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On the road: Galileo’s Italy

Posted 03-24-2009 by David Eicher

Leaning tower of PisaTomorrow I’ll leave for a 10-day trip to Italy along with 25 Astronomy readers and our tour partner, Melita Thorpe of MWT Associates. In this magical year of celebrating the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first observations, we’ll explore sights in Rome, Florence, and Pisa associated with Galileo and the amazing ancient and Renaissance history of Italy. Within Rome, we’ll explore the Vatican — St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums, and the grandeur of everything associated with this unique place.

We’ll discover the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and of course pizza margherita and gelato — the best in the world. In Pisa we’ll see, of course, that tower where Galileo dropped weights. And in Florence we will set out to the Uffizi Gallery, the Duomo and Baptistry, the Ponte Vecchio, and more. Nearby, we’ll stop in at the dwelling in Arcetri where Galileo spent the last years of his life under house arrest.

It will be an amazing trip, and I look forward to providing blog updates on our activities as often as I can.

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 Photo credit: David J. Eicher

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  • willbldrco said:

    I hope you all have a fantastic time!  I did a similar trip in Oct '08 where I tried to visit the adjoining monastery of the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, where Galileo's trial took place, but the nun at the front desk smiled and said, "no."  :)  Maybe you'll have more luck.  If not, check out the Bernini elephant sculpture in the square and Michelangelo's "Christ the Redeemer" in the Basilica.  Finally, just on the other side of the Pantheon in the Piazza di Sant'Eustachio is Sant'Eustachio Caffe - Rome's best espresso, IMO!!!  www.youtube.com/watch

    March 24, 2009 3:48 PM

About David Eicher

David J. Eicher
  David J. Eicher is editor of Astronomy and has been observing the skies since 1976. He has an asteroid, 3617 Eicher, named for him by the International Astronomical Union.
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