Cat Ladies

Rome is famous for its feral cats -- nearly 200,000 of them -- and the ladies who take care of them. They're women of a certain age who haul cat food to points around the town day after day. The most famous gather at Largo di Torre Argentina, an ancient archaelogical dig with 250 wild cats in residence.

In America, the cat ladies would take the critters home and, inevitably, the neighbors would call animal services when the smell got too rank.

I've found one of Florence's m0st dependable cat ladies on my hikes up to Piazzale Michelangelo and the church of San Miniato al Monte. She stops at the same spot on the stairs every morning at about 9 a.m. Her grocery cart is loaded with dry food and plastic plates. And the cats come running.

She's a little cranky, so this photo was taken on the fly....