CET Student Correspondent News: (Un)Easy Rider

I ask my Italian roommate where I can buy a bicycle. "Don't buy one, it will just get stolen" he says. Surprisingly this is about the third time I've heard this. It's a crappy answer, I just want a bicicletta!!!

I surf the internet looking for bike shops in the city while eating some fresh pasta. Google maps is in Italian and I can't even figure out how to change it back to English. I just leave and stupidly hope to just come across a bicycle shop. I literally wander Florence for two hours completely lost. I stop and ask a guy who's chaining up his bike (in Italian) where I can buy a bike. He smirks and tells me "il negozio di biciclette” (a bicycle shop) ... Thanks.

Seems like everyone in Italy has a bike except for me (and this guy). 

I ask a street cleaner. I thought it was a good idea at first because she works on hundreds of streets every day. She has no idea, I guess she doesn't clean the section of town with bike shops. I finally find my way back because I recognize the train station. There's bikes for rent right outside, I think this is the perfect person to ask. Wrong. I ask the million dollar question. “Why should I tell you where to buy bicycle, rent here!" she says. Good point. 

Lots of bikes to rent, ma io la voglio comprare!

My Italian teacher comes through. She gives me the name of a bicycle shop over by the train station, and sure enough this place is stocked with old bikes. Some are in great condition and others look like they were fished out of the river. I ask the owner how late he's open and tell him that I'm coming back later with one of my friends to buy some bikes. I get a blank stare, he speaks no English. I try to repeat in Italian, he laughs and gives me a business card. By business card I mean piece of paper that he scribbled his name and number on. It looks like hieroglyphics, I throw it away.

One of my friends, Julian, and I go to the bike shop after class. We can't communicate with this guy but at least he recognizes me. He explains to us that of the whole rack of used bicycles (around 30 of them) the only ones that are for sale are these two. Funny that there are only two bikes for sale when two Americans walk in. The new bikes on the top rack were really nice and the sign said 85 euro. He told us we could get them for a special price: 100 euro. How is that special??? 

Of the used ones for sale one's a rusty piece of *@#! but for some reason Julian likes the rusty one, fine by me. With two good locks (a necessity here) the total for both bikes came to 140 euro. Not When it's time to pay Julian and I just give his assistant 120 euro. He counts it, says very good and we ride off in the Tuscan sunset. 

My new ride

Mark Madden, 

History of Art & Italian Studies in Florence

Spring 2011