The week before Easter we went on our field trip Orvieto, a hilltop town near Rome. This is the location of the other K-State Italian Studies program, so after our tour we spent the afternoon with our fellow K-Staters. The program there is a little different in that those students live in apartments in the city and their study center is only open until 5 PM. Even though Orvieto is beautiful, I am glad that I chose to study in Castiglion. One reason is that because Orvieto is closer to Rome, it has more tourists. Castiglion is relatively untouched and very much Italian.
Our next field trip was to Perugia. This happens to be one of my favorite cities that we have visited. The original Medieval town was taken over by a "naughty Pope" and he enclosed the town with brick, blocking almost all sunlight. To enter into the historic center, you have to go up escalators that take you through the ruins.
Perugia is a sprawling city with beautiful views from all sides. On a clear day you can see all the way out to Assisi. This is also the town that Amanda Knox was studying abroad in. It is hard to imagine that such a beautiful city could have been the scene of such a horrific crime.
In Perugia, the stone has a wonderful color. Not quite the pink marble from Assisi, but a warm stone. The historic center has been nicely preserved and few cars are allowed inside.
Perugia also has a modern city that is navigable by the new Mini Metro system. We hopped off one of the stops to see some "great architecture." These buildings were designed by Aldo Rossi and the picture above is of a bank.
This building on the opposite side of the piazza is a multi use building, with shops on the lower floor and residential units above. Needless to say, I was greatly disappointed by yet another famous modern architect. The piazza and buildings were very sterile.
This past Wednesday we visited Montepulciano and Pienza. Montepulciano is famous for its great tasting wines...and all you Twilight fans, this was one of the filming locations for the movie.
It started out as a foggy day. We visited a Renaissance church and spent about an hour inside sketching its perfect proportions. Then we moved on to Pienza for my favorite part of the day.
Pienza is a utopian Renaissance town that was created by a man that later became Pope Pius II. The hills around the town have remained untouched since the days when Renaissance painters first captured their beauty. This is also where parts of The English Patient were filmed.
My favorite part of the trip was the lunch that was provided for us through our program. We had unlimited Montepulciano wine, which is very drinkable; three kinds of bruschetta; a delicious, generous portion of white lasagna; three types of meat: chicken, roast beef, and pork sausage; and then for dessert, tiramisu. I was nearly full after eating the lasagna, but somehow managed to fit a little bit more into my stomach. After lunch I sat on a park bench overlooking the valley below basking in the golden sun. It was nice to finally have some decent weather on a field trip day!
The week before Easter we went on our field trip Orvieto, a hilltop town near Rome. This is the location of the other K-State Italian Studies program, so after our tour we spent the afternoon with our fellow K-Staters. The program there is a little different in that those students live in apartments in the city and their study center is only open until 5 PM. Even though Orvieto is beautiful, I am glad that I chose to study in Castiglion. One reason is that because Orvieto is closer to Rome, it has more tourists. Castiglion is relatively untouched and very much Italian.
Our next field trip was to Perugia. This happens to be one of my favorite cities that we have visited. The original Medieval town was taken over by a "naughty Pope" and he enclosed the town with brick, blocking almost all sunlight. To enter into the historic center, you have to go up escalators that take you through the ruins.
Perugia is a sprawling city with beautiful views from all sides. On a clear day you can see all the way out to Assisi. This is also the town that Amanda Knox was studying abroad in. It is hard to imagine that such a beautiful city could have been the scene of such a horrific crime.
In Perugia, the stone has a wonderful color. Not quite the pink marble from Assisi, but a warm stone. The historic center has been nicely preserved and few cars are allowed inside. 
Perugia also has a modern city that is navigable by the new Mini Metro system. We hopped off one of the stops to see some "great architecture." These buildings were designed by Aldo Rossi and the picture above is of a bank.
This building on the opposite side of the piazza is a multi use building, with shops on the lower floor and residential units above. Needless to say, I was greatly disappointed by yet another famous modern architect. The piazza and buildings were very sterile.
This past Wednesday we visited Montepulciano and Pienza. Montepulciano is famous for its great tasting wines...and all you Twilight fans, this was one of the filming locations for the movie.
It started out as a foggy day. We visited a Renaissance church and spent about an hour inside sketching its perfect proportions. Then we moved on to Pienza for my favorite part of the day.
Pienza is a utopian Renaissance town that was created by a man that later became Pope Pius II. The hills around the town have remained untouched since the days when Renaissance painters first captured their beauty. This is also where parts of The English Patient were filmed.
My favorite part of the trip was the lunch that was provided for us through our program. We had unlimited Montepulciano wine, which is very drinkable; three kinds of bruschetta; a delicious, generous portion of white lasagna; three types of meat: chicken, roast beef, and pork sausage; and then for dessert, tiramisu. I was nearly full after eating the lasagna, but somehow managed to fit a little bit more into my stomach. After lunch I sat on a park bench overlooking the valley below basking in the golden sun. It was nice to finally have some decent weather on a field trip day!
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