🇩🇪 Wuppertal — 1,118 km from Rome

Just a stone’s throw from Düsseldorf lies Wuppertal, hometown of Friedrich Engels—so iconic that even the traffic lights here flash his face on green! 🚦 The city stretches like a ribbon along the river, cradling the world’s oldest suspension monorail, its sleek steel arches clawing the banks like some mechanical beast frozen mid-stretch. 🏗️🚟 This century-old "beast" carried me straight to Gaskessel Wuppertal, a repurposed gasometer-turned-museum, currently hosting a Da Vinci exhibition. Inside, the cavernous dome morphs into a 360° digital theater, while the rooftop offers panoramic views. 🌌 (Bonus: You can actually go up there!) Honestly? This exhibit outshines Florence’s dedicated Da Vinci museum (even without English translations). The immersive dome show had me dreaming—what if someone recreated the Pantheon here, with sunlight streaming in? I’d gladly lie there all day. ☀️ And then, the rooftop surprise: a single railing plaque declaring "1,118 km to Rome"—as if placed there just for me. That’s how far longing can travel. 💙 #Germany #Wuppertal #Schwebebahn #Engels #IndustrialCharm #Wanderlust