La Freccia with Dante, looking towards a 2021 when we can hug again

In November, La Freccia has dedicated the cover to Dante Alighieri, in view of the 2021 commemoration for the 700th anniversary of his death, and hopes for a Vita Nova for the coming year. It does so by showing the embrace between the troubadour poet Sordello da Goito and Virgil in the VI canto of the Purgatory, under the eyes of the Supreme Poet, in the hopes that we will all soon be able to do the same.

And it is precisely to Dante that we dedicate an extensive service that leads us in the footsteps of the "fugitive Ghibellin" moving from his native Florence to the Ravenna of his last days, passing through many of the places narrated or frequented in his exile, from the castles of Tuscany to Bologna and Verona.

Along with many memories, suggestions and travel stories, to read today and plan for 2021. For example, the description of a journey by six cyclists between Rome and Venice on an Intercity equipped for bicycle transport, experiencing art and nature while cycling home.

Or discovering the archaeological park of Agrigento on the historical train that crosses the Valley of the Temples among echoes of the past, literary references and typical flavours. And, still in Sicily, a journey on foot along the 183 km of the Magna Via Francigena that attracts pilgrims from all over the world and crosses 20 municipalities from Palermo to Agrigento.

The new column "Genius Loci" by Peppone Calabrese, a well-known TV personality on Rai Uno, tells us about the village of Scanno in Abruzzo, famous for the rite of the Glories, among ancestral traditions and ancient scents of wood, in the shade of a wild mountain. And, finally, good food with a tour of restaurants in Florence and the surrounding area to discover the legendary Florentine steak.

This issue also features numerous interviews of personalities from the Romagna singer-songwriter Samuele Bersani, who presents the album Cinema Samuele, to Giuseppe Fiorello, the protagonist of Rai1's fiction series Gli orologi del diavolo (The Devil's Clocks), through to the presenter Giancarlo Magalli, the exceptional voiceover in Rai2's docu-reality Il Collegio, and Tommaso Sacchi, Councillor for Culture of the City of Florence and President of the Fondazione Teatro della Toscana, who anticipates the highlights of the celebrations for the 18th anniversary of Dante's death in the city of Giglio.

Art is the protagonist at the Donizetti Theatre in Bergamo for the festival dedicated to the great composer - broadcast in streaming - but also at the Part Museum in Rimini with the contemporary masterpieces of the San Patrignano Foundation. Last but not least the artistic project of Lucilla Catania in the countryside and in the village of Bassano in Teverina and the installations at Villa Borghese in symbiosis with the green spaces of the historic Roman park.

Omelia contadina is the solo show by Parisian street artist JR, at the Galleria Continua in San Gimignano, depicting the disappearance of the rural world. Not to mention the winning images of the International Drone Photo Awards in Siena, with the funny animal portraits of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards to raise public awareness about endangered species. And the shots of Sandro Miller, on show in Trieste, in which actor John Malkovich reinterprets the most iconic works of the masters of the lens.

In Medialogando, the column dedicated to the world of information, journalist Bruno Vespa recounts the 25 years of the program Porta a Porta, aired after the watershed on Rai1, with a mix of information, political debate and a pinch of entertainment. Finally, the Un treno di libri (A Train of Books) column recommends reading Fall Back Down When I Die by Joe Wilkins, set in the wilderness, where the rules are inflexible and apply to everyone with relentless violence. 

The November La Freccia can be browsed and read in digital format, on Fsnews, and on paper in the FRECCIALounge and FRECCIAClub, each copy cellophaned and personal, for readers to pick up and take away. The contents of FS Italiane’s monthly magazine are also available on the FSNews Telegram channel and the @fsnews_it and @LaFreccia_Mag Twitter profiles.