Six years ago I came to Florence from my home in Boston for a short stay that turned permanent after I fell in love with my now-husband, a Florentine named Rami. I was in love with the country, too, and can say that after all this time, I still find it truly breathtaking.

Unfortunately the beauty isn't the only thing that makes me gasp here. Sometimes it's the physical effort needed to get around — while climbing up and down the steep streets in the hill towns of Tuscany, scaling palaces and towers without elevators, or navigating the throngs of tourists in ancient cities.