pumpkinstrokemarrow

This from a Arabic or Turkish flavoured internet cafe just north of the Duomo, just to prove it can be done. Quiet and peaceful Wednesday morning, cool and sunny and more staff than punters in the cafe. 1.5 euros for the half hour or there is the annual subscription option. Required to show your passport for copying prior to kick off. Quite handy for students of which there seem to be lots around here (Via San Gallo).

Being in the cafe has also provided the opportunity to ask Mr G about the many tortoises which are built into the monuments around here. I very soon find out that they are the heraldic animal of Cosimo I, first Grand Duke of Tuscany. They are not, however, as plentful as the Medici balls which really are everywhere. Show-off parvenus compared to Cosimo, I dare say. Mr G finds the following: "One outraged contemporary of Cosimo il Vecchio declared that "He has emblazoned even the monks' privies with his balls."" Five plain balls and one fancy one, arranged in a hexagon on a odd shaped shield, with 10 seconds with Mr G not revealing much detail, although there is a suggestion that there may be a connection with the three plain balls of the pawnbrokers.

More when I get back to a proper keyboard in good old Blighty. Although to be fair this keyboard is no where near as hard to work as the one I tried in gay paree.