My daughters and I stayed with Piera and Roberto (Elisabetta’s parents) for almost a year and it was a fantastic year. We also met Elisabetta on many occasions and she helped us to find our bicycles and offered help and information whenever we needed it.
Piera and Roberto treated us like family and did many kind things for us. Piera and Elisabetta helped to find a school for my daughter and Piera went to the school with me to help get my daughter registered. They offered us treats and refreshments in their home on countless occasions. When I needed to pick up a rental car to leave Florence, Piera went with me to help me get back to the apartment with the car (driving in Florence is not easy) and Roberto took the time to drive ahead of us to guide us out of the city. The apartment itself is very well located and we could not have chosen better. We bought bikes, shortly after we arrived, and it was 25 minutes for me to get to the school I was attending in the centre. The number 10 bus stops just at the end of the path and runs every 20 minutes to the centre of Florence. There are fields around the house and a beautiful walking path right in front of the apartment that goes to Settignano. (The apartment is part of the buildings that belonged to the Strozzi family estate and a little way along the path is the beautiful Villa Strozzi.) This is an ideal place for children because they can play around the house and on the path without any danger of traffic. The small town of Ponte a Mensola has a bakery and stores that sell convenience groceries if there is something that you need right away. We were also able to explore trails walking to Fiesole that went over the mountain that Leonardo Da Vinci used to experiment with his flying machines. There is a dedication to him at the top and the views of Florence and the surrounding countryside are spectacular. The apartment has a beautiful fenced garden area with olive and walnut trees, kitchen herbs and flowers. The apartment itself is outfitted with everything that anyone could need and we were very comfortable. My daughters and I were sad to leave. We will certainly come back here as we miss it so much already! This is, in my opinion, the very best location for visiting, or living, in Florence.