Esperienza personale. Translated to English, personal experience. Urbano Brini is on a mission. He wants everyone who visits Florence and Tuscany to have a once in a lifetime adventure.

Several years ago, he started Florencetown Tours. What began as a simple self-guided bike ride around the city has grown into something much bigger. Something more unique. Something more personal.

Last December, I visited Urbano in his office, located a stone's throw from the Arno River. The view alone must provide Urbano with some of his most creative ideas. He is laser-focused on customer service and has a keen understanding of what savvy tourists desire. Urbano will be the first to tell you that what visitors want changes over time.

Take Florencetown, for instance. Many of the companies offerings are group outings. Several people, many who you don't know, take a tour to see David, ride Vespa's, or retrace the footsteps of the Medici family. Typical things a lot of us do but leaves us feeling like a tourist rather than having the authentic experience we yearn for when visiting Italy.

Urbano and his team noticed this and wanted to offer their clients something more. They didn't need to reinvent the wheel; they just needed to look at the way people want to experience Florence and Tuscany differently. By differently, we mean privately, uniquely, and off the beaten path. Something that when you tell your friends what you did on your trip, they say, wow! How in the world did you get to do that?

Urbano makes dreams come true. It shouldn't be that much as a surprise, as you will find out by listening to this podcast, Urbano is one of the biggest dreamers of them all. We are lucky that he wants to share them with the world.