Assisi-mazing

Yes, I know all of you sarcastic Blaney family members are rolling your eyes. I can feel it all the way over "the pond" (:cough::Kathleen::cough).

I honestly have never seen a village as beautiful as Assisi. Words can't do it justice, but y'all know I'm going to try anyway.

We left at the crack of 8 Sunday morning, 8:45 JFRC time/AXO time. Dad, you'll be glad to know that the alarm does, in fact work; however, I realized yesterday and this morning that you actually have to take it along to Assisi in order for it to wake you up...

After stopping for a short (45+ min) break at the Italian version of a truck stop for a snack break and a grueling, yet hilarious game of Triangle with Stephanie, Zach, Chris, Claudia and Katherine, we stopped for lunch in a little town outside of Assisi. Without knowing it, we had literally stumbled upon a town festival, the stumbling being over all the animal poo in the streets. We made our way to the church/ center of the festival to try to go inside, but somehow managed to find ourselves quite literally in the middle of a huge procession out of church. Claudia, Mike and I were almost hit in the head by these men with these huge trumpets, dressed up in what I can only described as costumes too gaudy for the Swiss Guard.

Did you know that Assisi had hills? I do. Now.

Imagine the steepest, longest hill you have ever seen. Now increase the incline about, oh, 35 degrees. That is the smallest hill in Assisi.

After cussing myself out for not dancing for 6 years, we were ushered into the auditorium where we were given room assignments and then returned for a group discussion about community. Then came dinner and mass at a small chapel called S. Pietro near the retreat center.

It is my, what, 5th day in Rome? This is also the first night without having wine.

After dinner, we went back to the auditorium and got introduced to our JFRC director and one of the professors, which was awesome. They're so sweet. The prof just got knighted a few weeks ago. Honestly-- who get's knighted these days?

Then came the night out in Assisi. After thinking I couldn't possibly go up anymore hills, I worked my way up to the top of the town and a bunch of us, re a good 100, found an open pub.

We woke up the next morning and went on a walking tour of Assisi. We first saw Chiesa Nuova, the church built where St. Francis's home once stood. Very nice, but I was less than impressed, thinking at this was the big basilica of San Francesco. Then we went to La Basilica di Santa Chiara. Oh, I'm sorry. You all don't speak Italian. That's the Basilica of St. Clare, which was about 6 times bigger than San Francesco's. Sorry S. Francis... I was able to pray at the same church that held the relics of my patron saint, which was a surprisingly powerful moment. But then I went across the piazza and bought some souvenirs.

After Santa Chiara, we made our way to the real Basilica di San Francesco, which had no less than 4 floors. I've never seen a bigger church. If you remember the famous painting of San Francesco and the birds, you probably know where the original is. That's right. I saw it... No big deal.

We went back to the retreat center, ate and headed to Gubbio, a village just north of Assisi.

As much as I loved Assisi, I think I loved Gubbio just as much, but for totally different reasons.
I realized I wasn't being as independent as I wanted, so I had grabbed my journal before leaving. When we pulled into the town, I found a little bar (bar= cafe), and ordered my first cappuccino and observed real Italian life. It was so unbelievably cool. I reflected and was able to write down what I had seen and my memories of the last few days. Afterward, I saw Chiesa di San Francesco and left.

We went back to Assisi, ate (of course), and after I met up with a bunch of girls and we just played cards for a few hours, as none of us had any energy to go out again.

This morning, we all got up, had lunch, and headed back! I'm now exhausted, but energized.

Few notes:
**The patron saint of Assisi is not St. Francis, but St. Rufino.
** St. Francis's father would lock him up in a cell to try to convince him to return home, only to have his mother release him when he left town without his knowledge.
** The Basilica di San Francesco is actually owned by the Vatican.
**The term cappuccino is named after the Cappuccin order. If you mix equal parts coffee and milk, you get the exact color of their robes.
**The Fransicans were the first religious order to wear underpants. Because their frocks were shorter and they bent over in prayer, they needed to cover themselves.

For those Blaney's keeping count, that's 7 churches: Temple of Minerva in the forum in Assisi* Chiesa Nuova* Basilica di Santa Chiara* Basilica di San Francesco* Chiesa di San Francesco in Gubbio* Chiesa di S. Pietro* Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeles in the town outside of Assisi*

Sorry it's so long!

Classes tomorrow... =-/