Field Trip to Urbino

San Francesco Basilica

Madonna del Parto

Spinach and ricotta ravioli with bacon tomato and lardon sauce

Urbino in the rain from my window

Hotel turtle

Mixed salad and most amazing pasta with cheese shavings

Lise! The cutest, shortest dog

She chases her tail!

Palazzo Ducale

Ceiling in the library

Tiniest chapel

Crescia sfogliata

I went on an overnight field trip with my Early masters of Renaissance art class yesterday. We had a really condensed schedule. We left Florence at 8 am (obviously with my Mcdonald's breakfast in tow) and took a private bus to Arezzo. Not very much information about this trip was given in advance, for instance until I got on the bus the only information I knew was what time we were leaving and getting back. One thing I didn't realize was that our entire trip was a pilgrimage of a painter, Piero della Francesca. We went so many (too many) places in search of his works. 

Anyway, it started out in Arezzo at the San Francesco Basilica. He painted a fresco series of the True Cross from the Bacchi Chapel. From there we visited another church and then took the bus to Monterchi, in the middle of nowhere. There was the tiniest museum devoted to one fresco, the Madonna del Parto. We spent far too long looking at it and then drove to San Sepolcro. When we got there we went to a small panini place for lunch. There were only five of us in the entire trip (not counting my professor and the trip assistant who went elsewhere for lunch) and they wouldn't look at us or speak to us. We left and went to a much needed sit down lunch. I got ricotta and spinach ravioli with what the waiter described as "bacon sauce," which was somewhat misleading, but delicious all the same.  After lunch we went to Museo Civico in San Sepolcro and spent about two hours talking about four of Piero della Francesca's paintings. We then drove to Urbino where we were done with our lessons for the night and had free time. It was so cold, which was a nice change from Florence. The air smelled like burning wood and it felt nice to shiver. I only brought one light sweater, which is why I'm wearing it in every picture. We went to a long dinner and I got a mixed salad and some type of pasta. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but it was so good! We spent the dinner bonding and unwinding from the stressful, over-saturating day. After dinner we all went out for gelato. I shared a room in the hotel with another girl and we went to bed so early.

We woke up this morning and went to the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino. We spent three hours walking around looking at works including works by Piero della Francesca. It was education, long and exhausting (probably the theme of the trip). The highlight of the trip was seeing the "studiolo" of Federico da Montefeltro. All of the walls were covered in wood inlay and it looked three dimensional. There was so much detail and it was so intricate. Pictures were prohibited, so I had to include some I found on the internet (sorry for the blurry one). I can't imagine how much time and work must have gone into it! We got the most delicious lunch afterwards though! In Urbino they have these sandwiches called Crescia sfogliata and they're only made there. It's sort of like a sandwich/wrap, but the outside tastes like savory pie crust! Inside it had pipping hot cheese and salami. It's messy, gooey and everything I want in a sandwich. I'm not sure why they haven't made it out of the Urbino region!

Our teacher decided last minute that instead of spending the day in Urbino we should try to get in one last city, so after lunch we drove to Rimini. The trip assistant described it as the Jersey Shore of Italy, pointing out that they have minigolf, waterparks, a "miniature Italy" complete with a tiny colosseum and lots of discotechs. The church we wanted to go to, the Tempio Malatestiano, wasn't open for 45 minutes, so we stood in the rain for a while being lectured at and then sat in a cafe. By the time we got to the church we were so loopy from such a long two days that none of us could stop giggling. There were nuns in the church that were trying to pray, but we couldn't hold it together. While we were looking at yet another Piero painting I was trying to hold in my giggles, but the fact that I couldn't laugh kept making me laugh more, plus every time one person laughed we all did. My teacher was a good sport about it and I think understood that we were all tired and sick of Piero. We got back on the bus and got home around 6:30. As exhausting as it was, I'm happy I got to bond with the people in my class and did learn alot! Looking forward to a relaxing day in Florence tomorrow.