Assisi

I visited beautiful Assisi today as my first all-school field trip. We have different day and overnight field trips offered every weekend through Syracuse University. Its nice to go on these trips because they leave from campus (five minute walk), are “free” (included in our tuition), and have great tours. Most of the tours are lead my grad students in the fields related to what were learning about. Assisi is a strange town because of its simplicity and modesty contrasted by the ornate Basilica of Saint Francis. The town is small, built onto a hill. The facades of all the buildings are pink, brown, or grey. The town is most known for the birthplace of Saint Francis and the town structure aligns with Saint Francis beliefs in the virtues of humility and modesty. However, at the edge of the town, sitting on the hill overlooking the glorious countryside below lies the tomb of Saint Francis and the Basilica of Saint Francis. Saint Francis died in 1226 and was canonized in 1228 (one of the quickest people to ever be made a saint), construction on the basilica began immediately in 1228.

We walked to the entrance of the basilica (there were about 120 people altogether and then we broke into four groups of three). We went through the guards who made sure we were dressed appropriately. I silently scoffed as the girls in my program were like “WHAT, I can’t wear shorts?? My tank top is fine!! Why didn’t they tell us about this?” But, we eventually all made it through after people lent jackets and sweaters to inappropriate dressed people. The basilica is immense with a lower and upper section. The upper section is decorated with frescos (paintings) from floor to ceiling. There is so much color, decoration, it is almost overwhelming. This is a stark contrast to the life of Saint Francis. But I didn’t mind because it was one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. There were like a story line of frescos depicting the life of Saint Francis that may or may not have been Giotto (who really cares? But art historians get fired up about this). We walked through the church admiring the beautiful artwork—there were many groups of nuns and monks who were on pilgrimages here. The guards continually yelled “silenizio” over the loud speaker which in my opinion did nothing to help the sound level.

The lower basilica looks a little bit more like Saint Francis’ style. Dark—there is not a lot of natural light. Simple, there are a few frescos that adorn the wall but not in the same manner and as ostentatious as in the upper basilica. Chapels align the borders of the nave. I walked down one of the staircases to see the tomb of Saint Francis. It was kind of eerie yet strangely powerful. His tomb was in a dark room with candles surrounding it and a few pews for people to sit and pray.

Nothing else much to do in Assisi. The church of Saint Clara (Santa Clara) was beautiful but I should have gone there first because it looked like a shack compared to Saint Francis’ church.

Oh, but of course there was food. Truffles are the specialty of Assisi so of course I had to try them. I went to a restaurant recommended by a local working at a wine store. I had truffle bruschetta which was great. Then penne with truffles and mushrooms in a cream sauce which was rich, delicious, and very filling. I also have a wonderful Rosé which was crisp and refreshing because it was so hot outside.

Then back to Florence! I had a wonderful night; it was my first restaurant experience in Florence. I went to Osteria d’Benci (recommended by the wonderful Jocelyn and Food Lover’s Guide to Florence) and ordered the drunken noodles (spaghetti noodles boiled in red wine) and a cheese plate. It was so good! I sat outside but it started raining so that was no fun, but we scooted closer under the tent and it was fine. The best part of the night was that I met some really cool Italians at the restaurant: Alexander, Alessio, and Gisella. Alessio was extremely gay and worked for Dolce & Gabbana in Milan and was just visiting. Alexander lived here. We went to a gay bar with them (I guess there are gay bars in Florence). And it was a lot of fun, I broke my fast and had a Long Island Iced Tea, and then talked with my new Italian friends and danced around. Then we went to Twice which is this hip dance club but there was a really long line. We started walking toward the beginning (I didn’t know why I was just following), but of course our Florentine friend knows the bouncer so we don’t have to wait at all! It was nice feeling like a V.I.P. haha. Then we got a table and ended up sitting next to these two American soldiers stationed in Italy, the three Italians, and me and my other American friend. It was so fun with fantastic conversation and the guys fighting over who would buy the next round of drinks. It started pouring down rain and I took a taxi home at 2 am. Fantastic.