Article by Christine Dickert
About a year before I moved to Florence, I started researching for an apartment. There are dozens of websites that offer housing in Florence, but I was having difficulties getting responses or obtaining any general information. I finally found Apartmentsflorence.it on the sidebar of the Google Ads, and decided to click on them. Within a few hours I had a full response back from a guy named Lorenzo. He was informative of Florence, the neighborhood of the apartments, and answered a million emails from me with a million questions like, "Is there a hair dryer?" or "How do I dry my clothes?". Looking back on it, I am ashamed of how picky I was being during my transition to moving to Italy. I was scared, I wanted to have my perfect little home in Italy, like I had back in Atlanta.
Mom & I decided to take a long weekend trip to Florence & Rome, so I met with Lorenzo and saw 4 apartments: Mercato Centrale, Via Malenchini 1p & 3p and Piazza Mentana. He saved the best one for last because it was over my budget, but it was the nicest one - by far. It took a milla-second for me to tell him "I will take this one, its perfect". Case closed, apartment found. Eight months later I moved into my beautiful slice of heaven in Florence into the Via Malenchini apartment. It has a gorgeous courtyard, painted cabinetry, big bed and the location was amazing, being so close to the Arno River. To this day, the street & piazza where this apartment is located is my favorite in all of Florence. Perhaps because it was my first home here, or maybe its the sound of Arno, or the cooler breeze that the river radiates. I am not really sure, but it always gives me a sense of peace going there.
After living in Florence for a month, I phoned Lorenzo and said "I love this apartment so much, however I want to stay in Florence longer, so I need to move into a more affordable long term rental". I was so happy with the level of service they provided me from beginning to end, so it was important that I stay renting with them. He told me to come to the office to see what other options they had. I went a few days later into their tiny office on Via Ghibellina right next to Santa Croce Cathedral.
When I walked in, I met Nicco. He was charming, courteous and very "Italian" :) I looked at both of them and said "Do you guys know anyone that needs to hire an English speaker? I speak no Italian but work really hard & have been in an American customer service industry for 10 years". Lorenzo quickly replies "In fact, we do - we can give you some part time work, when can you start?". I sat down, winked at Nicco and said "Right now". I was so excited & thankful to have found something to take up my time. One week passed and I had already completed my part time hours for the month, so it was not long before I was working full time for Apartmentsflorence.it handling their English speaking correspondence, greeting guests as they arrived in Florence, and brain storming for new marketing ideas.
A year has gone by and I am still working for the company, and love what I do. I meet people from all over the world who love Florence as much as I do. So whenever I have bad days, I talk to our guests and realize I am so lucky to be living & working here. I know the streets of Florence like the back of my hand now and truly enjoy watching the Italians who take the time, investment and heart to maintain beautiful interiors for tourists to enjoy. My favorite interior space is in one of Lorenzo's properties that he recently just renovated on Via Maggio, in the Oltrarno. It has gorgeous hardwood floors (they are my favorite), a beautiful mix of contemporary & antique furnishings, AC (hallelujah!!), satellite TV (amen!!) and modern bathroom.
If you or anyone you know is planning a trip to Florence, contact ApartmentsFlorence.it for a truly great experience!
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By Admin Apartments Florence (10/4/2010 4:26:49 PM, in Living & Working in Florence, read 630 times)
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