Vanderbilt Students Explore Assisi
Last weekend, Vanderbilt students took the classroom on the road with a field trip to Assisi, the famed home of St. Francis. One early morning train ride into the hilltop city later, students arrived at the Basilica of St. Francis.
Professor Sheri Shaneyfelt led a “whispering tour” through the 
towering basilica, which holds not only frescoes by the likes of Cimabue and Giotto but the actual crypt where St. Francis is buried. After viewing the real-life works they had studied at Umbra only the day before, group climbed the winding Assisi streets to Ristorante Pizzeria Ostello, located across from the classic Roman columns of the Temple of Minerva.
After lunch, students were free to adventure through the St. Francis’ old stomping grounds as they wished: Some boarded the next train to Perugia, while others explored the other well-known churches in the small city. A few stayed in Assisi until the very last train, returning to their apartments with armfuls of artisanal goods.