Teach me how to "Pub-ie"

Although suffering a slight sugar hangover from my chocolate bender, a group of us went out Saturday night to eat at Dantes, a place that was rumored to give free wine and breadsticks to students. This turns out to be delightfully true.

(And apparently Limoncello, which it seems a lot of restaurants do)

One delicious pizza and two bottles of red wine later, we are ready to explore the night life on the other side of the Ponte Vecchio, where Dante’s is located. We are already sick of the bars in our area anddd…. according to Pa this is where all the young Italian locals hang out. ;)





Unable to find anything on our own, I ask a man locking up his motorcycle if he might be able to recommend a good spot for us. Conveniently enough he was on his way to one and offers to escort us personally. As we walk I interrogate this friendly Italian biker in my journalistic and slightly obtrusive way and learn that he has been to more places in America than I have, a Texan girlfriend, and likes live music.

And although he has many recommendations where to travel in Europe, I make him narrow it down to his top three ending up with: Prague, Galway (because it’s less touristy than Dublin), and the broader Tuscany area (preferably by rental car so we can go to more places in a shorter time, and also so we can better absorb the brilliant scenery).

These Florentines are such a wealth of information, I tell you.

We arrive at a tiny pub with a cute Irish bartender, and I order my first real Italian beer. After dinky plastic cups of watered down nonsense at all these American spots, this pint of cold, frothy deliciousness couldn’t have tasted any better. Eventually we begin to blend in better with the Italian crowd, humming along to the crappy band playing Beatles tunes, and making new friends.

Overall the night is a success as I now at least know where to get a good beer. Not to mention, had I been teaching Italians how to "dougie” (a favorite around here) with millions of other Americans at The Red Garter, I wouldn’t have gained such great insight on European travel.