pisa!

So, as i changed the welcome message on my phone to "stop being lazy", i havev decided to give it my all to stop being lazy. unfortunetly this means wake up at 630 every morning of the weekend. But so far I have managed to visit Assisi, Pisa, Lucca, and tomorrow Populonia. and while i have noticed that highways in italy are reminscent of North Jersey, every 30 miles or so there is a wonderfully preserved quaint town from the 1400s. after spendinf probabaly a total of 8 hours ina bus over the past couple of days, i haven gone to church for the first time in 8 years. well gone into a church too i suppose. the first place we went, Assisi, named for the st. francis, had the church of San Francisco. a modestly decorated exterior with an itialian gothic interior. as soon as we walked into the church a childrens chior began to sing an opening hymn of a real mass. the dimly lit interior sparkled with candleight which caseed the gold guilding to reflect of the wonderful Giotto blue ceiling. the entire surface of hte inside was painted with orientalized details, and the roof of the church was actually painted to look like the sky. Frescos blow me away, because i cant paint that fast, and i have no idea how they were created so seamlessly. the enture church was gorgeous and full of wonderfull relics. The most poerful being the actual crypt of st francis. Im not sure if his body actualy resides there but there is quite an elaborate tomb. the crypt was three levels below the main church, and had pictures of loved ones slid in between wrought iron bars. I kind of wanted to leave something of mine there, but i didnt have anything on me at the time. but im pretty sure once a day some one cleans up the photos and throws them out, which would completely destroy the romantic aspect of the ceremony. being a non religious person. i had to admitt that there as a certian omnipotence that surrounded the who;le ordeal. I guess, for me, st francis has alwasy been interesting, his whole stigmata business. which i am half conviced is foul play on the part of religious fanatics, and half convinced that gabriel byrne actually rescued patrica arquette from the wounds of christ. church miracles and mystisim have always interested me. it was cool to acutally be there.

Last night i discovered how to steasl wifi from the school at night

then at 630 this morning I arose to go to Pisa and lucca. the pisa cathedral complex was amazing. inside of the church of the complex was a wonderfully preseved romanesque palace! complete with a tacky byzantine-like jesus mosaic in the apse (i used to know more about it but i forgot. Since the entire place is made of while marble, it was almost impossible to see with out sunglasses, and light/ heat was reflected everywhere making it one of hte hottest experiences. The cemetery outside the city aslls as also amazing. with a huge aray of roman sarcouphogai.. and an amazing fresco circa black death. The fresco showed the fight for souls between good andevil with flying devils and angels. unfortuently it had been mostly destroyed by world war two, it was still amazing. The leaning tower of pisa was also wonderful. its funny i never thought i would be there. so i decided to celebrate by taking the customary "holding up the tower" pictures and i am so glad i did. beause i know i will look back nad laugh at that. we then went to lucca, had a wonderful lunch at an outdoor cafe and ate the best mixed nut peanut brittle ever! lucca was a tony city that is supposed ly one of hte richest in italy. it was even cuter than florence becxause it didnt have any shady slum sections. I would like to go there around chirsmas, because they have all of these metal sculptures with candle holders on them all ofer hte sides of buildings. i am sure its glorious.

My winter break is from october 25th to November 4th. I am not sure what i am doing. I think we may try to spend halloween in Barcelona, then go to amsterdam. The first weekend i would like to go to berlin and munich. I really want to go to germany, but i cant convince people of its funality. so i may go alone, or with a friend from home... maybe
and then meet up with everyone else.

i think i want to go to germany for my dad. and see some battle fields or something. i htink i would like that, and he would enjoy the pictures.
i am a nerd

i dont think I am going to do anything too crazy tonight.
Poplonia Tomorrow for an etruscan archeological dig.
and i have so much HW

Arriverderchi