I am proud to say that I have had my first real backpacking experience (at least in my opinion). Following a whirl wind decision Thursday night, Friday morning Sally and I departed morning to meet our Florence friends (Lydia and Sarah) in Orvieto (Umbria region). We had to take the regional train which was a bit of a step down from the Eurostar but serious backpackers don't care about this kind of thing. We all arrived in Orvieto and immediately realized the incredible beauty of this place. The entirety of this city was built on top of a volcanic rock mountain called Tufa. Activities included looked at Signorelli's last judgement frescoes (complete with silly ninja men in the background), traveling down an ancient well of St. Patrick, having famous Orvieto white wine (Margarita and Roberto (Bob/Dad) would have been in heaven). Later that day we made our first attempt at traveling to Assisi. What should have been 1-1 1/2 hour train ride turned into a four hour ordeal. Tired from our travels in Orvieto, all four of us fell asleep on our first train and missed our stop where we had to transfer trains. Thus, we ended up in Ter0ntola....look it up on a map haha . We then spent two hours in this train station drinking beer and playing card games...randomly soo fun.
Later that night, we successfully arrived in Assisi having no idea what it was going to look like in the day time. INCREDIBLE! Umbria kicks Tuscany's ass any day. The view from our hotel was staggering! Assisi is another medieval town built into a mountainside. This is also the fourth most visited city in all of Italy due to the fact that it is where St. Francis founded the Franciscan Order. Activities in this town included more wine and food, Santa Chiara (24 hour nun on duty to praise the crucifix that was responsible for St. Francis's conversion), the Roca Magiore (huge castle at the top of the city), and the Basilica of St. Francis with the fresco cycle by Giotto (hotly debated art history topic at the moment). The weather and atmosphere were so nice there that we just hung around all day. I think some people might have actually thought we were homeless (which is like the third time this week someone has assumed that about me...strange). That night, we all returned to Florence cause the fun don't stop there!
Florence was a joy as usual. Went to a great dinner, couple bars, did some shopping, went to Orsanmichele and the Palazzo Vecchio (pales in comparison with the Palazzo Piti). Other highlights included picking up my new leather jacket (hopefully this will signify that yes, i have good taste and no, I'm not homeless).
Anyways, back to school/Rome. Did anyone watch the Oscars?? I thought Kate Winslette's speak was as good as any acceptance speech I've ever heard. She is so charming. Also, the writer for Milk was very moving as well. I can't get a hold of who accepted Heath Ledger's award for him! Someone email me and help me out. If you find a youtube video of it, let me know!
Best, Lauren
Music of the Week:
My Life would Suck without you - Kelly Clarkson (no judgement...i love it!)
Long Distance - Brandy (yes, she's back!)
Jai Ho - Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack
Cherry Lips - Garbage
The Only Living Boy in New York - Simon and Garfunkle
Hello, I'm Delaware - City and Colour
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