American Music

One of the things that Americans are famous for in other parts of the world is our music. That was a surprise to me for some reason, but everywhere you go, you hear American music in car radios, shops, being sung by bands, and MTV, on the television.

One night Kelly and I were taking a stroll (abbiamo fatto la passiegata) when Paolo, a man who I had met in the Piazza once before, said hello. Kelly and I had just decided we wanted to have a Limoncello, and were trying to find a place for that. When he asked where we were going and we told him, he pointed us in the right direction, and said he would join us in a few minutes.

He pointed us toward Giubbe Rossa (The Red Jacket) which is a famous café on Piazza della Republica, frequented by "the literati" over the years in Florence. There is a large covered café right on the Piazza and small tables just outside for the locals. I have been here often with Enrico for caffe, and we always sit in the small tables-only tourists frequent the patio area, and of course I have done that as well. The small tables outside always have reserved signs on them.

When Kelly and I arrived, the reserved signs were on the small tables, so we went inside and ordered our Limoncello at the bar. Paolo arrived and came inside to get us, and immediately suggested that we move to the outside tables that said reserved. I told him there were signs on the table, and he said that was so that the locals could use them, and we made our way to one of the tables.

There were several of Paolo’s friends sitting there already and we joined them and Paolo made introductions. I am not sure how we got on the subject, but it wasn’t long before we were talking about music and who we liked, and what our favorites were. One man, Giuseppe, was a guitarist who loved Credence Clearwater Revival, The Allman Brothers, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Giuseppe burst into guitar licks from Sweet Home Alabama, and Kelly almost fell out of her chair laughing. Hearing an Italian sing that it unexpected to say the least!

We tried telling some jokes, but they really didn’t translate, so we stuck to the music conversation. Here we are having a great time!