Dear Sarris,
Thank you for your nice comments regarding my property and my parents. Unfortunately there was a general problem in the building which caused the bad smell coming from the pipes. Thanks to your remark at the check out, we informed the building administrator and the problem got immediately solved. If we had known this before, we would have anticipated the resolution of this unfortunate issue. Again, apologies for the inconvenience.
A better communication might be a good solution to any problem, just a tip for your next trip. I would have appreciated, for example, hearing from you that the wooden side table next to the sofa got ruined, instead of finding it out myself when removing the candles that were placed to hide the stain. Unfortunately this is an indelible stain.
As for the noise, this is a very subjective and personal opinion.
Florence can be considered by some people a loud city, like many other major Italian cities. I can assure you that staying in Florence city center with its narrow streets can be much more annoying, maybe not due to the traffic, but certainly due to the scooters, the students and people that are often very loud up until early in the morning.
If you are unlucky, you may even find yourself renting a property located along the carts path -the carts that are directed every day to the various markets at 6.00 am...