Umbria Trip

The trip to Umbria -Spoleto, Perugia, and Assisi blew me away as much as the Atroni and Amalfi Coast did.   We took off Friday morning and arrived in Spoleto that morning.  We toured several churches dating back to the 5th century.  As we toured the somewhat terraced city, spreading various elevations, like many Italian cities, we looked upon old fortress walls where you could see the different layers of stone dating back to different centuries and important events of sack, rebuild, and expansion of the city fortress. We also got to go inside a particular church that I found to be one of my favorite experiences of this trip, the church of Saint Isaac of Spoleto.  Underneath the basilica is a crypt of vaulted ceilings with his tomb in it.  It really stuck out to me among other crypts because you could actually touch the tomb, putting your fingers under the seam of the lid that's enclosing it. The feeling  that you're only inches from the body of a saint is an astonishing realization.

The next place we came to that evening was Perugia.  We entered the (also terraced) city via "mini tram"  which to me like a grounded gondola that zipped through a round tunnel and then opened up to the most glorious view of the entire city.  After settling in our quint little hotel, we took off to eat where Aaron, Amelia, Nate and I found a restaurant with a roof garden where we ate a wonderful dinner, watched the sun set, and celebrated Nate's 21st birthday. The beauty of the place was unique and humbling.

Saturday evening through till Monday evening we spent in Assisi.  After an overall tour of the deceivingly big "small" city it was hard to decide which place to go experience first. The churches of Saint Francesco and Chiara were beautiful.  Saint Chiara had big exterior buttresses with a beautiful rose window, and Saint Francesco was huge! with a triple floor basilica.  The two castles were something many of us had never seen anything like before, and we got to go into one which was super cool, giving us a 360 view of the land for miles. The hermitage of Saint Francesco was a walk away but very beautiful, resembling the north-western coast of the US.  I loved all the wood products they made there, getting myself a nice thick cutting-board and spoon.  All of Umbria is amazing, and I have to go back again someday!