This morning Maurizio and I woke up at 9am. Today, he didn’t have to be at work until 11am so we decided to get in a quick 2 miles. Maurizio has just started to run again so we are taking it little by little. He did really well. It was also good for me to get up and going early since my race is only 9 days away!!!
Since I was already up and today is my “rest” day I decided to go into the city center to buy a new book. I just finished reading Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and I wanted to find a descent easy reading book in Italian. I ended up getting a book by James Patterson, which seems easy enough since each chapter only has like 7-8 pages and the words are printed with large print. Plus, mysteries always seem to be less eloquently written and therefore easier to understand especially when being read in a foreign language.
So, to get back to the real story, the sights along the way to the bookstore were quite interesting. While I was walking on one of the major streets that basically connects my apartment to Piazza della Republica I came across an interesting British family. They were composed of a mother, a father, and two small boys. The father was playing a quite repulsive game with his two boys. The father was BURPING as loud as he possibly could then he had the boys rate his burps on a scale from 1-10. I seriously wanted to vomit right there in the middle of the street. It was so disgusting and I could tell the other Italians around me weren’t amused either. He saw the look of nausea in our faces and said in his English accent “oh….scusi”. I figured this guy obviously wanted some publicity so you will see his picture inserted below. There you go mister… I rate your intolerable rudeness and lack of manners a definite 10 on my scale! I only hope that my fellow Italian residents realize that just because you speak English, you are definitely not American. (but, lets be serious I am sure we might see something similar on American soil)
yes its the guy with the yellow shopping bags
Later along my route when the street changed from Borgo degli Albizi to Via del Corso I came across a couple that was apparently lost. I was tempted to help them right away with directions as I noticed their book was in English but found it much more interesting the watch them. I saw them pointing in the book then looking at the street name, then looking back in the book. I saw the man walk down a bit further to see what he saw and the women run up with the book again. They spent a good couple minutes trying to figure out where they were. In the mean time, I had to take their picture also because it was just too funny. Yes, I should have also been less cruel and just asked if they needed assistance. But, as I had noticed that they were reading a book in English, I had also noticed the title of their travel guide. It was a travel guide on ROME!!!!!! So you see, I wasn’t being cruel, well perhaps I was, but it was just so entertaining watching this couple try to read the maps of Rome and apply them to Firenze!!! Some people I just don’t know how they get around. I have had someone ask me once, while crossing one of the bridges over the Arno, where the Piazza with all the pigeons was. I replied, “are you talking about Piazza San Marco” and they said, “yes, that’s the one” to which I replied “that’s in Venice” them “okay”, me “we aren’t in Venice”. Then, they looked at their Venice travel guide and said “huh” and I said, “We are in Florence.”
So you might find yourself wondering if this could really be true and I can personally assure you that this happens.
Oh Bella Firenze how I love you!
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