A little piece of Boutique heaven!

Advantages: Cosy, nice rooms and brilliant location
Disadvantages: None

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frankiecesca 05.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Le Clos Medicis, Paris

Honeymoon Hotel

Advantages: great location, lovely hotel
Disadvantages: n/a

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colocube 04.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Medici, Rome

Mona Lisa, Leonardo & Florence

Advantages: Great fiction about passion & power struggles in 15th century Florence.
Disadvantages: Historical accuracy of the main character?

..., The Medici Queen, is due to be published in March 2008. *** Background to the Plot *** Lisa di Antonio Gherardini Gioconndo, who is known simply as Madonna Lisa, sets the scene for this novel in the prologue. (Of course, if you are of common class, you will know her as Mona Lisa.) In the Florence of 1490, she is just coming up to the celebration of her 18th birthday, and she requests what I think is an unusual present. I soon get fond of Lisa who is a very determined young lady once she sets her mind to something, but also shows a lot of kindness to those in need. The author then takes us back further in time to give readers background history to enable us to understand the story. This includes the historical fact of the assassination of Giuliano de Medici, brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent, in 1478. All the main...

luckyarchers 18.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Painting the Mona Lisa - Jeanne Kalogridis

Return of the Mach?

Advantages: Interesting, unintentionally amusing
Disadvantages: Some advice is dubious and it's not the sort of thing you will read again

...As Machiavelli's name is now synonymous with extreme ambition and rapaciousness, it is hard to believe that his actual career was less than perfect - despite dedicating The Prince, his most notable work, to Lorenzo Di Piero De' Medici, he failed to receive any recognition from the Medici regime. But while his actual political career wasn't as successful as he might have hoped, Machiavelli has since made a name for himself as a great political tactician. He regarded politics as a science akin to medicine, rather than philosophy (which the author of the introduction in my edition emphasizes and I agree - Machiavelli was NOT a philosopher) and studied the tactics of many great and not-so-great rulers, a lot of whom he cites as examples in The Prince, drawing from the ancient Greeks and Romans as well as contemporary 15th/16th century...

DoubleFantasy11 09.09.2006 · Read review
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Review of The Prince - Nicolo Machiavelli

BLOW AWAY WITH ANGELICA

Advantages: GOOD RELIEF FOR WINDY PROBLEMS
Disadvantages: REPARATION TIME

...with scent.One that is difficult to describe a sort of sweetness.The stem best when young and green and about pencil thickness for crystalizing. Having a clean flavour angilica can be used in cooking.Excellent for crystallization,tasty diluted angelica syrup is nice with ice-cream or fruit salads.It is also good for reducing the tartness if you cook the leaves with acidic fruits, you can usually reduce the sugar content if you do. The dried leaves make a good herb tea and is a very good tonic if you have a cold.Relieving it a bit. The medicial side however is that it will bring relief if you suffer from that embrassing wind problem (flatulent spasms) it will quickly help expel the gas from the stomach and bowel. It is a dose of only about one quater to one half of a teaspoon of powdered angelicia root that is needed as an infusion...

linda01865 03.09.2001 · Read review
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Review of Angelica

Covent Garden For Interesting Shopping

Advantages: Diverse assortment of specialist shops
Disadvantages: Pricey. Now very much a tourist area.

...If you are on a visit to London do try to set aside some time for a visit to the very trendy,vibrant,refurbished,Covent Garden area of the metropolis. If you are shopaholic you will enjoy your visit,and Covent Garden is easily reached by bus or tube from the West End. Explore the streets of this now very touristy district and you will find some extremely interesting shopping haunts. If you should wander along Neals Yard you will discover a small holistic enclave where the likes of oriental spices,herbs,alternative medicies,herbal treatments are all on offer. If you are shopping for fabulous perfume or cologne then the heavily scented Penhaligon's shop in Wellington Street should be up your street! The Naturally British store in New Row is an interesting haunt to find a very cross section of craft products made by British...

ashford 24.06.2000 (24.07.2002) · Read review
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Review of Covent Garden (London)

Stone carves a monumental biography

Advantages: Discriptions of Sculptures and Frescos. Italian Renaissance.
Disadvantages: Subjective interpretation. Lengthy and sometimes difficult to read.

...learned how to carve marble to be able to portray the act realistically. A lot of time out of anyone?s life!! But the time and work did prove to be worth all the effort. ?The Agony and The Ectasy? was first published in 1961 and has been re-issued on numerous occasions ever since selling millions upon millions of copies. The book opens with thirteen year of Michelangelo entering the world of art as an apprentice to Ghirlandaio - the great fresco painter and follows him through his subsequent apprenticeship as a sculpture in the gardens of the Medici family. It takes us with Michelangelo through the various obstacles in his life: family demands, wars, feuds with Popes. Despite all the thorough research that went into the book, it appears that Irving Stone chose the parts he wanted to include in Michelangelo?s biography and those to...

MAFARRIMOND 27.04.2007 · Read review
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Review of The Agony and the Ecstasy - Irving Stone

A beautiful chateau

Advantages: Beautiful, amazing History
Disadvantages: Pricey

..., the formidable Catherine de Medici, took the palace from Diane (but did give her Chateau Chaumont as an exchange!). Catherine added a long gallery over Diane's bridge. The castle was then passed to Henry III's wife, Louise de Lorraine, Gabrielle d'Estrees and then to her son by Henry, Cesar of Vendome. The Castle is now in private hands but is open to the public. LOCATION: Chateau de Chenonceau is in the village of Chenonceau. It is 34km from Tours which was where we were staying. It is on the D40. There is plenty of parking at the castle and it is free. OPENING HOURS AND PRICES: The opening hours vary depending on the time of year that you visit so it's a good idea to check the website. We went in August when the castle is open from 9am until 8pm. The latest it opens is 9.30 and the earliest it closes is 5pm. It is open every day...

tartlette83 22.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Chateau de Chenonceau

Just watch it

Advantages: Visually stunning, gripping plot, superbly acted and directed.
Disadvantages: Subtitles (if they're not your thing), very limited DVD extras.

...This is a period drama, but it's more than that, it's a French period drama, and even more, it's the most exquisitely filmed period drama you will ever see. And just because it's not American doesn't mean that it's a 'worthy' production, I don't know what the budget actually was but it can't have come cheap! The film is based on the novel by Alexander Dumas, and was directed by Patrice Chereau. It's set in 1572 during a period of violent conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants. The plot, in a nutshell, revolves around Marguerite (Margot) de Valois, daughter of the scheming Catherine de Medici and brother to King Charles IX, who is played by the lovely Jean-Hughes Anglade. Charles is a simple (in the slow sense) yet good-natured man, who is unfortunately easily led by the various factions within the court. Margot is one...

miriamb 22.07.2002 · Read review
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Review of La Reine Margot (Subtitled) (Wide Screen) (DVD)

The Bishop, the Actress and the Virgin

Advantages: Visually stunning, well acted
Disadvantages: Disturbing scenes

...a northern Italian state in 1657 a religious morality play is to be performed in front or a distinguished audience of church dignitaries and VIP's including Prince Cosimo De Medici heir of the famous family. The play is set 100 years previously and deals with a miraculous birth in 16th France in the plague and famine stricken region around Macon where many women are infertile. A beautiful baby is born to an old disfigured woman, guessing the resentment and jealousy that the woman would be subject to by the other local women her grown up daughter Mary claims the baby as her own and claims the birth was a virgin birth and thus a miracle. The locals see the event as a sign from God and attribute saintly powers to the baby bringing it tributes in return for blessings. Soon the Church comes to hear of this and the local bishop sends his son to...

Mauri 06.03.2007 · Read review
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Review of The Baby of Macon (DVD)