Today is Friday and we’ve been in Florence since Monday afternoon. We are very pleased with our apartment. It is larger than I expected. We are on a limited traffic road but it is between the Duomo (the big Dome you always see in pictures of Florence) and the Galleria Dell’Accademia (the museum where the statue of “David” is located). Even though there is a steady stream of people down our street all day long it isn’t too distracting. Right now we’re only in the apartment at night after about 10pm and in the afternoon since it’s been so hot.
We are on the 3rd floor of a building built in the 1700s (Italians consider it the 2nd floor since the ground floor is considered zero). Each floor has at least 18 foot ceilings therefore it’s like going up 4 flights of stairs not just 2. (Note to Jamie - leaving and coming back at least 3 to 5 times a day I’m getting several very small bouts of cardio each day.)
The entryway is a good size with a small couch, sofa table and coat rack. The floor in the entry way, bedroom and kitchen are hardwood oak. The living/dining has a hide-a-bed couch, chest of drawers, television (which is about the size of our computer screen) and a small round table with 3 chairs that we have been eating our meals at. The fresco ceiling has a beautiful scrolled design and chandelier light. The floor is a bargello patterned of large rectangular brick.
The long narrow bedroom has an incredible fresco ceiling with birds, butterflies, ladies and scrolly decorations; it’s like a fairy tale ceiling. Thankfully right now it also has an air conditioner. It’s been hot during the day and even though it cools down a bit at night the buildings still retain heat.
The entryway is a good size with a small couch, sofa table and coat rack. The floor in the entry way, bedroom and kitchen are hardwood oak. The living/dining has a hide-a-bed couch, chest of drawers, television (which is about the size of our computer screen) and a small round table with 3 chairs that we have been eating our meals at. The fresco ceiling has a beautiful scrolled design and chandelier light. The floor is a bargello patterned of large rectangular brick.
The long narrow bedroom has an incredible fresco ceiling with birds, butterflies, ladies and scrolly decorations; it’s like a fairy tale ceiling. Thankfully right now it also has an air conditioner. It’s been hot during the day and even though it cools down a bit at night the buildings still retain heat.
The kitchen is a good size (bigger than Elda’s kitchen in Torre Orsina). There isn’t much storage, only one small cupboard to hold pots, pans and food and a long shelf to hold dishes over the counter and sink area. There is a small round table but Vic and I prefer to eat in the other room.
The bathroom is another long narrow room. The shower has a glass door which keeps the rest of the floor dry. The shower in Torre Orsina was in the middle of the bathroom with a drain in the middle of the floor, although it had a shower curtain to go around it most of the bathroom floor got wet. It was never a problem just different than I’m used to.
We have been enjoying waking up, whenever, going out in the morning and shopping for that day’s meals, coming back for lunch when it starts to get warm, napping and blogging after lunch, wandering around and eating gelato in the early evening, eating out or coming back to the apartment for a late dinner and perhaps a late evening stroll (and gelato) before retiring to bed.
The bathroom is another long narrow room. The shower has a glass door which keeps the rest of the floor dry. The shower in Torre Orsina was in the middle of the bathroom with a drain in the middle of the floor, although it had a shower curtain to go around it most of the bathroom floor got wet. It was never a problem just different than I’m used to.
We have been enjoying waking up, whenever, going out in the morning and shopping for that day’s meals, coming back for lunch when it starts to get warm, napping and blogging after lunch, wandering around and eating gelato in the early evening, eating out or coming back to the apartment for a late dinner and perhaps a late evening stroll (and gelato) before retiring to bed.