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Goodbye Jen, Hello “Strč prst skrz krk”

We all sleep-walked to the train station this morning at five in the morning to catch a shuttle to not-so-nearby Malpensa International Airport. About an hour and a good nap later, we were being dropped off at the terminal and parting with our dearly beloved travel companion, Jen. The good news is, now she gets to join in the excitement through these wonderful and vivid blogs! Hope you made it off alright and you’re not still stuck in the (I imagine, by now) miserable Malpensa airport.

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Oooh, Uffizi

The Uffizi was closed yesterday, so today was our only chance to see the famed Renaissance gallery. Once again, Katelyn was thrilled to see the subjects of her studies and tried not to linger too long in front of Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. Tour groups were somewhat annoying but the pretty pictures made it more than worth while. Unfortunately we were unable to locate the mythical Bernini sculpture collection that was fabled to be there but we probably would have had to call the fire department to separate Katelyn from them anyway.

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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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