We arrived in Florence at a little passed four in the afternoon on Sunday, to the city winding down from the weekend. After checking into our hotel, we decided to walk from our place of stay near the Santa Maria Novella train station to Ponte Vecchio, just so we could tire ourselves enough to fall asleep. We wanted to get adjusted to the time difference as quickly as possible. It was clear, the tourist season was beginning to wind down. The stores were closed, the tourists too few, hardly any students left in sight and the locals mostly ‘adorned’ the streets, while taking their usual Sunday afternoon stroll with their families. Everyone was either eating a gelato or standing in line to order one at a number of gelato shops along the way. As I leaned to look over the ledge at the quant restaurant tucked on a man made grassy patch alongside the Arno river, I heard music echoing from the famous bridge not too far away. After bearing witness to a surprise birthday …