Sidewalk Chalk

There are a lot of people selling things in Florence. Actually, let me rephrase that- there are a lot of people soliciting money in Florence. You have your run of the mill Gypsies at the very bottom of the food chain. These are women who all have braided hair and babushkas (Sp.?) and are wearing outfits that set them apart from every other person in Italy. I can't really figure this out because if these gypsies aren't begging on the street they are pick- pocketing you, and you would think they would have more success if they DIDN"T LOOK LIKE GYPSIES. But, I can't explain this to them, they don't speak English, so I move on. So, you have your gypsies. Next up on the food chain (in my opinion) you have the mimes. Now, I am biased because I HATE MIMES, but really, how hard is it to paint yourself white, put a sheet over you and stand on a milk crate with your eyes closed? I'm sure at first there is may be some tetering or leg cramping, but after a while, you are really just a white guy standing on a box, and what is so special about that? What the hell are these people dressed up as? beats the hell out of me, and I'm certainly not going to pay them for doing something stupid. After the mimes you have people selling weird shit. Now, this is not a stereotype, these are real facts. You have Africans selling fake designer purses (and yes, they are ALL Africans.) By the way, it is actually very illegal to buy these purses and if a cop catches you, you can be fined up to 3,000 Euro, which most people don't know. Anyway, Africans, purses. Next, there are Asians selling weird little dolls that sing things like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in Italian. Yes, they are both creepy and annoying at the same time. Someone must buy them though because they are out there everyday selling them. Then you have the Romanians and Albanians selling crappy 11x16 posters of everything from Florence landmarks to unicorns. Don't ask me- I want to slap the people who buy them just as much as the people who buy the singing creepy dolls. After those people you have the market people who are mostly Albanians and Romanians mixed with some Italians. They want to sell you purses and belts, t-shirts and wallets and if you're not buying something from them they are verbally assaulting you as you walk by. Love those guys.
But there is one solicitor that I respect and enjoy. They are the sidewalk chalk artists. And i'm not talking about some little doodles in chalk. These people are INCREDIBLE artists who slave over the sidewalk all day reproducing masterpieces in chalk. As you can see from the picture, this guy is doing a famous work by Leonardo Da Vinci, and if I do say so myself, it is worth some pocket change at the very least.