If you have read our Facebook page, you'll know that David and I are headed overseas to Assisi, Italy in October! We were able to use ALL 180,000 of my banked frequent flyer miles to book our flights and we swapped weeks with the timeshare to paying a small fee to do so. I am so excited and I can hardly wait until October!
When I was in college, I traveled to Europe on a May Seminar spending 1 week each in Italy, Germany, France and England. While in Italy, I stayed in Rome, Florence and Assisi. It has been 12 years since the last time I was in Assisi! I absolutely loved Assisi and this was the one place I was looking forward to visiting the most prior to our trip. I feel in love with St. Clare of Assisi and all that she stood for. The book we read about her was (and still is) the only book I read from start to finish during college! I also loved to read about her relationship with St. Frances of Assisi. The two of them were often thought to be lovers because they would spend many hours with each other. They were, however, just continually amazed with our Savior and loved discuss Him with each other.
I went digging into my scrapbooking piles to look for pictures of Assisi. I was young and dumb and didn't label my pictures. So I'll have to keep digging. I did find these other great shots from my trip!
Shane and I at the Colosseum, Rome, Italy
St. Peters Square, Rome, Italy
Ivory, Ali and I, Vatican City, Rome, Italy
The Duomo, Florence, Italy
Exploring in Germany
Bacharach, Germany
Religion Nerds...Germany??
Our fearless leaders: Sister Shawn and Dr. Hammerling
I also found the final assignment that I had to turn in at the end of my trip. Here is what I had to say about Assisi (Please remember that I was young...and dumb...and sucked (still do!) at writing)....
Assisi. Glorious Assisi. what a nice change it was to find ourselves in the "country" again. It allowed many of us a chance to have peaceful reflection. The only downfall was not being able to go into Clare's church. I was able to see San Damniano but I would have loved the opportunity to see her church.
Clare was th one woman that I told everyone about. i thought she was so "cool", to put it in my words exactly. She was remarkable when it came to her order. the level of devotion she had to God inspired to examine my faith. was I willing to give up everything I had to be closer to God? Was I willing to live in poverty for God? I realized that whatever God put in front of me I would take. I know that I could never live the way that she did.
The experience of San Damniano was the greatest one for me. We hiked down instead of up to get there. The monastery was beautiful and full of history. The once severely earthquake damaged building was nicely repaired for us to see. The best part of the tour of this magnificent monastery was seeing the place where Clare died. As the group rushed ahead of me, I found myself standing in the middle of the room looking at where the cross would have been on the wall. I compared the drawing in our guide pamphlet and the actual place. taking notice of where her bed was and where the windows were and I found myself imagining what it was like to be there and to live the life she did.
As I ran to catch up to the group, I felt as though an indescribable peace in Clare's room. I understood where she got her strength to live the way she did and how devoted she must have been. I understood how a woman could live her life in extreme poverty as a sign of utmost devotion to the Lord.
I am very excited to share this experience with David. I can't wait to go back to Rome, Florence, and Assisi and to be there with someone I love so very much!
