Hi there, Duke!

Sorry, but I have to keep this one short. I have to wake up at 4:45 am tomorrow to catch a train to Roma to finally go to Vatican City. I booked my ticket ahead so I won't have to wait in line, and I bought my train ticket earlier today.

This morning I rented a Fiat (a dirty one- the rental car standards here are pretty low.) and drove to Urbino, a city in the heart of Marche. It would have been worth the rental fee just for the drive out there; amazing scenery. Took a little longer than anticipated to get there, as I kept having to stop and take pictures. My brother would really have loved it.

But I wanted to see the Palazzo Ducale, I was a little worried about finding it, until I looked to my left:
Can't miss that. The palazzo contains one of the world's most important collections of Renaissance art and is a UNESCO world heritage site. You can't take pictures inside, but really, if you go to Italy, make time for it. The wood inlay work inside is enough to warrant a trip, without even taking into consideration the other art within. It's... fabulous, in every sense of the word.

A google image search for "wood inlay, palazzo ducale, italy" (copy/paste, it won't let me post the link) turns up one image. The walls in the room are flat- the sense of depth comes from the mastery of perspective. It is very beautiful.

But I did sneak a pic of this hand-written and drawn Latin Bible in one case. That's the first page of Genesis.

And the Duke's veiw. Lucky bastard.

Another veiw of the Palace. Awesome.

Buona notte!