Buona Pasqua (Assisi, Amy, and the Blowing Up of the Cart)

Buona Pasqua a Tutti!

Easter weekend was filled with tons of festivities in Florence. The weekend began when my good friend from home, Amy and her sister Allison, came to visit. Amy is studying abroad in France, and Allison is working in Switzerland. Allison arrived on thursday evening, so I got to spend some time with her that night, as well as during the day on friday. Amy arrived friday afternoon, so we met her as she got off the train at Santa Maria Novella. We had a really nice dinner on friday, and it was great to catch up/ hear about her completely different study abroad experience. Saturday they had plans to head to Cinque Terre, so I headed to Assisi with my friend Meagan for the day.

Assisi is a town in the Umbria region of Italy, about two hours away via train, and is known as the birthplace of St. Francis. The thing to see in Assisi is the Basilica of St. Francis. The cathedral contains his tomb, as well as beautiful frescos of his life by Giotto, an artist I have studied pretty extensively. The basilica in particular is something that we have studied, so it was really amazing to get to see it. Other than that, we wandered the streets, had a nice lunch, moseyed into a few churches, and listened to a man playing guitar in one of the main piazzas. The day was beautiful; the sun was shining and we were surrounded by a beautiful landscape. Because it was Easter weekend, and St. Francis is a very important figure for the Catholic faith, the town was lively with many tourists (mostly Italian) , creating a really great energy.

The Basilica

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday is an extremely important day in Florence, filled with a grand celebration. A bunch of us in the Villa set off into the city around 9am for the events. The day starts with a parade throughout the city. There were flag twirlers, drums, piccolos, etc., and many people dressed in medieval garb. The parade ended in front of the Duomo, with a massive cart that is pulled by oxen into the piazza. At 11am a fake dove is flown from the Basilica doors to the cart that begins a massive fireworks show. This is traditionally called the "Blowing Up of the Cart," which is not quite what they do, but it's a pretty cool show. This tradition originated when the crusaders finally took over the city of Jerusalem. A Florentine soldier was said to bring back flints from the Holy Sepulchre which was used on Holy Saturday to light a fire and carried in a processional throughout the city. Later, they began using a cart to carry this relic throughout the town. The cart became more and more elaborate over the years, and in the 16th century, fireworks replaced the fire. Here are some pictures and a video of the event for you to see!

Amy and Allison visited that weekend, but my friend Erin from my public policy class was also in Florence that weekend. It was great to see a bunch of familiar faces!

Amy & Allison

Erin

On monday, we have a celebration of our own at the villa. We had an easter egg hunt in the formal gardens, followed huge lunch outside. The food included bruschetta, lamb, chicken, risotto, salad, beans, potatoes, and traditional easter cake called colomba.

Easter Egg Hunt

Pasquetta Lunch