Google Party

Wednesday night after my CHI course we went out in search of the Google party. The party announcement handed out at CHI gave the wrong hotel (Hotel Grande, but the wrong one; there were to Hotel Grandes). To correct the misdirection, a Student Volunteer (SV) was posted outside the wrong hotel with directions to the right one. This particular SV was holding a half-finished pint of beer, which I hope he got gratis, courtesy of CHI (or Google). SVs are an invaluable convention resource as they perform a large number of indispensable duties. I know, since I was a SIGGRAPH SV for a couple of years back in the early 90s. As an SV you try to "live off the land" as my graduate advisor advised me to do, hence you try to grab as many freebies as you can find, including beer :)

Eventually we found the right hotel and both the Google and Microsoft parties (colocated at the same hotel). Unfortunately by the time we got there no more beer was to be found. All the food plates were also empty. So it was either stay and mingle or head out in search of dinner. Conference parties and receptions are hard to live off (you have to be quick), so we went off in search of a nice restaurant.

These are not difficult to find, and we happened across Baccus, just another of the countless small but very good establishments in Florence. I can't remember what I had now (Corey might post it as she took photos of the menus and plates) but I do remember it being very good. We also saw what is a famous dish in Florence, the Florentine steak. This is usually served for two as it is huge and very thick (looked like about 2-4 inches in thickness). After dinner we just walked around by the Ufizzi, meandering through small streets, looking for a nightcap (Guinness).

We had found an Irish pub (every city in the world seems to have at least one) close to our hotel, but it was small, and a bit of a hole. Luckily we found something a bit better right by the Ufizzi, The Miachael Collins. I think we ended up going there a couple more times. They not only had Guinness, but they took US dollars on par with the Euro from 6-10pm every night. Which meant we paid US $6 per pint instead of €6 = $9–10.50, depending on the current exchange rate (ouch!). One night we happened to catch a football match between Fiorentina (a local club I think) and PSV, a Dutch club I believe. It ended up being PSV 0:2 Fiorentina, much to the delight of the locals.