All my readers know I love living in Florence! Here are a few more reasons why.

For example, an exterior window sill has flowers, paint brushes and a painter’s palette. A bid odd, perhaps, but I like the sentiment, whatever it is. I know it’s artistic!

I 1ove living here because the French street artist Clet Abraham is based here and his playful modifications of traffic signs add humor and social commentary to the city’s historic streets, as seen above and below.

Above and below, I love living in an old Italian city where the 12th and 13th century walls that once surrounded it are still fully visible and part of the city’s fabric in the Oltrarno.

Above and below, I love living in a city where elegance and excellence are prized. In the narrow, uneven, often hidden, ancient stone lined streets of the historic district, you can find stores selling the most luxe of all items. Antiques and high end fragrances for the home are sold side by side.

And the same store sells fresh flowers. They are always displayed in buckets right on the street and I love seeing what the day’s offering consists of.