The friendliness of the short distance runner

This morning I made the most of the cooler weather to go for a longer run than usual. I am delighted to say that the iPod battery also lasted the distance, it would be grim without the music - all credit to those that can run purely listening to the sounds of nature, but really, I get distracted by how tired my legs are if I try to run uphill without tunes in my ears.
Anyone who has been reading for a while will know that I love to run in the mornings. And here in Florence there is another reason why - it is so friendly! My running route takes me past a big campsite and uphill to the domain of the million(s) euro houses and then onto the hospital and the olive fields. Its lovely and, as a consequence, there are quite a few of us doing the same route more or less in the mornings. So its "Ciao", "Buongiorno" and "Salve" all round - to the other runners, the dog walkers, the amahs, the nurses and ambulance drivers, and the gardeners and builders, all of whom make up the crowd before 7am.
Excitingly today I may also have seen a real live property owner. The enormous mansion opposite the campsite is in desperate need of some TLC, but today, for the first time, the gates were open, there were 2 guards outside, and a middle aged lady came out looking very much like she owned the place.
Unfortunately at this point I was on my way back to the residence, so my attempted cheery smile of greeting may have appeared more like a grimace of pain!