What’s up {{firstname_title | Valthakai}}, foodies, travelers, and mosaic makers…

Our announcement of the week is the launch of our Readers’ Channel!

Free subscribers can now access a personal announcement channel and see the goings-on within The Library Discord.

Once you follow the instructions below, check your email for the invite link!

This will also be the new access method for all current and future paid subscriptions.

Login > Profile (Upper Right) > Manage Profile > ⋮ (Upper Right) > Connections > Discord

Thank you to everyone who wrote in this week.

Enjoy!

Love,

The Crone and Daniel

On a lighter note, allow me to introduce you to Norton I., Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, he was based in San Francisco and originally from Cape Town.

I feel it necessary to write this out: no relation, but honestly, I wouldn’t be upset if we were.

Rather than peddling conspiracy theories, Norton I started his royal line due to outrage at the inadequacies of the US legal structure, and he extended his desire to protect and improve his country to his community.

So popular was the Emperor that following his arrest at the hands of a private police force, outrage led to his release, a formal apology from the police department, and officers began saluting him as they passed in the streets.

He explicitly forbade religious conflict and called for several urban engineering projects that to this day have petitions to name them after him. While he wasn’t directly involved in their funding or eventual creation, he left a legacy that people loved.

Certain businesses even honored currency that was printed in his name.

They liked the guy.

Was he mad?

Almost undoubtedly.

But who cares?

This leads me to the second tip for being a crazed monarch: stand for something, and allow it to be something good.

Crazy doesn’t mean evil. You have to be a little crazy to tackle the world, but if you’re going to be crazed, you’re welcome to be crazed and kind.

I encourage it, actually.

Howdy Valthakai!

If you couldn’t tell by the collection of cities above, I am tired.

My time in Italy has been eventful, delicious, and full of cardio. Unfortunately for that last point, none of these idiots can host, so I had to bike 30km from Lucca to Pisa. Very much worth it, as seen by my latest pics.

Cats. Seriously, they’re everywhere. About 2/15 are friendly; the rest are quite skittish, balancing staring at you with eating the food a kind old nonna left out.

Il Profeta. The best pasta I’ve ever had; the restaurant was kind enough to split our portions family-style so we could all try their famous Travolta pasta and their peach-and-gorgonzola ravioli. All I can say is stunning. Of course, dessert was equally spectacular. I demolished their poached pear and what I can only describe as a brick of chocolate.

Osteria Cancello Dei Macci. The Florentine steak… or, as I should really call it: my ascension to the divine. I cannot stress enough how close I came (period) to god while eating this meal. If you’re ordering your red meat anything past medium-rare, know that “we don’t like you, and we hate you.” At least, according to our incredible waitress.

Vasari Corridor. My favorite little slice of history in Florence. Built by Duke Cosimo I de' Medici to connect the Palazzo Vecchio (town hall) with the Palazzo Pitti, his home. As our tour guide described it, his wife, a Spanish noblewoman by the name of Eleanor of Toledo, desired a prettier living space more akin to what she grew up in. Thus, the husband bought the palace, expanded it, and connected the corridor to ensure his family could move safely between the government seat and their home. The Corridor crossed the Uffizi gallery, which showcases the Medici collection of artwork, displaced the meat market of the Ponte Vecchio (the family couldn’t tolerate the smell, and instead established a series of goldsmiths, which stand to this day), and connects directly to the loggia of Santa Felicita.

Matera. One of the oldest still inhabited cities in the world! Matera is built across three valleys, and just about every point provides breathtaking views of its architecture and landscape. Find lovely cafes or the dwellings of ancient inhabitants. Just be prepared to walk; this is a city of a thousand steps, but the sights are well worth it!

Polignano a Mare. Another city that proves humanity belongs near water. Everywhere you go in this quaint little town, you’ll find balconies and seating areas that overlook the sea. Feel the demigod blood in your veins as you stare out across the Adriatic, and commend yourself for making it to a location that Percy Jackson never saw.

Ostuni. What I would call Polignano a Mare’s scenic sister, if you replaced the water with rolling hills of green. The city is abruptly divided between its more modern buildings (and parking lots) and the gentle incline you’ll face if you want to snap pics of the Italian countryside. Plus this was one of the few places where the cats let me pet them!

Pieta. It’s impossible not to feel grief when faced with a mother’s sorrow like this. Completed in roughly two years by Michelangelo, if you look closely, you will see the artist’s signature along the sash on Mary’s chest.

David. It’s actually behind me in the photo below, but I understand the confusion. Here we have another masterpiece of Michelangelo. The artist dissected corpses to ensure his anatomy was accurate, and he completed the 17-foot statue in three years. Take note of the details in his hand, the jugular vein along his neck, and his rock-hard abs.

Cathedrals. Full stop. Every single one was truly a masterpiece. From the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore to St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. It’s easy to understand why millions of people continue to be awed by some of humanity’s most incredible architectural feats.