Food, glorious food....it's really all about the food....and it is so fresh. We were laughing..or talking really about how far the food we ate today traveled. When you buy food in the USA, it travels a lot of miles...and sometimes you don't even know where it did come from. The food we ate today could be identified by the local shop where it was made...or at least purchased from a vendor who knew the farmer. So here goes: For lunch we had sandwiches made with local buns from our local Forno (bread shop), salamie from the charcuterie down the alley, cheese from up the hill at Ste. Brigda and local wine. For supper we had pasta made by the nice ladies of Pasta Fresche at the Mercato Centrale, with a sauce of local tomatoes and pancetta. White wine from up the road at Ste Brigda (where are Red comes from too). For dessert we had very dark chocoate from Arte del Cioccolato (on via Porto Rosso)...made there! So if you like your food fresh and local (remember the snail story from earlier in this blog), come to Florence...
. So we ran under an umbrella and stayed until the hail stopped...then continued our shopping. On our afternoon walk, we were crossing the Ponte Vecchio and even stranger than hail....a Monday bride and groom. It's some kind of tradition in Florence for brides and grooms to walk over the Ponte Vecchio (getting their beautiful white dresses really nasty on the bottom)....and as you can see...big sun shining. What a funny weather day!
One of the reasons we love Florence so much is that there are always surprises....around every corner and quite free and fun. Around 6:00 this evening what appeared to be the youth orchestra of the commune of Firenze gave a free concert in our front yard (Piazza delle Signoria). Later this evening, after a quick supper, we went for our usual evening stroll and gelato...and again happened on one of those "pop-up" events. During the day, the market Porcellano is full of vendors selling scarves, belts and leather purses....this evening it was full of Opera....and oh my, what a beautiful sound it was. The picture does not do the scene justice, but this is what it looked like. We can't think of another city anywhere that has so much to see for so little money!
Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini. He's known for his beef meals! No vegetarians in this town...and beautiful beef it is that he sells....and wine and salamie and olive oil.....so, enjoy the pics while we enjoy some more wine.
(Why not? to you Americans). 
We try to only eat gelato from places that have the snail sign you see above. It means they are part of the "slowfood" movement that was begun in Italy. The slowfood people are dedicated to only using ingrediants from local producers and making their product in the traditional way...not with large factory machines. In fact, Perche No! has their "factory" in the back room of their store and you can see it through a little window. We have tried other gelato...one from a Rick Steves recommendation, ick! So now we look for that little snail guy when we eat out. I hope the Slowfood movement starts making an impact in the US....fresh is sooooo goooooood!
As much as we love Florence, there really is a pigeon poop problem...we realized the distinct smell we recognized as Florence after getting off the train from Rome was pigeon poop. Here are some of our favorites (but the dead one is the best...sorry PETA). Here we are city folks who live with the mighty flying rats on a daily basis and have only thought of them as minor irritation. Florence has more than a minor issue with their pigeons....fortunately, unlike in the USA, people don't feed the little flying rats. So, here they are...single, in a flock, at rest on some very beautiful statues and deceased (the only good kind). So any of you who wondered what that very strange odor of Florence was.....pigeon poop! We still love this place but don't feed the little demons!
After supper
we went for our usual evening stroll (and a cigar). At the Piazza Signoria where we live was a young woman singing Ave Maria....at the Piazza Repubblica there was a jazz trio playing and then there are the statues everywhere and the pictures painted on the sides of buildings....why pay 10 Euros to go inside when there is so much beauty on the outside....We love this city....and there was another full moon tonight just to make it even better. 
It's the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the USA. 
It's a beautiful view of Florence...you can almost reach out and touch the Duomo! The sunset cannot be captured by a point-and-shoot camera but you have to know....it's beautiful and worth every one of those 1 million steps. As you can see from the top of the stairs.
...it's quite beautiful...nice slow walk down and a cigar for Larry at the bottom (had to sit and catch our breath, you know) ...gelato and now to bed. 
Ok...the post office picture. Wanted to mail a 60th birthday card to a friend. Usual suspect sellers of stamps don't carry "aeropostal" to the US....gotta go to the PO, take a number and wait, and wait and wait...we got there at P353. 45 minutes later, I paid my 1.40 euros and off it went. So my fine American friends who get "postal" at the post office.....Italy is no better!
