A Pisa My Mind

Well, this was a week full of little treasures.  We did not have any major adventures, just some small things that really made the week fun.  On Wednesday, we played Ultimate Frisbee in the park, which was a lot of fun. Based on the number of Italians who stopped and stared, I’m sure they thought we were insane.  It was about 60 degrees outside, so most of us were in t-shirts and some of us were even in shorts.  Meanwhile, all of the Italians were still in their heavy coats, scarves and sweaters as they took a walk through the park.  Clearly, we were not Italians.  We had a relatively friendly game until the rules started to become a little too fluid for some of us, but it was still fun!  We even had a couple Italian students playing with us.  And we got some healthy exercise in with all that running!

Mom sent me this photo this week

and I think it needed to be shared!

 When Friday rolled around, we went to Pisa and Lucca for the day.  We climbed up into the leaning tower, which was interesting since the stairs are slanted and they were quite worn from all the people who have climbed them over the years. I did not get my customary picture holding up the tower, but that’s okay.  We were running a little short on time!  We did get to go into the church, baptistery, and cemetery that make up the Pisa complex, though.  According to legend, the burial ground at Pisa contains dirt from the hill where Christ was crucified.  They claim that the dead buried there do not decompose because of this dirt.  And did you know that one of the monuments men, Dean Keller, is buried in the cemetery in Pisa? He did extensive work in Tuscany during the war, particularly in Pisa and Florence.  In fact, the Camposanto Monumentale where he is buried (at least in part) is a site that he tried to protect and restore during and after the war.  The site caught fire in 1944 and the frescoes were severely damaged, but Keller enlisted men and art experts to restore and protect the remaining frescoes.  How cool is that?!

Grave of Dean Keller, 

one of the Monuments Men

The kids in orange and blue were just school kids 

that were walking by as we took the pictures!

Saturday was filled with last minute plans.  Ryan (a friend) and I started the day with shoe shopping at timberland, since we both needed good, waterproof shoes.  Unlike Oklahoma, Italy actually has a rainy spring and neither of us had appropriate shoes! Not to mention, with all the walking we’re doing, I’m wearing through my shoes a lot faster than usual as well.  They were expensive, but they were totally worth it!  We also decided to take an afternoon train into Florence because part of the Body World exhibit is on display there.  Funnily enough, it is actually being held in a church, Santo Stefano al Ponte.  We all thought that this was really odd and funny, but then again Italy doesn’t exactly have a lot of free space other than in the unused churches!  The exhibit was only partial, but it was still a lot of fun to see.  It focused on the cardiovascular system mostly, but also had some of the digestive system too.  Afterwards, we went to Hard Rock Café for dinner because we were all craving some American food.  Yes, it was rather pricey, but it was totally worth it.  Pasta and pizza are great, but sometimes you just need a pulled pork sandwich or nachos!  And oh my god was the food delicious!

Today, we had a kind of family game night.  We had board games like Monopoly and Settlers of Catan and we also had a few decks of cards.  I joined a group that was playing Egyptian Rat Tail (or Slap) and then we started a game called President.  Both were a lot of fun and it was nice to just do something kind of family like.  It was fun and relaxing to not have any classes or trips to worry about and to just chill in the monastery. 

Well, I thought that this was going to be a rather short post, but clearly I was wrong.  It was definitely nice to have a rather chill week without any major adventures or crazy travel plans.  Next week we’re thinking of going to Cinque Terre to do some hiking and see the sights.  I’ll let you know how that goes!