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Who is 4'9" tall and looks like a cross between Minnie Mouse and Chewbacca? Here's a hint. She and her buddies recently invaded Florence, Italy. The answer is Nicole Polizzi aka Snooki of MTV's Jersey Shore. On an enjoyable day in Florence recently while consuming my daily scoop of gelato, I found myself caught in the middle of one of the shows shoots.

Mark and I were sitting outside a café near the Duomo when Snooki and Jennie aka JWOWW took over the place. Of course, I grabbed my camera and starting snapping photos. Seems that everyone else sitting with us had the same idea too. We were all quickly informed that we could take as many photos as we'd like, but we needed to turn off the flash on our cameras!

It didn't take long for tourist to start clogging the walk way outside the café and galk at the reality, or unreality as I like to say, stars inside. The crew was really nice to everyone and let them take some photos. But if any of tourists hung around too long, they were asked to move along. I overheard JWOWW explaining to the owner of the café how to make cheese sticks. Like the fried ones you get at Munchies in Jonesboro. The man looked at her like she was crazy, which she clearly may be as she was drinking a Corona and eating a Caprese salad.

At one point, I overheard one guy in the production crew tell someone, "They are just people who are trying to eat some lunch. Leave them alone already." WHATEVER! Are you kidding me? These two are not just your ordinary "tourists" who were trying to enjoy some food on a dream vacation in Florence. I'd say that "people" don't travel around with an entourage that includes a videographer, microphone guy, security team and a manager. These characters in this show are what a very dear friend of mine calls media prostitutes. They are the kind of people who will do just about anything on television for money. This crew of characters from New Jersey may have started out as "just people" but after their first season on MTV, they were household names with big personalities that were tied to horrendous behavior.

My lasting impression of the girls was this. Snooki is tiny. On that day she was wearing a tiny dress with the furry boots you can see in the photo. They are the kind that belong on your feet after a day on the ski slopes in Aspen. Not in Florence in June. I'm sure the fashion gods were fuming. Snooki was also sporting a headband with a bow that reminded me of mouse ears. To me she truly was a cross between Minnie Mouse with her headband bow and Chewbacca with her furry feet. JWOWW on the other hand, looked slender and well put together. She may have looked like a train wreck, but I was so caught up with the mess Snooki was wearing that I didn't pay must attention to what JWOWW was wearing. Although from what I saw, her table manners could use some work. Before we left, Mike "the Situation" showed up for a quick cameo appearance. He was well groomed and nice to the crowd that had gathered on the sidewalks.

Reality television, for me, is a giant time suck. Kind of like Facebook after a while. You get drawn in to whatever train wreck is being shown and before you know it, you've lost an hour of your precious life here on Earth. That is precious time you can never get back! I'd much rather watch the Colbert Report or Chelsea Handler than any of the reality shows on television today.

And to the wonderful people of Florence, I'd like to take this time to say, "I'm sorry your beautiful city was tarnished by America's latest media darlings from New Jersey." To see this mess of a show being shot in such a fantastic city was just criminal.

You can keep up with more of D.J.'s adventures on her own blog at www.djduckworthyoga.com/blog