ASSISI

Okay, Assisi may possibly rival even Austria. It was so nice after the crazy rush and bustle and graffiti and scandal of big city Rome. The perfect climax to a semester's travels. A place of beauty and peace all around. Cass and John warned that I would fall in love with Assisi, but I was skeptical...of course you fall in love with the town in which you were engaged. But no, truly Assisi stands on its own merit as one of the loveliest places on Earth.
Cobblestoned streets, happy, quiet, friendly Italians. Churches everywhere. Adoration everywhere. Franciscans everywhere.
Olive trees and Pomegrantes. And perhaps the best part: three square Italian meals a day with sumptuous amount of bread soaked in fresh dark olive oil, endless pasta paired with endless wine. The best I have eaten all semester no doubt! It makes one appreciate St. Francis' austere fasting even more, with food like that available!

Garments of St. Clare and Francis

Enjoying the sunrise over Italy, in perfect peace and solitude, up near the Castle Rocca Maggiore above Assisi. Cannot be beat for a good way to start the day.

Look at that Perugian countryside. It looks like this nearly all the way from Rome. I drove in the van with just Fr. Ron and Jill and we took the back roads all the way, which afforded better views of castles on hills and such.

Flying Butresses!!!!!!!!!!! I love those!!! And its not even Gothic.

Hitchhiker maddonna

The original San Damiano Crucifix of St. Francis. Saw the original Port, too.

I wandered for a while in the olive groves on the hills around Assisi. I watched the farmers harvesting the olives for awhile, shaking the olives into these big burlap sheets, and stacking up crates full of them. I decided I want to grow olives when I grow up.

My favorite street in all Assisi. It was tough decided because every one looks picturesesque.

Basilica San Francesco

The whole town is full of little shops that are so much fun to look through. Cheeses and wines and hams, like this one, or olive-woodworkers, artists, potters, toy shops, hat shops, embroidery shops, cooking shops, little lead soldier and chess set shops. And way too many souvenier shops making lots of money paradoxically, off of Il Poverello.

Assisi at sunset

The woods near the hermitage. I saw evidence of wildboar everywhere there, but never actually one, but I was hoping. If I were I wild pig I would want to live there too. However, as a person, St. Francis' monks had it kinda hard in the cold hard little caves there.

Who needs St. Francis when you have Fr. Brad? Oh, Fr. Brad......

Cory helping Paul Hess out with his (AWESOME) new hat y favorite image of Santa Chiara in all Assisi

On the last night in Assisi, Liz and I went back up to the castle for one last look at Italy. The lights down below were gorgeous, the wind was blowing, it is was so beautiful and peac

Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Even in Assisi, the same as in Rome: Take an old Roman temple, put a statue of Mary where once a statue of a god/ess, and voila: instant church at half the price and work!

Caitlin and Liz and I walked past this portrait in a window, then did a double take and rewind, and each of us looked at each other and said: Look, it is an Icon of prof. Asci when he is not happy with your mid-term results! I walked into S M Maggiore and a bunch of Assisian school kids were practicing Christmas Carols with the parish priest!
The rest of these were from the bus on the way home, just snapshots of the Alps, you know....

And the knee-deep sea of the Venetian lowlands

The Saints Go Marching....

The Kartause kids had their All Saints Day Party Yesterday, and I intruded for the sake of nostalgia. I wanted to put a skirt on my head and pretend I was some obsure holy virgin martyr too: only propriety held me back. I hate being grown-up. I am not even a big kid anymore! The All Saints day party used to be the highlight of my fall as a kid. I remember laboring for weeks and weeks on the perfect saint and costume. Do you girls remember the year we were sick in Oregon and we missed the homeschool party? I was so bummed! And then we had our own party, and Dad even dressed up in a bathrobe and had cornflakes falling from his eyes? I have a picture up in my room of all of us (except dad, who took the picture apparently), in very holy postures, Katherine trying not to laugh and failing and me not even trying. Caitlin and Kika Asci

Francesca (Kika) Asci as St. Elizabeth

A blurry Mrs. Asci doing the Limbo

trick-or-treating in the dorm

My buddy, Aris Kalpagkian, (I think he is dressed as a saint-eating-colloseum-tiger). Aris calls me 'suitcase', with a lisp. I feel privileged - any girl in my position would be.

Paul Hess and Vince dropping the limbo stick

Prof. Healy (Art), having a chat over some cheerios with with one of the Cassidy boys in a markered beard and one of the Asci boys dressed as Pier Giorgio.

Ave's Barbara enjoying two saintly little girls

Elijah, or just Eli. Probably one of the cutest kids on the face of the earth.

And now, more pictures of my Kartause. I know, ya'll are probably getting sick of my same old view out my bedroom window, but it still gets to me every day that I am here, and sometimes I just can't help but grab my camera and immortalize the moment in some way.

Monday morning, I opened my eyes at twenty past six, and thought I woke up in a perfect dream for a moment, then realized that no, this dream was real life. I really do live here! I really am a princess in this castle! I grabbed my camera to capture the moment. It doesn't, but you get the idea. The air itself I swear was a golden pink and is utterly indescribable - a color like the ones Elizabeth's Eger's sister describes, but is rarely if ever seen.

And these while I was reading philosophy in my bedroom, sitting on the windowsill- enjoying the still warm November air, smelling the smoke from the woodstove that heats the water in the building, and just soaking up the sunshine. Ahh, life is good.

The leaves are almost entirely fallen. Book mountain in the background, is nearly barren of the stunning color of three weeks ago.