Exceptional event at Hotel Marinetta Paolo Bettini's trophy "museum" from august 1st to 7th
From August 1st to 7th 2011, Hotel Marinetta will exhibit the trophies of street Cycling World Champion and 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Paolo Bettini. These are Paolo Bettini's trophies:

Three World Cups;
One Liegi-Bastogne-Liegi;
One Milan-Sanremo;
One Zurich GP;
Two Lombardy Tours;
One San Sebastian Classic;
Two Italian Championships;
One Tyrrhenian-Adriatic;
Stops of the Giro d’Italia;
Stops of the Vuelta de Espana;
Stops of the Tour de France;
…. and several other acknowledgements.
The trophies will be shown in an actual “Museum” set up in our Hotel in collaboration with Club Bettini of California. The entry is free, and everyone can participate.

"Venice Effect" 2011 with the return of opera in the square in Livorno from july 29th to august 7th.
Venice in Livorno is almost an island, a city within a city, which at the same time is antique and modern, touristy and lively. But all too often, the quarter, heart of the night life, is almost forgotten during the day, even if, paradoxically, it is in the light of the sun that this Venice gives its best and the channels of this quarter built directly in the waters of the Harbour light up with a light that may be only found here. “Venice Effect” is the traditional and most important summer feast that every year tales place in the ancient quarter of the city in the first days of August. Many are the initiatives that liven the channels, the small squares and the bridges of this suggestive Livorno corner which, because of its characteristics, is called “The New Venice”: from the stands of the artisans and modern art collectors, the puppets and street performer, from the exhibitions to the suggestive boat excursions  in the “Fossi Medicei”. One can dive into the feast and be seduced by the thousands of attractions or also, once an old door is crossed, enter the silent hall of one of the many historical palaces that the Venice offers us, not only in these special nights. But the reason that “Venice Effect” is most recognised is the spectacular “Kermesse”, able to offer, in nine nights of the feast, the most ample array of artistic choices, where famous artists work alongside less known youngsters of indubitable talent.
This years “Venice Effect” will be dedicated to France, and the Artistic Director, Mario Menicagli, intends to celebrate the closeness with our “cousins” beyond the Alps by bringing opera and dance in the piazza. Menicagli is betting on one title that will be chosen among one of these three operas: ”Andrea Chenier” by Andrea Giordano, the “Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi or the “Boheme” by Giacomo Puccini, all three taking place in France.

Its origin is uncertain, we are talking about 780 DC, even id with the name of Oliveto (maybe for the physical characteristics of the place). Up until 1440 it was owned by the della Gherardesca, the Soderini until 1665, the Incontri until 1801 and then again the della Gherardesca.
The edifice, fortified, dominates the hill between Bolgheri and Castagneto, (393 m above sea level), from which one can see the suggestive landscape below. One a year, on July 16th, it is open to the public, on occasion of the feast of the Madonna del Carmine. The church of San Bernardo, built in 1805 and restructured between 1914 and 1915, has a single main body, its façade in squared stone ashlars.
The bottom part of the side walls is decorated with faux marble plates, a motif that is repeated in the sanctuary area. A painted arch with faux white and grey ashlars borders the apse area in which the Madonna with Child is represented.
The altar presents a quadrangular ciborium; two shields containing the arms of the della Gherardesca and the Pisa cross hang on the frontal surface.
Noteworthy is the holy water basin which is a result of the assembly of a late renaissance basement in stone with the Soderini coat of arms with a marble basin subdivided into sections