Orientation Trip Fall 2012

Two hundred students, faculty and staff of the John Felice Rome Center kicked off the fall semester with a long weekend trip to Tuscany and Umbria, two rustic regions north of Rome. Early on the morning of Friday, September 7, 2012, they all set out on four coach buses for the medieval town of Cortona. A guide vividly recounted the importance of Cortona throughout the centuries before the group headed to an agriturismo for lunch. Arezzo was next on the agenda, known as the lively home of the famous flag throwers, or sbandieratori. Dinner at their hotel just outside the old city of Arezzo included stirring words from Dean of Faculty Susana Cavallo and introductions from other members of the JFRC team. Another jam-packed day followed with free time in Anghiari where students roamed among castles and Sansepolcro where students had the opportunity to watch the much lauded Cross Bow Archers (balestrari) of medieval renown. Lunch on the second day was at a castle nestled in the Tuscan countryside where tales of decapitated ghosts and plates of rustic Tuscan fare thrilled everyone present. On their last day in the countryside, the students made their way to Trasimeno Lake where a private boat tour transported them back to the times of the Etruscans and even to those of St. Francis of Assisi. The hosts for lunch treated the JFRC to a welcome prosecco before dazzling everybody with more pastas and truffle sauces and chocolate. After enjoying a lazy afternoon overlooking the lake, orientation came to end officially with Prof. Cavallo’s being gifted a plaque from the owners of the restaurant. With much food in its belly and good feeling in its souls, the JFRC class of fall 2012 made its way sleepily back to Rome.