Some cities you visit; Florence you keep returning to. I have now seen it from the hills at first light and from the middle of its summer crush, and I love it in both. It is small enough to cross…
Victoria’s Complete Guide to Florence
The Long Way Round – Tuscany Day 3
I woke before the alarm, although I suspect I would have even if I had forgotten to set one. There are some mornings when the light seems to wake you before the world has the chance. I dressed quietly in…
The City to Myself
I woke early in the villa, before the house had quite decided to be awake, and lay for a while watching the light come up green through the shutters, listening to the particular silence that belongs to places built high…
Under the Roman Sun
I woke before the heat had settled over the city and went out to meet its oldest streets while they were still half asleep. Rome in the early morning feels like another place entirely. The shutters remained mostly closed, cafés…
The House Above Florence
I came to Florence the slow way, as I always seem to, and I came to a house rather than a hotel. My aunt takes a villa in the hills above the city most summers, an old place with faded…
The Sacred and the Ordinary: A Day Across Rome’s River
On the third morning, I crossed the river before the heat. Rome was not awake yet, or not entirely. The shutters were still closed along the streets, and the light on the Tiber was pale, almost without colour. A few…
