Florence, Rome, and Tropea

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Hello,

This is Ryan again.

This 3 combo sequence (Florence, Rome, Tropea) started Sept. 15 and ended 9/21.

I really don't have much to say about Florence or Rome. They were cool in their own ways but all I could think about was how amazing they must have been before they became the tourist armpits of the world. They are still nice places and obviously there is a ton of culture in each, but their popularity is just as clearly the worst thing about them. You just get sick of waiting in huge lines for everything and getting hasseled every two seconds to buy something. The interactions with locals also suffer; they're just as jaded about the whole situation as you. Hey, we still enjoyed though.

In Rome, saw the vatican city and basilica, soaked in the sistine chapel, toured the colosseum.

In Florence, climbed to the top of the duomo and viewed the beautiful city landscape, saw replicas (tried for the originals, but hey, this place is a crazy crowded) of the more famous statues, like the david.

Tropea. Now this place was the goat's tuxedo, bee's knees, ect. On the southwestern tip of Italy, what a great little town built into the cliff-lined coast. It was what Italy looked like in my mind's eye before we went. We had a great room, apartment really. It was gigantic with a master bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room. It came fully equipped and we even had our own laundry machine...true luxury. At 60 euros/night it was definitely a splurge for us, but it was a great value. They had a great veggie and fruit market and a hill/peak that both Claire and I ran up once. This was one of my favorite spots, I think number 2 (knowing what I know now after having been in Greece).

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Photos

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dinner in our kitchen.

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bought a mosquito net in florence.

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this is the owner of the apartments where we were staying dancing with claire. he and his friends took us out dancing. I guess it was latin america generally, we did all sorts of dances.

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haha, fish out of water at this point, stiff as a board.

Comments

[Leslie]

Been thinking about you guys and wondering where in the world you are. Great pictures. Looks like fun. Are you tired of traveling? I don't think I would ever tire of it. Stay safe, and happy travels! Love, Leslie

[The Bernard Brothers]

loving it
Love the photo of you two from the ground... such a great pic of back packing around. Hope you're doing well!

[Drew]

You're learning all the hip fashions
Nice apron Claire.