May 10-15 there is the 54° International Iris Competition, so you can see  hybridisers and horticulturists from different nations work in the Garden and expose their flowers. Dont’ miss it! From the historic center Mr My Resort area you can take the bus n. 12 or 13 and go directly to the Piazzale; the Iris Garden is located on the east part of the terrace overlooking the city. If you are good walkers then you can go there by feet in about 1hr30″, crossing the Old Bridge Ponte Vecchio.

 Check where B&B MR My Resort is located here: http://www.mrflorence.it/eng/Central-B&B-Florence.html

Yes, you wont’ have to pay the ticket, and in case you have already made your booking in advance, you will pay just the 4,00 euros for the reservation service.

A few minutes walk from your charming bed and breakfast in Florence downtown, you will enjoy free entrance at: Uffizi museum, Academy Gallery, Medici Chapels, Bargello Museum, Davanzati Ancient Florentine House Museum, Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens.

You can’t miss this special event, it’s just once a year so hurry, we have just 5 rooms and the Settimana della Cultura 2010 is coming soon! In addiction, april 16th falls on a Friday, so plan your week-end getaway now!

Website: Mr My Resort

This museum is easy to visit, and is full of extraodinary masterpieces such as Michelangelo’s Prisoners (in the Prisoner’s Corridor), St Matthew, and the Pietà di Palestrina. There is the unmissable Annunciation by Lorenzo Monaco, and the Madonna del Lago by Botticelli, the Deposition by Bronzino, works by Filippo Lippi, and many others… On the upper floor there is a large selection of paintings 14th-16th century.

The David was originally placed in Piazza della Signoria, right on the steps of Palazzo Vecchio, representing the strenght and the dignity of the Florentine Republic; it was there for about 400 years, and then it was removed for proctection pourposes, and the Academy Gallery became his place.

If you intend to visit the David, then reserve the tickets in advance; you will save precious time to touring other gems in Florence historic downtown! At Mr My Resort Inn we offer museums booking service without additional costs, so email us and book your tickets to see the Academy Gallery!

In about 1 hour you will enjoy the best panoramic view of our streets, the bridges, the monuments, cathedrals… Just sit back and let the driver take you to discover Florence.

The ticket is euros 22,00 per person (discounted tariffs for children and family), and it is valid 24h, and it includes a multilingual commentary (Italian, English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Japanese and Chinese).

There are 15 stops, and you can join tour at any stop. The closest bus stop to our B&B Mr My Resort and Relais Grand Tour is located in San Marco square, but there is one close to the Duomo, too.

The frequenzy is 30 minutes, from 9.00am to 7.00pm.
From 7.00 pm to 10pm (last departure) the frequenzy is 60 minutes.

There are 2 different lines:
LINE A (main stops): Duomo – S. Croce – S. Marco – Michelangelo sq. – Via Tornabuoni – Train Station SMN
LINE B (main stops): Fiesole – San Domenico – Pitti sq. – Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge – S. Spirito – San Frediano(this tour is about 2 hours, 24 stops).

For more details, timetables, special offers: Florence Sightseeing

You will enjoy it.

Located less than 20 min. walk from Mr My Resort B&B , it’s a few meters far from the main cathedral Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio (Old bridge).

It was built as the seat of city governement between 1299 and 1322; passing the copy of the David, you can enter in the courtyard which was designed by Michelangelo and frescoed also by Vasari.

At the second floor you can admire the vaste room of Salone de’ Cinquecento, completely covered by Vasari’s frescoes celebrating the military victories Cosimo de’ Medici and the city of Florence, together with the Genio della Vittoria by Michelangelo, and statues of Vncenzo de’ Rossi and Giambologna.

Dont’ miss the Sala dei Gigli, with walls covered by lilys (gold), symbol of Florence: here there is the orginal Giuditta e Oloferne by Donatello (1460), originally placed in Piazza della Signoria.

The room of Sala delle Carte Geografiche hosts an enormous earth globe and more than fifty panels showing the known world in the 50 cent.

Palazzo Vecchio
in Piazza della Signoria,
Mon-Sat. 9.00 am – 7.00 pm (Thur. 9.00am-2.00pm)
Closed: dec. 31, may 1, aug. 15, dec. 25, Easter.

Piazza della Signoria is the most important square in the city center, and it’s located between the Duomo square and the Uffizi Gallery, a couple of steps from the Old bridge (Ponte Vecchio) on the river Arno.

 Located at a walking distance from our B&B Mr My Resort and Relais Grand Tour (15-20 minutes by feet), the Signoria sq. is an open museum: here you can admire the facade and campanile of Palazzo Vecchio, the copy of the David, the Neptune Fountain (half of the 500 cent.) also called Il Biancone (the Big White) for the big white Neptune and its licentious nymphs.

  The Hercules of Bandinelli is simply spectacular…

On the right you can admire the Loggia de’ Lanzi (lancers were the bodyguard of Cosimo I), with the famous Rape of the Sabine women by Giambologna, the marvellous Perseus of Benvenuto Cellini, and other important sculptures.

A couple of things about Palazzo Vecchio will coming soon…

The church worth a visit, and it’s located about 20 minutes walk from our bed&breakfasts MR My Resort and Relais Grand Tour. In addiction the area is full of good places to eat and leather shops.

The Santa Croce cathedral is famous also for its funerary monuments, but you can’t skip the frescoes of Giotto and pupils (frescoes in Cappella Pazzi and Cappella Bardi), the decorations of Andrea della Robbia, works of Donatello, Cimabue, Vasari…
And here you can stay in front of our Renaissance celebrities… well, I mean in front of their skeletons.

The tomb of Michelangelo is located on the right at the front of the basilica, and he choosed this spot personally. Vasari in person worked on this monument, he was his friend and follower.

Then you can admire the tomb of Vittorio Alfieri (poet and dramatist) by Antonio Canova, and the tomb of Niccolò Machiavelli, with the allegorical figure of Diplomacy.

Ugo Foscolo, another important italian poet (I sepolcri - The tombs, where he celebrated the funeral monuments of the powerful right in this church, and the values of compassion and remembrance), is here.

The tomb of Galileo Galilei is on the left wall, made in polychrome marbels; his bust is between the Astronomy and Geometry allegories.

You can’t miss the Cloister and the Museo dell’Opera di Santa Croce.

SANTA CROCE, in Piazza Santa Croce
Mon. – Sat. 9.30am – 5.30pm
Sat. 1.00pm – 5.30pm
Admission euros 4,00

But, there is a place I love at the Piazzale, San Miniato church far from the noise of cars, bus and motor scooter, not very far away from the Iris garden.
You can reach it in a few minutes from the fake David, after have climbed a double stone stair; once you get over there you will soon realize that I was right: the view is more natural and not so postcard view like.

The church is one of the most beautiful we do have in Tuscany and it hosts gold mosaics and masterpieces of 1300; inside the church the floor is completely decorated in marble with the Zodiac signs; I also suggest to give a look to the crypt that is dated back to the XI century: a very suggestive and mysterious place.

If you like the Gregorian chorus this is the right place: in winter at 4,30pm, in summer at 5,30pm.

Church of San Miniato al Monte
Via delle Porte Sante 34
+39 055 2342731
Free entrance
Bus 12 or 13 from the Railway station
Walk about 1 hour 30 minutes from the B&B

The area of Mr My resort B&B offers incredible discovers.

Going out from the B&B with a few minutes’ walk you are in Via Cavour and you can already stop at Chiostro dello Scalzo (entrance free), frescoes by Andrea del Sarto with a technique called grisaille; from here, you can go to San Marco church, in San Marco square.
The church hosts also a convent which today is the San Marco museum with frescoes by Beato Angelico. Among his masterpieces: the Annunciation, the Tabernacolo and the Deposition.
Entering in the small Franciscan cellars frescoed as always by Beato Angelico is an experience!
This is one of the most moving place of Florence and you will be amazed in seen the mocked Christ, strangest more than a surrealist paint.

If you proceed in Via Cavour towards the Duomo you will meet Palazzo Medici Riccardi, a stone and massive palace where the Grand-dukes of Florence, the powerful Medici family, showed all their power. You can admire two things here: my favorite place is the garden of the palace full of lemon trees, but the masterpiece is the Chapel of the Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli.
Going out the palace you are very close to the San Lorenzo area and the famous open air market.
If you love churches you cannot miss the San Lorenzo Church full of 1500 artworks especially by an artist who I personally like, Rosso Fiorentino, but if you like shopping, the market is your place especially if you are looking for leather goods, Florentine art crafts and small souvenirs. Bargain, always!
Being in the San Lorenzo area you cannot miss a stop in the Central market which is open until 2pm. This is the market where Florentines go for shopping and where there are a lot of stands where you can do a gastronomic shopping: extra virgin olive oil, cheese, wine. If it is lunch time and you have the patience to wait, a stop is at Nerbone, the best panino in town filled with typical Tuscan delicatessen such as boiled lampredotto or pork with various sauces and vegetables.
After lunch you can go to see the Medici Chapels, just behind the San Lorenzo church open until 5pm. They are built by Michelangelo on the same structure of the Baptistery of Saint John (In front f the Duomo) and in particular the Chapel of the Princes it is believed that has the same design of the Saint Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

If you are tired you can walk up to Via Santa Reparata (where we live and where we have the other B&B, the Relais Grand Tour).
At the corner of Via XXVII Aprile there is another hidden jewel, the Cenacolo of Sant’Apollonia, entrance free and open until 1,30pm.
There is one the most beautiful Last Supper of the town, frescoed by Andrea del Castagno.

Then if you fancy a cappuccino, in front of the Cenacolo there is Caffé Nabucco, nice people, nice aperitifs in the evening and nice cappuccino. I go there every morning!
Your day is over so far and your private spa is waiting for you…