(One reader mentioned not seeing photos in our blog. Right. All the photos we post are available in the photo section of www.eldergypsies.com. Still it is not a bad idea to post a photo or two to break up the monotony of my “voice”. I’d say our voice, but Ellen’s is not monotonous… So here’s to you, Cyn, for your comment!)

We had the most romantic evening of our trip this evening. After a relaxing few hours, we set off to find the source of our evening musical entertainment on an overlook behind our flat. It is quite high up on the hill. Following our noses, we went down San Niccolo to a tower and found a series of steps leading steeply up hill. There was a clue: a street sign pointed the way to Piazzale Michelangelo, right up the steps. Up we went. The heat of the day had passed, but the stairway was long. We slowed to a comfortable pace, not Ellen’s typical forced march, and reached the top of the stairs without withering.

In front of us, across a busy street, there was a circular drive and what looked to be outside seating for a restaurant. On our side of the street to the left, a walkway opened out onto a cement veranda with a stunning view overlooking the entire city to the north west. The Sun was beginning a slow slide into the far mountains, but was still high in the clouds. We walked along the esplanade and found a wide series of steps down to the left now crowded with young people sitting, talking, drinking, and having a very good time. This is Florence’s version of Roma’s Spanish Steps. We walked on taking photos as we went, walking past first a band playing the music we heard last night. They were very good. Next we passed street vendors and cart vendors with an assortment of Tourist trinkets and t-shirts. (I have to get a really trashy tourist t-shirt, that is so bad it’s good). Rounding into a large parking lot we came upon a string of Ferraris parked side by side. My guess is a small gathering of owners were having dinner at the restaurant.

While we were walking the parking lot, many people photographed their girl friend or family with the cars as a backdrop. On father had his three children do so, and they sat on the hood of a very expensive 360 modena spider. These hoods are very thin and easily dented. I restrained myself, I guess this could be his car after all. How incredibly inconsiderate of the fellow.

We walked to the restaurant across the road, not to eat, but to check the menu. We figured the restaurant was high priced and not necessarily authentic. The prices were not too bad, just double what you would expect. I thought the view would be worth it, Ellen said, “look at the tree tops breaking up the view”. She was correct. We crossed back to a gelato vendor who had seats under an awning, but all were taken. Ellen spyed a bar just beside the gelateria. There I found a cold beer, Ellen a scotch on the rocks, and we both had very satisfying heated sandwiches. Ellen had pannini, cheese, and proscuitto. I had eggplant with tomato cheese and pepperoni on a multi grain roll. We took the food “take away” and found a spot on the steps to watch the sun set over the Arno river and the Ponte Vecchio. The band was playing behind us. A pleasant breeze swept the overlook, the air temp was just right. It was idyllic.

Ellen struck up a conversation with a Brazilian family seated beside us. I could not hear most of the conversation above the music, but did not have to.

We walked back down the stairway as the sky darkened, and walked north along the Arno rather than going right home. Coming back along the river we came upon a roped off seating area for an open air trattoria. A sandy stretch of the Arno sat below the wall. People walked the sand, a small trattoria was open with seating under white umbrellas, and a cordoned off area marked seating and an ad-hoc dance floor. A band was starting up. Curious, we walked around the restaurant and down a cement ramp to the sand. A blue ray projector ran on one wall, with a down counter running in a corner as the band started up. When the counter hit zero, a non-descript movie started. The band started with Johny B-Good, but a sound failure stopped the music about half way though. We waited around for maybe fifteen minutes before giving up and heading off for gelato. No shops were open along the way, thankfully, and we arrived home around 10:30pm.

We think lighting over Florence will be much more spectacular at sunrise and our current plan is to get to the top of the hill at Piazzalle Michelangelo early.

Ron