First off, you should know that the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is pretty large. The basilica consists of two main levels – upper and lower – plus crypts underneath the main structure, as well as the requisite bell tower and related private rooms above the upper level. I spent about three hours exploring…
Tag: italy
Exploring Assisi – The Unintentional Pilgrimage (Part 2)
I first fell in love with medieval architecture in high school, on a trip to the UK. By college, I was firmly obsessed with medieval religious structures and art, with a particular interest in reliquaries (boxes, baubles, and statues created to hold holy items, like saints’ bones and so-called pieces of the true cross). I…
Exploring Assisi – The Unintentional Pilgrimage (Part 1)
In the summer of 2012, I went to Europe for a best friend’s wedding. Before I left, I quit my job of four years. I’d hated working there pretty much from the beginning, and had just been holding on until a better job came along. One never did. So it was with a mixture of…
Weekly Photo Challenge: Sea (Memories of the Adriatic)
The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge asks that we post photos illustrating our idea of the sea. These three snapshots are from my trip to Italy and Croatia last summer, and serve as melancholy reminders that in a life divorced from the water, I can only be half of myself. When I think of the…
Weekly Photo Challenge: Curves
One of the most sumptuous and satisfying meals of my life – housemade spaghetti with clams, my own bottle of house white, crusty Italian bread, and off to the side, the remainder of a fresh octopus salad. I took this photo last June as I sat along one of the lagoons in Murano, enjoying the sound…
Vacation Archives – Day #7: Assisi
This is an entry from the Vacation Archives, a somewhat tardy report of my adventures in Croatia and Italy. On June 6th, 2012, I took a day trip from Perugia to Assisi, home of St. Francis. He was a little bit nutty, very kind to animals and big into simplicity and genuine kindness…my kind of…
Vacation Archives – Day #6: Perugia
This is an entry from the Vacation Archives, a somewhat tardy report of my adventures in Croatia and Italy. On June 5th, 2012, I travelled from Venice to Perugia, where I had gone out of my way to book a room at a century-old luxury hotel. Hmmm. So much for specifically paying for a hotel…
Vacation Archives – Day #5: Murano
This is an entry from the Vacation Archives, a somewhat tardy report of my adventures in Croatia and Italy. On June 4th, 2012, I spent the day exploring Murano and Burano, two of the islands in the Venice lagoon. Both islands are famous for artisanship, with Murano being the historic home of fine glassmaking, and…
Vacation Archives – Day #4: Venice
This is an entry from the Vacation Archives, a somewhat tardy report of my adventures in Croatia and Italy. On June 3rd, 2012, I left Croatia with about an hour’s sleep, after a night of drinking and singing, and caught several modes of transportation toward Venice, Italy. This was written after settling in for the…
Vacation Snapshots
Sorry for my absence. I never thought it would be so difficult to find wifi while traveling. Right now I’m on a train to Florence, so I thought I’d take some time to post some random (crappy) photos I’ve taken with my iPad thus far. Hopefully I’ll have Internet at my hotel tonight, and I’ll…
Compass & Quill 