From Greve-in-Chianti -- Day 2

We spent most of today in Florence, including a lovely lunch on a main piazza. A couple of (clearly) Italian guys sat next to us, talking very fast to each other and on their cell phones.

These guys were as smooth as I've seen in Italy, and that's saying a lot: dark, tailored suits, textured shirts with open collars and designer sunglasses. Slicked-back hair. Sweetly-scented cigarettes.

Thing is, they were incredibly friendly too. They overheard us talking and asked what we thought of Florence. They told us about their business -- leather goods, real estate and nightclubs (classic!) -- and we discussed US and Italian cultures and economies.

At one point we mentioned riding bikes and the Giro, and they stared back blankly. My mom asked if they knew where Friday's stage ending in Florence would finish, and they had no idea. They mentioned something about soccer, and then suggested we Google it.

This, we've found, is disappointingly typical: we've found very little interest in the Giro here in Tuscany, certainly less than in the Tour of California at home. The day after a crucial stage, we turned through 10 pages of soccer news before finding the single page devoted to the Giro. We've found no TV coverage.

I'm still hoping we'll get a feel for the passion of the tifosi on Thursday and Friday, our two days to catch Giro stages -- but I just learned that tifosi is a general term, for all fans; the Wikipedia article lists soccer and F1 racing before a brief mention of cycling.