This weekend we traveled to Assisi and Perugia—spending the night in Assisi and then taking a bus to Perugia for the afternoon on Sunday.
Assisi was a beautiful city—old architecture with mock doves flying everywhere.
As a very important city for St. Francesco (and for religious pilgrims) the whole hill had a calm and serene feel to it. We spent the afternoon exploring the main city, and then, close to sundown climbed the hill which had a medieval castle at the top.
In Perugia, modern architecture was built on top of medieval, which was built on top of Roman which was built on top of Etruscan. The whole city smells of chocolate, and most of the stores that were open on Sunday were sweet shops. In Perugia we saw more beautiful architecture—tiny city streets up steep hills that flattened suddenly into sprawling piazzas.
After lunch and a brief stroll in the park in Perugia, we returned to Rome by bus.
This week we finish our orientation period and begin classes in earnest. After talking with the Italian advisors for classes, I’ll be taking one class at RUFA (Rome University of Fine Arts). In the next week, I will be beginning classes and visiting more areas of Rome.
