Italy - Florence and the scurrying rats

After a seven hour train trip from Zurich we finally arrived in Florence. There are days worth of sight seeing and exploring in most of the Italian cities, but Florence somehow is always quite pleasurable - even with the crowds. I won't bore you with the details of this fabulous city, but one of my favourite moments was Rays first experience with the illegal traders. In most cities there are guys selling sunglasses, fake bags, pictures and a variety of other goods. They make sure that their stands are VERY tempory as when the police arrive they scurry faster then rats from a sinking ship. They are usually in good spirits and it is not unusual to see them chuckling as they run from the cops. Always brings a smile to my face watching it happen. Even funnier when they just move around the corner and it begins again.

So anyway, this particular night we were visiting the Ponte Vecchio, a famous bridge of Florence (it was the only one that left standing after the war). The bridge was covered with illegal traders, but the fun began when I told Ray that I liked some of the 'paintings'. So, we asked the trader how much for the set ... 'For you my friend.. special discound... half price... only 75 euros.' 'Too expensive' we said and began to walk away laughing at the 'cheap' price. But the the trader followed us, reducing the price with almost evey step. '50 euros'....'special price... only 40 euros'... 'Come on... buy it for your girlfriend'...'okay...35... big discount'. By this stage we were almost completely over the other side of the bridge, walking much faster and he was still following. Laughing we told him again that we were not interested and finally he left us alone. Very funny. I will admit that we did dash past him on the way back for fear that he would follow again.

But fear not... the police arrived and the rats scurried.