DOWN by the Duomo in the very heart of Florence, policemen send tourists scurrying off the cathedral steps, writes Paddy Agnew in Florence. What is happening? One of the European summit bigwigs has decided to do a bit of pre Council sightseeing?
No, it's just the water van coming by, ready to spray the streets of Florence and take some of the heat out of a lovely Tuscan June day. The European circus might have come to town but according to the policemen on duty outside the Duomo, it is business as usual in central Florence.
In the bars just off the Duomo, there is a great deal of European talk. No, not European summit talk but rather European soccer talk, part of the nationwide inquest into Italy's elimination from the European Soccer Championships in England on Wednesday.
Nerve centre of the European summit, just down the road from the central station, is the imposing Fortezza di Basso. Like so much else in Florence, the Fortezza is a Medici building, once designed to keep unfriendly Tuscan and Umbrian rivals at bay.
Yesterday, it was equipped with rooftop marks men intent on protecting the heads of state and government of the 15 European Union member countries, not to mention the Uzbek, Cypriot, Maltese, Romanian, Bulgarian, Slovene, Chilean, and other delegations in attendance.
Just outside the Fortezza, Signora Clara has a stall mainly concerned with selling soccer shirts. Number one item on her stand for approximately £8.50 is the number nine Fiorentina shirt usually worn by the city's soccer idol, Argentine Gabriel Batistuta.
Perhaps it is because Argentina is not an EU country, or perhaps the EU lot are not great soccer fans, but the fact is Signora Clara is not doing much business.
Just down the road, an ice cream seller (incidentally, yesterday's recommendation was a three flavour cone of melon, malaga and cream) explains why trade is sluggish, saying that traffic diversions have discouraged Florentines from coming into the city centre.
All of which is true. By early yesterday afternoon, not only were sections of the city cordoned off but the nearby airports of Pisa and Florence itself were closed in order to reduce security risks.
Furthermore, 3,500 policemen and soldiers have been deployed in and around Florence to keep the show running smoothly. Who knows, maybe some of the policemen will buy a Batistuta shirt.