White Night

Buon Giorno mi Amici
White night (Friday night) was a night where everything in Florence was alive and open to the public.  It was the city's way of acknowledging art and all the beauty it entails.  The bars were open till ... well I don't think they ever closed.   I was anticipating the arrival of my friends from across the pond but they postponed their arrival by a day due to food poisoning.  So I decided to hook up with my friend and hit the streets of  'white night'.  First off we decided to go to High Bar for a couple of drinks because I know the owner and he is a lot of fun.  After a couple of drinks and a few mosquito bites we went across the river to check out the art scene.  The galleries were all open as well as the state museums.  We went into one of the Bardini museums along the way to look at sculpture.  Across the river the streets began to buzz.  What I realized is that the place really started to rock around 10pm....it was quite something.  We walked around the other side of the river and saw several bands playing music and people just hanging around.  Making our way back we decided to go back to High Bar because one of my friends was playing DJ there and I know he would play whatever we wanted.   Knowing I had to get up early to meet my friends at the train station I anticipated being home before midnight....another couple of glasses of wine and we were dancing on the street and by 1a.m. I knew it was time to bolt.  So what would normally take me 15 minutes door to door...took me over an hour to get home.  The streets were filled with people.  The bars along the way were packed and people spilled onto the street....I mean thousands of people.  In the Santa Croce square there were hundreds of people around various kiosks that were set up which sold food, wine and sweets.  A few artisans had set up their stalls as well and for the average tourist...there was much to see.   The noise was incredible.  If you can imagine hundreds of people...all drunk.  As I approached a side street with less people the sound began to diminish.  I turned the corner onto my street and it was blissful silence.  I have a wonderfully new appreciation to the tranquility that surrounds my apartment.  It was a fun night.  The next morning I took another friend out for her birthday lunch and then met my friends from Canada at the train station.  I was amazed at how clean the streets were the next day as the night before there was broken glass and garbage everywhere.
Yesterday was raining and we walked through puddles exploring the city.  I love having visitors as I get to play tourist...although when asked what a specific building is...I have no idea :):):)
Hope you all had a great weekend and we shall chat with you soon.  Ciao!