Idiosyncracies and such

This update is 3 days old, I just forgot to post it.

To say the effects of the alcohol from last night are long gone would be a bit of a lie. Instead of waking up, say in the early afternoon, which is usually the case after an interesting night out, I was up and running by 6:45 this morning. I figured the best thing to do would be to explore Florence at such an hour. I found a quaint coffee shop, or bar as they are known here, ordered un café Americano e un pane di cioccolato. It is at this bar that I sit writing this.

I must say I’m being unusual to the locals, by acting so American and whipping out my laptop. Going to get coffee in Florence is a notable difference from Starbucks or Café Dali in the States. It is called a bar, because literally you order coffee at a bar, and drink it there while standing and chatting with other locals before leaving for work, or whatever Italians do that comes close to the word. This whole sitting down to enjoy coffee for a while is not what most people do, but as I notice, it’s a tourist type of thing, which is why I think they have a few tables and chairs available. People don’t come to coffee bars to discuss their problems, but only quick and superficial things like the weather. As I doubt Italians have the therapist addiction New Yorkers have, they must let out their troubles through dinner and wine, or while screaming to each other at night and gesticulating their emotion. Caffeine does not interact with emotional trauma I presume.

I feel I draw attention, and while I am uncertain as to whether its because I’m an American wearing an “I have Candy” shirt, I think the laptop is more of a culprit. I’ve had 3 people look over my shoulder to see what I’m doing…it’s the subtle reading someone else’s newspaper while they are reading it on the subway type of thing.
You have to hand it to the locals, they are some of the nicest and most accommodating people I have ever met. While I think that collectively we would not be too excited having thousands of Italian college students roaming Manhattan, in Florence, where my kind have just about taken over, they tend to be exceedingly nice to us, and I don’t think we’re deserving really. I guess it just speaks of the general goodness that are the Italian people. They love their culture, which is why I think they enjoy seeing foreigners embrace it and love to share what they know, do and eat.

Peace, Spice, and Adventure,
-Edgar

This entry was posted on Monday, September 12th, 2005 at 5:59 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.