Narni – Studio Josie

ponte d’augusto & narni sotteranea

On our eighth day, we woke up and ate an 8 a.m. breakfast in the hostel. The daily breakfast assortment was made up of espresso or juice, pastries, and fresh fruit. My favorite was the chocolate croissant; I looked forward to it every morning.

After breakfast, we walked towards the bus where we would drive to Ponte d’Augusto, an ancient arch bridge in Narni. Half of it is collapsed which, I learned, happened as a result of natural disasters. We didn’t spend much time here, but I took a couple of photos. We were really close, however, so I couldn’t get any great ones. Here’s a faraway shot I found online for you to get a better sense of its size.

After visiting the bridge, we headed to Covestro… a plastic factory.

Yup, on this trip I toured both a steel and a plastic factory. I certainly never thought I’d witness either in my lifetime, but here we are. I enjoyed Covestro a lot more than the steel factory, mainly because I wasn’t jet-lagged and sweaty the whole time. We sat in a fancy conference room (with A.C.!) for the first hour or so, learning about the factory and watching informational videos. Then, we got on fancy goggles, shoes, and hard-hats and began the tour.

These are mini pieces of plastic that were hung up in frames down the hallway I passed on my way to the bathroom. They look like sprinkles! (Oh, and the bathroom was **really** nice, in case you were wondering or if you ever, for whatever reason, visit Covestro.)

After eating lunch in the employee’s cafeteria and getting a loaded goodie bag from them, we headed back to the town. We got off the bus and decided to have some gelato at the gelateria in the main piazza.

I thought it was so funny that they wrote “???” instead of “mistero” (mystery).

Maia and I shared an affogato (espresso poured over gelato), and it was insanely delicious. Once I got home, I tried to make one with coffee and ice cream, but, unsurprisingly, it didn’t even come close to this 😦

A gelato, because I couldn’t survive solely on the affogato — lol. This is pistacchio and melone. I love the color combo.

After gelato, we went to another concert. This was a student piano player we watched in one of the churches. The one thing I will forever remember about this concert was the bat that flew around throughout the entirety of it. We saw lots of bats, especially on the hostel’s balcony, but this one was inside the church and it flew around a lot. I was pretty nervous watching it swoop constantly, and I kept thinking of this scene from The Office.

Watching the student performer… I wish I knew his name so I could link you to his music!

We had dinner at 7:30 and then began walking to our final destination of the day: Narni Sotterranea. This had to have been the coolest tour ever, and I’ll explain more in the captions below. Before coming here, I had no idea it existed, and it just makes me wonder how many other hidden gems there are all around the world.

Before our tour began, we watched the sunset and this unbelievable view.

I have no words! I remember everything about this moment: the light breeze, the sound of my friends laughing, and the smell of crisp summer air. It was perfect.

Posing with my lovely friends before taking the tour.

In the 1970s, a group of young men discovered this underground, twelfth-century church filled with frescoes on the wall. After uncovering the church, they found additional rooms that were all connected. Narni Sotteranea is the museum that it was turned into, and it is such a well-done and fascinating tour.

This is the church that the men first discovered. Behind this, there was a large TV screen that we watched a video on. The video was made up of visuals highlighting how they believe the church had been altered over the centuries. That was the moment my eyes opened and I became super invested in the tour.

Here’s another shot of the church and the frescoes.

They built glass over the original floor and added lights so you can see underneath.

I didn’t take any photos, but we went into a torture chamber that was just next door where they would, well… torture people who were convicted of witchcraft, heresy, bigamy, etc.

The next few photos are from my favorite part of the tour. After the torture room, we were led into a small cell. A man named Lombardini was imprisoned here, and during the time he spent there, he drew symbols and characters on all the walls. This article states that he was imprisoned because of his interest in “Masonic rituals” and he was “convicted as [a] heretic.” I recommend checking out that article I linked to if you’re curious to read more about it since I can’t explain every detail myself.

Do you see the yellow-colored drawings? To make those, Lombardini used a mix of wall dust and **urine**. So crazy, right?!

After seeing the cell, we walked upstairs and were surprised to be inside the San Domenico church which is where the tour ended. We were just there the day before for the gala concert, so it was crazy to know that there was so much history right underneath us we didn’t even know existed until that moment. Here’s a sixth-century mosaic they found in the church. There’s glass over it, so you can see right into it as you walk by:

Here’s the link to Narni Sotterranea’s website. If you ever find yourself in there — or even in Umbria — I highly suggest visiting this place and taking a tour. I genuinely had no idea this existed until we walked into the underground church, so it was a thrilling experience for me. Surprisingly, there isn’t as much info online as I would think. But regardless, it was one of the coolest things ever, and it is well worth your time.

The next day was pretty uneventful, and I don’t have too many photos to share anyway. To sum it up, we went to three different concerts and ate gelato. By the final concert, we were all exhausted and concert-ed out. We all sat in the back row of a huge church, making little puppets from the pamphlets we got and giggling at the worst times. So while we were all so tired and bored, we made the best of it. I have so many great memories from that night.

But anyway…
tomorrow we go to ROME!
Buonanotte!

narni, again!

We took a tour of Narni during the second week, and to be honest, I wish we had taken it on the first or second day. Learning the history and knowing the names of certain places/ structures we had passed every day made me appreciate our temporary home that much more. But, regardless of when it happened, it was still very interesting and a great morning.

The tour began as a history lesson. The teacher, who was also our tour guide, was super fun. The lesson was about an hour, so after the slideshow (which I included some funny transitions and pictures), we headed outside and began to tour the town.

This is one of the painted pillars of Chiesa di San Francesco. I have no idea whose hand that is, but I think it makes the photo a little more interesting 🙂

This is the outside of Palazzo Comunale di Narni which, from what I remember, is the main governmental building within the town. This is also where we met the mayor of Narni a couple of days prior.

Some really intricate detailing on this otherwise generic structure.

Ahhhh. This photo takes me back. We walked this stretch every day to and from the hostel. It was right in the center of town, and it was always filled with people.

Here’s a headshot-like photo of the Pope right near the entrance of the Cathedral of Saint Juvenal. This was the one we went to mass in, and it was my favorite of all the churches.

Here’s Mary in one of the corners of the church.

Excuse this blurry picture. Our tour guide said that this corner near the ceiling was the only piece of mosaic (besides the floor) within the church. I found this science journal that has some cool info on its preservation and history if you’re interested.

This is one of the most beautiful pieces of art I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure what it is about it — maybe it’s the mid-century looking wings around the frame or the glitter star that was added to the woman in the painting — but I couldn’t stop staring at it. And even now looking at the pictures, it takes my breath away! So gorgeous.

Here’s an up-close shot of it. I really want to learn more about this piece of the church but can’t find any info online. If you find anything, please share it with me! I love the mix of styles so much and would really like to know who the artist (or artists) is.

Here’s the side of the same wing. I love the rose design up near the ceiling and those long lines that match the wings on the golden frame.

Here’s another part of the church (sorry for my lack of church geography terminology!). It was really hard to believe that we had mass in here because we didn’t see any of the insane details until we actually took the tour.

This area in the very front of the church is *all* marble.

This is right above the stairs that lead to the marble. When I attended the mass, this was mainly all that I could see. It’s still incredible, but I am so happy I saw the rest of the church or I would have missed out big time!

Alright, this is from another church: Santa Maria Impensole. It is a lot smaller than the other one, and many of the original, 8th-century *frescoes* still remain.

After touring the churches and learning a bit about the town, we had some lunch and then went to a mosaic-making class! As you know, I love love love mosaics, so I was really looking forward to this.

One of our chaperones took this photo. These are some of the natural materials that they use in the mosaic pieces. Before designing our own, we each learned how to use the chopping tool to break a piece of the stone into tiny pieces.

They gave us some templates to work off of, but we were allowed to choose whatever colors we wanted.

This is mine before placing down the pieces.

I was really excited to do this project since I’ve never made any type of mosaic before, but I’m not too happy with the final outcome. I think it looks a bit like cat puke. But, oh well. If anything, making one myself made me appreciate the process more than I did before.

My friends and I used the back of our mosaics as “yearbooks,” and we all signed them with little notes and messages. Despite not really liking how mine looks, the messages written on the back will make me love it forever!

Surprise, surprise… another gelato. This time I was in dire need of chocolate (hello, period!), so I just got some classic *cioccolato* and some sort of Oreo flavor.

Hanging out with the neighborhood kitties while we waited for dinner.

After dinner that night, we had to go back to the hostel to change into nicer clothes for a concert. This was the big gala concert for the Narnia Festival’s grand opening, and since part of the scholarship was attending the festival concerts, we were all invited to attend. It was held at the Chiesa di San Domenico, a church that was elegantly decorated for the event. Despite the modern decor and design, its history was still very much preserved, presenting a lovely contrast as we walked through the doors.

For some reason, our group was not saved any seats in the audience. We were told to move to the side of the church and sit on the steps behind the walls next to the audience. This was a bit unexpected, but it ended up being a perfect surprise. My friends and I lied down on the steps, staring up at the most idyllic ceiling and listening to Vivaldi music. It felt like a dream, and I often wish I could go back in time and relive this moment.

Here’s the phenomenal painted ceiling we admired while taking in the music.

Halfway through the (very long) concert, we noticed people beginning to set up food behind us. It smelled so good, and there was so much of it, so we all got kind of antsy and were dying to eat. Once it ended, we were the first ones to get to it (score!). I can’t remember much of what I ate, but I do recall having some very good pizza and some sort of pesto pasta salad.

This is taken from the stairs we were lying down on; the audience is just past that wall. Once or twice during the concert, we noticed a photographer taking a photo of us all lying down and staring at the ceiling. I really wanna know where that photo is! Maybe we’ll be in the festival’s pamphlet next year 🙂

Believe it or not, that was just one day. The next day was a little less eventful, so I’ll share that tomorrow since it will be a much shorter post. Then, ROME! Ahhh. Buonanotte, i miei amici!

more from narni…

The next morning was Sunday, and for the majority of Italians, that means going to mass. We had the option of going both this Sunday and the next Sunday, so I decided to go on this day.

We went to mass in Narni at the St. Juvenal church. It was absolutely gorgeous inside, and we got to visit it again when we toured Narni a few days later (that will be in my next post!). Going to mass in Italy was a pretty cool experience, even though I couldn’t understand much of what they were saying!

After mass, we stumbled upon an outdoor art market that was going on in the square. There were a bunch of vendors selling jewelry and other random, homemade items.

This was the main area where the artists sold their work.

I bought a little recycled bowl for my mom at this woman’s booth. She had so many pretty pieces of jewelry, and much of it was made from recycled plastic. Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate the man’s outfit who’s standing on the left?! Ugh, I love it.

Here’s some of the lovely jewelry for sale.

And this is, perhaps, the most charming moped in all of Italy!

This is a flyer for the annual Gnocchi Festival in Narni. When I applied for this scholarship, I had to make a video researching an aspect of the town, and my topic was this festival! I used this flyer in my presentation, so it was really neat to see it in person.

After mass, we got to go swimming at a nearby pool which was a nice treat. We swam for a few hours, enduring the pain of the swim cap and trying not to get sunburnt.

The next thing that was on our schedule was “Narni Adventure.” None of us had any idea what that meant, but we soon learned that it was an underground obstacle course. In the town square, there’s a subway entrance-looking staircase that goes underground. Once you make it down the stairs, there are harnesses and hard hats hanging on the wall.

We watched the safety demonstration and were allowed to begin going through the course. I’m not the most coordinated person, so this was a bit of a challenge. Once we got to the end, there’s a zipline you take to the opposite end of the room. After that, you walk back to the other side and can rock climb up a wall. It was my first time rock climbing, but I made it to the top and rang the bell, whoooo!

Despite the stress that this induced, it was pretty fun. Narni Adventure is pretty new, and the employees working were super friendly. If you ever find yourself in Narni, go check it out!

After that, we walked a couple feet to the nearest gelateria. This cone was probably the best one I had. These flavors are so simple, pistachio and strawberry, but I remember it being the most refreshing afternoon treat.

We walked by this purple house nearly every day on our way to the hostel.

After gelato, we headed back to the hostel to shower and eat dinner. Dinner was made by our two teachers, and it was buonissima! There was homemade pesto with pasta, zucchini, spinach, and fresh fruit for dessert. I still dream about this meal.

Later that night we went out into town again to eat more gelato and hang out. There was a man with a karaoke machine, singing old Italian songs. My friends and I danced in the street next to him, probably looking crazy but having so much fun. After we stopped dancing, the people sitting outside at the surrounding restaurants gave us a round of applause. It was a pretty magical night and one of my favorite memories.

I love this photo of the fountain that stood within the piazza. I threw multiple euros in there with my friends over the course of the trip.

After hanging out in the town, we headed back to the hostel and went to sleep.

The next morning, we had breakfast and then a three-hour lesson from 9-12. After the lesson, we had lunch in town and hopped on a bus to Carsulae, an excavation site. I don’t have many photos, but — despite the unbearable heat — it was pretty cool to see people working on the excavations right in front of us.

After that, we headed back to Narni for dinner. This picture is taken in the center of town.

Yup, you guessed it: another gelato! The darker-colored one is coffee, and the white one is yogurt. My friend Jane tried yogurt and said it was good, so I was intrigued and tried some for myself. I really liked it, but it was a bit weird to have with coffee, haha.

Another cute piece of graffiti.

One of the things that made this trip so much fun was the fact that we were all overtired for much of it. We’d stay up late and then wake up early, so by the end of the day many of us would either be dead or get a random burst of energy. Also, the most random things were funny to us, such as this weird bumper sticker we saw on a Fiat.

And here’s yet another beautiful sunset to end the day. This is the view from my room at the hostel.

I have a lot of photos from the church we had mass in, so I’ll share those in my next post, along with pictures from the mosaic class we took (and more gelato photos, I’m sure!). Ciao!

narni & amelia

On the first full day, we visited a steel factory early in the morning. No one particularly wanted to do this, but it was on our itinerary, so we headed there after eating breakfast at the hostel.

We had to wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt for safety, along with steel-toe boots and goggles they provided for us. 10/10 would not recommend this outfit in 90-degree heat in front of huge flames producing steel!

Even though that experience was less-than-ideal, we all made the best of it, and the steel factory was the punchline of many jokes throughout the rest of the trip.

Because we were all sweating like pigs after the factory tour, we got to go swimming at a super nice public pool. This was a really fun experience because in Italy you have to wear swim caps! Well, I shouldn’t say fun…the pain of taking off a latex swim cap is the worst! But nevertheless, it was super nice to cool down and relax at the pool for a few hours.

Looking back, my friends and I were so lucky to have become so close that early on because it gave us more time to spend together. While most of us were in the same room at the hostel, it wasn’t until the middle of the first day that we all kind of solidified and started to become close.

After we swam, we had a few minutes to kill while waiting for the rest of the group to change clothes before heading to lunch. I remember sitting at a little table, pulling up extra chairs so everyone could fit, and going around sharing what our future goals were and what we planned to do after high school. This was the start of our question/conversation circle which we would have at every meal. I miss it so much!

That day wasn’t too eventful, which was very nice because we were all a bit jet-lagged, so I’ll share photos from the next day…

Here’s a lovely view of one of the streets in Narni. We would have to walk up and down streets like this to get to the hostel from the town square every day. It was kind of miserable at first, but after the first few days, I grew to love the crazy streets and alleyways. Multiple times during the trip I’d get random bursts of energy and would feel the need to sprint up the hills! 🙂 Looking back, I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I had so much fun in those moments.

That morning, we had our first Italian lesson. I was super nervous because I’m just a beginner, but by the end, I enjoyed the lessons a lot. Our two teachers, Marco and Benedetta, were wonderful, and they made the class super interesting and fun. After the first lesson, we went to the town square to meet the major of Narni!

We had lunch afterward and relaxed at the hostel for a bit. Then, later in the afternoon, we walked about thirty minutes uphill to a castle called La Rocca di Narni. While the walk up was a bit strenuous, the views we saw made me completely forget about the hills.

This picture doesn’t do justice to the view. Endless green mountains and a perfect blue sky! Oh, and look in the middle on the left side of the picture….there’s a house there! So cool.

This is the outside of La Rocca.

And this is inside! In the picture below, you can see the different types of stone used on the wall because of the many renovations they’ve done over the centuries.

The gorgeous view from the top of La Rocca. You can even see our beloved steel factory.

Our tour guide at the castle was great. She spoke in Italian mostly, but when it was a confusing topic she would clarify in English. This is a picture of nuts, beans, and seeds: all of the ones here were a large part of the diet during medieval times/when the castle was inhabited.

Because the walk up to the castle was so long, we were all super sweaty and hot by the end. We saw clouds beginning to roll in and were hoping there’d be a thunderstorm to cool us off! Thankfully, it started to rain a bit on the walk down. Now that I’m recapping this day, I think it was definitely one of my favorites. But to be honest, I could say that for every day!

Here are me and my friends at La Rocca…

Oh, I wish you could smell this picture. There were a few lavender (lavanda!) bushes up on the hill, and we all picked and smelled them for a few minutes before heading back. It was the most picturesque moment. I still have some sitting on my shelf, and every time I smell it I’m instantly reminded of Narni and my lovely friends.

Here’s a shot of the houses we walked by while heading back to the hostel.

And this has got to be one of my favorite pictures I took!

After dinner, we returned to the hostel and got ready for a 9:30 performance we would be attending. This was the first of many shows/concerts we went to, and it was quite interesting. It was called “To The Moon,” and, because it was in Italian, I didn’t understand all that much. I can tell you that it was about the first moon landing and that there was beautiful piano music throughout. Here’s a photo of us before the show:

After the show ended, it was nearly midnight, but many of us were hungry for gelato. So, even though we were all kind of tired, we stuck around in the square (it was very lively since this was a Friday night) and ate gelato together, discussing the play we had just seen.

And then we went to bed.

The next day was Saturday. We had breakfast at 8 a.m. and headed to a town called Amelia shortly after relaxing on the balcony and getting ready.

I love this photo. I would do anything to be sitting at that table in the hot sun again with all of my friends!

Eeeee! Spot the kitty in this photo!

We arrived in Amelia around 10:30 and headed straight to a bakery. This is my group walking down one of the streets in the town. Try to find me! 🙂

Look at how gorgeous these desserts are. Too pretty to eat!

My friend Isabella and I shared a cannolo. It wasn’t as good as the one I had in Taormina this April, but it was still pretty tasty.

Next, we went to an archaeological museum called Museo Civico Archeologico e Pinacoteca. It was pretty neat and really well-designed, and there was a lot to see! The tour guide then took us to the Teatro Sociale of Amelia which is a beautiful theater. I’ve always wanted to sit in one of those theater boxes, and I finally got the chance to!

The view looking down.

The painting on the ceiling is gorgeous. I love how it looks like an addition to the balcony. And, of course, the flying babies are great, too XD

This is the incredible ceiling inside the theater’s dressing room.

This green door makes me very happy.

Oh, so beautiful! It looks like a painting.

The cutest hedgehog street art.

After lunch in Amelia, we headed back to Narni for a cooking class. We made a pasta salad and tiramisu, and there was also a meat dish with prosciutto I can’t remember the name of. Here’s a picture of me cheesin’ it up while I mix the mascarpone…

The cooking class was held in the center of a restaurant. We were surrounded by four walls covered in vines as we cooked and ate dinner.

The food we made was delicious, of course. It was definitely one of my favorite meals, and my friends and I had a really special conversation that night which made it ten times better.

Here’s one last picture of some pretty houses I saw after our cooking class that evening…

That’s all for today. This was only my fourth full day, so I have lots more to share. Buonanotte!

narni, italy – the flight & our first day

If you didn’t know, this past July I had the opportunity to visit Narni, Italy for two weeks. It was a trip run by the Italian language company IACE and the Narnia Music Festival. In the spring, with the help of my Italian teacher, I created a video that I submitted to IACE. I won the scholarship contest and was one of the twenty other students selected to go.

While making the video, I didn’t think much of the trip. I was only a beginner in Italian, and I knew there were tons of other students entering who were ten times more advanced and qualified than I was. I didn’t think I would win, but I tried my best anyways and attempted staying positive about it. When I found out I won, I was shocked, confused, and excited; it didn’t really kick in that I was going to Italy again until I was at the airport.

I’ll talk more about this as I continue sharing photos, but the main reason why it has taken me so long to write about it is because of how special it was for me. The two weeks I spent in Narni changed my perspective on life and opened my eyes in so many ways. I met the most lovely, intelligent, and special friends there, and I laughed (and cried!) more than I had in a long while.

So, you see, the reason I haven’t been able to write about it is that I don’t think I can translate into words how much it meant to me. Also, I feel as though many of the memories are more personal, you-had-to-be-there memories, and I don’t want to over-explain them because I don’t know if they’ll make any sense.

Well, I’m going to try my best to give you an accurate taste of the incredible trip I went on this past July. I hope you enjoy… Andiamo!

My trip begins at JFK Airport in New York on Monday, July 16th. My dad, brother, and I left home at around 8:30 to get to the airport around noon. Once we got there, we had about an hour and a half to kill before I had to meet up with the rest of the group. I ate a snack in the food court area, and my dad got some airport sushi which wasn’t actually half bad. Then, around two p.m., we walked to the check-in counter and met up with the group.

I knew no one in this group, except for the other student from my school who won the scholarship as well. He happened to be in my class, too, so we had the same skill level in Italian, which made me feel a lot better. Other than him, the only known commonalities within our group were 1) we all live on the East Coast and 2) we all are learning Italian. I hadn’t spoken to anyone else before the airport, and this was my initial fear about going on the trip.

Once we checked our bags, it was time to say goodbye to our families and head to security. The line leading up to security was awkward, and no one really spoke to each other. I find it funny looking back at that moment; while going through security on our way home, everyone was talking or laughing their way through the line.

We made it past security and were given free time to wander around until we had to board. There were some students from the same school who paired up and wandered off, but many of us didn’t know anyone. When the group split up, I didn’t know what to do, so I put on my shoes and slowly began to wander. Immediately, I thought that the whole trip would be like this and I’d be alone and awkward the whole time. Horrible thoughts swirled around my brain, but then I remembered I brought four books and would have plenty of time to read (more on that later…), so maybe I would be okay after all.

I quickly exited my negative frame of mind when someone walked up next to me. She said, half-laughing, “I’m not really sure what to do…” and I replied, “yeah, me neither…” (or something like that). From there, we introduced ourselves, and I made my first new friend: Maia.

We talked for a while and made our way to the gate where we continued our conversation. My negative thoughts ceased for the time being, and I was just so happy to have made a friend that early on.

We continued talking until we had to board the plane. Our seats weren’t near each other, so I met two new girls who were my seatmates. I didn’t talk to them at all, which, again, I find funny because the girl who sat next to me ended up being one of my close friends by the end of the trip!

On the eight-hour ride to Germany (where our layover was), I watched Green Book and Can You Ever Forgive Me?, two of last year’s Oscar-winners that were on my to-watch list (both were fantastic, by the way!). I also tried to sleep on the plane because I knew we’d be getting into Rome with a whole day ahead of us, but I was not very successful in doing so.

The eight-hour flight ended eventually, and we landed in Germany at around seven a.m. The Germany airport was super cool. We had some time to explore, so Maia and I rode down the moving sidewalks and checked out the little kiosks and shops near our gate. After about an hour in the airport, we began boarding the flight to Rome.

This flight was only two hours long, but it may have been the worst flight of my life. There wasn’t turbulence or anything: I just felt sick the whole time. I was constipated (TMI?), I was hungry, I felt nauseous, I was exhausted, my back hurt like crazy, and I was stuck in between two smelly men. I have never felt worse in my life. It felt SO. GOOD. to get off of that plane!

Once we exited, we found our bags and got to change out of our sweaty and smelly clothes. We walked to the tour bus, loaded our luggage, and then we were off!

Our first stop was Ostia Antica, an ancient archeological site outside of Rome. I don’t think this will be surprising, but this part of the trip was not easy to enjoy and appreciate. We were given about an hour and a half of free time to explore the site, but everyone was exhausted, hot, and hungry, so there wasn’t much learning that went on.

Maia and I walked through the site and made it to the food court which was, oddly, in the center of the site. We bought some watermelon and a bag of Cheeto-like chip things called Crick Crok.

I LOVE these trees.

This is an original 7th-century mosaic.

Here’s the theater right within the site. Apparently, they still do shows here, which is really cool. It reminded me a lot of the Greek theater I saw in Taormina, Sicily!

I kept saying this as we roamed around: I truly wish we had come here another day. I’m sure I’d have appreciated it after a good night’s sleep while wearing some clothes that weren’t drenched in sweat!

From there, we drove for about an hour and a half to get to the hostel in Narni. I had a surprisingly good nap on the bus which energized me for the insanity that was about to occur…

Once we made it to Narni, the bus dropped us off in the town square (since the streets are far too narrow for it to drive down). We took our bags out of the bus and began the walk to the hostel.

If you didn’t know, Narni is a medieval town, meaning that basically everything is made from cobblestone. The ground is all cobblestone, too, which is lovely… when you’re not dragging a suitcase. Uphill. In 90-degree heat.

I feel like we all deserve medals for making it to the hostel that day. For real, though, I can’t complain… I was in ITALY, after all! And once we got to the hostel, we enjoyed this view from the balcony! It was completely worth it.

Just thinking about the balcony at the hostel makes me so happy. My friends and I would stay up late talking out there as bats flew around us and lizards climbed the walls. The view was breathtaking, and I can’t believe I got to wake up to that every single day.

This is what you saw looking behind the hostel: rows and rows of mix-matched houses, all of which fit perfectly together.

After showering and relaxing for a bit, we got to explore the town as we headed to dinner. Remembering these little things makes me so sad and happy. I remember the big memories, the ones that everyone reminisced about the most… but the little things don’t always cross my mind as much. When they do, though, they always bring a smile to my face. I hope the little moments of this trip never escape from my memory.

This picture, for example… I remember so vividly sitting on the street staring up at that building. We were waiting outside a theater for a presentation to begin, and everyone was (still) exhausted. I couldn’t believe I was in Italy at that moment; it took quite a while for that fact to settle in. All the time, my friends and I would remind each other that we were actually there, but it took a couple days for it to hit me.

And here we have a photo of my dream car. Whenever I see Fiats here in the US while I’m driving, I am instantly taken back to Italy 🙂

Here’s a photo I took while waiting for dinner. I am still in awe at how preserved these homes and buildings are. Being in Narni truly felt like we were in a different century.

Ahhhh, the cats! This is the first of many cat photos.

There were tons of stray cats throughout the town. It was glorious, and we all made friends with them. I find it interesting that in Sicily I only saw stray dogs, but here I only saw stray cats. There were many dogs here that were on leashes, but in Sicily I saw very few dogs. Weird!

Here’s a view from the balcony, again. I would do anything to be there right now.

Cotton candy skies…

Here’s a photo from the hostel lobby. Lots and lots of religious iconography, here and pretty much everywhere we went. The hostel was lovely. It is designed specifically for students and teachers, so there were only a couple of other students who joined us (they were there for the music festival).

It honestly felt like a hotel. Our beds would be made every day and the bathroom would be cleaned, too. The breakfast was delicious: there was espresso, juice, fresh fruit (apricots especially!), and a myriad of pastries. I still dream of the chocolate croissant I would eat almost every morning.

Ahhh. Gelato. This is one of the two gelato shops we would visit daily. I preferred this one 🙂

This was the very first gelato I got on that trip. It’s cannella (cinnamon) and oh, boy, was it delicious! I wanted to be more adventurous with my gelato flavors, so I began that streak right at the start.

Another kitty!

I think this was actually the second night, but there was an incredible red moon we watched rise up while sitting on the balcony. It was so hard to take a picture of it, but it was absolutely beautiful. This whole trip feels like a dream.

That’s all for today. I was there for two weeks, so there’s still a bit more to share! Stay tuned… arrivederci e buon weekend!