As Utopian and SteemSTEM slowly yet relentlessly merge like a pair of giant black holes gravitationally bound to one another, it's worth considering what these two groups of brainiacs are actually going to get up to when they finally collide.

Famously now, one primary goal is to enjoy the tremendous and exciting privilege of **[visiting the Virgo Interferometer](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@steemstem/announcing-the-second-steemstem-meetup-bringing-steem-to-virgo-labs)** near Pisa, Italy, but there's so much more food for the mind and soul in Italy to enjoy. So we decided to go on an intellectual tour of historic Florence! # The Natural History Museum of Florence This museum is also known as *La Specola* - The observatory, in reference to the observatory that was founded there in 1790. As you can imagine, the museum has a pretty rich history of its own, and its foundations lie in the Medici Family. ## Dynastic beginnings The House of Medici goes way back to the 12th century, when the Medicis, recently formed, used banking and commerce skills to rise in power, wealth and influence all around Florence. ![](https://i.imgur.com/sDUpFWp.png) Cosimo The Elder, by Alessandro Pieroni - Public Domain In 1434, when their dynasty was in its prime, [**Cosimo the Elder**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosimo_de%27_Medici) ruled Florence as an 'uncrowned monarch' his entire life. During this time, Cosimo was devoted to the arts and humanities and as a result, Florence blossomed into a cultural centre of renaissance. Suddenly, the City's name, translated in English as *flourish*, had a much deeper meaning. The Medici family continued to support famed artists and thinkers (including three mutant ninja turtles!) like Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo and Galileo Galilei (who was not a mutant turtle), even commissioning some of them for various projects. After some ups and downs, the Medicis reached their peak around 1512, continuing to influence Europe with their love of the arts, while spreading their genetic makeup around the continent. By the time the rule of the Medicis came to an end, Italy was left with a beautifully developed region heavily influenced by this dynasty, with a proud history of talent and beauty over three centuries. But Florence isn't *entirely* about external beauty. It's what's on the inside that counts, you know? # La Specola's Hippo The Medici's humanities-loving legacy also left us with the observatory, which, among other things, houses an extremely bizarre stuffed hippo. No you didn't read that wrong. Here's a sneak preview: ![](https://i.imgur.com/rmb8KkQ.png) *Available under Fair Use* This is not some random stuffed prize, however. As it turns out, this hippo was the *pet* of Cosimo III, direct descendent of Cosimo the elder. For exotic reasons, he decided to keep the hippo, letting it roam around the astonishingly beautiful **[Boboli Gardens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boboli_Gardens)**, located a stone's throw away from the natural history museum: ![](https://i.imgur.com/XCWRdAc.jpg) [Ed Webster, CC 2.0](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ed_webster/6303352853) ![](https://i.imgur.com/Xr6PTkY.png) But the hippo is not alone, thankfully, accompanied by an almost infinite number of (badly) stuffed exotic animals and disturbing anatomical models from wax. I've had a look at these and trust me, they are ***dis-tur-bing***. Ever seen a decapitated lower body with twins eternally cuddled together inside? Well, there's 24 rooms of simiilar stuff, free of charge! Aside from the hippo, another masterpiece comes in the form of *Botticelli’s Venus*... only with all her guts on display, lungs, blood vessels and all. ![](https://i.imgur.com/6DtI02O.jpg) Botticelli's Venus. Not *quite* what we're going to see there... - [Public Domain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La_nascita_di_Venere_(Botticelli).jpg) La Specola is a contrasting gem among Florence, a city so beautiful that many visitors suffer from **[Stendhal Syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_syndrome)**, a condition that causes dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations as a result of experiencing such otherworldly majesty. It may be refreshing to take a deep breath of fresh air from Boboli Gardens before diving into a nightmarish museum of skinless heads and wax fetuses for a while. # Around and about The Natural History Museum is, of course, not the only interesting thing in the area. In fact, right across the river are 5 other museums that fit a 'collection' of museums from the Medici Dynasty, including: * Giardino dei Semplici - The third oldest Botanical Garden in Europe * Museum of Botany * Museum of Geology and Paleontology * Museum of Mineralogy & Lithology * National Museum of Anthropology & Ethnology So if 3 million zoological specimens spread around rooms named things like 'The Hall of Skeletons' makes you thirsty for more, Florence has brain food by the truck load! The city is clearly *much more* than first meets the eye. Excited? --@mobbs ### The Meetup For more information on this meetup and our expected schedule, **[Check @steemstem's post](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@steemstem/announcing-the-second-steemstem-meetup-bringing-steem-to-virgo-labs)** and **[@utopian's post](https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@utopian-io/meet-utopian-io-and-steemstem-at-virgo-in-italy-in-september)**. Seats are running out, so if you want to be a part of it, be quick! #### *Thanks to fundition.io for supporting this wonderful collaboration*

References: [History of Medici Family](https://www.history.com/topics/medici-family) | [Italoamericano.org](http://www.italoamericano.org/story/2016-12-6/la-specola-florence) | [The Hippopotamus in Florentine Zoological Museum 'La Specola': A discsussion of Stuffed Animals as Sources of Cultural History](http://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/forskning/prosjekter/dyrsomting/LET_HippoInLaSpecola.pdf)