Yeah, I'm crazy

While I was eating my dinner tonight (first time having pizza in Italy - delicious!), I got the bright idea to walk up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, which is on a hill across the Arno River from downtown Florence, offering a great view of the city. It was about four miles round trip, and my feet were already exhausted when I started, but I think it was worth it. This was the result:


Not too bad, eh?

Also, the guy on the left seems to be following me everywhere, but this time he brought reinforcements. I guess it couldn't be a piazza dedicated to Michelangelo without him, eh?

Eddie Izzard had a point about Italians and mopeds.

On the way back, I stopped by the Palazzo Vecchio, where there was a flutist performing accompanied by recorded music. While I sat there, he played the theme from Beauty and the Beast, "What is a Youth?" from Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet, "Memory", and "A Whole New World." The weird thing about Florence is that I thought it would feel like a completely different place from America, but there are American things and American music and American fashions everywhere. I'm wondering if this is going to turn out to be a tour from the most to the least Americanized cities - if so, I'd better start learning some Italian for Naples.

One last view from my walk tonight, and then it'll be off to sleep for me:


Buona Notte, all!