So it's Tuesday night of the week our studio project is due and I'm till trying to figure out how it's going to get done by Friday....Here's to wishing it wasn't so easy to procrastinate in Italy? haha no!
Anyways, this past weekend was our rescheduled trip to Assisi with Marco and a trip to Perugia. I was not planning on going to Perugia during the first attempt at this field trip, but a spot opened up in a groups hostel so I jumed on it.
Assisi was amazing. Our first stop was the cathedral where we plugged into our whisper units so Marco could whister sweet nothings in our ears about the artwork of the cathedral and history of the Franciscan monks. I tended to tune in and out of his lecture because the atmosphere of the church was surprisingly peaceful and the details of the chapels and frescoes were very distrcating. The tomb (or tomBuh as Marco says) of St. Francis was beautiful. Unlike the ornate cathedral, the simplicity of the underground room which housed the tomb surrounded by stone reflected in the best way possible how St. Francis lived his life. There were two small bouquets of purple orchides on either side of the small alter in the tomb which were a perfect touch. Marco paused his lecture to give us a chance to say a few prayers or sketch in the tomb for a short while which I took advantage of. We continued our tour of the lower and upper churches.
I found the reasoning for the layout of the 'double-decker' churches particularly interesting. You first enter the lower church from the east (life, rising sun) head to the west to the alter where there are multiple frescoes depicting the crucifixion of Jesus (death, setting sun) and then continue to the upper church and head back towards the east (resurection, life, rising sun).
After the tour of the cathedral Marco took us around Assisi, which is where he grew up so he pointed out his old schools and gave some nice antecdotes about growing up there. We also learned that he is not very fond of Italian high shoolers, he calls them Barbarians and Little Devils haha.
When we were done with Marco we got a nice lunch at a pizzaria and then headed to Fortezza Maggiore. This old castle offers amazing views from it's multiple towers. There were tight spiral staircases to climb up and a tiny tunnel to walk through. It was a beautiful day!
Next was a quick train ride to Perugia where we managed to get pretty lost looking for the hostel but with some help from two young ladies at the grocery store we managed to get on a bus which took us right there. We stayed at Hotel Iris which is very creepy looking at night from the outside, but very nice inside. We went out for a quick dinner and then got ready to go out to a discotech which turned out to be very fun. We all really wanted to dance and found a great place with the help of some nice Italian girls we met.
The next day we slept in and then just walked around town. There really wasn't as much to see as I had hoped but we managed to get in some quality people watching at Piazza San Lorenzo, got a delicious Kebab (the closest thing to chipotle we have here. It's a large burrito with lettuce, tomato, onion, french fries, and meat from a one of those big pieces of spinning meat that the guys shaves meat off of) and then took a short nap. For dinner we went to a cute restaurant the lady at the hotel suggested. It was decorated with suits of armor and funny plants and the food was delicious. I got a pasta with a semi-spicy red sauce and thinly sliced veggies and a pear salad. The next day we spent a couple hours walking around town again and then headed home to Orvieto on the train because we wanted to have a little time that afternoon to get caught up/started on studio stuff.
All in all it was a relaxing weekend which was nice to have before starting this crazy week of studio and internship stuff.
I will post photos tomorrow becuase they take forever to download from my bed which is where I am now. I need to get to bed soon so I can function tomorrow as long as possible because I have A LOT of studio stuff to do!!
P.S. Grandma, I heard you were worried that all I eat is noodles and red sauce, but I wanted to let you know that yesterday I made mini meat loafs and mashed potatoes (which I had for dinner and then lunch today). They were delicious! I didn't know I knew how to make meat loaf or could even stand to make it! Also, I think I'm making an omlete tomorrow too (probably for lunch and dinner haha).
Cliff Hanger: Assisi/Perugia photos tomorrow; Studio due Friday; Getting a few more intership applications sent out; This weekend will be dedicated to figuring out how to pack for two whole weeks of vacation (North trip AND Spring Break to Paris and Barcelona!!!)
Great post. I am pretty surprised that you made meat loaf. Have a great week and talk to you soon.
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