CABIRIA`S NIGHTS IN FLORENCE

I love going there enjoying the Florentine narrow streets. A crowd of happy faces from different nationalities mixed with Italian stereotypical faces makes the background of this Piazza. They are seated on the five steps which surround a church, enjoying their drinks or their joints, chatting and relaxing after a hard day of school , of work or just after a long tourist walk.

Behind them the imposing facade of the church which makes one of the two small sides of the rectangular square hides and protects the life of the piazza from the noisy and frenetic areas of the town.

Because of my artistic ignorance this church is just a church for me. I can`t see any beauty or find any aesthetically interesting aspect. I`ve never been inside, but I`ve heard from a friend`s friend that there are lots of famous pieces of art inside this religious place which my sick mind considers only as a topographical point of this city or just relates to a bar - a profane place.

Instead I know the bar very well. A very small and friendly Italian cafe where you can`t have an intimate conversation. It`s often so crowded that if you tell a friend a problem, all the cafe will try to find a solution.

The only chairs you can find inside are six cinema arm-chairs which look at a wall tv screen.

I generally order caprioska, which doesn`t sound Italian but it`s quite fashionable. I love picking up the small pieces of lemon using two strolls in the Chinese way. This keeps me busy for a quite long time and at ease at the same time. Then it prevents me from lighting a cigarette as otherwise I do if my left hand is not holding anything.

A couple of caprioskas slowly sipped and the old jazz played there give me the right rhythm to start a conversation in body language.

It`s only there where you can discover what`s on in town that night. At 1 a.m. rumours of private parties will reach your ears in your way to the loo and if you don`t have a car or a bike, don`t panic, you will get a ride to the coolest place of the night.

The bar is Cafe Cabiria and the place is Piazza Santo Spirito. Cincin !

Felix Petrelli 06.10.1997