Roma Week 5

We have officially passed the half way point in the program! It is now just three short weeks until our return from the most amazing place I have ever been to...Well Moscow, Idaho. It is a little bitter sweet to think about returning home from this place that has now become like home to me. On the one hand it will be nice to see my friends and family, but on the other this short two months is not enough, not even close, time to fully appreciate this city and this country. This week was one of the busiest we have had so far in the program. Earlier this week we had our Modern tour of Rome, which was actually really cool. To be able to see how modern buildings have been able to integrate into the ancient landscape of Rome was a good spacial exploration to understand.

We also visited the Vatican museum and Saint Peter's Basilica  Definitely one of the coolest experiences in Rome thus far.

We have also just returned from our second and final trip as a group outside of Rome, which was a trip to Spoleto, Perugia, and Assisi. By far my favorite places in Italy so far as been Perugia and Assisi. Perugia was a small(ish), meaning 150,000 + people, city with a vibrant college age community since it houses the largest university in Italy in the city. It was a mix of classical italian buildings intermixed with high tech modern Architecture.

The Juxtaposition was amazing! It was definitely one of the places I would not mind returning to. Assisi, on the other hand was a much more traditional Italian town that was still tourist, but not in the same way as other parts of Italy, Especially Rome. Most of the tourists there were pilgrims coming to the churches, mainly San Francesco, which is where Saint Frances is/ was buried.

This is where we spent most of our time over the weekend and it was beautiful. The small streets on large hills, the look outs where you could watch the sun set, everything was so beautiful there. Looking back at our time here so far it is hard to pick a favorite moment, since so many seem to be the best single moment of the trip, but looking out at the sunset, drinking wine, eating wild boar, and local cheese was definitely something that will not be forgotten.