View from the apartment's balcony is Florence come alive! It helps put all the art in the Uffizi & the churches into perspective. The apartment is true to all the photos & very clean. Bedroom has window to same view and bed comfortable. Going up and down the 5 flights of old stone steps to the apartment is not for the weak of knee or with oversize luggage. Window on each floor helps with rest stops. Location is perfect - I took the new tram from the SMN train stop to the Tue market at Cascine Park but walk back from the park to the apartment with my loaded bags with no trouble. Ferragamo Palazzo/shoe museum + shop on the corner of block just 3 buildings down. The Ferragamo family has rehabilitated a medieval Tuscan village IL Borro where they grow their own olives & vines. You can taste them in the elegant informal bistro downstairs from the apartment - reasonable prices & lovely wines by the glass. Manager Fabio told us that he will be opening an IL Borro in NYC. Guido most helpful in every way before & during our 8 night stay at the apartment. He graciously helped us book our taxi the morning of our departure - 6 am Sunday & the driver was wonderful too. Guido's Japanese connection was particularly helpful to me who needs ingredients to cook for a vegan husband. In addition to the famed Pegna gourmet shop just off Oranmichele, at first street corner left across Ponte Vecchio is a well stocked local super mercado with organic eggs and greens & gluten free baked goods, meats & wines & condiments of every kind & a deli section if you want to relax and eat very well on the apartment's balcony. Staying at this apartment made us love Airbnb and eager to return to Florence. We made friends with the wonderful owner of the most beautifully curated gem of a bookshop - Babele on Via belle donna just off the great square of Santa Maria Novella. There we found beautiful hand crafted books, unique prints & art pieces that we bought to keep delighting us of a Florence beyond the tourists.
Another tip - an inconspicuous restaurant called Dim Sum on via dei neri is small but stylish, has open kitchen with young chefs pulling noodles and offering hand made dim sum, as well as a range of delicious Asian noodle dishes, and a small but good wine list at very reasonable prices. The Chinese owners are long time Florentine residents and the clientele totally Italian with no other Asian customer in sight both times we visited. Book for dinner - its always packed!
Another tip for women who love Italian style - go to Flo - on same street as apartment just the other side of Ponte Trinita - all local designers - gorgeous fabrics & ingenious designs. Eileen Fisher range of prices.