Florence, Italy

Mondays on the Move with Kate is a travel series following the adventures of Caldwell Travel’s Kate Godfrey as she explores the world and shares her experiences. She is currently on a 5 month European Adventure.

When you think of Florence, you may think of Renaissance art, the Uffizi, Michelangelo’s David, the Arno, the Ponte Vecchio — but Florence is a city of so much more.

Did you know that the history of modern Italian language has roots in medieval Florence and came into common usage thanks to Dante’s Divine Comedy? Or that modern poetry and modern prose were born in Tuscany as well… Well, Florence was also the first city to mint its own gold coins (in 1252) and to pave its streets (1235). It was a Florentine that invented the eye glasses, Gucci handbags, and art history. A Florentine cartographer gave his name to a new world that was discovered in 1492; the public lottery, the opera, soccer and minestrone soup are also said to have originated in Florence.

Thanks to the rise of the Renaissance in the 15th century, Florence became the world’s leading center of mathematics and astronomy. Science was divided into separate disciplines (chemistry, physics, biology) in Florence. Galileo, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello and Machiavelli all called Florence home at some point. Art criticism was initiated in Florence. Modern Political Science traces its origins back to Florence and Machiavelli’s The Prince.

Florentines claim to have invented French cuisine thanks to the marriage of Catherine de’ Medici to Henri II of France in 1535. Catherine who was only 14, took a full complement of chefs and an encyclopedia of Tuscan recipes with her to France. She also apparently introduced the French to the wonders of eating with a fork.

Even with all of these amazing feats, Florence to me is an adorable compact Tuscan city with red-tile roofs, more than its fair share of leather goods and tons of Renaissance art. I will remember climbing a nearly never-ending staircase wedged between the lower dome and the upper dome of the Duomo. I will not forget the larger than life 7th level of Hell painted on the dome in Santa Maria dei Fiori. I will savor the bitter sweet hot chocolate with whipped cream soaking up the sun’s warm rays in the Piazza della Signoria after walking the long U-shaped corridors of the Uffizi Gallery. I will remember the irregularities in human form of both Venus in The Birth of Venus with her long forearms and nonexistent shoulders as well as David by Michelangelo with his large head and hands. I will treasure the view over Florence from the Piazzale Michelangelo and the relaxing picnic afternoon spent there. It may have only been two weeks – but they were wonderful weeks. !Ciao Firenze!

Want to travel to Florence? Contact Caldwell Travel to book your Florence vacation today!