Assisi

Sorry it has taken me so long to sit down and write! I have actually been fairly busy. Last week was like every other week I have had here in Perugia. Classes are getting more and more interesting. I am actually now starting to learn and not spend the whole day figuring out what the professor is saying to me. I think I have some of the basics down now, but I know there will be a lot of work to be done outside of class as well as in the class room. I actually have to study, this is just like home, only at home I know what they are saying and still don’t understand, here I have the excuse that they are speaking a different language at least. Haha. No, I am learning. And am having thoughts of not speaking English at all throughout the day. That still seems a little impossible right now but hopefully soon, I will be at that point. I have talked with my friends about it and we tried it for about, I don’t know, 3 minutes, and 2 of those minutes were spent with our noses in the dictionary. Ha. So, we have some work, me the most probably.
I was told half way through the week that I would have the pleasure to provide shelter for my good friend Thomas Pannicucci (one of my best friends from home, he is studying in Austria and came down for a few days to visit, how nice). I just so happened to have a bunch of extra blankets and comforters in my closet that I never open because I think it smells absolutely horrible, but for some reason, Tom actually really, really liked the smell. I don’t.
So, having Tom around was great. I hope he didn’t get too bored; he got a good taste of what life in Perugia was all about. Chilin’. Sitting around and relaxing. Even though we didn’t do much, it was still nice to not do much with one of your best friends I think, just like home.
I met him at the train station Saturday morning around 10:38am. I had to walk from my apartment to a part of the city that I had never been to... I am assuming none of you know Perugia, so little short lesson; I live in the Centro (Center), most Italian cities have a Centro, which is basically the old part of the city. The Centro in Perugia (about the size of Des Moines) is located on top of a very large hill. So, the new part, including the train station, is located down the hill. And of course the roads are not straight and there is no easy way to get there. So, I looked up the directions on Google and it said it should only take about 15-20 minutes on foot. Not bad I thought. So I took a picture of the map and transferred it onto my iPod so I could have it with me when I walked. Which I am SO glad I did.
In Italy, the street signs are on the side of the buildings which makes it hard for you to see what street you’re on and what direction the street is going sometimes. And the signs that are like normal street signs never seem to be where you need them to be. So after a few wrong turns and walking up and down the same hill a couple times I finally found a little ally way which was the road I was supposed to take. I figured if I kept going downhill I would find it. My reasoning ended up working. And found the station.
While waiting for Tom I was stopped by a kid about my age speaking way too fast for me to understand so I told him what I tell about everyone. Non parlo l’italiano bene. He was persistent, which then I knew he wanted to sell me something, and asked what language I spoke, I told him. And he got his friend to speak English with me. He wanted me to buy a 42’ flat screen TV from him. I laughed and turned around and there was Tom walking up the stairs. And HE laughed at me when he saw me. Well, first he looked about me then looked away then looked back at me (didn’t notice me at first). I don’t think he expected my hair to be as long as it is. In reality it isn’t that long, just abnormally long for me, I guess. And it doesn’t look good. Haha.
So, Tom and I started our climb back to my apartment, which by the end we both were panting and sweating, luckily I remembered the way this time. We got some pizza and I showed him around Perugia a little bit. We relaxed all weekend, had some tea and coffee with my friend Marthe from the Netherlands and on Monday we decided to get out of Perugia and head to Assisi. (about 25 minutes SE by train).
We looked up the weather for Assisi and it said an 80% of rain and 90 mph winds! It rained but thankfully we had maybe 3 mph winds, the weather site was a little off. We arrived into Assisi and took the train to the Centro of Assisi which too was on top of a hill and our plan was just to walk down and see what we could see because we had no idea what was in Assisi, besides St. Francis. We got dropped off at the top and just started walking.
Assisi was great. It was just like Perugia only SO much better. Everything was SO nice, every stone perfectly placed. Everything was done with care and well taken care of. We hopped from church to church looking for St. Francis. We grabbed some paninis and eventually our way to Piazza San Francesco. There was really, no one in the city the whole day and the church was empty. Of course, breathtaking and absolutely perfect. We went to the basement to the tomb of St. Francis and it was a very, very, very surreal feeling to sit in the dark room with a Saint’s Tomb ten feet in front of you. It brings faith into something that is tangible and right in front of you. The date on the tomb throws you back a bit too. If I remember right, I think 800 years old now. Or something close to that. He was 44 years old when he died. In 44 years on this earth he was worthy in becoming one of the most respected and known Saints out there. Crazy to think about. I am truly blessed to be able to have the opportunity to visit St. Francis and have Assisi so close to me in Perugia.
Tom and I spent the rest of the day journeying through Assisi, walking through little paths that took us to places we felt like no one had gone before but was really just a path to a huge old castle that over looked the whole city. It cost 8 euro to enter and we were havin’ that so we just stood and looked. And listened to the French guide as he spoke to the 25 middle scholars from France about the Castle. The whole time as Tom and I walked through the city we wondered why in the shops there would be a whole bunch of crosses and then right next to them, cross bows or swords or guns. We couldn’t understand the odd combination of items next to each other until we made it to that castle. And it made sense.
I had my first Gelato in Assisi, my flavor was called ‘After Eight’ (that is the actually name, I did not translate that). Haha it was mint. And I will have to say, I can promise you that that will not be my last gelato cone. It was phenomenal.
Our day in Assisi was great, although wet and left us with tired (but very strong) legs, still a tremendous city in so many different ways; the churches, the Castle, the buildings, the food, the curvy roads, the history, the Saint. Everything rolled up into one little city nestled into the side of a mountain overlooking the plains of Umbria. Not a bad place to be.