Posts from June, 2007

Today, Fiesole

Nerd mode activated, Greg woke Katelyn up early to go see the Museum of Science. Actually, it was pretty cool with all sorts of instruments and telescopes and globes and random stuff used by scientists and ‘mathematicians’ from the tenth century onward. At that time, mathematics was pretty much synonymous with astronomy, so a lot of astrolabes and stuff. Other highlights include mechanical calculators, early electrical devices, and several of Galileo’s gravity-measuring machines (and his middle finger, weirdly on display in a jar).

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Go with the Flow-rence

By now, we’re done roaming Rome, so it’s off to Florence, home of Michelangelo, Lenonardo, and a whole bunch of people named Medici. Honestly, you can’t walk ten feet (that’s 3.048 meters to non-Americans) in Firenze without gazing at or walking on or running into or sitting on Something di Medici. Anyway, we took our first train betwixt the two cities, which provided some nice scenic views.
Next to Rome, Florence was the most touristy place we’ve been so far. This was immediately obvious when we got off the train and heard the English of a thousand ugly American tourists. To their credit, this is definitely a place worth visiting—everything’s so florentinian, ya know? Can’t blame ‘em.

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And on the third day, he rose again

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Roma due

What’s a visit to Rome without a visit to the Vatican? That’s what the plan was today, so we started off early with a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica. It was impressive, to say the least, since I believe that is indeed the desired effect. You pretty much can’t look anywhere without seeing some sculpture or mosaic or ornate architectural feature. Oh yeah, and it’s hugenormous.

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