So I promised a more detailed report of my last days of class and my trip to Venice and Verona, so here it is!
Wednesday was an intense day of writing my paper for my class-- I had to translate 11 pages of notes into 8-12 pages of essay... That was intense. I wrote on the San Brizio Chapel of our Duomo here in Orvieto. It was begun in 1447 by the most famous painter of the time, Fra Angelico, a Dominican friar, and then completed between 1499 and 1504 by Luca Signorelli. The Chapel's theme is the Last Judgment and the End Times, and it's really a beautiful work of Italian frescoed art. And after all that I had to study for the identification test! Over the month, we studied 7 fresco cycles, and for our test we had to identify from photos the fresco cycle, the specific panel title within the fresco, the painter, the location of the fresco cycle, and the date in which it was painted. Add to that a long list of things we had to memorize (the 7 deadly sins, the 7 cardinal and theological virtues, the 15 mysteries of Mary's life, etc.) that all had to do with Catholic tradition and were things that all Church-going people of the time would have known. So it was quite an intense 48 hours...
After we finished the test that morning, and after a delicious lunch, we packed up our things and headed down to the funicular so we could catch our train. We didn't expect that the only ticket lady, in the middle of giving us all tickets to the funicular, would get on the bus and head off into the sunset... So we had a few minutes of panic during which it was suggested that we just jump the turnstile (we didn't). The lady returned a few minutes later from her mysterious journey, we got tickets, and made our way down to the train.
It was a very long train ride to the mainland of Venice--5 hours, to be exact! Venice, interestingly enough, is comprised of a large number of islands that are usually so close together they are connected by bridges. However, there are three big islands (Murano, Burano, and the big island of Venice), but then there's the mainland towns that are still in the municipality of Venice... Which is kinda weird, but cool. So we stayed in a hotel/hostel combo on the mainland in a town called Mestre. Once we managed to get to the hostel (via a shuttle they courteously, and for a fee, provided), we planned out our day in Venice and went to sleep!
We woke up on the earlier side Friday morning, got breakfast, and then headed to Venice!!! We basically just walked around most of the day. There really is no way not to get lost in Venice. It's going to happen, and maps are not particularly helpful. So you just follow the signs. In following them (kind of... They're not everywhere, so several times we just had to make an educated guess or two) we managed to find the Rialto Bridge (after stopping a ton for pictures and shopping) by noon-ish. We managed to walk a little ways further, and were waylaid by a couple of gondoliers who wanted to know if we wanted a ride! We had been warned (by the girl with the Rick Steves guidebook that we now swear by) that you can get a better deal on a gondola ride if you negotiate, but you have to be savvy and negotiate time and locations as well as price. We ended up getting a pretty good deal! For 15 euro each (there were 8 of us), we got to go on a gondola ride!!! And it was beautiful! Our gondoliers were Lorenzo and Tomasso. Lorenzo (my gondolier) spoke English pretty well, and when we told him that we spoke a little Italian, he was thrilled! So we spent the 30-45 min. tour speaking a mix of English and Italian.
Eventually we made our way to the Piazza di San Marco (St. Mark's Square, for all you English-speakers)! It was beautiful! We ended up just walking around the square and down the shoreline just past it for several hours! I took tons of pictures, and we all had lots of fun. Even if we were a bit tired from walking all day.
We walked around a fair amount more until 9pm, when we were back at the "bus stop"(there is only one spot in Venice where cars and buses can get to, the Piazzale Roma. Everywhere else is strictly pedestrian). Once we'd made our way back to the hostel, we sat down and watched the Italian Job! It was really fun to say as we watched, "Hey! We were just there!"
The next day had a refreshingly slower start. We didn't have to catch our train to Verona until just after noon, so we took our time packing up and eating a huge breakfast. We checked out and headed to the bus stop. Once there, we saw the bus sitting there waiting for more passengers! We were excited, and asked the driver if they sold tickets on the bus. The disappointing answer was, yes, but we're out. So we made our way to the local Tobacchi (Tobacco store) to buy tickets. Once there, we were informed that the machine was broken and they, too, were out of tickets. So we headed back to our hostel, hoping that maybe they'd be gracious and let us take the shuttle... Of course they would! ...For a fee... Sighing, we accepted and got to the train in plenty of time. Of course, that's when I realized I'd left my sunglasses behind..... So hopefully some Venetian is now enjoying my awesome sunglasses... :S
Once on the train, it was only a couple hours to Verona. Most of us napped or did something pretty low-key, since we were recovering from the hectic past few days. But then, the train had stopped and we were in Verona!
We walked down the street for about 10-15 mins. and got to the Piazzale Brà, the main piazza in Verona. It's really pretty with a fountain in the center with gardens around it and a large Roman amphitheater right next to it! We commenced the Rick Steves tour of Verona then, and it was pretty great! First up were the Roman gates into the city. In one of the bars (cafés), there's a glass piece of the floor that shows the old Roman road underneath the current one! Then it was on to a local wine shop that Rick Steves says to visit. ...And he's right. :)
It was really impressive. There were bottles of alcohol from floor to ceiling that took up two rooms! There was even a 500 euro bottle that we were hesitant to even look at! But the Italian man who owned the place was really sweet, showed us his picture of himself with Rick Steves, gave us some of the best white wine I've ever tasted (Dad--I'm trying to remember what kind, but I have to check with the girls I went with...), and shared with us the "Legend of the Lover's Well." It was pretty cute. Apparently, in a Romeo and Juliet-type story, two lovers ended up throwing themselves into a well, killing themselves. And where they killed themselves, flowers grew up and were picked by monks, who made it into an elixir. According to legend, anyone who drinks the elixir is said to renew their love. Oreste, the owner, insisted that we have some (on the house!). And let me just say, love is very alcoholic! There was just enough for one sip for each of us, and it was very strong. Oreste showed us the "Lover's Well," and then, with a promise to return later to meet his wife, we left and headed to the Piazzale Erbe, the other of the two main piazzas in Verona.
We hung out there for a while (it's really pretty) before heading to... You guessed it! Juliet's balcony! :) It was actually pretty busy, and kind of interesting. Apparently, getting your picture taken with your hand on Juliet's breast is not perverse, it's good luck! So a couple of us did that while the rest walked around in appreciation of the beauty and in shock, as well. For those of you who have seen the movie Letters to Juliet, I am sorry to report that you have been misinformed. No one leaves letters at Juliet's wall, but they do write their names on the wall to ensure that their love will last forever (or so the story goes).
From there we headed to see the rest of the city, including a really interesting piazza with a statue of Dante smack in the middle, ornate outdoor tomb/mini-palaces of one of the local families, and the river (at sunset!!!). It was a truly beautiful city with one of the best gelaterias I've been to yet! And it was cheap! ;D
We made our way back to Oreste's wine shop and met his wife, a fantastic and amusing black lady from Atlanta! She gave us her own "tour"(including pointing out her neighbor, the "Wicked Witch of the West"), and then suggested a dinner place! So we headed toward the food, and had a delicious dinner! All you who know me well, be shocked: I voluntarily ordered soup! :D I actually have gotten to love the soup here! It tastes fantastic--everything is really fresh!
So after stuffing ourselves, we headed back to the Piazzale Erbe and did a passagiata (the pre- and post-dinner walk that all Italians seem to do; it's a chance to see and be seen and catch up with people you know). After that, we still had time to kill before we needed to get back to the train station and catch our train, so we walked around for a while and ended up back in the Piazzale Brà.
We finally headed back to the train, got our backpacks, and waited for the train. It came on time (11:30pm!!!), and we clambered aboard only to discover that our seats had been taken by two women and a small child asleep by the window! We didn't want to kick them out, so we split up a bit... Even though our train was an express, we weren't supposed to get into Orvieto until just after 5am... So after very little sleep, we ended up waking up only to wait for another 30-45 mins to actually reach Orvieto!
We arrived back in Orvieto around 5:45 in the morning in the pitch black only to discover that neither the funicular or the buses worked that early. So we walked up the cliff to Orvieto... Longest. Walk. Of. My. Life.
Once we made it up, we were all so sweaty and grimy from travel that a few of us (who were too awake to go to bed) took showers... I was one of these insane few, so I ended up not going to sleep until sometime after 7am Sunday morning when the sun had just risen over the mountains......
So! It was a crazy trip, but so worth it!!! I had a blast, and I'm sure I won't ever have another experience quite like that one! :D
Ciao tutti! E buona sera!
02 April 2011
12 March 2011
An Exciting Week!
Hello, all!
So this was quite a week! Monday was a relatively normal day up until dinner, which was in our Program Director's apartment! Professor Doll (the Program Director) made us a delicious "red soup" (i.e. all the ingredients were red, like red onion, red pepper, etc.) and his wife, Sharona (no singing, please), made us a Middle Eastern salad. Dinner was not only delicious, but very fun. We all talked and played with the three Doll children (they got very into a game of tag where one of the program girls was always "it"), and just generally got to know each other and our professors better.
So after that, we had a relatively normal Tuesday, until we were informed at lunch that that night at dinner we were invited to wear masks and join in on a karaoke night to celebrate Mardi Gras! That afternoon, we all prepared masks to wear that night, and especially considering that there were really not many art materials, we created some really impressive works of art! But that might just have been the result of about least 16 art majors... :)
When we got to the restaurant, our Italian host Mauro was thrilled with our masks, and even more thrilled when he managed to convince a number of us to sing English karaoke! At the end of the night, he even facilitated a mini dance party and some of his Italian customers joined in! Our art history professor said the next day that he was really happy with that night; I believe he called it "truly wholesome fun."
Wednesday was the only really normal day all week, because we actually didn't have classes Thursday because we went to Arezzo and Siena. We went walking everywhere, and we definitely felt it by the end of the day! At Arezzo we saw Piero della Francesca's Legend of the Holy Cross, which was a fantastic, beautiful, complicated fresco depicting the Catholic legend about the cross on which Jesus was crucified. It is beautifully painted, and completely original in its use of the space.
We then booked it in our vans to Siena and traipsed up a huge hill to Il Campo, the piazza in front of the Sienese town hall, which is an absolutely gorgeous building. While there we saw the chamber where the Council of Nine would meet about town matters, and frescoed there is an Allegory of Good and Bad Government. It's not a particularly beautifully painted fresco, but it's very interesting in composition and in its statement about government. From there we went to see the outside of the Siena Duomo (it's a little expensive to enter as a tourist). This is one of the most beautiful buildings I've yet seen here in Italy. The façade of the building is fantastic and gorgeous and complex in both its construction and in its theological statements.
After that we headed to an Olivetan Benedictine monastery to see Sodoma and Signorelli's Scenes from the Life of Saint Benedict. The monastery was absolutely beautiful, set up in the hills outside of Siena and with the most gorgeous view ever. It's all hills and trees and rivers and exposed clay hills and valleys... Truly a gorgeous sight. The actual monastery itself was beautiful; the church was beautiful and the frescoes truly masterpieces, and the monastery itself is architecturally beautiful. Once we had completely exhausted the Scenes from the Life of Saint Benedict, we headed back up toward our vans, admiring the beautiful view the whole time.
The drive down to the autostrada (highway) was amazing. We managed to leave the monastery not too long before sunset, and the view from the ridge of a string of hills just past the monastery overlooking vineyards and olive orchards (and even a castle!) was stunning.
Friday was our excursion to Florence (Firenze in Italiano). We woke up pretty early in order to leave our monastero by 7:15am, and get to our train by 7:45. However, we'd accidentally been given tickets for the train at 8:05am, so we had to wait a while longer than we anticipated. It took over 2 hours for us to get to Florence, and then it was a mad dash to another monastery. This monastery, however, has been converted into a museum, the Museo San Marco. The Museo San Marco holds one of the largest collections of works by the early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico (the Angelic Brother, a friar who was supposed to be so spiritual that his paintings were themselves infused with some of his spirituality). These frescoes don't have the more technical aspects of some of the later Renaissance painters (like anatomically correct bodies and perfect perspective), but they are theologically interesting (for example, a painting in a monk's cell that visually describes the ways in which Jesus was abused just before his crucifixion) and even moving. His painting of Christ's crucifixion in the Chapter House of the monastery is interesting, as he gives the saints faces particular attention, and they are quite beautiful and convey quite a bit of emotion.
From the Museo San Marco, we walked down the street to the Palazzo di Medici, or the Medici palace. Many of you may have heard of the Medici family, as they were a very prominent, very wealthy Florentine family during the Renaissance, and very powerful as well. In their family chapel is a gorgeous fresco depicting the Journey of the Magi to the birth of Christ (which is over the altar), and is quite a work! Almost every inch of the fresco is covered in animals, complicated landscape, and a mass of people processing with the three kings, some of which bear strikingly suspicious resemblances to various important Florentine citizens of the day.
After breaking for lunch in front of the gargantuan and beautifully ornate Florentine Duomo (check out the picture!), we headed to yet another monastery (you people getting how important all this Catholic stuff is? ;) )to view another frescoed Chapel, the Brancacci Chapel with its frescoed Life of Saint Peter. While this fresco cycle doesn't flow chronologically, the painter was really emphasizing different parts of Peter's life and making a significant and well-thought-out theological comment.
After that, we headed to the Chiesa Santa Trinita' (Church of the Holy Trinity), to look at the Sasseti family chapel. Below scenes from the life of Saint Francis is a gorgeous Nativity with the Sasseti's frescoed on either side worshipping the baby Jesus. In fact, Mr and Mrs Sasseti are buried there in the chapel on either side.
Completely exhausted, we headed back to the train station for our 2 hour 45 minute train ride back to Orvieto.
So you can, I hope, understand how hectic this week was! :) And perhaps you'll forgive me for being a tad delinquent about posting an update for all of you...
Ciao! E buon pomeriggio!
So this was quite a week! Monday was a relatively normal day up until dinner, which was in our Program Director's apartment! Professor Doll (the Program Director) made us a delicious "red soup" (i.e. all the ingredients were red, like red onion, red pepper, etc.) and his wife, Sharona (no singing, please), made us a Middle Eastern salad. Dinner was not only delicious, but very fun. We all talked and played with the three Doll children (they got very into a game of tag where one of the program girls was always "it"), and just generally got to know each other and our professors better.
So after that, we had a relatively normal Tuesday, until we were informed at lunch that that night at dinner we were invited to wear masks and join in on a karaoke night to celebrate Mardi Gras! That afternoon, we all prepared masks to wear that night, and especially considering that there were really not many art materials, we created some really impressive works of art! But that might just have been the result of about least 16 art majors... :)
When we got to the restaurant, our Italian host Mauro was thrilled with our masks, and even more thrilled when he managed to convince a number of us to sing English karaoke! At the end of the night, he even facilitated a mini dance party and some of his Italian customers joined in! Our art history professor said the next day that he was really happy with that night; I believe he called it "truly wholesome fun."
Wednesday was the only really normal day all week, because we actually didn't have classes Thursday because we went to Arezzo and Siena. We went walking everywhere, and we definitely felt it by the end of the day! At Arezzo we saw Piero della Francesca's Legend of the Holy Cross, which was a fantastic, beautiful, complicated fresco depicting the Catholic legend about the cross on which Jesus was crucified. It is beautifully painted, and completely original in its use of the space.
We then booked it in our vans to Siena and traipsed up a huge hill to Il Campo, the piazza in front of the Sienese town hall, which is an absolutely gorgeous building. While there we saw the chamber where the Council of Nine would meet about town matters, and frescoed there is an Allegory of Good and Bad Government. It's not a particularly beautifully painted fresco, but it's very interesting in composition and in its statement about government. From there we went to see the outside of the Siena Duomo (it's a little expensive to enter as a tourist). This is one of the most beautiful buildings I've yet seen here in Italy. The façade of the building is fantastic and gorgeous and complex in both its construction and in its theological statements.
After that we headed to an Olivetan Benedictine monastery to see Sodoma and Signorelli's Scenes from the Life of Saint Benedict. The monastery was absolutely beautiful, set up in the hills outside of Siena and with the most gorgeous view ever. It's all hills and trees and rivers and exposed clay hills and valleys... Truly a gorgeous sight. The actual monastery itself was beautiful; the church was beautiful and the frescoes truly masterpieces, and the monastery itself is architecturally beautiful. Once we had completely exhausted the Scenes from the Life of Saint Benedict, we headed back up toward our vans, admiring the beautiful view the whole time.
The drive down to the autostrada (highway) was amazing. We managed to leave the monastery not too long before sunset, and the view from the ridge of a string of hills just past the monastery overlooking vineyards and olive orchards (and even a castle!) was stunning.
Friday was our excursion to Florence (Firenze in Italiano). We woke up pretty early in order to leave our monastero by 7:15am, and get to our train by 7:45. However, we'd accidentally been given tickets for the train at 8:05am, so we had to wait a while longer than we anticipated. It took over 2 hours for us to get to Florence, and then it was a mad dash to another monastery. This monastery, however, has been converted into a museum, the Museo San Marco. The Museo San Marco holds one of the largest collections of works by the early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico (the Angelic Brother, a friar who was supposed to be so spiritual that his paintings were themselves infused with some of his spirituality). These frescoes don't have the more technical aspects of some of the later Renaissance painters (like anatomically correct bodies and perfect perspective), but they are theologically interesting (for example, a painting in a monk's cell that visually describes the ways in which Jesus was abused just before his crucifixion) and even moving. His painting of Christ's crucifixion in the Chapter House of the monastery is interesting, as he gives the saints faces particular attention, and they are quite beautiful and convey quite a bit of emotion.
From the Museo San Marco, we walked down the street to the Palazzo di Medici, or the Medici palace. Many of you may have heard of the Medici family, as they were a very prominent, very wealthy Florentine family during the Renaissance, and very powerful as well. In their family chapel is a gorgeous fresco depicting the Journey of the Magi to the birth of Christ (which is over the altar), and is quite a work! Almost every inch of the fresco is covered in animals, complicated landscape, and a mass of people processing with the three kings, some of which bear strikingly suspicious resemblances to various important Florentine citizens of the day.
After breaking for lunch in front of the gargantuan and beautifully ornate Florentine Duomo (check out the picture!), we headed to yet another monastery (you people getting how important all this Catholic stuff is? ;) )to view another frescoed Chapel, the Brancacci Chapel with its frescoed Life of Saint Peter. While this fresco cycle doesn't flow chronologically, the painter was really emphasizing different parts of Peter's life and making a significant and well-thought-out theological comment.
Completely exhausted, we headed back to the train station for our 2 hour 45 minute train ride back to Orvieto.
So you can, I hope, understand how hectic this week was! :) And perhaps you'll forgive me for being a tad delinquent about posting an update for all of you...
Ciao! E buon pomeriggio!
06 March 2011
Pictures!
So I promised all of you pictures and then reneged at the end of my post!!! Sorry about that, but the Internet is pretty slow at the monastero, especially since all 24+ people are on at once!
So anyway, I'm at a local café on their free Internet, so here they all are!
05 March 2011
Update!
So! I apologize for not having posted in a while, but I'm just getting oriented her in Orvieto, and now I have several sagas to relay, so hopefully you'll find this more interesting than the average post! :)
Tuesday was a "orienting yourselves to Orvieto" day and we did a tour of the town with the program director showing us all sorts of cool and useful places in town (including the shop where we get styrofoam boxes for shipping wine, so Dad and Auntie Deb, there are bottles coming your way! :) ).
Wednesday was an excursion to the public library in town which houses (according to the locals) one of only two sonically perfect spaces in the country (and, according to the locals, perhaps the world!). Professor Doll (the program director) had us watch an Italian film made just after World War II and the fall of fascism in Italy. It was entitled (in English) Bicycle Thieves, and was a very interesting, if depressing, movie. The director wanted to show what life was like at that time, free of of any softening. Interestingly enough, the director (as part of this honest effort) hired only non-professional actors. I recommend this movie if you're looking for an interesting movie to wrestle with, but it's definitely not an easy, fun watch...
Thursday was the dinners at the houses of various Orvietani (the residents of Orvieto) who are all friends of the program. I and four of my fellow students went to the home of Luca and Elisa (Elisa is the sister of our Italian instructor/cultural guide, Alessandro). They have three children; Chiara (Clare in English), aged 6, Francesco, aged 3, and Maria, approximately 1 year old. We arrived at 8pm for dinner (as per usual; they eat dinner late here), and were greeted at the door by all three children and Elisa. Once we came in and took off our coats, we were immediately grabbed by the children, who gabbed at us in Italian the whole night. Chiara and Francesco wanted us to play with them, so we hit a balloon back and forth for quite a while before we sat down to a delicious dinner. The first course was a lasagna (pasta al forno here; order lasagna and they'll give you just the pasta!) and the second was a salad and a chicken and peas dish. Everything was delicious! We managed to create an Italian--English--Spanish mixed language that served as the mode of communication for the evening. Seeing as we've only had one lesson in Italian, we did pretty well! We did our best to communicate, and since the food was great, we had quite the nice evening!
Fridays we don't have classes, so yesterday we headed out on a hike to the other side of the valley across the other side of town. Orvieto is a city built into and on top of a cliff, so we had to go down the cliff (they have escalators going up and stairs going down), cross the valley, and head up the hill on the other side to a Capuchin monastery most of the way up the hill. It was quite a hike up the hill (I use hill since it's not technically a mountain, but most of my fellow Illinois residents would probably call it a mountain), and required several stops, but once we made it even just part of the way up, the view was gorgeous! Since I forgot to pack my camera in my backpack I packed for the hike, there are no pictures of that (sorry!!!) but since I fully intend on making that trip again, I think I can say in all honesty, pictures of that to come!
Once we made it up the hill, we headed into the monastery. I don't think I can really put into words the calm that just swept over all of us just in passing through the threshold of the monastery. No, it wasn't because we were there and there were no more steep inclines; we had to climb up further to get to the actual buildings. It was just truly peaceful there. Interestingly enough, just 50 years ago, this monastery had been uninhabited and in ruins, and the site of lots of witchcraft and kids escaping to do stuff they wouldn't get away with anywhere else. It was after WWII that an ex-general from the Italian army who'd had a powerful conversion experience and become a Capuchin monk decided to ask the Vatican for permission to rebuild the monastery and exorcise the demons from the area. He rebuilt the monastery (which is still inhabited by a small number of monks), and is actually a local hero. The monastery was gorgeous with its view overlooking the entire plateau on which Orvieto sits, and its olive trees, magnolia trees, and simple, beautiful buildings. I really can't express the peacefulness of that place. It was a pleasure to be there and just sit and admire God's creation.
After that, we made our way slowly back to Orvieto and the monastero San Paolo and collapsed completely exhausted on our own beds! We didn't even do anything else all day until we had our scheduled dinner at the Locanda del Lupo!
Some of us went to a candlelight demonstration in the town; the local bishop (for rather convoluted reasons that really only make sense if you're here and are introduced to the culture) is being dismissed for mostly political reasons, and the Orvietani wanted to show their support for the bishop despite what is considered a for sure decision from the Vatican that will be announced tomorrow (Sunday). The bishop is a dearly loved figure here; he really has made an effort to become part of the lives of the Orvietani, and they really love him for that. He has actually been a good friend of the Gordon-in-Orvieto program, as well, and we here at the program will feel his loss as well! So, needless to say, it was a rather emotionally charged atmosphere. But it was well received by the bishop, and I think the people appreciated the opportunity to show their support for the man who has reinvigorated the spiritual life of the Catholic Church here in Orvieto.
Today was our excursion to Assisi, mostly known nowadays for being the home of St. Francis. We started at San Damiano, the site of Francis' calling from God to "rebuild His church." It was a beautiful site, surrounded by olive groves. Assisi is on the side of a mountain and overlooks a rather sizable plain, and the view from San Damiano overlooked the whole thing. It was absolutely amazing.
From there we headed past the church of Santa Chiara (St. Clare), another local saint and a contemporary of St. Francis. I ate my lunch on the steps of what used to be a Roman temple to Minerva! The clash of contemporary life in a hugely historical setting has fascinated me about this culture! After lunch we headed into the Basilica of San Francesco (basically, the church created to honor and dedicated to St. Francis). This is a huge church! There are two levels to this church; the basilica/church at the top, and another church underneath. It's still a functioning monastery, and is absolutely beautiful.
I have to go, as we're actually going to dinner early, but I will fill you in on any other important details later!
Buona sera!
P.S. The photos were taking forever and a day to load, so I'm going to dinner and I'll do it tomorrow. :) Sorry!
Buona sera! Ciao!
Tuesday was a "orienting yourselves to Orvieto" day and we did a tour of the town with the program director showing us all sorts of cool and useful places in town (including the shop where we get styrofoam boxes for shipping wine, so Dad and Auntie Deb, there are bottles coming your way! :) ).
Wednesday was an excursion to the public library in town which houses (according to the locals) one of only two sonically perfect spaces in the country (and, according to the locals, perhaps the world!). Professor Doll (the program director) had us watch an Italian film made just after World War II and the fall of fascism in Italy. It was entitled (in English) Bicycle Thieves, and was a very interesting, if depressing, movie. The director wanted to show what life was like at that time, free of of any softening. Interestingly enough, the director (as part of this honest effort) hired only non-professional actors. I recommend this movie if you're looking for an interesting movie to wrestle with, but it's definitely not an easy, fun watch...
Thursday was the dinners at the houses of various Orvietani (the residents of Orvieto) who are all friends of the program. I and four of my fellow students went to the home of Luca and Elisa (Elisa is the sister of our Italian instructor/cultural guide, Alessandro). They have three children; Chiara (Clare in English), aged 6, Francesco, aged 3, and Maria, approximately 1 year old. We arrived at 8pm for dinner (as per usual; they eat dinner late here), and were greeted at the door by all three children and Elisa. Once we came in and took off our coats, we were immediately grabbed by the children, who gabbed at us in Italian the whole night. Chiara and Francesco wanted us to play with them, so we hit a balloon back and forth for quite a while before we sat down to a delicious dinner. The first course was a lasagna (pasta al forno here; order lasagna and they'll give you just the pasta!) and the second was a salad and a chicken and peas dish. Everything was delicious! We managed to create an Italian--English--Spanish mixed language that served as the mode of communication for the evening. Seeing as we've only had one lesson in Italian, we did pretty well! We did our best to communicate, and since the food was great, we had quite the nice evening!
Fridays we don't have classes, so yesterday we headed out on a hike to the other side of the valley across the other side of town. Orvieto is a city built into and on top of a cliff, so we had to go down the cliff (they have escalators going up and stairs going down), cross the valley, and head up the hill on the other side to a Capuchin monastery most of the way up the hill. It was quite a hike up the hill (I use hill since it's not technically a mountain, but most of my fellow Illinois residents would probably call it a mountain), and required several stops, but once we made it even just part of the way up, the view was gorgeous! Since I forgot to pack my camera in my backpack I packed for the hike, there are no pictures of that (sorry!!!) but since I fully intend on making that trip again, I think I can say in all honesty, pictures of that to come!
Once we made it up the hill, we headed into the monastery. I don't think I can really put into words the calm that just swept over all of us just in passing through the threshold of the monastery. No, it wasn't because we were there and there were no more steep inclines; we had to climb up further to get to the actual buildings. It was just truly peaceful there. Interestingly enough, just 50 years ago, this monastery had been uninhabited and in ruins, and the site of lots of witchcraft and kids escaping to do stuff they wouldn't get away with anywhere else. It was after WWII that an ex-general from the Italian army who'd had a powerful conversion experience and become a Capuchin monk decided to ask the Vatican for permission to rebuild the monastery and exorcise the demons from the area. He rebuilt the monastery (which is still inhabited by a small number of monks), and is actually a local hero. The monastery was gorgeous with its view overlooking the entire plateau on which Orvieto sits, and its olive trees, magnolia trees, and simple, beautiful buildings. I really can't express the peacefulness of that place. It was a pleasure to be there and just sit and admire God's creation.
After that, we made our way slowly back to Orvieto and the monastero San Paolo and collapsed completely exhausted on our own beds! We didn't even do anything else all day until we had our scheduled dinner at the Locanda del Lupo!
Some of us went to a candlelight demonstration in the town; the local bishop (for rather convoluted reasons that really only make sense if you're here and are introduced to the culture) is being dismissed for mostly political reasons, and the Orvietani wanted to show their support for the bishop despite what is considered a for sure decision from the Vatican that will be announced tomorrow (Sunday). The bishop is a dearly loved figure here; he really has made an effort to become part of the lives of the Orvietani, and they really love him for that. He has actually been a good friend of the Gordon-in-Orvieto program, as well, and we here at the program will feel his loss as well! So, needless to say, it was a rather emotionally charged atmosphere. But it was well received by the bishop, and I think the people appreciated the opportunity to show their support for the man who has reinvigorated the spiritual life of the Catholic Church here in Orvieto.
Today was our excursion to Assisi, mostly known nowadays for being the home of St. Francis. We started at San Damiano, the site of Francis' calling from God to "rebuild His church." It was a beautiful site, surrounded by olive groves. Assisi is on the side of a mountain and overlooks a rather sizable plain, and the view from San Damiano overlooked the whole thing. It was absolutely amazing.
From there we headed past the church of Santa Chiara (St. Clare), another local saint and a contemporary of St. Francis. I ate my lunch on the steps of what used to be a Roman temple to Minerva! The clash of contemporary life in a hugely historical setting has fascinated me about this culture! After lunch we headed into the Basilica of San Francesco (basically, the church created to honor and dedicated to St. Francis). This is a huge church! There are two levels to this church; the basilica/church at the top, and another church underneath. It's still a functioning monastery, and is absolutely beautiful.
I have to go, as we're actually going to dinner early, but I will fill you in on any other important details later!
Buona sera!
P.S. The photos were taking forever and a day to load, so I'm going to dinner and I'll do it tomorrow. :) Sorry!
Buona sera! Ciao!
01 March 2011
Questions
So a number of you commented on my post! Thank you! :D It was great to see! But several of you had some questions for me, so today I'm just going to answer them, and wait to give you a real post later. :)
So! There are 24 of us living here in the monastero, which, I believe, means we are full up this semester! Actually, there are 22 girls and 2 guys... So we're making an effort to be extra nice to the poor boys. ;)
Someone asked how the restaurant we eat at (the "Locanda del Lupo") manages to feed us all. The best answer? I have no idea! The chef is fantastic and works hard, and that's all I can figure out. :) The food is amazing, however! We usually have 2 courses per meal, but we eat much lighter here than is typical in the States. Also, pranzo (or lunch) is the big meal of the day, not cena (dinner).
The only two courses of study currently being offered (it can change every semester depending on the students and available professors) are the English track (where we take courses on Dante, poetry, and medieval religious drama) and the Studio Art track (where they'll be offering classes on drawing, painting, and "text and image", the latter of which will be taught by the Wheaton professor Jeremy Botts).
We don't really need public transportation (though it is available) because everyone walks everywhere and there's really no need! Everything is pretty well within walking distance.
Also, I hope to have more pictures of the town when I next post (and maybe one or two of the Duomo!). I apologize for not having put up pictures sooner, but every time I walk out, I always forget to grab my camera! And even when I do have it, I get so caught up in the gorgeous sights that I forget to pull it out! But I promise to make an effort to put up some pictures for you all!
Buona sera!
So! There are 24 of us living here in the monastero, which, I believe, means we are full up this semester! Actually, there are 22 girls and 2 guys... So we're making an effort to be extra nice to the poor boys. ;)
Someone asked how the restaurant we eat at (the "Locanda del Lupo") manages to feed us all. The best answer? I have no idea! The chef is fantastic and works hard, and that's all I can figure out. :) The food is amazing, however! We usually have 2 courses per meal, but we eat much lighter here than is typical in the States. Also, pranzo (or lunch) is the big meal of the day, not cena (dinner).
The only two courses of study currently being offered (it can change every semester depending on the students and available professors) are the English track (where we take courses on Dante, poetry, and medieval religious drama) and the Studio Art track (where they'll be offering classes on drawing, painting, and "text and image", the latter of which will be taught by the Wheaton professor Jeremy Botts).
We don't really need public transportation (though it is available) because everyone walks everywhere and there's really no need! Everything is pretty well within walking distance.
Also, I hope to have more pictures of the town when I next post (and maybe one or two of the Duomo!). I apologize for not having put up pictures sooner, but every time I walk out, I always forget to grab my camera! And even when I do have it, I get so caught up in the gorgeous sights that I forget to pull it out! But I promise to make an effort to put up some pictures for you all!
Buona sera!
28 February 2011
And Classes Begin...
So today was our first day of classes! Unfortunately, I woke up in the middle of the night for two hours, but we're hoping that this does not occur again. :) But after that, I slept like a rock!
Breakfast was interesting; the milk here is thicker and creamier than in the states and I had cookies for breakfast!!! Well, they're breakfast biscuits... We in the states know them better as cookies, but these aren't as sweet. For my English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish friends, you know what I'm talking about. :)
Afterwards was our first "Cultural History of the Renaissance" course with Professor Skillen in the classroom. It was nothing less than frigid in the classroom, so we all bundled up in our slippers, layers, and blankets! Class was very interesting; we'll be exploring 5 different fresco cycles, one of which is here in our very own Duomo in Orvieto! So what would class be without visiting the Duomo?
We headed over to the Duomo for the majority of our class time, returning to take care of some updates on life here in the monastero. Then it was lunchtime! :) We are all getting very fond of our Italian hosts at the "Locanda del Lupo", as they feed us well and the food is delicious! Afterward, a large group of us went to the gelateria down the street from the ristorante for some genuine Italian ice cream (gelato). All I can say is that I'll have to really force myself not to go there every day!!! The gelato is perhaps the best thing I've ever tasted!!!
After our gelato break, we headed back to the monastero for our first lesson in Italian!!! I have so much to learn and we all need to learn it by Thursday night, as we are all invited to various homes of Orvietani for dinner that night!
We also learned how to work the washer and dryer here, so hopefully that will help our life together to work a little better, since we've developed a schedule!
Classes are great, and I'm very excited to be learning!
Thanks for checking out my blog! I appreciate all the comments! Please feel free to leave me a note!!! I might not get back to you right away, but I have read your note, and I love getting all your comments!
Buona cera!
Breakfast was interesting; the milk here is thicker and creamier than in the states and I had cookies for breakfast!!! Well, they're breakfast biscuits... We in the states know them better as cookies, but these aren't as sweet. For my English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish friends, you know what I'm talking about. :)
Afterwards was our first "Cultural History of the Renaissance" course with Professor Skillen in the classroom. It was nothing less than frigid in the classroom, so we all bundled up in our slippers, layers, and blankets! Class was very interesting; we'll be exploring 5 different fresco cycles, one of which is here in our very own Duomo in Orvieto! So what would class be without visiting the Duomo?
We headed over to the Duomo for the majority of our class time, returning to take care of some updates on life here in the monastero. Then it was lunchtime! :) We are all getting very fond of our Italian hosts at the "Locanda del Lupo", as they feed us well and the food is delicious! Afterward, a large group of us went to the gelateria down the street from the ristorante for some genuine Italian ice cream (gelato). All I can say is that I'll have to really force myself not to go there every day!!! The gelato is perhaps the best thing I've ever tasted!!!
After our gelato break, we headed back to the monastero for our first lesson in Italian!!! I have so much to learn and we all need to learn it by Thursday night, as we are all invited to various homes of Orvietani for dinner that night!
We also learned how to work the washer and dryer here, so hopefully that will help our life together to work a little better, since we've developed a schedule!
Classes are great, and I'm very excited to be learning!
Thanks for checking out my blog! I appreciate all the comments! Please feel free to leave me a note!!! I might not get back to you right away, but I have read your note, and I love getting all your comments!
Buona cera!
27 February 2011
Wow...
So I know I wasn't intending to post more than once a week, but now I feel like I actually can get a few comments in about my actual time here!
After a grueling march up a hill dragging our luggage, we managed to get up to the Monastero San Paolo! The monastery is very cool, but only a portion of it is currently habitable. They're working on making more of it habitable, but until then we inhabit three floors. The first floor contains several large spaces; a chapel, a large dining area (that we don't use, at least not for its intended purpose), and a smaller area that has, in the past, been used as a exhibition space for the artwork the students here do (or the professors!). The second floor houses the Program Director and his family, a library for classes, and the Art Studio for the students taking the art track. The third floor is our floor! :) We live on this floor (occasionally with one of the professors and their families on the floor. We have our own rooms and bathrooms, and a communal "sala" (living room-type thing), as well as a kitchen and mini breakfast room. Our rooms are pretty sparse, but I'm finding that I really don't mind, since we're not that often in them... Which brings me to...
The town!
We've managed to walk around the majority of Orvieto proper (there's a smaller area below the main town called Orvieto-scala, which grew up around the train station that couldn't make it up the hill), and I think I actually might be able to walk around Orvieto without getting lost already! We live just a two minute walk away from the "ristorante Locando del Lupo", which is where we eat lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. We visited the Duomo (the very large cathedral just a minute from the center of town), and today (Sunday) we climbed up to the top of the clocktower in the center of the town. All I have to say about that is WOW (hence the title of this post). It was up about 5 stories of stairs. Imagine (for all you Chicagoans) trying to walk up a quarter of the Sears Tower. Yeah. My legs were killing me by the time we'd made it up to the top, but... The view was phenomenal. Really. You could see the whole city from there. We marked the "courso", or the main road that cuts the town in half, the Duomo (which you can almost see from anywhere in the city), and the newer and medieval parts of town. Our monastero ("monastery" in English) is in the "Quartiere della Stella", or "Star Quarter" of the city, and in the newer part of town, despite the fact that the monastery itself is at least 800 years old.
This morning (after waking up late... Both my roommate and I set alarms, but neither went off!) we walked around the city, starting at the old Etruscan fort just down the road from the monastero. From there we walked down to a passage underneath the fort and exited the city proper and began a walk around the cliff that houses Orvieto. It's really fascinating to observe how the Italians, over the centuries, have built themselves and their city walls into the cliff-- the fort and city wall itself are part of the cliff face, and also buttressed with the same rock, a soft stone that actually can withstand the occasional earthquakes they get here! The blending of nature and infrastructure was really fascinating, although walking back up into the city was a little difficult as we had to head up a couple of small hills... And since living in flat Illinois, I haven't been so good at that.
From there we made our way back up past the Duomo to the Bar San Paolo, and for those of you suddenly worried that I've become an alcoholic (Mom and Dad), allow me to inform you that it is the best pastry and coffee place I've ever been to! And it sells chocolate!!! So I was very excited. So after that wonderful breakfast (yes, all that before breakfast!), we headed to Mass at San Giovenale.
Mass was alternately fascinating and bewildering! I was alternately following and lost in the language, depending on how close to Spanish it was at that particular moment. But it was certainly an interesting experience to worship in a church in which I could see my own breath! But it was also even more interesting to worship in a church that has held services since the year 1004 A.D.!
Everywhere you walk in this city, history hits you over the head! The whole town is gorgeous and so full of history! The history is so much a part of everyone's life here, but it's no one is stuck in the past--they're all very present in the city and in their lives in the 21st century.
So after hitting up the church service, we headed to the clocktower, and then after that went back to the monastero for some relaxation before a delicious lunch, cooked by our program director, Matt Doll, and his wife. I have never liked soup for some reason, but as of today, I am a convert. Lunch was delicious! In fact, all of our meals have been fantastic! So no one need worry about me starving! :)
Well, my Internet's going to cut out in a minute, so Ciao!
Love you all!
Buona notte!
After a grueling march up a hill dragging our luggage, we managed to get up to the Monastero San Paolo! The monastery is very cool, but only a portion of it is currently habitable. They're working on making more of it habitable, but until then we inhabit three floors. The first floor contains several large spaces; a chapel, a large dining area (that we don't use, at least not for its intended purpose), and a smaller area that has, in the past, been used as a exhibition space for the artwork the students here do (or the professors!). The second floor houses the Program Director and his family, a library for classes, and the Art Studio for the students taking the art track. The third floor is our floor! :) We live on this floor (occasionally with one of the professors and their families on the floor. We have our own rooms and bathrooms, and a communal "sala" (living room-type thing), as well as a kitchen and mini breakfast room. Our rooms are pretty sparse, but I'm finding that I really don't mind, since we're not that often in them... Which brings me to...
The town!
We've managed to walk around the majority of Orvieto proper (there's a smaller area below the main town called Orvieto-scala, which grew up around the train station that couldn't make it up the hill), and I think I actually might be able to walk around Orvieto without getting lost already! We live just a two minute walk away from the "ristorante Locando del Lupo", which is where we eat lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. We visited the Duomo (the very large cathedral just a minute from the center of town), and today (Sunday) we climbed up to the top of the clocktower in the center of the town. All I have to say about that is WOW (hence the title of this post). It was up about 5 stories of stairs. Imagine (for all you Chicagoans) trying to walk up a quarter of the Sears Tower. Yeah. My legs were killing me by the time we'd made it up to the top, but... The view was phenomenal. Really. You could see the whole city from there. We marked the "courso", or the main road that cuts the town in half, the Duomo (which you can almost see from anywhere in the city), and the newer and medieval parts of town. Our monastero ("monastery" in English) is in the "Quartiere della Stella", or "Star Quarter" of the city, and in the newer part of town, despite the fact that the monastery itself is at least 800 years old.
This morning (after waking up late... Both my roommate and I set alarms, but neither went off!) we walked around the city, starting at the old Etruscan fort just down the road from the monastero. From there we walked down to a passage underneath the fort and exited the city proper and began a walk around the cliff that houses Orvieto. It's really fascinating to observe how the Italians, over the centuries, have built themselves and their city walls into the cliff-- the fort and city wall itself are part of the cliff face, and also buttressed with the same rock, a soft stone that actually can withstand the occasional earthquakes they get here! The blending of nature and infrastructure was really fascinating, although walking back up into the city was a little difficult as we had to head up a couple of small hills... And since living in flat Illinois, I haven't been so good at that.
From there we made our way back up past the Duomo to the Bar San Paolo, and for those of you suddenly worried that I've become an alcoholic (Mom and Dad), allow me to inform you that it is the best pastry and coffee place I've ever been to! And it sells chocolate!!! So I was very excited. So after that wonderful breakfast (yes, all that before breakfast!), we headed to Mass at San Giovenale.
Mass was alternately fascinating and bewildering! I was alternately following and lost in the language, depending on how close to Spanish it was at that particular moment. But it was certainly an interesting experience to worship in a church in which I could see my own breath! But it was also even more interesting to worship in a church that has held services since the year 1004 A.D.!
Everywhere you walk in this city, history hits you over the head! The whole town is gorgeous and so full of history! The history is so much a part of everyone's life here, but it's no one is stuck in the past--they're all very present in the city and in their lives in the 21st century.
So after hitting up the church service, we headed to the clocktower, and then after that went back to the monastero for some relaxation before a delicious lunch, cooked by our program director, Matt Doll, and his wife. I have never liked soup for some reason, but as of today, I am a convert. Lunch was delicious! In fact, all of our meals have been fantastic! So no one need worry about me starving! :)
Well, my Internet's going to cut out in a minute, so Ciao!
Love you all!
Buona notte!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)