A journey into thepast: art, literature, villas and gardens. Between the 1880’s and 1940,Florence became a magnet for ex-pat Anglo-Americans, think of the movie ‘Teawith Mussolini’ and today you will see some of the magnificent places that soenchanted them. Sargent, Henry James, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, Melville,Gertrude and Leo Stein and Frank Lloyd Wright are just a handful of the famousartists who came here. To escape the summer heat, they would retire to some ofthe many charming villas in the hills on the outskirts of Florence. They tooktea in the gardens, with magnificent views over the city, met in the many cafesin the centre and hosted literary salons. You will be treading in theirfootsteps as you visit some of these enchanting villas and gardens, manypainted by Sargent or described by Mark Twain. You will feel that you have seenthe city through the eyes of the American community living in the ‘Paradise ofexiles’.
