Firenze

Im in Florence right now at an internet cafe waiting for my train back to Klagenfurt. You are about to read an entry with misspelled words and wrong punctuation because I dont know how to use this keyboard. I left Perugia earlier this afternoon, which was a bummer because today was the most beautiful day Ive seen in a long time. It was 50 degrees and sunny, wonderful. All of the other days I spent in Perugia were rainy and chilly, and, of course, the day I leave is the only sunny one. Oh well, I got to enjoy the sun for a couple hours. More important than the weather was hanging out with Mike. It was good to be with a familiar face on the other side of the world. I had the chance to meet a lot of his friends and take part in a lot of the stuff he does everyday. I even got to go to class with him. How exciting. A couple days ago, we decided to go to Assisi. If you dont know, Assisi is the hometown of Saint Francis, a really cool guy who started a revolution as a teenager. I dont know enough about him to tell you much information, but I do know a little. I know that he was very young when he devoted his life to serving other people. I know that three important words in his life were obedience, poverty, and chastity. He was a monk. He was poor. He was young. He hung out with homeless people. I kind of like him. His hometown is amazing too. The entire village was a maze of mini streets on a hillside. Every street ended in either a large piazza or huge cathedral. The talk of the town is the cathedral on the west side, San Francesco Cathedral. I didnt take any tours or gather any information, but Im guessing it wasnt called San Francescos Cathedral when San Francesco was actually alive. We walked through the sanctuary, saw both the inferior and superior rooms, and visited the tomb of Saint Francis in the basement. In the basement, Mike and I sat in a couple pews while people around us kneeled down in prayer. In the middle of the room was a large tomb that looked more like a shrine to me. There were 4 other tombs in the basement who mustve been friends of Saint Francis. On several of the walls hung art-jewelry made of gold. I dont know what they were doing there, but they were just chilling on the walls. I took in all of the surroundings in the silence, and a question popped into my head. "Is this how Saint Francis would want to be buried?" It was a simple question, and Im positive many people have asked it before me. Would a man who lived for poverty, chastity, and obedience want to be buried in the center of a room for everybody to see? Would he want gold jewelry to be hanging up alongside him? Doesnt that kind of go against the whole poverty thing? From what I know about Saint Francis, he sounds like a pretty humble guy who would rather have the glory go to Someone else than himself. I should read more about him to find out, I guess.

My minutes are almost up, which is a great thing because it means that my train is almost here. First, I have to find the train station. I arrived in Florence a couple hours ago, and Im not sure if I remember how to get back. I got off my train and just started walking, not really paying attention to where I was going. I will be arriving in Klagenfurt tomorrow morning at 4 am, and Im hoping that there will be a taxi at the train station. I live about an hours distance walk away from the train station, and thats not exactly what I want to be doing at 4 am. Ill wake up in my own bed around 9 am, then head to campus to meet with an adviser. Tomorrow is a big day because I choose my classes for the semester. I have no clue what to do, which is why Im happy I have an adviser. My time in Italy has been short and sweet, and Im happy to be returning to the Alps of Austria. Italy is nice, old, relaxed, but not really for me. Its perfect for week long vacations, though. Who knows when Ill return too? Ill talk to you soon. Hope you all have a wonderful day. Ill probably be sleeping on a night train to Klagenfurt when you read this. Ciao.