Now that I’ve been in Orvieto for about three and a half weeks, I have a fairly solid routine. Since I actually covered the whole weekend in my Sunday post, I thought I’d use this one to give a little information on my day-to-day schedule.
I’m a pretty structured person. I like my days to have some order, with certain routines that don’t really change. Having my classes later in the day is a nice perk of the summer since it means I have some time in the mornings to really get ready for the day. My breakfast here always includes a cup of tea, and to eat, I like making some bruschetta since we always have fresh bread. It’s simple and light to start the day – a bit of olive oil, spread around it then a minute or so in the toaster and depending on what we have, I’ll add tomatoes, proscuitto (ham) and/or pecorino (sheep cheese). Other days, I just heat up some leftovers – though that’s a different experience without a microwave.
The morning is always pretty nice for getting myself ready for the day. While I have breakfast, I usually do whatever readings I need to for class that day or I may work on a paper or study for a quiz. But I have a few hours to do all that, and I rarely need to do all of it in one morning, so it’s very relaxed. I leave for class at 10:30 to get there early. If I need to do something on my computer, I’ll sit in one of the high-backed chairs at the big oval table that looks like a pool table surrounded by boardroom chairs. Or, if I just want to chill for a few minutes before class, I’ll sit in one of the line of chairs outside Classroom 1 as I read on my kindle and maybe chat with whoever else is there. The class before mine always lets out a little late so that by the time eleven o’clock rolls around, the professor and my four fellow students are all congregated by the door.
Art History 202 is the second of the base art history classes at the UofA. 201 and 202 cover the entire history of art from Pre-history to Postmodernism. In five weeks, even one of them is a lot of content. 202 starts with the Renaissance though, and when you can talk about the Sistine Chapel and then see the actual thing two weeks later, it’s totally worth the high-speed learning of the class.
Each class is two hours, so when I finish my first one at one pm, I’m ready for lunch. Whether or not I go back to the apartment really depends on my current mood and whether or not I remembered to bring money. I prefer though to stop by a little Paninoteca (Sandwich shop) and drop 3-5 euros on a filling sandwich that I can then take to the little green space by the Duomo that overlooks Umbria. It’s not quite the same view as from the main wall of the city, but this one is both a shorter distance and a less-crowded space. Here, I can eat my food while looking out at the rolling hills and stray cats, and for about two hours, I can read or work on any papers (or blog posts). It’s a pretty nice place to relax for a couple hours of the day, especially since the Italian siesta occurs right in the middle of my second class.
My second class is focused on Classicism and how that has been reinterpreted through the Renaissance, the Grand Tour, American architecture, and Fascist art and architecture. It’s really fascinating, and I love the discussions in the class. This class goes from 3:30-5:30, but since dinner isn’t until about 8 here, there’s still plenty of time after class to stop by the store, work on homework, or hang out with my roommates. We alternate cooking dinner and tend not to eat out except on weekends since that gets expensive. After dinner, sometimes we stay at the table to talk, but other times, we all drift off to work on individual stuff as we settle into the evening.
That’s pretty much it; traveling days are a lot more stressful, but here in Orvieto, it’s nice and simple. Until next time ~
