I guess it’s actually true that your first love can never really be replaced…In this case though, I’m talking about a city and a region.  I was thinking about Florence today and was  reminded of why I moved there and never left Italy for 15 years. Our love affair began over 25 years ago but it really took shape, when I moved to Via Vellutini, 5.

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So much has happened since then in life and in love, in the world and in work but I still feel like a kid when I get to Florence. It truly makes my heart soar and I think it will be that way forever. At least I hope so.

When I moved to Florence, I was studying gold leafing (a long story) at Palazzo Spinelli after having attended NYU Law School and deciding that my destiny wasn’t in the law but in the arts. Naturally, Firenze appealed to me in all ways. My gold leafing didn’t last long (I went to work for a lawyer) but my passion for Florence and my neighborhood did. I lived in the Oltr’arno on Via Romana for many years. At the time, I was lucky enough to see famed works of art on a daily basis in my local churches and museums, go vegetable shopping in Santo Spirito and gaze at the Arno whenever I liked.

Brunelleschi’s dome, the church of San Lorenzo filled with Michelangelo’s sculpture and Giotto’s campanile always make my heart sing. I just love Tuscany and Florence in particular will always remain my second home. My son is named after famed Florentines in fact – Niccolò .