The town was abuzz with rumors that Lady Gaga was coming for the MTV awards concert in our Piazza. It took almost a week to construct the stage and lighting gizmos. They roped off the area the night before and at 7AM there were children waiting to wait. Sometime in the afternoon they started rehearsals or just keeping the kids occupied while they waited.
We had a quiet pre-show dinner at our house with our guests before going up to our friend’s terrace to watch the festivities.
Arnie spared no expense in providing the libations.
It was quite a spectacle of light and sound, although we had no clue about the various artists we could gauge their popularity by the crowd’s reaction.
It all ended at midnight and the noise was at a low roar by 2AM.
It looked like a battle zone the next morning but in no time the trash was picked up and the barriers and stage came down.
Here’s the 8 minute video. Be sure to turn the volume all the way up so you get the full effect.
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We went to a nearby restaurant that I will write about in more detail later because we are returning for dinner on Friday night. It is called Francescovino and run by a Tuscan family whose son just married a nice girl from Florida. Her whole family stayed here in our Palazzo when they came over for the wedding. As you can see, Arnie was very happy with his fried rabbit and chicken. The half liter of house wine was quite good. 
It was close to 2PM when we ventured to Vini e Vecchi Sapori, via dei Magazzini 3, (closed Monday), just off of the Piazza Signoria. We love this place. We first noticed it when we were eating across the alley and saw a gaggle of aging men waiting in the rain for one of the 14 seats. We knew then that it was a must. I’ve written about it before. Mom is in the kitchen the size of a powder room; dad does the salads and cold cut antipasti; the son is the front of the house, all 14 tables. We walked in behind another couple of English speakers. The son saw us in the line and turned them away and offered us the last 2 chairs. We had a brief, “How are you,” conversation in Italian then he guaranteed a big tip when he told me that my Italian had improved. Yikes, he remembered how bad my Italian was last year.
I only knew it was pheasant because our every Sunday Italian lunch restaurant (Osteria Romantica) had it on their menu and I remembered the name. Maybe my Italian is getting better? The breast was wrapped in Lardo (white proscuito, aka pig fat) and baked to a succulent perfection served with a side of sauteed spinach. 
The kitchen is big enough and has a great window that allows me to spy on my neighbors while I fix dinner. I am fascinated (Arnie says obsessed) by our neighbors across from and below us who have an enclosed patio that leads to their garden. They have a glass dinning room table in the room and every night they set half of the table with a table cloth. He usually sets the dishes. They eat at around 8:30 while watching the TV in the corner. After dinner they each have a piece of fruit from the bowl that is permanently on the table. He helps to clear the table but then comes back into the room and watches TV as I assume she does the dishes. They appear to be in their 80’s. It seems that the universe is out of balance on the rare occasions that they do not follow this pattern. I am very relieved to see them again the next night. The woman in the apartment above them does amazing gymnastics to hang her laundry on the clothes line that is beyond a jungle of plants on her tiny balcony. Her life would seem so much easier if she removed most of the jungle to get easy access to the clothes line. I imagine that she prefers to look at the plants and willingly accepts her laundry challenges. I also watch for the lights on the 4th floor kitchen across from us. A young woman lives there and she is usually in the kitchen at the time when we are turning off our lights to go to bed. The people above her cram their guests into their kitchen for Sunday and holiday lunches. We also follow the progress of the childern in the day care center next to us. Thankfully, one chid has adjusted and stopped crying for the hours that he is there. I find watching (spying on?) the lives of our neighbors fascinating and wonder what they say about us. I imagine them saying, “What could that woman possibly be doing pulling on those rubber tubes?” (That is my exercise equiptment) Or, “My God, they are eating early again.” (We eat around 8:15, after I call Dad.) Or worse, “That woman is standing at her window looking at us again!” 
It is fabulous to lay on the couch (Arnie) or sit in the comfy chair (me) and just stare at the cieling. It is only rivaled by standing at the window and watching the garden.
On this day we lined up first for pasta (we were #49 and they were on #20). We bought a Tuscan specialty, Picci pasta. I like to eat that with the wild boar sauces or the duck sauces. So, are you just so jealous that I can talk about purchased wild boar sauce like I was talking about buying tuna fish? We also bought spinach gnudi (like gnocchi but made with ricotta not potato); and ravioli filled with ricotta and walnut. This is not a “fast-food” experience. The people are having elaborate conversations with the clerks about portion size and how to cook their pasta. I understand very little of what is said but I still find it entertaining. When it is my turn I just tell them that I want pasta for 2 people and they always give me the correct portion. One of the pasta women remembered us from last year and when she waits on us she is very patient and shows me the amount of time to cook the pasta by holding up the corresponding number of fingers. She also gives us the receipt at the same time that she tells us the price. She must see the look of complete concentration on my face as I interpret sette e venti, 7.20. This pasta is incredible. The picci is a thick spaghetti that has a real bite to it when it is cooked. The ravioli could make you cry. The next stop is the bread people, we were # 02 and they were on #80. You tell them how many people the bread is for and they cut you a hunk of the appropriate size. We are always tempted by the other treats and this day we bought a slice of apple strudel that tasted as good as it looked. They have a deep fat fryer at the bread stand. They fry bread balls, then sprinkle them with sugar and they fry polenta squares then sprinkle those with salt. We often buy the fried polenta for a snack on the way home. It is all of a 20 minute walk and we don't want to starve on the way home! Last is our deli/butcher. He still feeds us as soon as we arrive. It is usually a slice of bread with the Italian soft cream cheese spread on top. From him we buy our mortadella, prociutto, pecorino cheese and sheep milk ricotta. Every now and then he tells me that his sister made something; sometimes pasta, sometimes cheese. Then we have to buy whatever it is and we are never disappointed. He always tells me how beautiful I am and tells Arnie how lucky he is to be my husband. Now, I know he says the same thing to the 80 year old grandmothers but I don't care. After we leave him we take a look at the vegetables and buy whatever strikes our fancy. This day it was fresh peas. They had Fava beans but we weren’t in the mood to deal with them. When we went to the same vegetable vendor a week later she threw spring garlic and parsley in the bag of peas for free, I guess the second purchase makes one worthy. All of those goodies make up 3 dinners and a couple of lunches. Throw in the lettuce and pear that we buy every day from the guy around the corner from the Palazzo and we are good to go. 
On our way home from the market we stopped into a shop that sells wine in bulk. You bring your bottle and they fill it up from a spigot then cork it. They sold us a few empty wine bottles since we were not prepared to do this. La signora doesn’t speak English but that didn’t stop her from explaining everything to us in Italian and we got the drift of how things worked. Then she took my camera and gave it to Arnie and brought me to the spigot to have my picture taken filling a bottle. The wine was not bad for 3 euro. It beat out our favorite $3.99 Trader Joe’s Nero d’Avola. She is now Arnie’s BFF (Best Friend Forever). Arnie has been back every few days.
