I would like to start this post off by saying that I am so excited to share this blog with everyone. I skyped my family last night and my dad told me how many people are loving my blog posts and I am so glad. I am so thankful for the opportunity to share my stories with you all and I promise to update as often as I can.
This past Friday I had my very first class field trip. During my time here at the Umbra Institute I have 3 or 4 field trips for different classes. For my art class we are doing 2 trips, one to Assisi which I will discuss in a moment, and another to Florence in November. For the trip to Florence we are staying overnight and we are going to be able to see Michelangelo's David! I cannot express my excitement enough! But for right now we visited Assisi for this first trip. As I posted last time we visited Assisi last Sunday with Umbra but this time we specifically went to visit the basilica of St. Francis. We spent about an hour and a half looking at the art on the walls of the basilica while our teacher gave us some historical information on the paintings. Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed inside any church or museum in Italy so that is why I have a lack of pictures from Assisi. I thought I would be bored seeing the basilica again but I felt the exact opposite. It was so beautiful to see the fresco paintings again and to have them explained by an expert. Our teacher also gave us some historical information about the basilica that I would have otherwise missed out on. I have put some of these facts below....
Facts about St. Francis Basilica:
1. This basilica is governed by the Vatican City. That means they have to follow the rules set
by the Pope. It is also how the basilica is primarily funded.
2. St. Francis never saw his basilica. It was built after his death in 1216. Many people said
he would not like the huge basilica because he was in poverty for most of his life.
3. Before the basilica was built on the site it stands now it was used to execute criminals.
On Saturday my roommate Erin and I decided to make a daytrip to Cortona. We wanted to get out of Perugia for a little while and use the train for the very first time! Cortona is the site of the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun". Although I have never seen the movie I was recommended by a fellow LVC student to visit this place because of the gorgeous views. And it is an easy 45 minute train ride from our school in Perugia. So Erin and I set out to go Under the Tuscan Sun.
Before we got to Cortona however I have an interesting story to tell about our journey. When buying a train ticket in Italy (and some other European countries as well) the ticket you purchase can be used anytime unless it is for a reserved train. The ticket can be used for up to 60 days from the date of purchase. We were told many times by the staff at Umbra that you must validate your ticket when riding the train or you can be fined at least 50 euro! To validate the ticket you simply stick your ticket in a machine and it stamps it. I thought you had to validate the ticket after you arrived at your destination but when we arrived in Cortona Erin explained to me you must validate before! Luckily, a conductor never reached our seats and I was not caught. It's safe to say I validated my ticket for the ride home and I learned my lesson the easy way! But now I have a one way ticket to Cortona to be used in the next 60 days.
Once we arrived in Cortona we took a bus to the very top of the town. Like Perugia, Cortona is situated on top of a hill and is known as another hilltop town (Perugia is referred to as the queen of the Italian hilltop towns). Unfortunately when we visited it was a cloudy, rainy day but we didn't let the weather get us down. We walked around the town for awhile then went to eat at this cute outdoor restaurant. Some of our roommates had visited Cortona a week ago and they highly recommended this restaurant! And they were right, the food was the best meal I have had so far in Italy. I enjoyed lasagna with Tuscan bolognaise sauce..so yummy!
After our meal we walked around enjoying the beautiful views Cortona had to offer. And when we got tired of walking all of the hills we stopped for gelato. The number one rule of traveling in Italy is that no trip is complete without a stop for gelato! That's my travel rule anyway :) And I took my first picture of gelato..here it is....
I enjoyed a cup of nutella and creme caramel flavored gelato and it was the best I have had so far.This gelateria also offered some interesting flavors including Nesquik gelato with Nesquik cereal in it! Here's a picture....
I think it's safe to say our first daytrip was a success, minus our train ticket validation fiasco. But luckily I learned my lesson the easy way :) Now this week we have 4 days of classes and I have my very first quiz in Italian 101 this Thursday. But all of my roommates and I are so excited because this coming weekend we are traveling to the Amalfi Coast! We are visiting Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri with the Umbra Institute this Friday through Sunday! I hope this week goes by quickly and I will be sure to update before the weekend gets here.
I hope everyone has a fantastic week! I leave you with some pictures of the beautiful views from under the Tuscan sun and the first pictures of me since my arrival in Italia....
I have also figured out how everyone who does not have access to Facebook can view all of my pictures. Click on this link below and you will be able to see my entire album of pictures I have taken so far on my study abroad adventure :)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=209064&id=604955888&l=cb8d70051e
Italian word of the post (for you grandpa Jerry):
gatto - cat
Have a wonderful week!
Molto amore (lots of love)
Morgan :)
P.S. If anyone has any questions they would like answered about anything in Italy or concerning Italy you can leave me a comment below and I will try to answer them for you as best I can.
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