We spent three nights in Cristina's fantastic apartment in Florence. My only regret is that I wish we could have spent more time there! This is a wonderful apartment right in the heart of historic Florence. The frescos on the ceiling (originals we are told) are amazing, and the apartment is large and comfortable. The location could not be better; we were able to walk to all of the tourist attractions that we wanted to see. We never used a taxi except to go to and from the train station. It is about a 10 minute walk to the Academia (home of Michelangelo's David), 15 minutes to the Duomo, 20 minutes to the Uffizi Gallery, etc. There was a wonderful open air market in a nearby square, and a grocery store close by as well. There were multiple good restaurants within a 10 minute walk.
Despite being near the center of the heart of the city, the apartment was extremely quiet and peaceful. It is on the ground floor of a historic building, but it is very secure, with three locked doors one must pass through to get to the actual apartment. The apartment itself is spacious and comfortable. There is a large living room with a full size dining table, a fully equipped kitchen (stove, oven, full sized refrigerator, microwave oven, coffee maker--no dishwasher), a large full bathroom with shower, a large bedroom with a separate powder room, and a sitting room in the back with access to a small garden. There is a washing machine; there is no dryer, but there is a drying rack.
This is a wonderful, comfortable, secure apartment perfectly located in historic Florence. Cristina is the perfect host. She quickly responded to all of our questions, and prepared us for our trip there. Her associate, Valentina, met us at the apartment precisely at the time she said she would to let us in and show us around the apartment. She also provide helpful hints for shopping, dining, calling a taxi, etc, and she made herself available for any further questions. She had even bought fresh milk so we had it for our coffee the next morning.
We would HIGHLY recommend this apartment to anyone want to spend time in Florence.