Just got back from Florence and the Venere apt. The apartment is clean, charming, and has an authentic Florence feel. The kitchen and bath are modern. The bed is comfy. The flat is in a 400 year old building with 300 year old frescoes on the living room wall. Very cool. The flat is steps from the Santo Spirito piazza which is full of italian families and students in the mornings and evenings. The building is very secure and we felt very safe the whole time. Elly met us right on time and was helpful. We enjoyed Gusta's pizza and the Casalinga restaurant next door to it. The Casalinga is very lively and has a fun vibe. Lots of people scurrying about in aprons. They'd like you to have a reservation (you can pop in) or they make you wait a while. The bridges over the Arno are only about a 5 minutes walk from the piazza. All the sights can be easily reached by walking. Elly's recommendation of the gelato place by the river had the best gelato we had in italy. We took a bullet train into Venice. The station is a 20 minute walk and the ride about 2 hours right into San Lucia station in Venice. You can catch the Valparetto (20 euros) and ride the Grand Canal to San Marco plaza (packed like sardines) or walk over the bridge and walk there (about half an hour). The San Marco area and Rialto areas were the best. In Florence, we got in the Uffizi with no wait by going an hour before closing. The first Sunday of the month enrance to all the museums are free (and very crowded.) Elly recommended a parking garage around the block from the flat (about 1 block walk). It is in the ZLT zone but the garage calls the police and keeps you from getting fined (we hope.) Altogether a great apt and location. We had no problems with noise or mosquitoes while there, and we were there over the weekend. The living room is on the street and has a few "city sounds" but not too loud. The bedroom was quiet. I used the washer. It worked great but makes a lot of noise and goes for about an hour and a half. I think I kept the people downstairs up with the noise- better to use in the daytime.