The first thing I did in Florence yesterday was walk across the street, from the train station, to buy a pair of New Media Whore sunglasses at the Bennetton store. They're green and they make looking at white marble sculptures a super dazzling experience. At first I felt sort of bad playing Good Consumer but when I got to the center of town I realized it is probably the most apt thing to do in contemporary Florence. I wonder if the towns along the pilgrimage routes of yore were like this when people prayed to the bible instead of travel guides. Highlights of the day included the Giottos at Santa Croche, seemingly finding the part of town where the Italians take lunch, finally starting to take pictures of the street signs and watching some guy on the Arno turn his rowing scull around.