In Florence: Uffizi view in the evening.
November 18, 2009
Yesterday evening I took this picture from Palazzo Vecchio (Signoria Square) looking to the Uffizi piazza.
Uffizi museum is the most important museum in Florence (in Italy?), and you can’t miss it! In addiction, it is less than 20 minutes walk from your bed and breakfast Mr My Resort…
I love shopping in Florence 3.
November 3, 2009
From Via Tornabuoni to Via della Vigna Vecchia
(see also I love shopping in Florence 1 and I love shopping in Florence 2 )
Ok, you’re in Via Tornabuoni, which is the most famous street for shopping: it starts from the Ponte Santa Trinita and ends at the corner with Via dei Vecchietti, a small street to the Duomo sq. This area is about 15-20 minutes walk from MR My Resort B&B location , and it won’t be difficult to back home after a day of shopping.
In Via Tornabuoni you can find: boutique of Ferragamo with its gorgeous shoes and accessories (close to the Ponte Santa Trinita), Versace, Tiffany&Co., Blumarine boutique (at the corne with Via di Porta Rossa), Emilio Pucci, God Save the Queen!(I love the interiors), Dior accessories and jewelleries, Armani (man and woman), Prada, Gucci (accessories and jewels), Damiani jewellerie… And Emilio Cavalli, Pomellato jewellery, Max Mara boutique (best coats ever, according to me), Tod’s, Hermés…
Cavalli boutique also has its Café, but one of the best places where you can have a good light lunch or an excellent slice of cake is Procacci, an old fashioned place loved by Florentines, right in the middle of Via Tornabuoni.
If Via Tornabuoni is not enough for your credit card, then you can consider to go in Via della Vigna Vecchia: La Perla lingerie, Braccialini with its great bags, Furla, Comptoir des Cotonniers , (one of my favourite), Mont Blangc jewels, and many others…
The street is also full of beautiful ancient palace and there is a shop for children: Petit Bateau
At the end of the street there is the W’p Store for Woolrich: a good pair of jeans, a jacket or the Blundstone shoes for a high-quality casual italian style.
Also see: I love shopping in Florence 1. and I love shopping in Florence 2.
I love shopping in Florence 2.
October 7, 2009
Part 2: Via Calzaioli – Signoria square – Porcellino Market – Via Porta Rossa – Via Tornabuoni
(From I love shopping in Florence 1)
Ok, you’re in Via Calzaioli and enjoy Nannini shoes, the multistore Coin, Stefanel shop.
But: nothing can make you feel chic like a tailleur by Chanel. Where? At the end of Via Calzaioli, right in Piazza della Signoria.
What to say about Coco? She’s still here, with her jersey, her jackets, her bags…
From Chanel you can go in the direction of Piazza delle Logge del Porcellino (also known as the Porcellino Market) and turn in Via di Porta Rossa.
The street is one of my favourite not only because there is the beautiful Palazzo Davanzati which worths a visit, but also because there is the shop I love most: for women only, its name is Spazio A: here you can find a Alberta Ferretti, Moschino, Jean Paul Gaultier, Narciso Rodriguez. I’ve never had a breakfast at Tiffany‘s, but I have to say that I would here.
The staff is simply great; a nice young man and two women will make you feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman (don’t forget your Richard Gere and his credit card 
If you need something sweet to make your partner happy after shopping, well you can try the Chocolate Shop of Roberto Catinari recently open right in front of Spazio A.
A couple of steps from Spazio A you will find Blumarine, girls only, very elegant and sophisticated.
At the corner, you see Via Tornabuoni, where the most important boutiques are located… TO BE CONTINUED
I love shopping in Florence 1.
October 1, 2009
Let’s walk together for shopping!
Part 1: from your B&B MR My Resort to San Lorenzo Market – Duomo square - Via Roma – Piazza Repubblica – Via degli Speziali – Via Calzaioli
You need just a couple of minutes walk from MR My Resort bed and breakfast to reach the San Lorenzo Market.
The Market, which is on your way to the Duomo, is famous for its stands of leather jackets, pashmina, leather bags and souvenirs (a small David, the Florentine decorated paper); prices are good, but always ask for a discount.
In the Duomo square you find a good shoes shop Bologna. Trendy boots, sneakers, italian shoes. Expensive but not too much.
After Bologna, you can see the Raspini multistore, at the corner with Via Roma. This place is one of the most favourite from young women and men loving Dolce&Gabbana, Prada, Cavalli, Paul Smith, Y’S… Shoes & clothes, man and woman.
But Raspini is not the only one: a few meters from its entrance you can see Luisa Via Roma : the most gorgeous shop window in the city.
Here you can find Kenzo, Chloé, Dior, John Richmond, Dsquared, Victor&Rolf, Jil Sander, and many others, as you can see from the website. Three floors, including the Coffee Shop. A real paradise for your credit card.
In the same street there are Gucci and Miu Miu
There are no good reasons to miss them.
Walking onto Piazza della Repubblica, you will see the multistore La Rinascente , an excellent place if you have no time and need to buy lingerie, jeans, clothes, make-up (Armani, Burberry, Diesel, DKNY, Ethic, K Kark Lagerfeld, Belstaff, Calvin Klein, etc.).
It is also an ideal place for presents in case you’re looking for something nice to use in the kitchen (top floor).
In addiction, don’t miss the Coffee shop on the roof top.
Right in front of its windows, there is the Hugo Boss store, recently renovated, and now not for man only (thanks God!).
This shop is at the corner with Via degli Speziali: take the left and in this small street you will find an interesting, very trendy shoes shop Calvani, expensive but the quality is excellent. Man and woman.
From this small street you can enter in Via de’ Calzaioli, where shops like Yamamay, Nannini, Coin are located…. TO BE CONTINUED I love shopping in Florence 2 !
Florence sightseeing: relax and fun
August 20, 2009
The red open top bus offers an excellent point of view to observe the city of Florence and relax.
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.
Signoria sq. and Palazzo Vecchio
July 31, 2009
This is a partial view of the magnificent Palazzo Vecchio.
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 square
July 26, 2009
Here we are!
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…
Santa Croce cathedral in Florence
May 25, 2009
As I told you in my diary, this Church has 16 chapels, and it’s very vast; the name means The Holy Cross, and it is of the 13th cent. started my Arnolfo di Cambio, even of the legend wants St. Francis as its foundator. The façade is Gothic, like the Duomo, but it was rebuilt in the 19th cent.
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.
San Miniato Church
April 22, 2009
Everyone loves to go above Piazzale Michelangelo and have Florence at its own feet, it is marvelous!
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
Shopping
March 29, 2009
Looking for clothes in Florence? I love Giorgia Atelier shop for its gracious hats, too (not only in winter!!), and the colored bags, silk scarfes…
Not too expensive, friendly service.
On your way to go to the San Lorenzo market and the Duomo sqare. Just a few steps from our B&B.
Giorgia Atelier
Via de’ Ginori, corner Via Guelfa
closed Mon. morning