I think you made some really interesting points and did a great job of describing that experience. And I do agree with you about the sort of overwhelming experi

I think you made some really interesting points and did a great job of describing that experience. And I do agree with you about the sort of overwhelming experience that results in a kind of fog. Before I took my family to Europe in 2017, my wife and I planned our trip meticulously. Her instinct was to see and do as much as we possibly could. I relentlessly pulled in the other direction. I argued that choosing fewer things to see and having "down time" was essential. If you try to cram as many experiences as possible into a visit, you get overloaded and burned out and none of them will be as meaningful as they should. Having said that, before visiting the Sistine Chapel, I had indeed studied the imagery on my computer, poring over many of the details ahead of time. I knew that giving my brain some time to ingest, digest, and comprehend the enormity of what I was about to see would be beneficial. And I suppose in much the same way you studied the streets of a Japanese city, I had a similar experience with the Sistine Chapel. And perhaps here's my somewhat contrarian point to your contrarian point... :-) Seeing it in person lit up the right side of my brain whereas the virtual tour on the computer was more of a left-brained experience. Standing in the same room Michaelangelo stood (and lay on his back) for four years was indescribable. The light that bounced off that ceiling and into my eyes was different than the light emitted from my computer's LCD monitor. Visually exploring it with my 12-year-old daughter and sharing it through her eyes was great. It was a fantastic experience, one I will always treasure. I hope to see it again someday.