My Apartment in Florence
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By D.J. Licht
We returned to Florence for our semi-annual visit as we have for the past 30 years. Like a second home, Florence has been a centerpiece of our lives. Among a plethora of incredible experiences through this period, my wife and I have seen the magnificent renaissance palaces, explored the many markets and extensively sampled the elegant Tuscan cuisine.
Accommodations have never been an issue; for many years we relied on numerous guide books to choose a 3 or 4-star hotel and occasionally, we would stay with friends. For this trip we wanted something different and took the advice of an old Florentine family friend. We reserved a luxury floor-through apartment at St. Mark's English Church in the Oltrano.
The apartments at St. Mark's are located within the historic Medici palazzo in the Oltrano of Florence. The Oltrano or "the other side of the Arno" is an important historical center, home to the Ponte Vecchio, the Pitti Palace, Santo Spirito and Piazzale Michelangelo. Located on via Maggio amongst some of Florence's most distinguished antiques shops, the apartments at St. Mark's are only a five minute walk from the Centro Storico and many leading attractions of the city. Conveniently, the market at Piazza Santo Spirito is located behind the church, a gourmet grocer is just two blocks away and a wide selection of cafés, bakeries, delicatessens, and trattorias are within just a few steps.
The ground floor houses the St. Marks Church (founded in 1877), and the apartments, each of which have a private entrance for its guests, occupy the second and third floor of the palazzo. No affiliation with St. Mark's is necessary for these exquisite accommodations which have been beautifully refurbished in the past year and promise to offer a home away from home for the well informed traveler.
The four apartments at St. Marks named Medici, Santo Spirito, Michelangelo and Fra Angelica, each offer a unique and spacious apartment living experience. The Medici apartment sleeps four, with two bedrooms and two baths and like all of the others, has all of the amenities one comes to expect in an elegant upscale urban apartment, including a washer/dryer, Wi-Fi connection, full kitchen, living room and dining room.
Fra Angelica, the upper floor apartment that we inhabited during our visit, overlooks neighboring rooftops, providing an ever-changing view of street life on the romantic via Maggio and made us feel very much a part of day-to-day city life.
The St. Mark's community is vibrant. Since 1877, artists of Anglo-American, Italian and global origins have offered their talents to create sculpture, altars, paintings and other ornaments for the church and its apartments. During the week, musicians practice in the church and Opera is performed nightly. During our stay, Jason Arkles, the sculptor in residence, who works in bronze and marble, was at work and Christopher Johnson, a renowned UK artist was completing works that hang in each of the St. Mark's apartments. This community is ensconced in culture.
The Florentine quarter which is known for its artwork and artisan workshops, harbors a vibrant community of residents, artists, students and musicians and is unique in the sense that there is a noticeable population of Anglo-American vacationers and expatriates.
We took advantage of this cultural oasis by attending the St. Mark's Opera Company performances of La Boheme and La Traviata which were staged in the intimate setting of the church proper. The singers come from different professional opera houses in Tuscany and create an amazing experience in the intimate atmosphere. With only 80 seats surrounding the altar as a stage, we were not 10 feet from the singers. With minimal props, fully costumed and accompanied only by a piano, the performance we saw of La Boehme rivaled that of any major opera house in America.
Not minutes away from the St. Mark's apartments are the superb trattorias Quatro Leoni, Angiolino and the Cavolo Nero. The fact that our stay in November coincided with the New Tuscan olive oil harvest and the truffle season was a real bonus. It didn’t take long for us to start feeling like natives of Florence and start a daily ritual of taking our morning cappuccino just down the street with a view of the Arno at the Café S. Trinita.
Apartment living in Florence has delivered a heightened experience that we are anxious to re-live; we've already booked next year’s trip.
www.Florenceholidayapartments.org
We returned to Florence for our semi-annual visit as we have for the past 30 years. Like a second home, Florence has been a centerpiece of our lives. Among a plethora of incredible experiences through this period, my wife and I have seen the magnificent renaissance palaces, explored the many markets and extensively sampled the elegant Tuscan cuisine.
Accommodations have never been an issue; for many years we relied on numerous guide books to choose a 3 or 4-star hotel and occasionally, we would stay with friends. For this trip we wanted something different and took the advice of an old Florentine family friend. We reserved a luxury floor-through apartment at St. Mark's English Church in the Oltrano.
The apartments at St. Mark's are located within the historic Medici palazzo in the Oltrano of Florence. The Oltrano or "the other side of the Arno" is an important historical center, home to the Ponte Vecchio, the Pitti Palace, Santo Spirito and Piazzale Michelangelo. Located on via Maggio amongst some of Florence's most distinguished antiques shops, the apartments at St. Mark's are only a five minute walk from the Centro Storico and many leading attractions of the city. Conveniently, the market at Piazza Santo Spirito is located behind the church, a gourmet grocer is just two blocks away and a wide selection of cafés, bakeries, delicatessens, and trattorias are within just a few steps.
The ground floor houses the St. Marks Church (founded in 1877), and the apartments, each of which have a private entrance for its guests, occupy the second and third floor of the palazzo. No affiliation with St. Mark's is necessary for these exquisite accommodations which have been beautifully refurbished in the past year and promise to offer a home away from home for the well informed traveler.
The four apartments at St. Marks named Medici, Santo Spirito, Michelangelo and Fra Angelica, each offer a unique and spacious apartment living experience. The Medici apartment sleeps four, with two bedrooms and two baths and like all of the others, has all of the amenities one comes to expect in an elegant upscale urban apartment, including a washer/dryer, Wi-Fi connection, full kitchen, living room and dining room.
Fra Angelica, the upper floor apartment that we inhabited during our visit, overlooks neighboring rooftops, providing an ever-changing view of street life on the romantic via Maggio and made us feel very much a part of day-to-day city life.
The St. Mark's community is vibrant. Since 1877, artists of Anglo-American, Italian and global origins have offered their talents to create sculpture, altars, paintings and other ornaments for the church and its apartments. During the week, musicians practice in the church and Opera is performed nightly. During our stay, Jason Arkles, the sculptor in residence, who works in bronze and marble, was at work and Christopher Johnson, a renowned UK artist was completing works that hang in each of the St. Mark's apartments. This community is ensconced in culture.
The Florentine quarter which is known for its artwork and artisan workshops, harbors a vibrant community of residents, artists, students and musicians and is unique in the sense that there is a noticeable population of Anglo-American vacationers and expatriates.
We took advantage of this cultural oasis by attending the St. Mark's Opera Company performances of La Boheme and La Traviata which were staged in the intimate setting of the church proper. The singers come from different professional opera houses in Tuscany and create an amazing experience in the intimate atmosphere. With only 80 seats surrounding the altar as a stage, we were not 10 feet from the singers. With minimal props, fully costumed and accompanied only by a piano, the performance we saw of La Boehme rivaled that of any major opera house in America.
Not minutes away from the St. Mark's apartments are the superb trattorias Quatro Leoni, Angiolino and the Cavolo Nero. The fact that our stay in November coincided with the New Tuscan olive oil harvest and the truffle season was a real bonus. It didn’t take long for us to start feeling like natives of Florence and start a daily ritual of taking our morning cappuccino just down the street with a view of the Arno at the Café S. Trinita.
Apartment living in Florence has delivered a heightened experience that we are anxious to re-live; we've already booked next year’s trip.
www.Florenceholidayapartments.org
