Urbino

We deviated somewhat from our original schedule this weekend. We had planned to have a free day on Saturday, during which students would be free to travel somewhere within a reasonable distance, and then a group trip into Florence on Sunday. In the middle of the week the decision was made to cancel the group trip and give the students the entire weekend off, with a group worship service here at the hotel Sunday evening. As a result, a number of students left the hotel Friday evening, and more left Saturday morning for trips to Venice and other places in Italy. Others took day trips into Florence on the weekend.

My family took advantage of the free day Saturday to drive to Urbino, a hill town to the northeast of Citerna that played a significant role in the Renaissance. Urbino's ruler in the fifteenth century was Duke Federigo da Montefeltro, a soldier of fortune who managed to take over the city and legitimize his rule through military victories and subsequent patronage of the arts. Urbino is also the hometown of the painter Raphael. The place is not very accessible; we had to drive about 90 minutes on some very winding roads to get there. However, the drive was worth it. The town is very picturesque; the ducal palace (built by Federigo) dominates it, but there are numerous other sites of note.

For a mere six euros each, Vickie and I got discounted combination tickets that gave us admission into most of the town's significant sites, including the palace, which houses a museum with some important Renaissance works in it, including a couple of Raphaels and Piero della Francesca's Flagellation; Raphael's birthplace; two oratories with interesting interiors, including a mock grotto; and series of chapels under the cathedral. We spent about four or five hours in the town visiting these sites, with breaks for a picnic lunch at the fortress atop the hill and a cup of gelato at the end of our tour.

We made it back to Citerna around 5:00 and ate supper with the students who were here. Piera, the cook, informed us that Italy went off daylight savings time that evening, and that we all needed to set our clocks back an hour before going to bed. For most of us, that was an extra bonus to the free weekend: an extra hour of sleep in addition to two days off!