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| Inside of the duomo. |
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| View of Il Duomo di Siena from the city hall tower |
So, since it's been over three weeks since my last post, I may have to breeze through some of my experiences here. When I left off, everyone had left for Il Duomo di Siena, which was supposed to rival St. Peter's Basilica in size, but it was never completed. The part that has been completed was only supposed to be the transept, and as it is, the cathedral is massive. It is very beautiful, with a lot to see inside (which is probably why it costs a few euro to get in, although priests and religious get in for free). The outside and inside walls are striped black and white, and there are many works of art inside, including the busts of many of the popes. From there, we went to St. Catherine of Siena's house, in the chapel of which Fr. Carola celebrated Mass, which was absolutely awesome. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures in there, but it was very ornate on the inside, and the view of Siena from the "complex" (including her house, courtyard, chapel, etc) was great, especially as the sun was falling lower in the sky.
After leaving Siena, we hopped back on the bus and headed for the Abbey of Sant'Antimo, which is nestled in a valley below a small town, which had a church whose bells physically moved when they rang--a great contrast to most church bells today that . It was getting dark by the time we got there, but we all sat down in front of the abbey to eat some dinner. I didn't bring much to eat, but Fr. Carola shared half of his sandwich of scamorza cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and salami, so I didn't go without a good meal for long. We finally went inside after freezing outside for awhile, but we said vespers in Latin with the brothers there, which was really neat because a) we were saying vespers with monks--in the Italian countryside; and b) we were praying in Latin, so I could actually follow along and actively participate, unlike the times when I attend Mass in Italian around here in Rome.
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| Abbey of Sant'Antimo |
The whole day was a very exciting, yet relaxing experience, as we traveled around the Tuscan countryside on a relatively warm, but very sunny, day. It was really like stepping back in time, as both Siena and Sant'Antimo seemed so removed from modern life, though it was nice to get back to Bernardi after a long day of adventures.
So, since it's been over three weeks since my last post, I may have to breeze through some of my experiences here. When I left off, everyone had left for Il Duomo di Siena, which was supposed to rival St. Peter's Basilica in size, but it was never completed. The part that has been completed was only supposed to be the transept, and as it is, the cathedral is massive. It is very beautiful, with a lot to see inside (which is probably why it costs a few euro to get in, although priests and religious get in for free). The outside and inside walls are striped black and white, and there are many works of art inside, including the busts of many of the popes. From there, we went to St. Catherine of Siena's house, in the chapel of which Fr. Carola celebrated Mass, which was absolutely awesome. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures in there, but it was very ornate on the inside, and the view of Siena from the "complex" (including her house, courtyard, chapel, etc) was great, especially as the sun was falling lower in the sky.
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