Hotel Sant'Ercolano Perugia

... Birthplace of st Francis) and sits on top of a hill looking very sacred. We climbed to the top where an old fortress stands and saw the sights before heading home.
(Whitney)

We had a pretty chill time in Perugia. It is a very nice area of italy- a bit more how I pictured Italy, actually. Locals on the bus helped us to get to the hostel but we finally made it. We stayed in a really cute farmhouse with horses and ...

... is famous for its chocolates. You can see that little architecturally has changed with-in the city walls in the last 400 hundred years. With a mix of past glories and a youthful vibe from the university it has a charm that is hard to resist.

We walked up to Piazza IV Novembre which for thousands of years was a meeting point for the ancient Etruscan and Roman civilisations. In the medieval period it was also the political center of ...

... The first Jewish culture in Tuscany.

Then we went to the Synagogue. which is a very peculiar building. It has been restored various times and is located in a street now named after Salomon Fiorentino. It tells of the lasting influence of the Jewish community in Tuscany. The most ancient parts of the Synagogue date back to restorations carried out in 1729-32.

At Monte San Savino Jews were present in two distinct periods:

1421 to 1571, with banks lending ...

So we are really excited that we are getting to go swimming and sunbathing. In goes Castiglione Del Lago into Harriet... we arrive and both said... oh... it was gross. All muddy and nasty. So we then drive to Passignano thinking ...

... unlucky for us they werent working! I was huffing and puffing by the time we get to the top. We wander around the main street and then Im determined to find the place where the games are held. We start walking up, and up and up on the steepest streets you have ever seen! We get almost there and thought the road didnt go any further, then I lost Kathleen... so I walk all the way down ...

... s room. Once because I am a stupid touriste, the second time because drastic times call for drastic measures. And on the subject of bathrooms, many of them here have an I’ve-fallen-and-I-can’t-get -up alarm built into them in the form of a red ball hanging at the end of a long string attached to the wall. When I noticed it in our hotel in Siena I was curious but didn’t pull it because I didn’t know where the alarm would go off. The ...

... lunch we stumbled on a look-out and found a little Italian family having lunch there as well. We scouted a grassy spot under some trees and laid out our quilt and had lunch. We drank our chilled white wine while eating our pecorino cheese, prosciutto, fresh bread and juicy peaches. I took pictures, Marty read until we both dozed off, while hearing the happy sounds of the Italian family under the bright blue sky and ...

... and promised to exploit me! Once the writing assignments begin, I think I will have my hands full! In the meantime, I had my hands full with counseling all last week, primarily with adjustment issues - roommates, cold apartments, feeling unsafe on the streets, etc. Mainly I was dealing with American students' sense of entitlement - I want what I want and I want it now! Trying to suggest strategies for dealing with adversity - to people who ...

... Anyway, I will try and update again soon...it's pretty hard to keep in touch with the outside world because we don't have any sort of internet access (except at school), and I'm still waiting for my phone to arrive. I guess I already miss the modern conveniences of home, but it's definitely worth it! I hope everyone back home is doing well and avoiding the heat! (it's been beautiful weather here..it even rained the other day!) ciao, Kasey

... actually been to Vancouver last year so we had a nice chat about that. Assisi was great. It's also quite busy with tourists, but not like packed, just you know that most people you pass in the street are tourists. I started off at the top of the town, at the Rocca Maggiore, which is the fortress built to fortify the city, and occasionally oversee the city in times of rebellion. The rocca was very cool. It was quite the hike up a winding paved road to get to the rocca, which you could ...