On the trail of Hannibal Lecter...

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It was brought to my attention by old friend and horror buff Jeff, that Hannibal Lecter has a fond appreciation for my current city of Florence. It even quelled his murderous temperament (Lecter's, not Jeff's) briefly, I recall, though it does not have that effect on all. Florence has quite an interesting history that I am learning a bit about, with amazing characters, and at times, spectacular violence. Michelangelo, Donatello, and Galileo all lived here (though I don't recall which colour the Galileo ninja turtle wore), as well as Dante, Machiavelli and Lorenzo de' Medici (of The Simpsons fame - Mr. Burns reacts angrily to Homer's request for double cheese on the pizza, asking if Homer took him for Lorenzo de' Medici), to name a few. Rereading Hannibal gave me a greater appreciation for the book and the city itself, and inspired me on some Hannibal Lecter self-guided tours (though without the taste tests)!
Apparently Thomas Harris, author of the Hannibal Lecter books, based some of his writings on the actual case of The Monster of Florence - a killer of young couples involved in the act of love - about whom I also recently read. This true story is quite a lot more frightening than Hannibal, mostly in the incompetence and corruption shown by the Italian authorities throughout the case. I will do my best not to run afoul of the law here, so if you are part of the Italian establishment, please ignore that last sentence about "corruption" and "incompetence" and so on. Tee hee, Canadian humour and such. (Aside to Canadians: wink wink. On your best behaviour, friends. (Sigh. I studied mathematics for years and the best I could come up with for a code was "wink wink".))
An interesting thing to note here, is that the Italians have two independent police forces - the Polizia and the Carabinieri, a branch of the military acting as police. As near as I can tell from asking around, they have the same duties, but don't cooperate that well. Kind of "first-one-to-arrive-on-the-scene-gets-the-case" idea. Rampant nonsensicality, if you ask me, but the Italians like it - they say the two forces keep each other in check.
I haven't found Hannibal's supermarket yet, or the perfume shop where he bought some gifts for Clarice, but enjoy the pictures nonetheless, although I am sure this is a grave disappointment to you.
Alright, alright, I know it was a bad pun, don't bite my head off.
Okay, I'll stop now.

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Photos

Palazzo Capponi
The home of Hannibal Lecter during his Florence stay! This was my closest brush with celebrity. Other than seeing Jose Canseco driving down the street once in Toronto.

Hannibal's Front Door
Nadine standing in front of the palazzo. I am pretty sure she doesn't know what a Hannibal Lecter is.

Palazzo Vecchio
Aside from being a spectacular tower, also where Lecter killed Pazzi and hung him from the window, to be displayed to the tourists below.

Santa Croce
Santa Croce (or "Saint Cross" - come on, can't you be a bit more creative than that?). Where H.L. did some studies and hung out.

Santo Spirito
Here is where the police inspector, Pazzi, recruited Gnocchi (not his real, or fictional name) to get Lecter's fingerprints. I know, this is getting obsessive.

Courthouse in Perugia
Many of the trials for the Monster of Florence took place here.

Required reading?
Two very good books about crimes in Florence - one based on fact, one somewhat, very loosely based on the other one, but entirely fiction.

Torture Museum
Some kind of medieval and torture museum, not too far from the serial killer (and death penalty!) museum. They really milk it here.