Perugia

We arrived in Perugia on July 17.  Although we had not planned it this way, it turned out that we arrived in time for a good portion of the international Umbrian Jazz Festival.  So from Thursday through Sunday, our days were filled relaxing and listening to great music. 

Perugia is home to a major Italian university (about 40,000 students), as well as a very large foreign language school, where people from all over come to learn Italian.  One benefit is that there is a regularly scheduled English Mass, which we found on Sunday afternoon.  However, since it is summer, and the students are all gone, we had the rare privilege of having a private Mass (one other guy came in after the homily—otherwise, we were the only ones there).  It was very special, to say the least.   

On Monday, we trekked to San Pietro in Perugia, where we met Fratelli Anselmo, an old college friend of Prior James.  He gave us the most spectacular tour of the church and attached Abbey.  Besides seeing a painting by Caravagio, we saw 300 year old vestments, the library, a museum containing various scientific seismographic machines invented by the monks there, and the recently discovered crypt, which dates back to the 3^rd century.  It was an unforgettable day.

On Tuesday, we headed to Assisi, where we had another fabulous day.  One of the highlights was meeting Kyle, a young man who is entering a monastery in September.  It is great to see young people give themselves entirely to Christ and the Church.  Here is a link to his blog, if you would like to learn more about this amazing young man.  http://www.anyoneseenkyle.blogspot.com/

On Wednesday, we headed to Spello and Spoleto.  Spello is a very small, medieval town.  Quite quaint.  Spoleto, though, has been one of my favorites, so far (at least what I saw of it).  Although much of the town is covered with scaffolding, it has one of the most amazing bridges I ever saw, an old aqua duct, called the Ponte della Torri.  It is 80 meters high and 240 meters long, spanning an incredible valley.  Apparently, it was the main water source during the Middle Ages.  I can't imagine how they built it, or how many died trying to build it!  You can walk across the bridge for some of the most spectacular views imaginable.  On the other side is a walking path that hugs the face of the mountain, also with incredible views.  So if you are interested in combining a great medieval town with the austere beauty of walking through the forest of a mountain, you should visit Spoleto.