Florence was pretty cool. We continued our tradition there of eating a lot of pizza and gelato. We saw some amazing art. It turns out that it's not the Sistine chapel that tugs at my innards -- it's Michelangelo. The statue of David was just the same. What a talented man! I know Da Vinci is kind of seen as the leader of Renaissance art, but honestly... I think Michelangelo is the better artist. Anywho! We saw a few art museums and enjoyed the Raphaels and Botticellis, but we both thought that the modern art there was even better. I don't mean "modern" like we mean it in the states, where we put a dirty, old sneaker on display and title it "My Life." That's not art... "Modern" in Florence is 18th-19th century, so Impressionism and such. Such beautiful art!
We also visited a couple of cathedrals there. I'll be honest, I'm getting a bit churched out here, but it was really cool to see where Michelangelo and Galileo are buried, plus Il Duomo is a must in Florence. It has the prettiest exterior of any church I've ever seen.
Our flight to Paris was from the Pisa airport, so we took a train to Pisa and checked out the tower before catching our flight. I was slightly disgruntled to discover that the leaning tower or Pisa is -- you guessed it -- a church! Not that these churches aren't amazing, it's just that many of them look the same after a while. Haha, we took some very fun pictures there, though.
I am in love with Paris. People warned me about this city, told me it was dirty, an made sure I lowered my expectations... But it's great! Muuuuch better than Rome if you're worried about chaos, dirt, and rudeness. I've found the Parisians very pleasant and the city very lively. Everyone here has some kind of passion, and they all seem very happy. It's quite inspiring!
We got to visit Musee d'Orsay, which is my favorite museum so far. We took a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower, which scared me to death. We also saw Notre Dame and Versailles. I believe we are finishing off with the Louvre and St. Chapel tomorrow. I love this city and am looking forward to Edinburgh and Dublin, but I'm also getting excited to go home. That's where I'd want to be at this point in the trip though -- ready for a couple more adventures, but reaching a good level of satisfaction.
Two days later, I'm finally posting this. But skipping the pictures for the most part. We're about to board a plane from Paris to Edinbrgh, and there is no one here at the gate. This will be a great flight! Ps. I highly recommend the catacombs in Paris. It was super creepy, but wow, that was a lot of bones. I later found out that there are 6 million skeletons down there. That number really made me appreciate the damage of the holocaust... The bones just never seemed to end.
On a happier note, I am thrilled to be going to English-speaking countries again. I love Paris, but I'm eager to end the foreign awkwardness!
Au revoir! Seriously, see y'all in three days.
I'm sorry but nothing will ever beat Shitaly..like ever! ha ha
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