Under the Tuscan Cloud ...

Spent a few days in the towns surrounding Siena and Firenze trying to get in touch with my inner Medici … trying to avoid tourists and amazing rain storms, and discovering that beauty is to be found everywhere -- even out of bathroom windows !

Rome if you want to ...

Rome is a city that obliterates reasonable perspective ... from the Pantheon (a spectacle in engineering that has been in continuous use for nearly two thousand years, with its original doors) to the Vatican Museum/Basilicae (the greatest demonstration of Renaissance politics and imperial power) to the 3rd century Christian catacombs (22km of underground passageways) on the Via Appia, Rome makes make most modern marvels seem unnecessary and redundant. It took me a great deal of effort to see the city in its past glories (with far more substance than its surface value as a modern tourist Mecca), and I believe, perhaps more than any other city, a full appreciation of it is very much an acquired taste.

Raphael started his best work there when he was 22 …
Michelangelo was 23 when he did his Pieta …

I’m 27, and have only just finished yet another Master’s thesis, which probably wouldn’t be enough to cover the Sistine Chapel (nor be nearly as decorative) … although it sure would be fun to try :) ...

but then again, don't they say something about Rome not being built in a day ...