A journey around the world among the Tuscan hills: a holiday in Florence, Part I

When Mona Lisa, after posing for Leonardo da Vinci, turned around, her famous enigmatic expression changed to astonishment and wonder: behind her were the pinnacles and spires of the so-called balze of the Valdarno. We don't know whether things really happened that way, but what is certain is that Leonardo drew inspiration for more than one of his works from the breathtaking landscape around Florence, which some even compare to the American Monument Valley. There are many ways to visit Florence, perhaps the best-known art city in the world, cradle of an incomparable Renaissance culture. One can plunge straight into the crowd queuing outside the museums and race frantically from one monument to the next, compulsively taking photos without really seeing much.

This time we chose to do things differently: rather than just visit it, we wanted to understand it, feel it, experience it a little as if a time machine had taken us back to the Renaissance. We decided to approach it from the right distance, as is appropriate with a work of art, so we chose as our lodgings a historic, magnificently restored villa in the countryside, about half an hour's drive from the city: the Agriturismo Villa Poggio di Gaville, listed by the prestigious British newspaper The Times among the twenty best agriturismi in Tuscany.

After settling into the wonderful, elegant rooms, equipped with every comfort and furnished with refined taste capable of blending tradition and innovation, Tuscan culture and exotic charm thanks to furniture and furnishings from the 43 countries visited by the owner and proprietor Jamal Amin, we set off to discover Florence, already carrying in our hearts its open spirit, of a city that was once a true power. When we visit the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, symbol of Florence and the third-largest church in the world, whose construction began in 1296, four years before Dante Alighieri began working on the Divine Comedy, an elderly Florentine woman we meet by chance tells us a chilling story that takes us straight back to the dark mysteries of the Middle Ages. "Can you feel this little wind?" she asks us. "It's the devil's riffle.

Once Lucifer began following a priest through the streets of Florence with the intention of taking away his soul. The clergyman, however, managed to trick him by entering the Cathedral to say a prayer. Satan waited for him outside, but the priest came out through a side door, thus escaping his fate. The devil, increasingly bored and impatient, began to huff and puff, raising first a light breeze that then turned into a real storm. Since then that riffle has never stopped blowing." When we return to Gaville, we visit the ancient Pieve di San Romolo, built in 1007, fully 108 years before Florence became an independent comune. Leaving the building of evocative beauty, we pause for a moment in the little square in front to check whether a suspicious wind is blowing. No, here everything is calm.

Our Florentine days pass like this, between the discovery of gems related to tradition and the great testimonies of art, and long hours spent in complete relaxation at the agriturismo. At times it's as if it were Lorenzo de' Medici himself, known as Il Magnifico, also famous for his passion for horses, who directed us here: at the agriturismo we can admire six free-roaming horses, true symbols of freedom, happy animals that willingly spend time with us tourists. Their free spirit is contagious and drives us to take long, regenerating walks in the greenery of the vast estate, continuing as far as the nearby Lake Santa Barbara, where it is also possible to fish and in summer one can even learn to sail.

The combination of nature and art accompanies us throughout our stay: we happen to jump on a saddle - on mountain bikes rented at the agriturismo, but also on real horses during riding lessons. If, admiring certain works of art seen in Florence, Arezzo or Siena, it's easy to feel as if we're on cloud nine, it's just as easy to find ourselves up in the air in the literal sense too, flying by hot-air balloon or paraglider in nearby San Giovanni Valdarno. For the less daring, nothing better than the huge swimming pool (170 sq m), an irresistible attraction during our relaxing holiday.