Last Full Day in Umbria

Another knock-out day. I've been walking for the past week it seems. We went to Norcia to see the birthplace of St. Benedict and Cascia to see the uncorruptable body of St. Rita. Seems like everywhere we've gone in the past few weeks has been hilly beyond reason. I mean comon! There has to be something more than just hills here...

Anywho... tomorrow we are off to Orvieto and then back to Florence. I'm ready to get back to the Villa... holy cow...

We went into the mountains, as you can probably tell.

I'll try and do a recap of the entire week when I don't feel like I'm about to fall asleep at any second. Praying for all of you :)

God bless!

A Lazy Afternoon

Don't you just love lazy afternoons? I sure do...

As such, nothing of interest really happened. Although... tomorrow we go to Norcia to see where St. Benedict was born. We have another trip on Saturday and then we'll get back to Settignano Saturday night. It's going to be an interesting few days and I can't wait!

God bless!

Catching Up

So I think I've been skimping on my blog posts recently. I've been having one of those weeks where everything just seems to wear me out completely and by the time I get back to my room and am ready to post something to my blog I'm completely worn out. I haven't slept better than this in a LONG time. As soon as my head hits the pillow I'm out like a light. It's funny -- the first night I spent here I fell asleep in the middle of a rosary I was praying before bed (I know, you probably shouldn't do that... but I was tired!) and I woke up in the middle of the night with it almost around my shoulder. Not that you really need to know that, but in retrospect it kind of makes me laugh.

This is the fort that overlooks the town of Assisi. I actually ate lunch under its walls :)

This is where I'm going to attempt to catch you up on everything that has happened in Umbria. We arrived around eleven on Monday morning to a beautiful convent (yes, convent, look it up) of Franciscan friars. They showed us to our rooms and then allowed us to unpack a little bit before the program started. I was used to having pretty good cooking at the Villa, but the food here is unbelievable. We get three course meals at lunch and dinner. Out of this world how good the food has been. Anyway, lunch for that afternoon was at a pizzeria, as I may have mentioned earlier, and it honestly was the best pizza I've had in Italy thus far. The pizza is called Four Seasons and was just a whole lot of awesome. Met with Francesco afterward and toured for a while. I've finally started to get pictures up from Perugia and Assisi so the link in the top will be updated until at least Sunday so keep checking back if you'd like to see more of my photos.

Yesterday was my trip to Assisi. It's a very small town but one of the most beautiful and interesting places I've visited in Italia.

This the Cathedral of San Chiara (Claire) from the Fort.

I didn't realize it was possible, but Assisi was even hillier than Siena had been. Thankfully I was prepared for it and the hills didn't really bother me all that much. We visited just about everywhere in this wonderful town. We saw the crypt of San Chiara and the Basilica of San Francesco, even though the crypt was closed :(. We also visited the places that were of great importance to the formation of the Franciscan Order.

Apparently at the Church of St. Francis, which is pictured below, if you do what is required you can gain indulgences from visiting the small church inside of the newer church. I didn't even know indulgences still existed, but it didn't stop me from gaining one for myself.

The church of St. Francis.

I bought a few small souvenirs for myself and friends back home then we boarded the bus again and returned to Perugia.

This is our entire group in front of the Basilica. The woman on the far left (Jenny) is in charge of our program through the Villa.

Nathan took this picture of me by that fort I mentioned earlier. That is San Chiara in the background (right) I can't remember what the church to the left is called...

So that was my Assisi trip. Awesome.

Today we woke up to have three hours of Francesco's class before our tour of Perugia. It was another beautiful day for us. The things we weren't able to see on Monday we visited today. Below you will see a picture of one of the oldest churches in the world. Francesco was saying that it was unusual for it to be open and it wasn't even part of his plan to visit it so it was quite a good surprise.

That's a pretty sweet church, you might say...

We visited churches, ruins, and just about anything else you could imagine. We even visited San Domenico's church. It's awesome to see so much of my patron saint around Italy. This church has the biggest stain glass window in all of Italy.

I won't go through each place we visited, because that'd be just as boring for you to read as it would be tedious for me to recap. If you want to see where I visited, just look through my pictures. 

As we were walking around today I realized that I didn't have a picture with Francesco yet. I thought it was fitting to take a picture with him in his hometown so I managed to get three with him overlooking the skyline of Perugia.

Francesco and me :)

Tomorrow I have Father Meinrad's class and then we have the afternoon free. At 5:20 (my time) I have an interview with Student Life to be an RA next year so please keep me in your prayers as I take this next important step. Friday we go to Norcia & Cascia and then Saturday we will be travelling again to Orvieto. Hope everything is going well state-side. I will see you all in less than a month. It's hard to believe I'm down to a month in this wonderful place, but even the best things have to end some time.

Ciao and God bless!

Assisi

Today has been very long and I lack the energy to write anything significant. So instead of my wit, you will get a few of my pictures from Assisi and Perugia.

Assisi was incredibly cool and you will hear more about it tomorrow when I have more time to collect my thoughts and a clearer/more awake head. Keep praying guys -- I said a rosary for you all in the church of St. Francis today.

God bless!

This is in the main square. Each statue has its own meaning and inscription.

This was one of the first written laws in Perugia.

This is the statue outside of the Cathedral in the main square.

The view from the Monastery that we are staying in.

Perugia!

I have finally reached Perugia (after a two and a half hour bus ride) and thankfully I have internet. We're staying in a Franciscan convent by the name of Monteripido. Even though we're further south than Florence, we are currently in the mountains. Given that fact, it isn't hard to believe that it is much colder here than it was when we were at the villa. The bus dropped us off by the convent and we had to hike up the hill to get to our residence.

After getting settled, we walked down into Perugia to have lunch. We stopped at a pizzeria near the city center and I had a Four Seasons (mushrooms, artichokes, ham, and pepperoni) and a Coca-Cola. I can't remember if I've said this before, but the soda here is so much better than it is in the states. The syrup they use is so much sweeter and it just makes the entire experience more enjoyable. It was one of the best pizzas that I have had since I've been in Italy.

We then continued our jaunt into Perugia when we met up with Francesco (yay!) again. It was great to see him again and I missed having his great class every Wednesday. There are way too many things we saw today to be able to explain it all right now, but when I get the photos up you will be able to at least see a lot of the things that I did.

Tomorrow we're going to Assisi and I can't wait. Please keep praying :)

Love you guys!

God bless!

The main square.

A Simply Packed Weekend

O man, this is going to be an interesting weekend. Today has been slightly crazy but completely awesome. After lunch today, Daniel, Adam, McKenna, and I went to grab our tickets for the AS Roma v. Fiorentina game on Sunday @ 12:30. It's hard for me to believe that I will be going to see my favorite futbol team play live. Of course, before I even get to the game I have a trip to Siena and San Gimingnano tomorrow. Things just keep moving and they don't look to be slowing down any time soon. Monday morning we leave for Umbria and Perugia. It is unbelievable. Only four weeks left before I'm back in the states, yet there is so much to do before I even get to that point. Cinque Terre is coming up as well. For those who don't know, it's a beautiful beach town that has become somewhat of a tradition for the BC students who study in Florence to visit at least one time.

If I recall correctly, this was on top of the old armory in Berlin, Germany.

So after we went to get our tickets, we continued down in to Florence to get out of the Villa since a majority of the group is out on weekend trips. I ended up buying a pair of sunglasses and a great authentic Italian leather wallet with the Fiore on it, much like my journal, that I think is going to be a great lasting memory of my time here in Florence. After wandering for a few hours, we stopped by the super market on our way back to Settignano and I picked up some more cookies and wine. Seems like forever since I've had a bottle of wine at dinner.

That gets us to just about the present. I spent the time since I finished dinner to now reading. I finally finished reading Wizard's First Rule and will soon be starting the second book of the series called Stone of Tears. It has been a good long time since a book or series has grabbed my attention in such a strong fashion.

This is the cover art from the second book.

I think that's all, my friends. Until next time!

God bless!

A Friendly Discussion is Always Welcome

Today has been pretty interesting. Not for anything that I've done or seen in Europe, but rather upon the intercourse between a status I posted and the discussion that followed with an old friend from high school. Here's the full quote that I partially cut as to fit in to my status character length.

Because, Richard, many people must be ruled to thrive. In their selfishness and greed, they see free people as their oppressors. They wish to have a leader who will cut the taller plants so the sun will reach them. They think no plant should be allowed to grow taller than the shortest, and in that way give light to all. They would rather be provided a guiding light, regardless of the fuel, than light a candle themselves. Some are simply blind to the truth and fight for the lies they hear. And some find, once that guiding light is lit, that they are wearing chains, and then it is too late. 

pg 150 Wizard's First Rule

       Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander 

This is the cover art for Wizard's First Rule (at least my copy).

I've been reading it over break (finally caught up to where I was in the book before I left for Europe and stupidly left it behind) and I stumbled upon this quote about a week ago and it struck me as very profound so I wrote it down in a notebook on my computer. I was reading further today and I remembered the quote so I looked at it again and decided to post it on Facebook to see what everyone else thought about it. It had the desired effect: it sparked a dialogue that I so enjoyed. If you're curious, I'm tagged in the note and it is still somewhere near the top of my profile.

It is for this reason that I thoroughly enjoy Terry Goodkind, even though I've read so little of him. He is very good at portraying real world problems in a totally fantastic world where it is put to the extremes. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of Wizard's First Rule as well as the rest of his series.

Anywho, that was the interesting section of my night. I took a nap today (my first one in Florence) and woke up for dinner. Then a group of us retired to the main classroom to watch the new Get Smart. So all in all it has been a great, kind of slow, but great day. Tomorrow we don't have class in the afternoon so I'm going to get my tickets for the AS Roma v. Fiorentina game as well as visit the Academia to see the David. This weekend I'm heading off to Siena and San Gimingnano for a day trip on Saturday with Pietro and Father. Umbria and Perugia next week with Assisi mixed in there somewhere. I'm really going to miss this place in a few weeks. 

Oh, but I've noticed I'm close to 1500 hits! Let's see if I can get to 2k before I leave Europe!

I love you guys!

God bless.

She Turned Me Into a Newt! ... I Got Better...

I watched/am still watching this. Classic!

It has been another lazy day in Settignano and I wouldn't have it any other way. It's nice to just relax and think about everything that has occurred in the past month (not even!). These past three and a half weeks have felt like an eternity, but I have loved it. I spent most of the morning organizing my room and yes, my half is finally clean.

This evening I was able to call my brother Anthony for his birthday and they were out for his birthday brunch, so I was able to talk to my entire family. It was awesome. Hearing their voices again makes me miss them, but I'm glad to know that they'll be there when I get back. I've got to keep moving on, like I have been, and experience this with an open mind. Rarely have I been at a lack for words, but it is becoming more difficult, as I've mentioned in one of my Ireland posts, to really put my experiences and thoughts into words. Really it comes down to the gentle reminders for myself to help me remember what was going on each of these days. Hopefully future Dominic thinks present Dominic did a good job.

One more week. Venice. Two more weeks. Germany & Austria. Four more weeks. AS Roma v Fiorentina then Umbria/Perugia. Six weeks. Rome! This entire trip is going to fly by before I even realize that it's gone, but that'll also mean that I've enjoyed my trip. To amend a popular quote, the reward of a good (life) trip, is a good (life) trip.

Although, I must say, I'm kind of hurt I'm not getting any comments. Don't you guys love me?! Hah anyway...

I have an N64 Emulator on my computer... so I can kind of play some of my favorite games...
Anyone remember Harvest Moon 64? Freaking awesome!

I'm about to get dinner here in an hour, so maybe I"ll update again after if something interesting happens. Otherwise... God bless!