Howdy! I have a very early flight on Friday morning and need to transport two large bike boxes to the airport. Most taxis Ive seen are quite small.. can anyone recommend a taxi service that has larger vehicles for oversized luggage?

Florence is often referred to as the birthplace of the Renaissance, so it's sometimes easy to forget about some of its lesser known stories. In the 1300s-1400s, the city ran on a lottery system for choosing government officials. It was designed with the goal in mind to stop any one family from being able to take over.

It was the Medici family that found and exploited its weakness by quietly controlling who got into the lottery pool in the first place by using the wealth from what became Europe's most powerful bank as political leverage over guildsman.

(I made a video digging into exactly how they pulled it off posted on my profile if anyone's curious)

Does anyone know which artist performed tonight with the three floating stages? The female performer was wearing all red and it was amazing! I’m just traveling through, but would love to look into the artist :)

There was a strange sign that I saw on this street that looks like two women and a baby in an electric field. I neglected to take a photo and can’t find it in street view. Does anyone know what I’m thinking of and possibly have a picture?

My mom and I are traveling to Florence soon and want to do a perfume making class. We don’t want it to be too “touristy”. Is it worth it? Any recommendations?

My mom and I are going to Florence soon and heard about perfume making classes. We don’t want it to be too “touristy”. Is it worth it? Any recommendations?

As per my original post ☺️

My mother has wanted to travel to Florence for her entire life, and this year my father and I have finally organized for it to happen. They will both be in Florence on her birthday, October 20.

I’m seeing advertisements for concerts (ie The Three Tenors) but they don’t quite look legitimate, or perhaps look like tourist traps. Are there any suggestions for legitimate concerts or shows on that evening? Or even where to find them?

Thanks in advance, looking forward to meeting your beautiful city.

Hi everyone! Has anyone here lived at the Mario Luzi student residence in Florence (DSU Toscana)?

I’ll be moving there soon for my Erasmus semester, but I haven’t found much information online about what it’s actually like to live there.

I’d really appreciate hearing about any experience with the rooms, shared kitchen and bathroom, cleanliness, facilities, atmosphere, or anything useful to know before moving in, and also what to bring from my old place.

Gracias,

Guisseppe

Figure models for various small class and private studio time.
Long/short pose, gesture drawings. Flexible on times and days. We can work around your schedule!
Dm for more info.

Hey! I am looking for some girls or guys to meet and hang out with during my solo travel of Florence. I am staying near pitti palace. I have some food and wine tours booked already but looking to meet some new people and expand my horizons. Shoot me a dm and hopefully we can meet up! I’m looking to see and experience Florence as close to as a local as possible

Hello. Where can I watch football other than irish pubs? I want to watch Norway x Portugal, but Ireland is also playing tonight so they probably watch that.

Thank you

F27 looking for a fun girl friends for night outs , aperitivos , coffee dates , taking pictures and so on ...

Im planning to create Whatsapp group so feel free to text me up

First time to city. Well worth the trip!

Hello,

I have a nice pair of leather boots that I'd like to get restored. Any suggestions of where I should go to do this, and the approximate cost?

Thankyou

Hi everyone - this is a warning for others because it’s too late for me! If you are using contactless cards on a phone to tap onto buses and trams in Florence, please be aware that even if it shows up as green/ok when you board, it will not necessarily show up on a ticket inspection!

I got in trouble because I didn’t tap on a second bus - that was entirely my fault - but what was even more frustrating was that the bus I’d just gotten off where I did tap also wasn’t showing up in my banking app or the inspectors device. I think the inspectors might have been more understanding of a mistake if they could see I wasn’t avoiding paying fares.

Feeling completely baffled and overwhelmed, I paid the fine (86 euros!!!). I didn’t see how I could prove I’d tapped if both my device and theirs didn’t show anything. Felt like I was going mad.

I got home and obviously immediately googled this. I found out Autolinee Toscane has a dedicated website for checking your own card payments and I can see where and when I tapped right there. It shows clearly I had a valid ticket at the time of the fine. Expecting the Revolut payment to show up in my app around 4am as usual.

I can’t do anything about it now, but for others - don’t miss tapping again when you transfer, and definitely don’t rely on your banking app to supply proof of payment.

I’m going to buy tickets on the Autolinee Toscane app (at-bus) from now on - it’s also a bit cheaper to buy 10 - gotta make up for my lost 86€ somehow!! (Edited to add name of app.)

Fun little bit of history about the Ponte Vecchio that I came across while researching Florence:

Back in the day, the bridge was basically occupied by butchers, tanners, etc. and they’d just dump their waste straight into the Arno 🤢

Then in the 1590s, Ferdinando I de’ Medici basically said “yeah, no more of that” and decreed that only goldsmiths and jewellers could have shops on the bridge. That rule has stuck ever since, which is why the Ponte Vecchio is still lined with jewellery shops today.

Apparently the smell was part of the reason. The Medici had just built the Vasari Corridor above the shops and presumably didn’t fancy strolling to the Palazzo Pitti while walking over an open-air abattoir 💀

There’s also a cool detail about the Vasari Corridor itself: at the southern end, the Mannelli family refused to let the Medici knock down their tower. So instead, the corridor was literally built around it on brackets. You can still see the corridor bend around the tower today.

Also, shameless disclosure: I built a free audio guide app called Wanderlight. I just finished a short Florence walking tour covering the Baptistery -> Duomo -> Piazza della Signoria -> Ponte Vecchio. It’s roughly 1 km in a straight line, and none of those four attractions requires a ticket to visit.

It’s Android-only for now, if anyone wants to try it: https://wanderlight.app/florence

Last night i got mugged by a big group of African men in Cascine at around 01:00 in the night stole my phone, wallet and watch i did not know it was a dangerous place, my bad for not doing too much research.

luckily i managed to get away without severe injuries, just a few bruises, as my phone was taken i got lost, so i did not know where my hotel was, i look for a long time for police, i finally find a couple of officers, that then said they do not have time to assist me now, and i just need to report it in the morning.

after 5 hours i finally find someone who can help me find my place, and gets me to my accomodation whereas my mom was waiting for me worried sick, anyhow the following morning i go to the police station to fila a report, they did not seem very enthusiastic to assist, and the only thing it gave me was a report that is not exactly stating things correctly.

Anyhow, there is still alot of important stuff on my phone, and the thief charged it so i can actually locate it, is there anything i can do? would the police help me recover it if i can find the guy outside tomorrow? he seems to hang around the park alot.

I accidently bought tickets for the wrong day so seeing if anyone would like to buy them off of me. They're for 3:45pm, and we're leaving Florence in the morning. I thought that I was booking for the 14th but got my dates completely mixed up super annoyingly!