Tourists

Man, I will be glad when the tourists die down a bit as the weather gets colder. It seems as though almost everywhere we go, there are groups of foreigners. They fill (and I mean FILL) the squares by the Duomo and Palazzo Vecchio, with their maps and cameras out and ready, following their tour guides who are holding up an umbrella, fake flower, or other random object to make sure they don't get lost. They come from all over too: the US, different countries in Asia, around Europe, even other parts of Italy. This makes English pretty abundant, as the souvenir, leather, and food shops meet the need of the (mostly) American tourists. Unfortunately, this means that people will frequently talk to Kristen and I in English first as they pick us out as Americans and assume we do not understand Italian. Fortunately, this gets much less common away from the center of the city and if we try speaking Italian first.

I have also come to the conclusion that tourists are some of the most annoying and rude people. Granted, some things they just can't help, like when we get caught in a huge group. But, most of the time they can. They walk slow, get in the way to take pictures, casually cut in front of people in line to get into a church/museum, and then take pictures with flash and leave their cell phones on in that church/museum when the sign at the door specifically says not to (with handy little pictures in case it is not written in your language). It is funny when the tourists going into a church are not following the dress code (i.e. wearing short shorts or spaghetti straps) cause they are given a big sheet of what looks like blue tissue paper with a hole to put over themselves, haha. I should take a picture of it next time.

Remember how I mentioned that you don't want to stick out because you are targeted as Americans? Weeeell, Americans are some of the loudest ones, especially at night (and everything is so close here with old building that do not have particularly thick walls). You also see a lot of people handing out flyers (mainly to the American tourists) for their restaurants and other places will advertise buy one get one free and other similar specials for wine and beer (oh yeah, that's good stuff). Kristen and I were eating in a pretty crappy cafe one evening and 2 girls came in asking for glasses of "il vino piu economico" (their cheapest wine). I don't think they wanted to savor the delicate flavors of the grapes.

Anyways, that is enough ranting...here are some pretty pictures as a thank you for getting through all that:

These beautiful pictures were lined up on the road leading up to the Duomo.

There were also a lot of plants around the Duomo. It was very refreshing, as there is hardly any greenery in the center of the city.

I'm not sure what this is, but it looks interesting. Can anyone help?

Ah grapes and Italy, a perfect combination.

This band was playing in the Loggia dei Lanzi in the Piazza della Signoria. I believe it was to celebrate San Giovanni Batista (John the Baptist) the patron saint of Florence.

Pictures, Flowers, and Music