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Our motley group arrived in Florence the day before our "first class" train ride.  So, naturally, we decided to go have some great local Italian food.

Your editor and his wife ended up at a local joint called La Congrega Osteria Del Tempo Perso.  It's not in the tourist area, and, in fact, the area looked a bit rough, but we had been assured by locals and guidebooks alike that this place had some of the best fare in town.  We knew, if nothing else, they were sure to have decent Italian wine.  Your editor made a mental note to enjoy copious amounts of said wine so he wouldn't worry about the walk back after dark.....

We were seated in a small back room that held three tables but, being early, we were the only people there.  So we settled in to enjoy a romantic secluded evening.

As we were ordering our second bottle of wine, a boisterous group swaggered in and were seated at the table next to us.

Three couples.  All 50-somethings.  Obviously American.  They were all very attractive, very fit and very happy.  Your editor got the distinct impression that these three guys were all California surfers.  In fact, these three couples would have been perfect to cast in a Cialis [1] commercial.  Middle-aged, Attractive, fit and in love.  Perfect.  We all gave each other the "nod" and your editor turned his attention back where it belonged....on his wife.

A minute later, the closest gentleman tapped me on the shoulder, "What do you recommend?"

"It's all excellent, so far, I'm having the Pasta Arrabiata."

"Oh, man, that looks awesome, I'm going to get that too"  He said in his surfer-dude accent (your editor was correct, definitely surfers).

He continued, "Hey man, check out what we did today."

He pulled out his iPhone and starts proudly showing me photos.

The three couples had spent the entire day re-enacting ancient Florentine battles and events, dressed in period costumes, no less.  It appeared to be a touristy renaissance festival kind of thing.  I stopped at one particular photo of my new surfer friend in full battle garb, with a big broadsword and a huge grin on his face.

"You sure look happy in that one, friend" I said.

"That's because I had just burned one, dude!"  he giggled.

Although your editor doesn't "burn" anything, he's pretty sure from the gales of laughter that ensued, and the copious amounts of food they ordered, that our attractive surfer friends had just "burned one" before dinner too.

Pretty soon we were all laughing and having a grand, if somewhat raucous time.  We Americans have to earn our reputations for being loud and obnoxious, after all....

So, whether it's via sangiovese grapes, as your editor prefers, or via other, ummm, more flammable means, as his surfer friends prefer, that's what Italy is all about......

La Dolce Vida, Dude!

Sincerely,

Clint Watson

FASO Founder, Software Craftsman, Art Fanatic

Your editor's wife at dinner. Oh well, at

least I got a picture of the lovely wine.

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[1] Why are the man and woman in the Cialis commercial in separate side-by-side bath tubs?  That's just odd.