Umbria Field Trip

It has been almost a week since we returned to Rome from our Umbria field trip and I cannot believe how fast time flies! The field trip was amazing! Our first stop was Spoleto. We did a little walking tour with Matt and headed to the Duomo and got a little history of the town. After that we were on our own until we had to return to the train station. Alex, Andy, Morgan, Tim, Poncho, Herminio and I filled our time well…..we walked to the bridge/ aquaduct and did a little rock climbing ,

followed by some railing jumping…..

and finished up our little tour with some water bottle and olive baseball.

Then we were off……to Assisi. Assisi was the most beautiful town. There were countless Duomos in this town. The Cathedral of St. Rufino was right by our hotel….they were all just so amazing! In my opinion, the most beautiful was the lower part of was the Basilica of St. Francis. To walk by his tomb was so incredibly moving. It was a great feeling of awe to believe that I was actually there in the presence of someone who did so much in his life, it truly makes you realize how much there is to life. To see the other visitors and how moved they were it really made me realize how lucky I am not only to be on this trip, but just to have been so lucky in my life.

But…..my most memorable was San Pietro. I walked down to the church to do a piazza study and just see the inside. I realized that there was a crypt down below, but it was 5 euro to get in….that is when I met Zenu. He was like 75 years old. He let me in for free and showed me the art gallery that was down there. It was cool ro just be able to see all of the exhibits without having to work my way through people. I made a wish in the well…

We finished out the incredible town on our last night drinking wine, watching the sun set with a beautiful view of the town and St. Francis in front of us and Rocca Maggiore behind us….how lucky are we?

The next stop was Perugia. To me, the town was not as quaint, but it was still really nice. We spent the whole day just wondering on our own, doing some sketching and just looking around. It was a little bit of a bummer because we arrived there on Sunday so most of the town was shut down. All of the little stores were closed and most of the town seemed to be at home (which was also a nice break too). I ended up spending most of the first day sleeping because between the train, bus and the heat I was not feeling that well. That night we got an awesome opportunity to watch the soccer game from a terrace that overlooked the town of Perugia and we could even see Assisi.

Last stop……Orvieto. The Duomo and San Brizio Chapel…..that is all I can say! It was just breathtaking from the outside and when you walked it was even more so. The amazing carving and sculpture working on the outside was just astonishing. To think that someone could do that with their hands at one time….wow! As I entered the Duomo I was so surprised by the massive grandeur of the space. The black and white stripping was all over and the ceilings seemed to reach forever…just wow!

It was a long…hot…but incredible trip!