Assisi

Sunsets are my favorite!

Hello Blog People!

    I have completed another week of school and got to travel to another town in Italy. It was a pretty typical week, but I learned a bit and it has been good. I can’t wait to tell you about it. 

    Last Friday, since we didn’t have classes, my friends and I decided to show some of the newer kids around Florence. Our first stop was getting coffee and a coffee shop by the Arno. And guess what! They had iced coffee there! That was exciting, cause it can be kind of hard to find iced coffee. And it had lavender in it! It was really good. Afterward, we walked around the city center a bit, then to Santa Croce, a famous church with a gorgeous facade in the city center. We then found this awesome glass shop that had tons of gorgeous earrings and necklaces for sale. I didn’t buy any that day, but I will definitely be going back and buying a pair. We watched the sunset from the sidewalk along the river and then headed back to campus. It was really nice to just hang out with people, walk around, and explore the city. 

    I have realized that I haven’t explored that much of Florence. I find it safer and nicer to just stay in the warmth of my room with my own snacks and TV shows. But I feel like I’m not taking advantage of the time I have here if I just stay at Villa. So I'm trying to go out more often. Plus, it’s a good exercise to walk around. 

    On Sunday I spent some time in town by myself. I sat at a cute little coffee shop called Valu and read for a bit. It was nice to just sit for a bit, even though at the time the coffee shop was noisy and crazy busy. After that, I met some of my friends at a pizzeria to celebrate a new friend’s birthday. We got celebratory gelato too, and it was delicious. 

    The week was pretty normal. Classes in the morning, resting in the afternoon, talking to friends here and in the States, going to meetings, and making plans. Here are the highlights:

• 
  We made quiche in cooking. I only had it once before, but it turned out really good. I would maybe make it at home, but not regularly. 
• I pet a cat. That is always a highlight. I miss Sam so much!
• The sunset on Thursday was ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! It makes me so upset that my phone can’t capture the full beauty of a sunset because this one was just so great. (This is the pic at the top)
• 
  Anto talked to us about talking in Italian more. Apparently, we are not where we need to be in our conversation skills, so me and my friends have been trying to talk to each other in Italian more. It’s hard, but it’s rewarding when you can communicate. 
• I told my roommates I was on an album that is out on Apple Music and Spotify. I sometimes forget this fact about myself. They wanted me to set it as our alarm, but I told them no. They can listen to it on their own time. Nice try though. 

On Friday we were back to our normal traveling schedule. We went to Assisi. Oh my gosh, I love it! Assisi was so cute! It’s an old Medieval town with two famous churches. The patron saint of Italy, St. Francesco, was born in died in Assisi. He is the founder of the Franciscan monks (the ones you think of when you think of monks: they live in extreme poverty and wear brown sacks with a rope tied around them, sometimes with their hair shaved). The town is really old, but that just adds to the Italian charm. When I imagine living in a small Italian town, this is the town I imagined. Plus the streets gave an amazing view of the Tuscan countryside. I loved this city.

    We walked around the two churches: both the Basilica of San Francesco and the Basilica of Santa Clara. Santa Clara was smaller and darker, and the frescos on the wall were more obviously wearing away with time. But the outside with pretty, made of white and pink stones in a striped pattern. San Francesco was a lot bigger, with two different levels, and they wouldn’t let us take pictures. It is still a working church because we saw a mass happening while we were walking around. 

    This church is famous for its frescos on the walls of the upper portion of the basilica. It tells different parts of the story of Saint Francesco and they are well known all over the world. I loved walking around and looking at all the artwork. I think walking around cathedrals is one of my favorite things because I loved walking around the cathedrals in Edinburgh and Glasgow too. It’s just so quiet and so beautiful. I also love that everyone is looking up, at the arches and the artwork, toward God the whole time. Some people were bored after a bit, but not me. I love it. 

    After we went to lunch. My group went to get pizza. I got a Margherita  (because I’m basic like that) and it was really good. Maybe some of the best I’ve had in Italy (other than the fact that the top of the crust was burnt). It took a long time to get our pizza though, so we were a little crunched for time at the end 

    After we left Assisi, we went to Perugia to the Perugina Chocolate Factory. We watched a video on the history of the company and how chocolate is made. Penguina is famous for its Baci (which means kisses in Italian). The base of the baci has a chocolate and crushed hazelnut, topped with a whole hazelnut, and then all of that is covered in dark chocolate. Of course, there are different types, like milk chocolate or coffee flavors added. But they are really good. For some reason, this is a topic I feel like I know a lot about. I've learned about the history of chocolate and how it's made on multiple occasions. Anyway, then we got to do a quick tasting and it was SO GREAT (I mean come on, free chocolate? Yes please!). I ate a couple and took a couple back home with me. Then we got to watch almost the whole production in the factory. We walked in a little walkway above the factory workers and it was fun to see the process. We saw the workers making big easter eggs with an egg mold, filling them with a little surprise, and then wrapping the eggs with the wrapping machine. Watching the wrapping machine was my favorite part. The final stop was the gift shop and I obviously bought some chocolate. It was really cheap too! I'm happy with my purchases. 

    Fun Fact: Did you know that Italians eat chocolate mainly in winter and spring and not in the summer? Because in the summer and fall, they eat gelato. So chocolate is mainly a winter treat. I thought that was interesting because gelato and chocolate are both year around sweet treats for me :) 

    We made it back to campus in time for vespers, which was fun and went well. Sabbath was Sabbath on Campus, so I led music with my team and it went really well. I'm always blessed when I get to sing and make music with people, even if it's stressful at times. Anyway, in the afternoon I took a nap (the secret to life), watched Cars 2 (forgot how good that movie is. Also that there's quite a bit of Italian culture in it lol), and then called some friends. On Sunday I slept in and studied the rest of the day. 

    I'm looking forward to this week. It should be pretty standard. I do have a test, so prayers for that would be great. I hope you enjoyed this little weekly update. 

Ciao,

       Ellie 

        More Assisi Pics

Little town corner :)

VIEWS

Basilica of San Francesco

Crazy sand sculpture

Ainsley and Me 

Inside San Francesco

San Francesco from a flattering angle

Isn't it CUTE!

Santa Clara's internal beauty!

Broken frescos in Santa Clara

Ceilings