The flat is in a nice neighbourhood, with good restaurants and pleasant local life, and with easy commuting to the city centre and great walks to some of the most villa areas overlooking Florence. A perfect balance between easily accessing the historical core and yet staying away from the tourist crowds. Communication was good, and Ricardo gave me a nice welcome although I arrived one good hour later than announced.
The apartment is in the old Airbnb tradition: A real home and not a vacation apartment. Accordingly, it is well equipped although not necessarily in the most convenient way for a short sojourn. Save for the living room it consists basically of a long corridor subdivided in bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom. While the numerous artworks and books give it character and charm it is very dark, a bit cramped, and tends towards the oppressing.
The rooms are exquisitely quiet and dark at night. During the day I could listen to birds and to young opera singers practicing their Mozart. It was a great added pleasure.
I would had been perfectly happy save for the heat and the mosquitoes. During my stay Florence was experiencing a heat wave. The walls of the bedroom radiated violent heat. Mosquitoes found me delicious, day and night. There was no fan, and the anti-mosquito products I brought proved largely useless. Unable to sleep for two nights I left the apartment two days early. Un peccato.