Assisi

Assisi was a nice, clean, little town built into the side of a hill. It is about two and a half hours south of Florence. The town is the home of St. Francis and all the Franciscans / Priors. Everything in the whole town was centered on him and St. Clare, a famous woman who was a follower of St. Francis. So, inevitably, there were some important pilgrimage churches in Assisi that we went to. It was also the most nuns and monks I have ever seen.

When we go on a villa trip like this, we have an art history professor, who talks, and talks, and talks, about the art and paintings of the church. I don’t care about brush technique. I have come to realize, when she is talking I am like Kurt at Ellis Island; cringing, complaining, and ruining it for others around me by messing with them.

I’m interested in other stuff. I am more interested in hearing the stories of Francis, not the style and brush techniques of the master painters. Also, I focus on the architecture and how the space feels. With my pessimism aside, I did have a great time through my own eyes. The churches are very different than the ones in the north; Milan, Venice, and Florence.

The house fellow (RA), yea I have an RA who takes her job serious and told me not to spill wine on the fresco's in our studio. What am I, going to shake it up and spray it like I just won the Daytona 500? Anyways, she told us we wouldn’t be able to find the castle that sits above the city. A buddy and I were wandering around when we had a couple hours to wander and found the small path that leads up to it. It was awesome! The view was great and seeing an ancient castle was awesome. The two of us and two others were the only ones to find it. Most people sat in front of the next church we were suppose to be at for the 2 hours, instead of exploring. They sat, while we saw the best view of Assisi and the area, and a really cool castle. It was a great day!