Italy

Rome

We flew into Rome and got on the train. Our host was waiting for us immediately when we stepped off in the south of Rome. We found him on the internet, against our better judgment about people you meet off the internet who invite you into their homes, but we couldn’t have been more wrong. Couldn’t have asked for a better couple of hosts than Marcello and his girlfriend Marni. We didn’t get to meet his roommate Fabio, but if he was anything like how we imagined him, he and our host would have been cut from the same block of marble, so to speak.

Ciaoo

Our first stop in Rome was the forum, which I harkened to an ancient Roman Disneyland.

Complete with rainbow, except unlike the one at Disneyland this one’s real

I guess the ruins are real too

Of note in the forum was Julius Caesar’s funeral pyre. People left flowers.

You wouldn’t think people would still feel the need to leave those

Also of note in the forum was all of the modern art installations they filled it with.

This is a fake statue of Venus in the real Temple of Venus. Also pictured here is a massive pile of old clothes because art.

The forum gave us a great view of our next destination.

Are you not entertained?! We heard a kid shouting this in there. Multiple times. Cringey.

Our multitude of stops were all museums and churches.

The first Jesuit church

Rafael’s Tomb

St Bartholomew the Apostle’s tomb

Swiss guards in the Vatican

Crowds in the Vatican. Behind the camera I’m scowling

St. Peter’s. The wonder of the basilica makes you want to say things they wouldn’t 

appreciate you saying there.

We also saw the Sistine Chapel. Rather, we were slowly pushed through the Sistine Chapel by the mob while guards stood at the periphery and shushed everyone gleefully.

The Capitoline Museums were cool too. Up on a hill, I think I can definitively say this museum ended the profound sense of wonder I felt each time I saw Roman ruins. Too much birthday, as they say.

Constantine’s massive hand is #1!

Brendan and Constantine. Dead ringer.

And this was here!

And these were in the next room! It’s a collection of porcelain monkeys playing in an orchestra!

After becoming thoroughly museumed-out, we spent our last day in Rome here.

Or I should say, we spent our last day outside of Rome

Florence 

We caught our train to Florence, where we found there was no INTERNET.

Not that there was no internet in Florence. Really, Ashley booked us an apartment without wifi.

Not hard to make the best of it though

Florence was fun, though I took surprisingly few pictures. They didn’t let me take photos in most places we went. We saw this at the Uffuzi Gallery (no pictures)

Not my photo. They wouldn't let me take one

We went to a few churches, including the Medici’s massive church (no pictures), saw the Medici’s catacombs (no pictures), and saw a lot of architecture by Michelangelo (no pictures!)

We unfortunately passed on the Statue of David due to a three hour long line to enter, we had a train to catch:

Verona

To Verona!

Verona is beautiful and wonderful and great. It’s possible we just got a fantastic first impression though. Our first night there we caught Aida at the Arena Theater.

The Arena is an ancient Roman archaeological site that they turned into an 

opera house where they do really fantastic productions

No flash photography, but that didn't deter like 60% of 

the audience during the entirety of the evening.

For our full day in Verona we hit everything walkable. I wasn’t aware Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona, and loosely (loosely) based on real families.

Which is probably how they justified having a museum called “Juliet’s House”. 

With a balcony constantly filled with people.

I guess the statue of Juliet in the courtyard is semi famous for whatever reason. The thing about it that puzzled me most was why everyone was rubbing the statue’s chest. Apparently its good luck.

Seriously. Here’s a couple young teens rubbing the chest of a statue of another young teen. Which makes my smile less than appropriate in retrospect.

Verona actually has two Roman amphitheaters turned modern venues.

This one is smaller and they’re doing Much Ado About Nothing.

I think the budget for the arts went entirely to the other venue. This is how my sets will 

probably look in the future. (Or my apartment)

We also saw the old Veronese fortifications along the city wall and went into a hedge maze in the cities gardens. I wish we’d scheduled more time there.

Ciaooo

Now we’re off on the road to Paris. Our final destination.

Brendan really misses hamburgers and his dog.