Sunday, January 25, 2009

Assisi




On Friday we went to Assisi, we had been reading about St. Francis for the week in preparation, and so we were full of knowledge upon arriving at his church! We went to the churches of San Damiano and San Francesco, where St. Francis's body is buried in a tomb. The church inside was incredible, but we could not take any photos so I only was able to take photos from outside.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Orvieto

Last Friday we went to Orvieto, which is a small hillside town about one hour by train outside of Rome. It was a beautiful little town that you took a funiculare with up to the top. The first thing that you see is a huge duomo, which is one of the most intricate churches that I have ever seen. The views from this town are spectacular, especially when you climb the clock tower (which was like 10000 stairs to get up to the top!) but definitely worth it. Cinghiale, which is wild boar, is in season right now along with Tartufo (truffle) both of which I got to eat and they were both DELICIOUS!


View from the clock tower with Carly

Umbria region below

The Duomo at night

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

1st Week

I have so far survived my first week in Rome! Darting across busy streets, walking probably more than I have in 2008 in just a week, eating pasta and bread like nobodys business, its been a great week. In the mornings we usually go as a class to see a site, then one person makes a presentation on it, then in the afternoons we have a history lecture. Having Nicolò (my cousin) has been a godsend, he has been so helpful. the other day he brought me an extra mattress they had lying around, because since I was the last person to arrive at our 7 person apartment, I of course got the cot instead of the real bed!
Some nice photos of the past week:


Quattro Coronati: Cloister



Pantheon: there is a hole in the middle for the gods, a perfect sphere in the middle of the ceiling!



Spanish Steps with Carly and Stacie



Cugina (cousin) Olivia



Ostia Antica




Colosseo

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

In Rome!

Ciao ciao, I made it safely to Rome, and after I get over being extremely jet-lagged, I will start to explore, we start going to sites for class tomorrow, exciting!