It’s hard to believe that we are already more than half-way through this semester; looking back on the weeks that have flown by, it’s amazing to think of all that we have done. For the most part, I have documented my many great adventures since I have been in Europe in this blog, but a lot to do in a little bit of time has prevented me from sharing all of my fun and exciting moments. I will use this blog post to recap some of the highlights of this semester that I have not yet had a chance to write about, as well as share with you tales from our most recent trip to Assisi and Monte Casale.
Along our bike ride we made a new animal friend, this adorable black puppy that came trotting up the hill after us, and stayed with us until we disappeared into the PAM (the grocery store) at the end of our bike ride. We affectionately named him Alberti (after the Palazzo Alberti), and soon realized that giving him a name and petting him constantly was probably not such a good idea. Whenever we pedaled, he walked beside us. Whenever we stopped pedaling, he stopped walking. When we left his side to cross the road, he would stop, look around, find us, and charge across the lanes of traffic to meet with us again. We were worried we had adopted a new pet and that Alberti would actually have to live in the Palazzo Alberti for which he was named if we didn’t think of what to do soon; by this point we were far from the point where the puppy had met up with us and he didn’t seem to have any intentions of going back to his home—if he in fact had one. However, a reassuring phone call to Bekah back in the palazzo informed us that dogs are often seen running around town without owners, and that if we just let him be he would return to where he belonged. Alberti followed us into the PAM, but was soon swept up by some oohing and awing families with young children, so we kept our eyes off him. By the time we were done with our shopping, it had gotten dark and he was nowhere to be found.
Another exciting day for the Americane Regazze came with Women’s Day on March 8. Women’s Day is an international holiday; however, my dear readers, most of you may have never heard of this day nor have you ever celebrated it before on March 8 because it is uncommon in the United States. All over Europe and other countries abroad, though, Women’s Day is a holiday where women are celebrated and thanked for all their hard work, given the day off work, and are showered with mimosa flowers and praise. I now have another reason to be incredibly disappointed in the United States—their lack of celebration of International Women’s Day is a shame, and speaks loudly of the lack of value and appreciation we give women today in our country, even after centuries of fighting for equality and recognition. For those of you who did acknowledge the important women in your life (shout out to my soon to be brother-in-law, Josh), thank you, and good job. Hopefully we’ll see a change in this in the States soon (soap box ends here). In the meantime, I enjoyed Women’s Day in Italy as all of the Regazze Americane, Dr. Webb, Dr. Bailey, Sara, and Bekah were showered with mimosa flowers and waited on during lunch by John Rose and our visitor Dennis—the only two males present that day. It is a custom to give women mimosa flowers on this holiday; while walking down the main street that afternoon, I saw a young high-school aged couple walking together, and the girl was holding a small bouquet of mimosa flowers, assumedly presented to her by her boyfriend—how sweet! Margherita even prepared us a special meal for the day and had gifted us with dessert wine and biscotti for after the meal.
About a week later was St. Patrick’s Day, and just because we are in Italy does not mean that we did not wear our green proudly and celebrate in style. Kelsey made Irish soda bread using her family’s secret recipe, we all adorned some shade of green clothing, and cut out shamrocks for the lunch table. For lunch, Margherita and Alessandra kindly went along with our American tradition and made an entirely green meal! We had spaghetti with pesto sauce, spinach and stuffed tomatoes, broccoli filled puff pastries, vegetable skewers, and panne cotta with kiwi on top. We even used green napkins instead of our regular white ones. It was a little taste of home in the middle of Italy, and fun to be able to celebrate.
Fun-filled day number four comes in the form of a homemade pasta making lesson with Patrizio Andreini! Patrizio is Sara Andreini’s (our Italian director here) husband and a wonderful chef. He kindly spent his evening with us last Tuesday in the dining room of Palazzo Alberti demonstrating how to and helping us make fresh, homemade gnocchi and tagliatelle pastas. He made the dough (which consists of 12 eggs, an entire bag of flour, and some salt), kneaded it until the perfect density, and then cut off strips to begin making the tagliatelle. Each thick strip of dough is rolled out until thinner than a crepe, folded over, and cut to make a bunch of thick strips. Almost all of us had a turn at making the pasta, and the last two girls got to try their hand at gnocchi. Gnocchi (thick, plump dumpling-like pasta) dough is made with mashed potatoes, flour, and salt. The potato and flour are kneaded together until the perfect density is achieved, then thick strips are cut as well, but no rolling needs to be done—fat, little pieces of the strip are cut off in order to make the plump pastas. No pasta machine necessary—just the right ingredients and a rolling pin. Of course we ate it for dinner and it was delicious; maybe I’ll even try it at home…
The most recent fun-day we had was this past Sunday where we all helped make a large American-style brunch (a perfect Palm Sunday celebration) and sat eating and talking for several hours until our stomachs could hold no more. Eggs, sausage, pancakes, fruit, toast, oatmeal, coffee, juice, and water were all in attendance for our fancy brunch. It was a simple activity, but one that provided us with a literal “taste” of home just as we are all starting to miss it the most with the change in weather and Easter approaching. The food was delicious, the company enjoyable, and the sun streaming in through the windows turned our Sunday morning into the ideal American lazy brunch. We’ve all decided to do it again once more before we leave.
Despite all of the fun we’ve been having right here in Sansepolcro, we’re still taking group excursions and having fun on those as well. Last Saturday we headed to Assisi, most well known for St. Francis of Assisi—the patron saint of animals. I’m not sure if it was because of the warm weather and sun shining, or because of its location on the side of a mountain providing it with a gorgeous view of a valley below, but Assisi is lovely and definitely one of my favorite places visited to date. The narrow, winding roads that either took you up or down a hill depending on the direction you were walking made for a quaint feel to the town, and the palm trees (not native to the area, but Italians are big fans) and potted flowers in almost every window made it feel homey. Our first stop was the Cathedral; this dual-level church is home to some of the most spectacular frescoes depicting both the old and new testament on every inch of wall space available. St. Francis is buried in the bottom of the church, and his tomb is open to visitors in a small chapel where you can sit and reflect, or pray to him. We broke apart for lunch after our Cathedral visit, and most of us enjoyed a typical Italian meal in a trattoria before reconvening to head into the Carceri forest where St. Francis spent a lot of his time with the animals. However, some thunderstorms that were popping up in the area prevented us from taking our hike through the forest in order to observe various plants and natural life for science class; instead we adjusted our plans and headed to Monte Casale, another location at which St. Francis spent much of his time. The Monte Casale monastery is still in practice today, and the monks were very generous for letting us take a look around. We saw where St. Francis slept on a slab of rock (part of his renunciation of all things too comfortable) when he visited, as well as the chapel, some animals kept there, and the incredible view, as Monte Casale sits on the side of a mountain. The visit to Assisi refreshed our memories on information we learned about the Cathedral in art history class, and we were still able to observe some natural plant life at Monte Casale, so all in all it was a successful day.
Our Easter travel break is this weekend and I’ve been looking forward to our trip down south for some fun in the sun in Sorrento, Capri, and Pompeii. Happy spring and Happy Easter, everyone!
Ciao for now,
Hilary
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