So clearly we're lost. I thought we got on the train to Florence, but I can't see the "Florence Ya'll" water tower anywhere. Still, this so-called "Fake Florence" seems nice enough, so we'll stay for a bit.

We wound up taking a slow, local train to Florence, which was about 3 hours as opposed to 2 on the high speed. But on the flipside, it was 20 euros a ticket compared to 50. When I think about how many beers 60 euros can buy, that sounds like a good deal. Plus we got to see a bit of countryside, which was nice.

Since we took the slow train, we arrived at the old station - which was part of the plan, since our hotel was in walking distance of there. But we had a few hours to kill before the room was ready, so we stopped off in a local cafe for a sandwich and to kill an hour. I forgot to mention that Ella brought a little painting kit on the trip, and has been painting her favorite photos as we go. This has been really nice, because I'm amazed at how good she is, backed up by the random compliments from strangers.

So, one thing about Florence is that I really like the city itself. The buildings and roads are made of stones, so it looks like someone converted a castle courtyard into a city. I also love how walkable it is, since there were very few cars. It reminds me a little of the Tianzifang neighborhood in Shanghai, which is a good thing. I'd love to live in a city where cars are banned or heavily restricted, because it just makes everything so much nicer.

Anyway, we walked to the Santa Maria Cathedral, which unfortunately was closed for the day. But we still walked around the square, which by itself is really impressive. Even though the restoration work of the church made a few vantage points less scenic, most looked like something out of a fairy tale. So after dinner in a wine cellar, finished off with gelato, we got some rest to get a proper start for the next day.

We started with a visit to another church we passed, Santa Croce. I knew absolutely nothing about this church, we just saw the bell tower and thought we might as well look. Turns out it's kind of a big deal. It has the graves of Dante, Michaelangelo, and Galileo. I'm not really sure where the other three Ninja Turtles are buried, but that was a nice surprise. Also, I find it kind of weird Galileo is buried in a church after the church kind of ruined his life, but hey, whatever man. I always thought "he was just a poor boy, from a poor family."

We did come back to Santa Maria (AKA the Duomo), and waited about an hour to get inside. Gotta say, not worth it. Santa Croce was much better, except for the ceiling. Actually man, something I've learned on this trip - 1) Italians really like dogs (seriously, everyone has a dog), and 2) Italians are the best ceiling makers (ceilingsmiths?) ever. So, bang up job for the ceiling, the rest of the church was meh. If there's no line it's worth it, otherwise no.

But I guess the main draw in Florence is the art. I suspect that outside of perhaps Paris, there is no place on Earth that could compete for the quality of art available. I say that like I know what I'm talking about, of course I'm an art idiot. Ella is not though, so this trip to Florence was predominantly an Ella art tour. Out of the three super famous art museums here, Ella wanted to see The Uffuzi and The Bargello. We also went to see the Pitti Palace, which turns out is much of an art tour as anything. So, quick rundown of each: The Uffuzi has the most famous paintings, like The Birth of Venus. The Bargello has the coolest building, like a medieval castle. It has mostly Christian art, still quite nice but not quite as impressive. The Pitti Palace is my favorite. It didn't really have anything super famous (to me, anyway), but it felt like what I imagine the inside of Cinderella's Castle to actually be - every room is unique and covered with art that could be a museum by itself.

Unfortunately, after two solid days of seeing art, I was getting pretty art-ed out. Like, I saw some really amazing stuff apparently, or at least things even me, an art idiot, recognize from books. So that's cool. Ella was really enjoying everything, as well as sharing the photos with her parents, both artists themselves. But I have mixed feelings on Florence. It's a beautiful city, and I enjoy hanging out there. But for me, there's not actually that much I'm interested in doing, aside from seeing a good example of city design, as I mentally curse at the few cars that brave driving the alleys. I think I prefer Rome as there is so much to do, but Florence is definitely a great weekend getaway. Certainly I saw more world-class art than I ever have in my life, and if you're a fan, Florence is the place to be. Or if you like to cosplay at a Renaissance Festival, I think you'd fit right in among the cobblestone roads. Anyway, I feel Florence is a city more to be seen than described, so I'll put some extra photos at the end.

Anywho, the next stop on the agenda is Venice. We opted for the high speed train this time, so we could have a point of comparison. Speaking of urban design, I think it will be interesting to see a city where the roads are replaced by boats. Let's see how that goes.

 Hello travel. It's been a while.

As mentioned in the last entry, Ella and I have been planning a very long, overly ridonkulous European trip this summer, to get over being stuck in one country for a few years (and stuck in one apartment for a super fun few months). Fortunately, the monster of Ella's visa was finally slain, but not without a last minute bout - you see, we only had three stamps on form 47D Subsection E2 instead of the required four, and only Hermes Conrad would be able to untangle that bureaucracy. Fortunately Jupiter pardoned our heinous crime, and granted us access to our first destination, Rome.

To be honest, I went into Rome with very low expectations - that it was not a safe city, and it has a reputation of not being particularly friendly to tourists. I also had heard it's not a very pretty city, aside from the curated tourist areas. Two friends who had been there before said that you only need a day or two to see what Rome has before moving on.

And then I've learned that everyone is completely wrong about Rome. Maybe it's just because I'm excited to be somewhere new, but I find everyone to be super nice, it's a beautiful city, and I don't regret booking 3 full days here. Honestly I'd prefer 4, and I'm still leaving a lot out that I wouldn't mind seeing. I also see a lot of families with children and women walking alone at night, so it seems pretty safe to me, certainly more than most American cities.

But there are things to see in Rome, and boy did we see things. I guess the main sight is The Colosseum, which in retrospect is nowhere near my favorite. It's large for sure, but fairly crowded and pretty touristified. Honestly after you get inside and say "Yup, there it is" you're kind of done, but instead you get to circle around it twice to say "Yup, there it is again". Maybe it's because I learned way too much about it already from Latin and history class, but I'd actually say maybe skip it if you're in Rome? If that even makes sense? Or at least I'd prefer an express package where you take some steps to the top, snap your picture, and move on.

Alright, so what else is there to like in Rome? A lot. Honestly I just like walking around the city center, because it's so compact. It seems like every corner has a small plaza with streetside cafes, and I quite like that. It's a maze, not unlike how I felt in Macau. But I like how walkable it is, and how you can take your time to enjoy things. It is kind of surreal, we were walking along and I thought "Crazy that Romans once lived here." Then some dude walked by chatting on his phone and I remembered that guy is actually Roman now. 

But for more touristy things, I thought the Trevi Fountain was really neat. Also Saint Giovanni's, the Pantheon, Capitoline Hill Museum, the site of Julius Caesar's Assissination, all worth a look. Probably The Vatican was the big standout, especially Saint Peter's. We waited to go into The Lower Levels, and got to see lots of graves, which is a bit macabre, but also I kind of like it? Sort of like I explained when I saw Mao, or Ho Chi Minh. Like, these people had a large impact on the history of the world. And since you can't meet them, this is where their story ends. It's sort of like finishing a book, which I find satisfying. So yeah. Got to see a lot of dead popes. Even Benedict, who just died recently. He had a pretty modest white marble stone, with a few people laying flowers and praying. There were no photos allowed down there, but tbh you're not missing too much - a small cramped hallway lined with gravestones.

As far as The Vatican museum... Amazing place but poorly designed. The Map Room and the Sistine Chapel are just, wow, and make the experience worth it. But to be honest I was a little underwhelmed at some of the other things. A lot of it is you are just one person in a river of people passing through rooms. And while I understand there are hundreds of people waiting, it really hurts the experience. Of course limiting numbers is a giant pain too, so there's no good solution. It would be nice to be able to wander around instead of being led in a meandering one-way path around the place, with guards rushing you along. Still, it's definitely worth it for The Sistine Chapel alone. The chapel is a pretty small place, probably about the size of a classroom. Also the famous painting of Adam is pretty small, partly because it's pretty high up, but I guess it's only about a meter or so wide.

That was the last stop, and our tickets included lunch, so we made our way to the cafeteria. I had heard the food there was pretty bad, but continuing with the trend of everyone being wrong about Rome, I thought the food was really good. Heck, I'd go there again to eat if it was convenient. The peppers especially were amazing, and restored my faith that it is possible for western cuisine to make vegetables that don't taste like sad.

Anyway, Rome. Who knew? I'm really glad we came, because I love it here. I wouldn't even mind moving here if a job were to present itself. It feels like a city that's really lived in, with a lot to explore. Maybe it's because we're comparing it to China, so visiting another place in Italy would give some perspective. That being said, tomorrow we're off to Florence, which I honestly know very little about. That's a blessing in a way, because we had a packed schedule here. There's only one or two things on the agenda in Florence, and now, wandering about and discovering things seems to be my preferred method of exploring Italy.