Daily pic #37: Street Muse

The piazza is featured in Dan Brown's book "Angels and Demons", in which the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (the "Fountain of the Four Rivers"), a piece of which can be seen in the background on the left side, is listed as one of the Altars of Science.

The girl in the picture is playing a rare Royal Standard accordion, made by Zuleger & Mayenburg from Brunndobra, Germany in the 1960s (I did quite a bit of research to figure this out). This thing weighs about 9 kg - even more than my photo backpack. Pretty and strong - she must be a gynoid!

When my twin brother and I were 6, we went to a music school, having this weired notion that accordion is a fun instrument. They told us straight that we were too weak to handle it, and suggested that we switch to something lighter, like a violin maybe. I immediately saw the wisdom of it and said ok, but my brother decided to wait until he was strong enough to pick it up. He came back in a year and practiced for a few months (my teacher, who did not know I have a brother, was very impressed that I played two instruments), but finally even he realized that this instrument is no joke, and switched to an oboe.

I have nothing but deep respect for the accordion players - they literally carry music on their shoulders. Check out this guy playing Bach Toccata and Fuga in d moll on bayan.