Florence

We’ve been fortunate to have been able to visit a number of wonderful cities., I’ve loved them all and would gladly return to any of them, given the chance. However, of all of them, Florence Italy is the one that really resonates with me. If you asked me what makes Florence so special; I could tell you that Florence is the birthplace of the Renaissance, that it has beautiful Gothic and Renaissance buildings, that the Uffizi Gallery boasts priceless works by Michelangelo, Botticilli, Raphael, Giotto and Titian. I could point out to you that the Galleria dell’Accademia houses the famous statue of David by Michelangelo. All of this is true and anyone who has ever visited Florence, anyone who has ever written about Florence, would tell you the same thing.

I’d like to tell you why I and my family love Florence. We love Florence because even though it is a city that attracts millions of tourists a year it still has an intimate, small town feel. We love it because on our first night there we discovered the Cuculia Ristorante, a restaurant with such a warm, welcoming, neighborhood atmosphere that we went back to our hotel and immediately posted a rave review on Tripadvisor.

We love it because at night you can go up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, sit back with a soft drink or glass of wine, and gaze down at the lights of the city. We love Florence for the beautiful Tuscan countryside with its cypress trees, olive groves, and vineyards.We love Florence because we climbed to the top of the Duomo, sampled perfumes at the ancient Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy, and shopped at the jewelry shops on the historic Ponte Vecchio as a family.

If you visit Florence you’ll have the chance to gaze upward in awe at Michelangelo’s David, to actually see Boticilli’s Birth of Venus and Primavera, to marvel at the genius it took to construct Brunelleschi’s Dome..If you visit Florence you’ll have the chance to see the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Baptistery of St John. If you visit Florence you’ll have the chance to see the city of the Medicis, to visit the Boboli Gardens and gaze at the Vasari Corridor that stretches overhead from the Palazzo Vecchio to the Pitti Palace.  If you visit Florence you’ll have a chance to see why we love the city so much, and perhaps, to fall in love with Florence yourself.