Daily Updates
Week One: Sept. 25
25 September. Adam reporting: Today we slung our possessions over our shoulders and drove northwest to Chiusi, the site of an ancient Etruscan town, now famous for its forty-one necropoli (ancient cemeteries) and for being the birthplace of Lars Porsenna, an Etruscan king who in 508 allied himself against the Romans with their deposed king Tarquinius Superbus. We visited a museum at Chiusi that featured so-called “canopic” urns which closely resembled hollow shrunken clay heads atop armchairs, sarcophagi which bore violent depictions of sacrifices and battle scenes, Etruscan imitations of Greek vases which looked oddly similar to modern comic strips, and other ancient artifacts. Then we took the bus to two Etruscan tombs nearby where the original paint used to decorate them was still visible on the chamber ceilings. It was interesting to note the bright and diverse colors in the tombs and on sarcophagi: stripes of red and black and yellow and other colors in one case. We left Chiusi and drove out of the white wine country (Umbria) and into red wine country (Tuscany). Briefly we stopped in Pienza, an attractive Renaissance town in the hills, less for academic purposes than for aesthetic and gastronomic ones. We ate lunch while gazing out beyond cypress trees at the Tuscan countryside. Yes. It IS as gorgeous as you’ve all heard. After walking around for a while in beautiful Pienza, which specializes in cheese, porchetta (slices of rotisserie pig), seasonings, and Chianti, we drove over hill and over dale to our hotel outside Siena. The Belvedere just happens go be an elegant Tuscan villa overlooking miles and miles of gorgeous towns, hills, olive trees, and vineyards. Versailles has nothing on this place. Some went walking, running, and biking in the countryside, while most stayed at the Belvedere and took a dip in the swimming pool. This brought back warm feelings of nostalgia because the waters reminded us of the Connecticut River in April - they couldn’t have been colder. But we decided to put up with a little cold for a swimming pool in paradise. Professor Ulrich asked us if we wouldn’t mind basing the rest of our trip here, and we decided it wouldn’t be the best idea because, if we were to stay any longer, he’d never be able to tear us away. This would have been especially true after we all witnessed the evening’s absolutely heart-stopping sunset. After a few hours of laboring over our journals and papers, we paused for an evening repast: a four-course meal featuring some of the most delicious Italian food we’ve had since the trip began. We even summoned the chef to give him our compliments. Buon gustoso! And we get to do it all again tomorrow… *smiles all around*
25 September. Chiusi: first stop of the day
25 September. One of the well known "canopic" urns
25 September. A cinerary urn
25 September. A cippus, or burial marker
25 September. An unusual cinerary urn
25 September. A sphinx
25 September. A well preserved, painted cinerary urn
25 September. A detail
25 September. Museum model of one of the chamber tombs in Chiusi
25 September. Mysterious student interaction
25 September. The hill town of Pienza
25 September. A view from the town
25 September. A local courtyard
25 September. The Tuscan countryside as seen from the bus
25 September. Our luxurious hotel outside Siena
25 September. Working hard...?
25 September. MJ: painter extraordinaire
25 September. The Hotel Belvedere
25 September. Peter, framed by an arch
25 September. View from the hotel
25 September. The Hotel Belvedere
25 September. Pool with a view