboring
Pieve di Compito passed under the domination of Lucca.

The tower is a watchtower; a
bonfire would be lit to signal the
 powers-that-were
in Lucca.

Like many medieval settlements in Tuscany, spaces inside would be remodeled over the centuries.  In the case of Sant'Andrea, the church acquired a Baroque interior (right).

Once inside, we discovered a shrine dedicated to St. Rocco, who also happens to be the patron saint of my mother's town, San Giorgio Lucano, in the hills of the province of Matera.
St. Rocco was immediately identifiable by his staff and the shells pinned on his mantle.

In fact, the villages are located on an ancient pilgrim road--even older than the via Francigiana--
called the via di San Colombano.  I am sure that donkeys have trodden these trails...

Walking down,
we saw a sign advertising the sale of tea.

Little did we know-- at least up to now-- that the world's tea is derived from the leaves of camellia plants.
A local plantation has an annual production of 12 kilos (26 lbs) of green, prize-winning oolong and black tea--we drank a cup at Villa Borri.

Our next stop was another villa called Torregrosso (big tower), which I'm existed at one time.

Now it is a historical home (right) still inhabited in summertime.  

The generous owners had the door open to visitors; no entry fee.

 

As beautiful as the house was, with it period furnishings, a treat

awaited us in the garden:  the oldest camellia in 

Sant'Andrea del Compito (above), planted by family ancestors in the second half of the 1800s. 

There was yet more to explore in the Camellia Towns.  Our last stop was a Camellia nature reserve.

Next to our old acquaintance, the Visona brook, are over 1000 camellia plants, trails and picnic areas.

Areas of the reserve are poetically designated for Tuscan composers such as Mascagni and Puccini, although they have never visited.

With the sun shining on an early spring day, we were as happy as this bee nestled in the heart
of a camellia

and our hopes for the future as shiny as this camellia below.

After all,
it is is finally spring.

Reporting live in Tuscany for
Beautiful Florence -- Rosanna

Florence's 2014 Winter Pitti Fashion Shows

As usual in early January, energy in Florence is at maximum voltage thanks to the Pitti Immagine fashion trade fairs at the Fortezza da Basso and the Stazione Leopolda.  The first events, Pitti Uomo
(men's collections for fall/winter 2014-5) and Pitti W (women's pre-collection again for fall/winter 2014/5) attracted a record 21,000 buyers and an additional 9,000 visitors (including the press).
All had access to stands featuring 1000 labels in menswear and an exclusive 70 brands of the women's pre-collection (for the record, your faithful Beautiful Florence blogger
 has never quite understood the term 'pre-collection').

Events spilled out into Florence's shop windows and streets, as well as historic palaces and exclusive locations (the National Library and the British Institute Library to name just two) that hosted gala events and runway shows.  On our part, we put out a special fashion issue of Vista and provided coverage in our English-language column 'Day' for the Florence section of La Repubblica.   Above is a display of designers from Holland in a happening called 'The Dutch Touch,' which took place in the five star Savoy Hotel.

Dressed in total black with showy gold earrings, I attended, along with Beautiful Florence's faithful blog photographer Janelle Piva, who took the photo above, and our fashionista Elizabeth La Barbera,
author of the articles in La Repubblica.  The event was so crowded that we were advised to come back in a half hour.  I had read that another new Prada boutique was having its opening, so we decided to head over there.  Below, again taken by Janelle, is one of the Prada bags displayed.

En route over there, I reminisced about the good old days when not only were journalists were invited to the inauguration of fashion boutiques, but were given bags containing small gifts on their way out,  Thanks to this custom, I am the proud owner of a Prada cosmetics bag (the only Prada I possess), a pair of Giorgio Armani sage green silk pillows accented by discreet lilac stripes, and until it broke,
a leather Trussardi key chain.  That custom has gone by the wayside, leaving only the delectable food
and drink provided.  That is, if you can get in.  We had not been officially invited this time around (it depends on the coordinating press office's list), so I simply pulled out my professional press pass,
which as Elizabeth noted, "is like gold."  Then, seeing the security armed with I pads, I simply invited them to view Elizabeth's article posted on the Repubblica web site.  They didn't bother, and just motioned us to enter the fashion temple.

Real
French
champagne
chilling on ice
in a
silver bowl,
poured in flutes
and served by
an
elegantly dressed
wait staff
awaited
us,

But alas,
unlike at the
'Dutch Touch'
we were to attend later,
no miniature course servings
in sight,
not even
 hors d'oeuvres.
.

The following week,
Elizabeth, thanks to previously-arranged
accreditation,
attended 'Pitti Immagine Bimbo'
where pint-size trendsetters
took to the catwalk, modeling 450 fall/winter
fall/winter collections for 2014-5.

Each brand was also exhibited at individual stands,
just as in Pitti Uomo.

This edition of
Pitti Bimbo attracted
7,000 buyers
and 3,000 other visitors.

Not in Janelle's company
on this occasion,
Elizabeth herself
took this picture
of a Pitti Bimbo stand.

Encouraged by our positive experiences at Pitti Uomo's special events,
Elizabeth and I decided for an encore at the presentations of Pitti Bimbo.
With the 'What's Hot Today' Pitti newsletter visible on our I phones,
we decided to stop at LuisaViaRoma's 'Milk'
thinking it was a creative name for a children's event.

Sure, there were tots posing in outfits, more champagne (with finger food),
photographers shooting on prepared sets but the hilarious thing was...
we had no idea it was the 10th anniversary party of the famous French children's clothing magazine
'Milk' (why not Lait?...).  The answer is...the magazine is in English.  Go figure.

From there it was to the opening of Dolce & Gabbana's children's boutique,
next door to Emilio Pucci.
There we found a shop window filled with southern Italian specialties--true to Dolce & Gabbana's Sicilian origins..fruit-shaped marzipan, miniature cannoli, and almond nut brittle.

What surprised us that it was not only for show, but were the refreshments.

I ate two cannoli (this was 6 pm) and called it dinner...

...and walked around admiring 

Dolce & Gabbana's fashion statements for children.

Some Italian parents were having their kids try on outfits--I guess their wallets were not affected by the current recession...

With Janelle hard at work in the office writing an article on a fashion photography show, new arrival

Marilyn Malara from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, was pressed into service to take pictures.

She, rightly so, received one of the rare glasses of champagne served by sporadically-appearing waiters.

Then I spotted what I hadn't seen in ages--gift bags!

Excited, each of us took one.
But when we arrived back at the office, we discovered
that we were now the proud owners of a
Dolce & Gabbana shopping bag, a catalogue
of their children's fashion...and
a complimentary giant lollipop.

Sign of the times.

Reporting live from Beautiful Florence
                                                            -- Rosanna

Hail 2014 & Farewell 2013, New Year's from Florence

The above would seem an unlikely New Year's greeting from Florence, Italy since it is a view of the ocean from the Caribbean.  I chose it for two reasons:  exhibited here in the city at Palazzo Medici Riccardi, to me it symbolizes gazing toward the future with serenity and unwavering faith.  

And it probably was not be chance that the first New Year's greeting that I received this morning

was from my heart-sister, Mary Louise D'Orazio, who hosted me at their family vacation home 
 on St. John's, U.S. Virgin Islands.

We saw sunsets from the deck.

This beautiful photo was taken by Kori Endo at the show.  The Philippine American artist,

Lolita Valderrama Savage, also trained at Florence's Fine Arts Academy under Professor Silvio Loffredo.  She spends part of the year painting in Tuscany, and her works can be found in private collections and in exhibitions in the U.S.A.

Like a long-time (25+ years) lover, I had a moment of tiredness, one of the very few, in 2013 with the Florence of  Beautiful Florence.  It is no secret that Italy, and of course Florence, is experiencing the most challenging moment in recent history, probably since the flood of '66 -- represented by a deep financial recession and unprecedented political crisis.  The mood was gloom, which was reflected by some of my posts.

Then, at year's end, I suddenly looked up and saw what was to become one of Beautiful Florence's most visited posts, the story of a Gothic Madonna and Child sculpture, the original having been 
carved over 500 years ago.
http://beautifulflorence.blogspot.it/2013/12/christmas-2013-in-florence.html
A crisis is temporary, beauty, goodness and forward thinking are always there.
I just needed to be aware--and lift my head.

My gloom had deepened with the unexpected passing of a dear pet and companion,
Puff, who died at home of kidney failure on Nov. 30.

My work soul mate, Andrea Pistolesi, gave him to me, a small ball of fur, in summer 2000.  I named him Puff as he resembled the cat that belonged to Dick and Jane (remember?), in the series of books that taught generations of American schoolchildren to read.  When I picked him up at Andrea's, on nearby via del Podestà, he was panting from the heat (it was August).  I lifted him up and said, "i'm your new mother."  
With nary a lament,  Puff never looked back and spent first night curled up and
 happily snoozing next to my cheek on the pillow.   

I still have Pearl, which a fellow photographer of Andrea's and friend Guido Cozzi gave me in 2012.
I will be looking for a playmate.

I will take the opportunity to introduce Grazia (right),
the faithful cat tata.  Living five minutes away from my home, Grazia lovingly takes care of my cats when I am away, and also when they are sick.
A sort of an Italian Mary Poppins for animals.
Grazie was born in the neighborhood -- San Gaggio, via del Gelsomino, Due Strade -- and has always lived and worked here.  Salt of the earth, with an open mind, although she confessed to my heart sister
Mary Louise, when she was visiting here,
"Yes, I have seen many strange things in this house!"
(Keep in mind that even banana bread, pane di banane, is strange in Italy).

Grazia choose to pose next to my 1910 German Black Forest clock, which was the subject
of another one of Beautiful Florence's most popular blogs ever, the one I did exactly a year ago.  

http://beautifulflorence.blogspot.it/2013/01/of-time-new-year-florentine-antique.html


                                                        I still need to learn some of the post's lessons...

Above are struffoli, a generous holiday gift from Pino, the Neapolitan chef and owner of 
the Enoteca Verdi deli on via Verdi, close to the office.  Actually, it was Pino's daughter Martina who made them.  Like all Italians, I ate a small portion of lentils on New Year's Eve, which are meant to symbolize good luck and fortune (lentils are supposed to bring to mind a multitude of coins).
Small change is about all we have left with the current recession.

Of course, Neapolitans, a superior breed of Italians, have gone beyond the penitential lentils
(remember Jacob and Esau -- and the birthright sold?) with traditional stuffoli, fried balls of dough, mixed with melted honey and pieces of candied fruit.  Yum!  My later mother always made them, and this is the first time since her passing (2008) that I have had struffoli on the New Year's table...
The tablecloth is a piece of red damask I bought in the Galluzzo market (always in the neighborhood) more or less when I was given Puff, and the mother of vendor Walter, sewed as a tablecloth for me, charging
10,000 lire (5 euro) for the job!

So what do I forecast for Beautiful Florence in 2014?
As I wrote in the blog intro (click book), I just need to look upward to experience
the Italian soul made visible by timeless beauty,
and as seen in the comments above, immense generosity.

Above is no Disney remake but the real deal, the 14th century Palazzo Pretorio in Certaldo,
in the province of Florence.  The building is entirely made of original, local  600-year-old brickwork and sports medieval and Renaissance family coats-of-arms of the local ruling magistrates.  It was close to here that Andrea found Puff's mother, a starving and half dead calico cat, abandoned in a field in the vicinity of where he was photographing.

Andrea took her back to Florence and nursed her back to health, unpoetically naming the cat Guaio (Trouble) because of the shape he found her.  Well, to Andrea's distress, Guaio disappeared, never returning home a short time after I adopted Puff, 
Just goes to show, that trouble is temporary,
and the rest permanent.  We just need to be, lift our heads up to admire scenes such as the one in Certaldo,
and look forward and not backwards,  much as Puff did on his first night in my company.

Buon Anno from Beautiful Florence!
I am also happy to share such an authentic view of a Tuscan village on the first day of the year!
-- Rosanna

Christmas 2013 in Florence

Just before the holidays, I was walking down via de' Lamberti for the nth time, looked up, and suddenly saw the incarnation of Beautiful Florence's Christmas card to the world.
This sculpture composition is located in a niche on the church of Orsanmichele near via Calziauoli.

The Orsanmichele was initially a monastery with a vegetable garden (orto), rebuilt as a grain market and finally as a grain warehouse and church in the 14th century.  It is a perfect synthesis of the two omnipresent sides of Florence's soul--sacred and the commercial.

In the late 1390s, Florence was a self governing republic under the direction of the city guilds.
The Orsanmichele was given to the guilds, which commissioned statues of protector saints to represent each one individually on the facade.  The works were completed by artists as important as
Donatello, Verrocchio and Giambologna.

The above scene, as I discovered, however, was assigned to a relatively obscure sculptor, Pietro di Giovanni Tedesco, who is best known for his marble statues on the facade of the Cathedral (Duomo) now found in the Cathedral (Opera del Duomo) museum.  He completed his original vision of
The Madonna of the Rose in 1399.

What you see above is an exact copy in the original niche, with the Tedesco's work now inside the Orsanmichele church. This fact does not detract from the beauty and power of the work, which typifies the moment in artistic history, the transition from Gothic to early Renaissance values.  The Madonna mother, while realistically depicted, has the austere countenance and tiara of a Gothic queen, which she is, albeit a spiritual one.  Looking ahead to the Renaissance, the Christ is a child with a humanistic face, curls, a smile and all.  He is playfully reaching for the roses that his Mother is holding.

The group is seven ft. high, and while in marble, and the figures and drapery folds so beautifully done as to appear preserved in stone for posterity.

An interesting note:  The Madonna of the Rose was chosen by the medieval Physicians and Apothecaries guild.  Healers, with strong roots in the earth.  The Child is holding a bird, a symbol of
freedom and space, and is reaching for the flowers, which stand for nature, beauty and intuition.

Sculptor Pietro di Giovanni Tedesco is believed to be an oriundo, born of Italian parents in either Germany or Flanders, as evidenced by the "Tedesco" (German) tacked on to his name.
It took another oriundo, born in America and author of
Beautiful Florence, to recognize a
paseano.

 Faithful Beautiful Florence blog photographer Janelle Piva recorded this image which portrays
 the physical and the divine aspects of the Virgin and Child.

And isn't that what Christmas is all about?
...and universal love of course.

Reporting live from Beautiful Florence
                                    --Rose Anna Maria aka Rosanna

Tuscan Truffles for a Cause, 2013

What is Princess Giorgiana Corsini of Florence sniffing?  It is a white truffle, one of 30 recently auctioned for charity.  The event, called "Tartufile," held at the beautiful estate Fattoria Dianelli close to Vinci, in the countryside where Leonardo da Vinci grew up.
It marked the inauguration of the annual Tuscan Truffle Fair at San Miniato.

As white truffles leave no presence above ground, special dogs employed by tartufai (truffle hunters) use their nose to find the treasure beneath their feet.

These truffles, found by dogs in the area around San Miniato and ranging from 40 - 203 grams were ceremoniously weighed, labeled and placed on view before the auction.

These rare specimens of Tuber magnatum were donated by the organizers of the Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Bianco (Truffle Fair), held the last three weekends in November.

The label next to each bears the acronym "F.I.L.E., the beneficiary of the fundraiser:  a Florentine foundation dedicated to the home care of the terminally ill as well as hospice care. (I always give special attention to this nonprofit organization as my own Italian mother died in a hospice in the U.S.).
Over 350 guests came from Florence to help the charity, each paying a 25 euro admission fee.

After a close look at the display table, guests were called the to the auction hall.
Each truffle was carried individually by groups of children, almost like bridesmaids,
to the auctioneer, Massimo Bartolozzi, a noted Florentine antique dealer.
He was lent for the occasion by his wife, Donatella Carmi, president of the FILE association.

Between entrance fees and the auction, 35.000 euro was raised to assist FILE's patients.
A 140 g truffle, called "un mostro" by auctioneer Bartolozzi, alone went for 2500 euro.

This being Italy, of course a complementary dinner was offered at the end.
The Fattoria Dianelli generously prepared bruschetta with their own olive oil, an assortment of farm products, mainly cold cuts such as prosciutto and soprassata, Tuscan bread with sliced truffles and a selection of estate red, rosé and white wines.  I drank the rosé, which was light and fruity.

Renowned chef Fulvio Pierangelini of Florence's Savoy Hotel, along with his staff
(pictured above) prepared a special treat:  shrimp risotto served with shavings of white truffle.
It was delicious.

San Miniato may be an unfamiliar name to some--except to those who have seen the film Le Notti di San Lorenzo ("The Night of the Shooting Stars"), which recounts the town's shelling during the Second World War--while to others it may be known for its celebrated, award winning truffles.  Rita Kungel, Gabrielle Taylor and I in the company of the then-faithful Beautiful Florence blog photographer Carly Vickers filed a complete report as an earlier blog post: Truffles, San Miniato and More Truffles (11/24/11, www.beautifulflorence.blogspot.com).

The photos in this post were taken by soon-to-be faithful Beautiful Florence blog photographer Janelle Piva.   This special evening also proved that we journalists work hard but eat well.  Always.  Sempre.

2013 Florence Antiques Biennial Show & Giuseppe Tornatore

Where can a Renaissance sculpture such as the one pictured above be not only on display but for sale?

The answer is the current Florence Biennial International Antiques Show.

The event, which will continue through 8 pm Sunday, October 13 in Palazzo Corsini

showcases mainly 16th - 19th century Italian antiques exhibited by European and New York dealers.

This wooden and decorated Bust of a Young Woman is by no other than a master as Antonio del Pollaiolo, completed upon commission between 1465 and 1470.
She reminded of a serene painted Piero della Francesca figure come to life.

Think about adding that to your shopping cart!

I first covered the Antiques Biennial event in 2001 with a article in the International Herald Tribune giving the sensational news that a small drawing by Michelangelo (from a private collection in England:

no, it was not the Queen's) was for sale.

It was surrounded by guards brandishing an impressive array of firearms.

Also exhibited at Palazzo Corsini are the 19th century Tuscan macchiaolo works--its exponents Giovanni Fattori and Telemaco Signorini were the predecessors of the French impressionism school.
Like their fellow French artists, the brushwork is loose, with few precise details and definite lines.
This style also influenced early 20th century Italian artists such as Giovanni Boldini.
The work above is exhibited at a collateral show,
Ritorni (Return), which the Florence Antiques Biennale show committee organized at
the Bardini museum.  It consists of antiques come back to Italy thanks to acquisitions from private and foreign museum collections over the years.
This luminous watercolor of a young women seated on a park bench holding a poodle has traveled from California.

The show's organizers also arranged for the screening of Giuseppe Tornatore's latest film
The Best Offer -- a look at the world of antique dealing and auctions starring Geoffrey Rush.
Being Italians are fond of prizes on any occasion, the committee gave the director
the Lorenzo d'Oro (The Golden Lorenzo) award, in a ceremony covered by the local press
(above).  I guess Florentine Renaissance humanist and ruler Lorenzo de'Medici is already well known by his unofficial title "Lorenzo the Magnificent," so there was no other choice than
to make Tornatore's tribute synonymous with gold.

(N.B. After completing this post, I looked at the presentation program and read that a small gold bust of Lorenzo the Magnificent--recognizable by his pug nose--the symbol of the presentation, was actually handed to Tornatore).

A Renaissance man from Sicily, Tornatore was delighted to accept the honor.
It was an honor for me to on hand at an event starring the director of Cinema Paradiso,
which I viewed at the home of my heart-sister. Mary Louise, in Montgomery, New York
(Hudson Valley).

Here in Italy, I was too shy to ask for an autograph.

      Reporting live from Beautiful Florence
   -- Rosanna

The Last Day of a Tuscan Summer, 2013

In 2011 I wrote a post called "The Last Day of Summer," recounting my adventures in Monterosso in Liguria on the last beach day before unexpected flooding.

Well, on Sunday, Sept. 22, I headed to Follonica way down on the Tuscan coast for 

another last day of summer.  There must be an unwritten law that these occasions are always special, as indeed this day again was.

As seen through my beach umbrella, the sun radiated gentle warmth.  The beach was not crowded.  There were mainly locals on the silk-textured sand,
the water absolutely crystal clear and not too cold.
Glorious.

I went swimming around noon, with the idea of drying off, maintaining my tan, and having lunch
under the umbrella.
Well, the first strange thing happened while I was in the water.  I could see all the umbrellas were suddenly shut where I was hanging out, at the Orchidea (Orchid) establishment, right below a modest hotel on the beach that had closed the previous week.  "Hey, that's funny," I thought, "the wind is not even blowing."

By the time I got back, all the locals had abandoned the sun beds (above),
presumably having gone home to have lunch.
The lifeguards had disappeared as well--which I had never seen before.
I hadn't even paid for the sun bed and beach umbrella, wondered was was going on, but wasn't too worried.  My mood was mellow, like the day.

The hotel café was closed, so I walked along Follonica's shoreline and found a seafood
restaurant.  I was actually looking for a cold beer to go along with my sandwich.
The kind owner, a complete stranger, sold me a bottle, and when I asked for a plastic cup, handed me
a fine crystal wine goblet.
"You won't be far, and I'm sure you'll bring it back."
Later I did, of course, and had a stand-up espresso at the rustic wooden counter next to the dining room.

When I returned to my umbrella, the empty sun beds had been commandeered by a young, obviously local crowd.  Is everything practically free the last day of summer, I wondered?
The sun beds were again abandoned at 4 o'clock, as everyone but me obviously knew
that the lifeguards would be coming back to pack everything away.

I asked Marco, the one lifeguard I had met, what I owed.
"10 euro," he said--I handed him a 20.
"I have no change," he replied, and took what change I had--6 euro, and put it in his pocket.
Ci si rifa un'altro anno, he said.
"You'll be back."

"Look, it is so clear you can see Corsica," he said, pointing to the horizon.
All Tuscans are sure that they are sighting Corsica when they see
land in the distance framing a seascape.

Being American, later I looked a map and realized it was probably Elba.
My last day of summer 2013 was certainly less of an adventure than the October 14, 2011 post.
Instead, the day had such a soft quality about it, as you can seen from the picture (all were taken spontaneously with my I phone).

Back in Florence, at the end of the 10 pm news, I couldn't believe my ears when
the solemn newscaster announced:
"In two hours, it will be September 23.  Today is the last day of summer."
(Oggi è l'ultimo giorno d'estate).

Do Italians ever take notice of the calendar?--no, that's that point of living in this country.
The fall equinox was on Sept. 21, but obviously the newscaster, like all natives,
knew better and simply stated the obvious.