assisi

our second field trip of the semester took us to assisi. assisi is a small town about an hour and a half north east of orvieto. for this trip we were taking a coach bus and had to meet the driver at the piazza cahen at 7:45 am and left at 8. the piazza cahen is the first piazza once you get on top of the cliff. all of the big buses stop here since navigating the narrow streets is near impossible. we have been very lucky with the weather as it has been around 55 and sunny all week and looks like that wont be changing for at least another 10 days (knock on wood). the drive to assisi was very scenic and most everyone stayed awake to look around.

like most towns in Italy, assisi is located on top of a hill and the bus had to drop us off at the bottom. assisi is marco's home town so we ended up meeting him at the basilica di s. francesco ( st. francis of assisi ). despite st. francesco's wishes, the church was build soon after his death as a monument and tomb. this part however was underground and constructed in a way to prevent  people from raiding his grave. this church was the first of 3 total churches that make up the basilica ( one built on top of the previous church ). the total complex was the tomb, the lower church, and the grandest of all the upper church. unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures inside any of the three churches ( with exception to a very famous nativity scene made of puppets dating back to the 1700's in the lower church ). since the church is home to many monks we were instructed to be completely silent while in the church. however, marco was able to apply for a permit to talk very quietly but could only do this for an hour. on our trips we all have whisper units. marco has a small microphone he can talk into and each of us have a radio receiver and headphones so we can listen while at a distance.

after touring the basilica we walked around a little longer then the 'official' part of the field trip ended and we were released to further explore the city. the historic part of the assisi was once a walled city and, at the higest point, was an medieval castle that the majority of us went to explore. it was full of narrow passage ways and spiral staircases which we all ran through like kids in a playground. the highest tower offered incredible views of assis and beyond. some of us left to meet marco and go through a informal tour of his home town. marco seemed to know literally everyone in the town, we would stop in every shop to say hi and everyone we passed on the road stopped to talk to us. we then visited the last trade carpenter working out of the ground floor of his house. the town was the most picturesque we have visited yet and an amazing place.


_caio

basilica di s. francesco

nativity scene inside lower church

awesome castle

view of s. francesco from top of tower