Excuse Me Miss, How Do I Get to Tuscany?

 I get asked this question all the time. Either that or people will tell me that the next stop on their trip is "to Tuscany for a few days",  as if it's an actual city.  My answer is usually as follows: "Well, actually you are already in Tuscany!" (said with the utmost enthusiasm and the cheesiest smile one can conger up) I then go on to explain how it really is.

 Ok, so it's an easy mistake to make if you’ve never been here before. Agreed. But,……..if you are going to travel someplace new,  you should probably find out at least a little bit about where you are going.   It would actually be more accurate to say that you will be going to the Tuscan Countryside for a few days.

(see all that yellow area? That's all Tuscany, Florence is almost in the middle)

You can think of Tuscany as a state, but rather here in Italy it's known as a region. The country is made up of
20 different regions. For example, Florence, Siena and Pisa are all in the Region (state) of Tuscany.  Rome is in Lazio, Venice is in Il Venteo, and Milano in Lombardia. Sicily  and Calabria, are also regions, not cities; which is another common mistake that is made. Each one of those regions has its major cities.
 It’s simple really! Yay! Look at that. 

Check out the map above and you can see all of the different regions in the country.

Florence is surrounded by beautiful Tuscan Countryside, in fact that is one of the best things about living here.  You can be in the city one minute and amongst cypress tree and olive groves the next.  What that means is it is very easy to get that whole "Under the Tuscan Sun" experience (if you must) in the tiny towns just outside of Florence.

Is there something you would like to know about Florence? Leave a comment or send me a message at wheninflorence@gmail.com  and I will be happy to send you an answer.
Ciao! A presto!