Basta pasta!

Three weeks left in Rome and we're all trying to cram as much as we can into the time we have left! That means both a lot of traveling and a lot of work, so it's just a whirlwind of activity in general over here. This post is about a week belated, but in keeping with chronological order I thought I'd describe last weekend's adventures before I get into what I did this week/weekend.

If I had to assign a defining characteristic to last weekend's activities, it would be pasta. Not that pasta isn't a defining charateristic of Italy in general, but it was particularly abundant that weekend.

Thursday night a group of us went to the Italian Film Festival, where they were screening the premiers of several movies. We happened to stumble upon the movie stars from the popular American film "Catching Fire" while they were walking down the red carpet. I'm not one to get particularly "star-struck" but I have to say it was a fun way to spend a night. The very best part came later though, when we went to a local restaurant renowned throughout JForce for its signature dish: pear pasta. And the pasta was ah-mazing! It was this kind of dumpling-like noodle filled with pear and served in cheese and carrot sauce, and it was by far one of the best things I have eaten in all of Italy. Which is saying a lot!

Friday was a day of more pasta, as some other friends took me out to dinner at a place called L'Archetto, famous for its 113 different kinds (yes, we counted) of spaghetti. I had spaghetti with this delicious kind of walnut sauce - really different but really good! The waiters there were very funny and also slipped me a bite of tiramisu when they learned it was my birthday! We spent the rest of the night out in Rome and I had a really good time; Rome is definitely an incredible place to celebrate a birthday!

Saturday I jumped on a day-trip hosted by the campus ministry to Assisi. We left very early in the morning and took a bus a few hours out to the town. Assisi was absolutely beautiful; I suspect that visiting after tourist season helped, but the town was just so peaceful and lovely and, well, I suppose I can show you what I mean:

Welcome to Assisi

The courtyard outside the Basilica of St. Francis (the pope visited here in October)

Strolling about town

Pilgrims in Assisi

 Since it was hosted by campus ministry, two priests from JForce led the trip, which gave us some excellent insider views and information. First we visited the Basilica of St. Francis, which is built into the side of a hill. The basilica has two churches - the cave-like lower church and the elaborate Gothic upper church, as well as the crypt of St. Francis. After the tour, we actually had mass in the basilica, and then were set free to explore the town on our own. A few friends and I went to eat lunch in the main piazza in town, which was very nice (but maybe a little pigeon-infested)! Afterwards, a seminarian took us to see the place where St. Francis was born, near a small little church, and later we recombined as a big group to tour a few more churches (a main focus of Assisi).

One of the churches, Santa Maria degli Angeli, was particularly interesting. Inside the enormous church is the porziuncola, another, smaller church which was originally built on the site. So it was basically a church within a church. The tiny porziuncola was apparently the place where St. Francis lived and died, and around which he founded the Franciscan order. Since so many pilgrims came to the church after his death, the pope eventually ordered a much bigger church - the basilica - to be built around it without demolishing the church that was already there - hence the tiny porziuncola nested within the giant basilica. You never know what you might see in some of these Italian churches...

Santa Chiara, St. Clare's church

A small portion of the quite large Basilica of St. Francis

Santa Maria degli Angeli, home to the church within a church

We had time to chat with Friar Matteo, a young Franciscan brother at Santa Maria, about his life. He was very funny: he told us the story that when he learned Pope Francis had taken the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi, he was so excited that he tackled one of the much older brothers to the ground. "But luckily he survived!"

By the time our tour was finished, it was getting dark, and we hopped back on the bus to go to dinner. Once again, the Italians took care of us, and we had an immense meal; I thought I was full after the first course, but there turned out to be about 5 more after it (including two dishes of pasta)! Luckily the friends I was sitting with provided the moral support so I could eat everything - and it was so delicious!

Sunday was spent prepping for my research presentation and working on papers for classes, so nothing much to report, but I was glad the presentation went so well on Tuesday. It also happened to be followed by another large meal of pasta (though I also got to try wild boar, so that's an interesting fact). I feel like I must apologize to anyone who has read this and is now hungry. What can I say? So much revolves around food here in Italy. If it's any consolation, I haven't had a really good American burger in a really long time...