Florence accommodation with swimming pool

This itinerary could last a half a day or could be divided into a number of days depending on whether you would like to visit the sites in detail or enjoy some shopping at some of Florence's antiques markets. Many typical restaurants are available where a "pure Tuscan dialect" is spoken and meals can be had at a good price. This itinerary is suggested with a departure on foot from Porta Romana, reached either by bus no. 37 or by the Hotel Relais shuttle service in about 15 minutes. Suggested seasons: All year round, in particular spring and fall. In July and August only the morning is advised because of hot weather. The map indicates the main stops of this walk.

DESCRIPTION OF ITINERARY
From Piazza di Porta Romana, where your journey begins, you can see the well-preserved ancient door named by Saint Pier Gattolino from the name of a fourteenth-century church, part of the Florentine walls, later demolished in 1545.
Inside the walls, in Piazza della Calza, notice the forking of the two arteries going into the center; Via del Serragli and Via Romana.
On the facade of the front house of Porta Romana, a seventeenth-century fresco by Giovanni da San Giovanni, welcomed its guests to Florence, later substituted with a more modern one by Mario Romoli.
Our walk continues on the right, on Via Romana, along Boboli gardens that can be seen through the various gates.
The shops on Via Romana are typically Florentine and still frequented by neighborhood residents for daily shopping. After about 800 meters we find the little airy neo-classical loggia of the gracious English-style Corsi garden, whose name was later changed to Scarselli
In 15 to 20 minutes, you arrive in Piazza Dei Pitti ) in front of the beautiful building in rusticated stone, a typical stone found only in Florentine quarries located on the hill of Piazzale Michelangelo, different from the better known serene stone which was used to build most of the monuments in Florence.
The fifteenth-century residence built by Luca Pitti was enlarged in later centuries to become the royal palace of the Medici family, the Lorenas and the Savoias and today is one of the most important exhibit halls in the city. This world-renown museum offers an broad choice: the splendid art gallery of the Galleria Palatina connected to the sumptuously decorated Appartamenti Monumentali, the Museo degli Argenti (Silvers) with jewelry, gems, and ivory from the Medici and Lorena collections, the prestigious Galleria d'Arte Moderna (Gallery of Modern Art), the Andito degli Angiolini, the apartments of the Duchess of Aosta and the Prince of Naples, the museo delle Carrozze (carriages), the Contini Bonaccorsi Collection and the Museum of Costumes in the palazzina della Meridiana.
On the opposite side of the street opposite Palazzo Pitti, there are many old Florentine shops; workshops that produce handmade marble effect paper and hard stone mosaics, bookshops, cafés and antique shops.
From Piazza dei Pitti, on the left, take Via Mazzetta towards Piazza Santo Spirito. In the small streets on both sides of the street, visitors can explore the gilt frame makers, art restorers of metal objects, blacksmiths, and ironsmiths. Then you must enter the workshops of the inlay artists where you can talk about the life of the Florentine "bottega" , for an unforgettable experience from fairytales to reality.
After arriving in Piazza Santo Spirito, stop for refreshment in one of the many open-air bars and restaurants during the summer months or glance into the "bean" shops that also sell straw, garden tools, small animals statues and seed.  Stop to have a look at artisan shoemakers who will make custom-fitting shoes in front of your eyes.
In the tree-lined Piazza Santo Spirito, is the large Augustinian church of Santo Spirito whose origins date back to the mid 1200s. It was enlarged in the following century and then reconstructed according to a design of Brunelleschi in the second half of the fifteenth century. Its eighteenth-century bare plaster facade and outline has been a source of inspiration to a number of artists.
The inside of the church is majestic, with a line of columns in light-colored stone, going around the center of the main altar and along the nave, the arms of the transept, and the apse.
Brunelleschi designed it around 1444, but his successors didn't complete the work according to the highly innovative plan originally designed.
The perimeter space is punctuated by 38 semicircular chapels containing an actual gallery of art including altar pieces and sculptures for the most part from the 15th and 16th centuries.
Below the Brunelleschi-designed dome, completed by Salvi D'Andrea, is the main altar in marble , a Baroque work by Giovanni Caccini, intrinsically beautiful but which clashes with the 15th -century architecture.
The vestibule is noteworthy with its barrel vault and the Sacristy designed by Giuliano from a design by Sangallo. However, notwithstanding all the modifications, Santo Spirito is a church that bears witness to the architectural conception of the early Renaissance and the interior could be considered as the most perfect creation of Brunelleschi. For the interior, the architect came up with a unique solution that goes beyond all previous constructions. The cube is the element of measurement that is the basis for all the elements, whose side measures 22 Florentine cubits covered by the cupola.
This unit of measurement is at the basis of the space reserved for the choir loft and the arms of the transept; moreover, the central nave extends four times the length of this fundamental measurement.
In the floor plan, the individual supporting points of the lateral naves correspond to one quarter of the height of the cube. The same goes for the radius of the lateral chapels.
The mathematically constructed plan is then extended to the elevation. The area of the arches and the openings on the walls of the lateral naves, still measuring 22 cubits, corresponds to the length of the side of the cube. It is therefore clearly understandable that there is a geometric system at the base of the construction that brings all the individual parts into a logical relationship with the whole.
Leaving the piazza, but not linear in respect to the façade of the church, you see the bell tower by Baccio d'Agnolo, high and robust sentinel of the Arno river.
In the 14th-century refectory with its trussed ceilings (which houses the Museo della Fondazione Romano (Museum of the Foundation of Rome), a fragment remains of the "Last Supper" by Andrea Orcagna.
Walk along outside the right side of the church and take the first street on your left, Via Coverelli, typical for its houses, once belonging to the families of "fiaccherai" (carriage conductors) up until Via Santo Spirito that runs towards the left until Via dei Serragli where there are antique shops and those of high-level restorations. At the end of the street, turn right towards the Arno where you see the Carraia bridge. Just before the bridge, turn right along Lungarno Guicciardini and walk to the Santa Trinità bridge where there is a splendid view of the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio. From here you can catch the shuttle or bus no. 37 back to Relais Certosa.