A daytrip to Tuscany.

Acquapendente & Piensa

February 25^th – This day trip with most of our USAC group took us first to a nearby small town called Acquapendente where we saw a very unique church and had a great meal for lunch at a restaurant that served all locally grown specialties. The church was very interesting and well known for its architecture and columns in the crypt under the altar and entire back end of the building. I took a lot of pictures of the tops of the columns, which are called capitals, and am hoping to sketch some of them soon because each one was intricate and completely unique.

Next we made the farther drive to Piensa, an ideal town in Tuscany. The rolling hills surrounding the town, dotted with farm houses and sitting under a sunny blue sky were exactly what you would picture when you think of the Italian countryside. Piensa is truly what they call an “ideal” town because it was one of the first cities in Italy to be planned, meaning having one town square where all the main buildings are located, with straight roads running directly through town. Compared to the mess of side streets and jumbled roads that is Viterbo, I could tell a huge difference. Viterbo was medieval whereas Piensa was built during the early Renaissance. It was a great little town, and as we looked out from the garden over the countryside, it was a great chance to relax and realize once again that yes, this is real life and we're living it every day here in Italy for the semester.