February 15
We started off the day going to Loreto. Many people, including Mother Teresa, have made a pilgrimage there. I'm sure you are now thinking, well why would so many people come all that way? For starters, the Pope has an apartment there. It was used more often in past years, but is still pretty neat for the Pope to have somewhere to escape from the Vatican. Loreto is also home to one of the very few black Madonna's. It's basically a statue of a Madonna, but she's made from black stone instead of marble and there are very, very rare to find. But, the coolest part is that the black Madonna is housed in the house of Mary!!!! That's right, Loreto has within its cathedral the home that the Virgin Mary lived in. There are pictures of it on postcards I sent to some of you, but there is a huge marble house encasing the brick house of Mary. People from all around the world pilgrimage here and walk on their knees all the way around it while praying. As soon as you walk inside her house its like a breathe of fresh air just hits you and everything seems right again. Although I have never been one to fully believe or understand miracles, I truly think this place could do just that. It's very quiet inside, not eerily quiet, but just very peaceful. I could have stayed there for hours and sort out my brain if I didn't have to catch up with my group.
After visiting the gift shop we loaded the bus to go to Sirolo. It was SO amazing there! There were huge cliffs that dropped off into the Adriatic Sea and a beach that stretched for miles! The weather was perfect and we stripped down to our skivvies and dove right into the water. Okay... we didn't exactly go skinny dipping but we did shed our coats and I accidently let the water run over my feet... with my shoes still on. Whoops. Then we climbed up these rocks that jutted out into the sea and basked in the warm sunlight. It was sooo nice.
I was sitting on the rocks watching the waves crash and attempting to be a shade darker than Casper when all of a sudden I heard a big SPLASH! I looked over and saw that one of my classmates, Clarke, had slipped and fallen into the water! Others had to help him back on the rocks because it was so slippery and he was sopping wet. Poor guy, he took it like a trooper though! After taking loads of funny pictures and playing hopscotch on rocks we realized we had to climb back up the mountain to pick up the bus, ugh. Weaving up treacherous paths through trees and roots we heaved and hoed our way to the top of the cliff… and I had previously complained about walking uphill to class, ha!
After the workout of a lifetime we drove to Genga/ Frasassi and went to lunch at Ristorante da Francesco. Starving we plowed down on the bread before us and all of the water we could handle. Then the pasta came which was- heavenly! It was a linguini in a tomato sauce and come to find out, had wild boar in it. I had no idea what the meat was as I was shoveling it in my mouth, but it was quite tender and delicious. I would definitely recommend it to anyone with an adventurous appetite. That course was followed by a salad, and then dessert. It was marvelously presented, but then once we took a bite we realized it was soaked in rum, which wasn’t exactly a pleasant surprise. After our hike the last thing we wanted was something to upset our stomachs. But the rest of it was delicious.
After filling ourselves to the brim we took a short walk to the Grotte di Frasassi. It is this enormous natural cave that was first discovered by some rock climbers in the 80’s. There are 5 different chambers available for guided tours and they also offer cave exploration for extra money. In the cave exploration part they give you helmets, suits and rope to discover what’s off the beaten path of the tour. But with the group we got a tour guide and went inside. There were stalagmites and stalactites that were as old as 1.4 million years old. It was rather warm in there too, and the tour guide told us that it naturally remains the same temperature throughout the whole year. We saw mineral formations that looked like people, polar bears and castles. It was pretty neat to see a cave that has been around for so long.
After entering back into the land of inconsistent temperatures we went to a famous winery, Cantine Belisario, where they produce the renowned white wine “Verdicchio di Matelica.” We got a tour of the vats that they ferment the wine in and the barrels where it is stored. It is quite a long process that I hadn’t realized takes such perfection to get it right. Then we were brought inside to the store and had a wine tasting lesson. We each got a glass of wine and were taught the proper way to swish it to see how the wine runs down the inside of the glass. Then we learned the appropriate smelling techniques with wine and then finally how to taste it. We also got a discount on bottles of wine if we wanted to purchase any, so Mom and Dad, look for yours to come ;)
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Contemplating Monk-hood
After prying our lifeless bodies out of bed at the butt-crack of dawn, we gathered ourselves together to board the bus and head to Assisi. Which, by the way, I learned is not pronounced Ah-sis-ee, but rather Ah-see-see. Assisi is the home to St. Francis, where he built his own church and started the Franciscan Monastery. He spoke about God and the bible to whoever would listen, including animals (there are a lot of fresco’s where he is talking to animals) and he gave up all his family had given him to live a life of poverty to be closer to God. He also vowed to a life of chastity and to display that shaved his head in the classic monk haircut- a big shaved circle on the top of his head.
So, anywho, we arrived in Assisi at about 9:30am and started in the Basilica di San Francesco. It is a monstrous church that could easily put a castle to shame. They started to build the basilica in honor of St. Francis after he died of pneumonia in 1263. We started in the Chiesa Inferiore (the lower level) and then descended to the Tomba di San Francesco. I saw where St. Francis’ remains are! It was incredible! He was originally buried in fresh dirt where he had asked to be buried when he died, but once the basilica was completed they moved his remains there. There were monks everywhere there (it’s a big tourist attraction) and so you couldn’t take any pictures, but I wanted to sooooo badly! His tomb is directly below the altar of the main church that is above. I mean, I am still insanely amazed that I saw where the remains of a saint are!
Then we walked upstairs to the Chiesa Superiore (main church) and looked at fresco’s that took up more area than my high school gymnasium. We’ve been studying paintings done by Cimabue and Pietro Lorenzetti in my Art History class, but all we really do is see slides of paintings. But then at the church we got to see the real thing!!!!! It was so incredible to see in person true works of art that have lasted for centuries.
When Napoleon conquered Italy he considered himself to be the anti-Christ and turned most of the churches throughout the country into something else. He had the basilica turned into a stable for horses… which would probably be a Ritz Carleton for those lucky horses that got to reside there. I mean, I can’t even properly give this place justice as to how huuuuge it is! Hopefully the picture at the beginning can give you an idea…
We also were able to view some of the remaining belongings of St. Francis. Although he didn’t have much, we got to see the robe he wore, as well as a robe of wool he wore underneath it during the winter. I wish I had a broader/ more descriptive vocabulary in order to explain the enormously sensational feeling of awe when seeing this. There were also handkerchiefs that had been used by him when he was sick with pneumonia to dab away his sweat, and a letter from the Pope declaring his brotherhood to be official in the eyes of the church, a rock where one of the monks used to lie his head at night, and a pair of boot/ moccasins St. Francis wore during the winter… which strangely resembled Uggs.
We then had lunch at this adorable restaurant, Ristorante Anfiteatro, which was within an old coliseum. The inside of the restaurant has pictures of Roman Gods painted all along the walls. This time we got a choice of what pasta and meat we wanted, I chose Spaghetti Carbonara and roast beef. The pasta was good, very filling, but a little too eggy for my taste. The pork roast was also pretty good, it came with a sort of carrot sauce and it reminded me of beef stew my mom used to make… except this beef was very thin and not at all chunky. Then we explored town a little and got some yummy gelato and saw decently priced shoes that I was going to buy, but of course the shop was closed. Probably best I suppose. Oh well.
We met as a group again and toured the Cattedrale di San Ruffino. After that we went to the Basilica di Santa Chiara. In English she is known as Saint Clare. She and St. Francis were in love before he devoted himself to God. She decided that she also wanted to follow that path and become a monk… or a nun… whatever a woman monk is called. And she started the women part of the Franciscan’s. We saw a wax outline of her body… kind of creepy, but there are a lot of wax outlines of body’s in churches. And we saw the cloak and robe that she wore… so old! There was also her wedding dress there that she had made before she decided to join Francis and God. And when she decided to devote herself to Jesus, they cut off all her hair (its part of the practice I suppose, just like the monk haircut, only they didn’t cut her hair quite that short or shave it). And they kept her hair in a box and it was there at the church, she had long beautiful locks of golden blonde hair- I saw hair that dates back to the 1200’s… holy moly!
After that we walked down a big hill through olive trees and came to the church that St. Francis and his brothers built by hand. It was quite a remarkable experience; to see the stones they laid by hand and smell the inscents burning and walk on the floors where they slept- absolutely amazing! After we looked at every nook and kraney of the church we searched the area high and low for a bathroom, but the best we could find was a big tree- which we decided to pass on. We labored up the steep hill that was so charming to go down, but felt intense leg pain when struggling to go back up it to catch the bus. Loading the bus and taking my seat I curled up for a relaxing, but curvy, ride home. Mmmm, nothing ends the day like complete physical exhaustion.
So, anywho, we arrived in Assisi at about 9:30am and started in the Basilica di San Francesco. It is a monstrous church that could easily put a castle to shame. They started to build the basilica in honor of St. Francis after he died of pneumonia in 1263. We started in the Chiesa Inferiore (the lower level) and then descended to the Tomba di San Francesco. I saw where St. Francis’ remains are! It was incredible! He was originally buried in fresh dirt where he had asked to be buried when he died, but once the basilica was completed they moved his remains there. There were monks everywhere there (it’s a big tourist attraction) and so you couldn’t take any pictures, but I wanted to sooooo badly! His tomb is directly below the altar of the main church that is above. I mean, I am still insanely amazed that I saw where the remains of a saint are!
Then we walked upstairs to the Chiesa Superiore (main church) and looked at fresco’s that took up more area than my high school gymnasium. We’ve been studying paintings done by Cimabue and Pietro Lorenzetti in my Art History class, but all we really do is see slides of paintings. But then at the church we got to see the real thing!!!!! It was so incredible to see in person true works of art that have lasted for centuries.
When Napoleon conquered Italy he considered himself to be the anti-Christ and turned most of the churches throughout the country into something else. He had the basilica turned into a stable for horses… which would probably be a Ritz Carleton for those lucky horses that got to reside there. I mean, I can’t even properly give this place justice as to how huuuuge it is! Hopefully the picture at the beginning can give you an idea…
We also were able to view some of the remaining belongings of St. Francis. Although he didn’t have much, we got to see the robe he wore, as well as a robe of wool he wore underneath it during the winter. I wish I had a broader/ more descriptive vocabulary in order to explain the enormously sensational feeling of awe when seeing this. There were also handkerchiefs that had been used by him when he was sick with pneumonia to dab away his sweat, and a letter from the Pope declaring his brotherhood to be official in the eyes of the church, a rock where one of the monks used to lie his head at night, and a pair of boot/ moccasins St. Francis wore during the winter… which strangely resembled Uggs.
We then had lunch at this adorable restaurant, Ristorante Anfiteatro, which was within an old coliseum. The inside of the restaurant has pictures of Roman Gods painted all along the walls. This time we got a choice of what pasta and meat we wanted, I chose Spaghetti Carbonara and roast beef. The pasta was good, very filling, but a little too eggy for my taste. The pork roast was also pretty good, it came with a sort of carrot sauce and it reminded me of beef stew my mom used to make… except this beef was very thin and not at all chunky. Then we explored town a little and got some yummy gelato and saw decently priced shoes that I was going to buy, but of course the shop was closed. Probably best I suppose. Oh well.
We met as a group again and toured the Cattedrale di San Ruffino. After that we went to the Basilica di Santa Chiara. In English she is known as Saint Clare. She and St. Francis were in love before he devoted himself to God. She decided that she also wanted to follow that path and become a monk… or a nun… whatever a woman monk is called. And she started the women part of the Franciscan’s. We saw a wax outline of her body… kind of creepy, but there are a lot of wax outlines of body’s in churches. And we saw the cloak and robe that she wore… so old! There was also her wedding dress there that she had made before she decided to join Francis and God. And when she decided to devote herself to Jesus, they cut off all her hair (its part of the practice I suppose, just like the monk haircut, only they didn’t cut her hair quite that short or shave it). And they kept her hair in a box and it was there at the church, she had long beautiful locks of golden blonde hair- I saw hair that dates back to the 1200’s… holy moly!
After that we walked down a big hill through olive trees and came to the church that St. Francis and his brothers built by hand. It was quite a remarkable experience; to see the stones they laid by hand and smell the inscents burning and walk on the floors where they slept- absolutely amazing! After we looked at every nook and kraney of the church we searched the area high and low for a bathroom, but the best we could find was a big tree- which we decided to pass on. We labored up the steep hill that was so charming to go down, but felt intense leg pain when struggling to go back up it to catch the bus. Loading the bus and taking my seat I curled up for a relaxing, but curvy, ride home. Mmmm, nothing ends the day like complete physical exhaustion.
My roommate, Amanda, and I with our director, Filiberto. He is quite possibly one of the coolest humans on earth.
A view of the rolling hills of Assisi from the Basilica.
A quaint little side street on our way to lunch.
I have confetti lodged in my lungs
January 31st
Thursday night we got tickets to go see what we thought was going to be a dance concert. We got there all excited and out of breath from the scalette and climbed to the 3rd floor to find our balcony seats. We had our own little box that had a lovely view of the whole theatre. The lights lowered and on came a little old lady, who spoke for a while in Italian, then the curtains parted and onstage there was a big screen in the back, a band on stage right and a row of people in chairs on stage left. To be quite honest, none of us knew what was going on. There was an old man that sang songs and then the people in the rows came up in turns and read from a script. Then there were clips shown on the screen in the back, some of it was silent and then other parts we fully equipped with audio. We think the first part of this little treat was about a woman, Carmella, who the old man loved but died. Then we put a little more of it together and we think that the old woman who spoke at the beginning was the wife of a famous director/writer/actor who recently passed away. We think what we saw was a sort of tribute to him. But quite honestly we are still trying to understand what we saw… it was definitely faaaar from normal. I would equate it to a bad acid trip. Very weird.
February 1st
Then we had Friday off, a much needed three day weekend with nothing to do! We took a trip for groceries and then decided to purchase our last jar of Nutella. Ohhhhh Nutella; I’m sure you’ve heard me mention this divine product numerous amounts of times. Well, since I’ve been in Italy I have consumed approximately 3 jars… clearly an obese amount. In the spirit of Lent we decided it was necessary to give up Nutella, just to make sure our hearts still pump when we return to America. But while I strive to live without it, I highly advise getting some for yourself. This way I can live vicariously through your delicious adventures, haha. Oi, I hope I make it 40 days!
February 3rd
Carnivale was also this weekend. I don’t know if you know what Carnivale is, but it’s a big celebration here the weekend before Fat Tuesday. Venice holds a huge celebration; it’s about the equivalent to Mardi Gras in the U.S. I went to the one in Macerata on Sunday with some friends. There were huge floats and people dressed in costumes all over the place. Kids were throwing confetti, silly string and shaving cream attacked from all directions and endless amounts of scrumptious food lined the streets. It was a fun way to wrap up the weekend.
February 5th
Tuesday we had an excursion to Ascoli Piceno. Tuesday was Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday when Lent starts. Today was a great day to go on an excursion, because there are so many fun celebrations that go on. We took the morning to tour some churches and look at some architecture in town, and then had lunch at this quaint little restaurant just off the beaten path. The pasta we were served had this amazing tomato sauce that when you ate it you just felt like home was running down your throat… soooo yummy.
Then we had the rest of the afternoon to do what we pleased. We took this opportunity to engage in a rather brutal confetti war. Oh yes, it was nearly fatal. Armed with bags of confetti and silly string, it was every man for himself. Once our bags ran out we took to scrapping the street to gather more confetti. We were in the town square and just annihilated each other with fists full of shreds of paper, aiming for unexpected participants and open mouths. I am pretty sure that even after coughing up a considerable amount of confetti, I still have some lodged in the deep valleys of my lungs. Quite amusing though, I think all the little kids were jealous of how much fun we were having.
After a truce between all, Amanda and I went around to see the different areas of the town piazza’s and the shows that we being put on. There were a lot of people in costume everywhere, and we observed that most men were dressed as women… weird? We saw one show where people were dressed in horse costumes (one person the head, the other the behind) and they were riding around in a carousel. Then there was a ring master that had to keep catching them when the horses would run away into the town. All the while men dressed as women pranced around inside of the ring and tried to get little kids to join the carousel for a ride. I took a video of it; my explanation hardly does it justice. I will try to post the video on YouTube soon.
Then, I waited in a pushy line for 12 minutes just to get pizza that scorched the roof of my mouth and left me still hungry. Once we were all thoroughly confused about this holiday and jealous we didn’t have sufficient costume, we slowly boarded the bus with the promise of a cozy bed waiting for us at home.
Thursday night we got tickets to go see what we thought was going to be a dance concert. We got there all excited and out of breath from the scalette and climbed to the 3rd floor to find our balcony seats. We had our own little box that had a lovely view of the whole theatre. The lights lowered and on came a little old lady, who spoke for a while in Italian, then the curtains parted and onstage there was a big screen in the back, a band on stage right and a row of people in chairs on stage left. To be quite honest, none of us knew what was going on. There was an old man that sang songs and then the people in the rows came up in turns and read from a script. Then there were clips shown on the screen in the back, some of it was silent and then other parts we fully equipped with audio. We think the first part of this little treat was about a woman, Carmella, who the old man loved but died. Then we put a little more of it together and we think that the old woman who spoke at the beginning was the wife of a famous director/writer/actor who recently passed away. We think what we saw was a sort of tribute to him. But quite honestly we are still trying to understand what we saw… it was definitely faaaar from normal. I would equate it to a bad acid trip. Very weird.
February 1st
Then we had Friday off, a much needed three day weekend with nothing to do! We took a trip for groceries and then decided to purchase our last jar of Nutella. Ohhhhh Nutella; I’m sure you’ve heard me mention this divine product numerous amounts of times. Well, since I’ve been in Italy I have consumed approximately 3 jars… clearly an obese amount. In the spirit of Lent we decided it was necessary to give up Nutella, just to make sure our hearts still pump when we return to America. But while I strive to live without it, I highly advise getting some for yourself. This way I can live vicariously through your delicious adventures, haha. Oi, I hope I make it 40 days!
February 3rd
Carnivale was also this weekend. I don’t know if you know what Carnivale is, but it’s a big celebration here the weekend before Fat Tuesday. Venice holds a huge celebration; it’s about the equivalent to Mardi Gras in the U.S. I went to the one in Macerata on Sunday with some friends. There were huge floats and people dressed in costumes all over the place. Kids were throwing confetti, silly string and shaving cream attacked from all directions and endless amounts of scrumptious food lined the streets. It was a fun way to wrap up the weekend.
February 5th
Tuesday we had an excursion to Ascoli Piceno. Tuesday was Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday when Lent starts. Today was a great day to go on an excursion, because there are so many fun celebrations that go on. We took the morning to tour some churches and look at some architecture in town, and then had lunch at this quaint little restaurant just off the beaten path. The pasta we were served had this amazing tomato sauce that when you ate it you just felt like home was running down your throat… soooo yummy.
Then we had the rest of the afternoon to do what we pleased. We took this opportunity to engage in a rather brutal confetti war. Oh yes, it was nearly fatal. Armed with bags of confetti and silly string, it was every man for himself. Once our bags ran out we took to scrapping the street to gather more confetti. We were in the town square and just annihilated each other with fists full of shreds of paper, aiming for unexpected participants and open mouths. I am pretty sure that even after coughing up a considerable amount of confetti, I still have some lodged in the deep valleys of my lungs. Quite amusing though, I think all the little kids were jealous of how much fun we were having.
After a truce between all, Amanda and I went around to see the different areas of the town piazza’s and the shows that we being put on. There were a lot of people in costume everywhere, and we observed that most men were dressed as women… weird? We saw one show where people were dressed in horse costumes (one person the head, the other the behind) and they were riding around in a carousel. Then there was a ring master that had to keep catching them when the horses would run away into the town. All the while men dressed as women pranced around inside of the ring and tried to get little kids to join the carousel for a ride. I took a video of it; my explanation hardly does it justice. I will try to post the video on YouTube soon.
Then, I waited in a pushy line for 12 minutes just to get pizza that scorched the roof of my mouth and left me still hungry. Once we were all thoroughly confused about this holiday and jealous we didn’t have sufficient costume, we slowly boarded the bus with the promise of a cozy bed waiting for us at home.
This is Megan, she got ambushed by a bunch of 12- year- olds... clearly she lost the war.
This is one of the floats in the parade in Macerata on Sunday... don't ask me why they had a Bin Laden float, I have not the slightest idea.
A little snapshot of men dressed as women- hotties.
One of my favorite little kids that was dressed up for Carnivale on Tuesday. They were cute at the beginning of the day, but as it got later I got just as whiney and tired as them.
A little snapshot of men dressed as women- hotties.
One of my favorite little kids that was dressed up for Carnivale on Tuesday. They were cute at the beginning of the day, but as it got later I got just as whiney and tired as them.
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