I’m am going to be completely honest about my stay with Frederica’s apartment.... my first night was a shamble. Walked from the station and arrived to the building, red and dripping with sweat. Had to carry my big rac sac & suitcase to the third floor while Frederica stood at the top of the stair case watching me, no attempt to help with my bags. She makes it clear to keep the bedroom door closed as the cat can enter the room. I love animals and it was nice to have the company of the cat. I left for dinner checking the room prior and closing the door behind me. I ended up throwing up in the restaurant and returned home feeling awful... only to find the cat had urinated in my suitcase all over my gifts for family at home. He must have been hiding somewhere in the room so I ended up closing him in. Balling my eyes out, Frederica helped clean the suitcase but here was almost zero sympathy. Cat urine is one of the hardest things to get the smell out. The chemicals used were strong and ended up taking off the pattern on the lining of my suit case but not the smell. Don’t make the mistake of walking around the apartment barefoot.. I walked from the room to the bathroom and my feet were brown. The floors are filthy, I know that there is no vacuum in the apartment as I travel with my clothes vacuum packed and asked if I could use it but there was nothing. There is a kettle & other amenities displayed in the room but this wasn’t there during my stay. I asked Frederica if I could use the oven to heat up some food, I said I understood her rules about kitchen use and that it was ok if she wasn’t comfortable with it. She was happy to show me how to use it & where the baking paper was. I like to eat in as much as possible seeing as I am on a budget and eating out in Florence can be expensive. In the morning I had fruit for breakfast, making sure to leave the kitchen the way I found it. On my second to last day Fredericas mother turned up and very rudely told me that I was NOT allowed to use the kitchen or anything inside it.... so glasses / crockery/ cutlery was out of the question. This was due to the fact that the kitchen wasn’t always clean, the cat spends a lot of time on the kitchen bench so it is usually covered in fur. To be told one thing by the host and then to be told off by the mother was really shocking to me. Finally it was hard seeing the big German Shepard & the cat in the small apartment during the peak of summer, no access to grass / outside areas. No wonder everything has fur on it...