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Back in Rome this past week. Didn’t see quite as much as I was hoping to but still saw many great things. Such as the statues in this plaza.

More posts soon. Tomorrow I visit the catacombs, and travel further down the Appian Way. Also hopefully I’ll finish my Respighian tour of Rome by visiting the rest of the pines and fountains.

I spent the weekend in Assisi, the city of St. Francis (well, the other city of St. Francis – San Francisco, which is almost as hilly and has a similar vibe, is named after him.) Francis seems like he was a pretty enlightened dude. He loved nature, and he started the Franciscan monastic order who are all about simplicity and meditation. They say he put a blessing on the walls inside the city – so that everyone who visited or lived there would know peace. Could be – it’s certainly one of the very most peaceful places I’ve ever been. Also very beautiful.
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I’ve seen and photographed many many beautiful things already in Rome, and I’m staying another week ’cause there’s so much I have yet to see. Below is a panorama from my walk along the banks of the Tiber.

(Click the image to enlarge.)

Forgive my feeble attempts at humor. I got up at 6 AM and I guess I was still pretty loopy.

And from a slightly different angle:

The art in the Uffizi Gallery is incredible, some of the best in the world. I got to see art by two of the ninja turtles, and also quite a selection of Botticellis and various other lesser-known artists who nonetheless produced some amazing work. Of course the most famous painting there is most likely Birth of Venus, otherwise known as Venus on the Half Shell (Turtle Power!) Unfortunately, I found myself unable to seriously enjoy this painting because when I saw it, I burst out laughing, as all I could think of was this:

Damn you Terry Gilliam!!! 🙂