Ravenna - Land of Mosaics and Cold

After a full day in Assisi the day before, on Saturday, January 21, my roommate and I were up before the sun at 6am to catch the 7:30am bus to Ravenna. This was another school sponsored field trip that I signed up for, and again I embarked on the day trip knowing nothing about Ravenna or what the day had in store. I was just hoping it would be as good of a surprise as our trip to Assisi!

Unfortunately it was not. After about a two and a half hour bus ride, we arrived in Ravenna and toured about four different churches and monuments. Just as Assisi was known for the fresco paintings, Ravenna is known for mosaic art. We went to each location, which are all about a ten minute walk from each other, looking at the mosaics and learning about the history. This would have made for a fine time except the fact that it was freezing! And if you thought just the walks in between each location were cold you thought wrong, for the churches themselves were even colder than the weather outside thus giving us no break from the cold. Many of the other students and I were miserable throughout the tours due to the weather and unfortunately I could barely appreciate the beautiful history that surrounded me.

By the time the tours ended it was past one in the afternoon, our feet were numb, and we were all overly hungry for lunch. After seeing our final church, some friends and I stopped in the gift shop to ask for a lunch recommendation – something cheap and simple. We got directions and headed out, desperately seeking warmth.

We arrived at the suggested eatery, looked at the menu and happily ordered. We all got different types of grilled wraps which are very typical of the area. I got the very traditional wrap of grilled vegetables and cheese. As we were waiting for our food I was able to watch the woman make our lunch over an open grill. I always love watching people prepare food, especially the food I am about to eat. While watching I hung my head close to the open grill to catch the heat it was giving off. It definitely warmed me up!

Friends and I hung out at the restaurant until it was time to go, as none of us wanted to venture back out into the cold. We then headed back on the bus. Although I was planning on getting some sleep on the bus as I usually do on these trips, the bus driver put in a movie and I got sucked into Inception!

Upon returning home and telling our host mom how cold it had been in Ravenna, Cristina prepared tea and hot water bottles for Ali and me. What a lovely thought! It was perfect, and about the only that could have warmed me up after such a cold day.

After some rest, I headed back out to the much warmer Florence for a night out with friends J