Urbino, continued..

Sorry i haven't posted something in a few days, im super busy and the internet cafe is a 20 minute walk from my apartment.
ANYway...
Well i left ya'll hanging last time, so here's the rest of the story for that eventful day:
After all the strife over my voice and bite (which is a little better now) i hopped on the bus with the other members of my program and we had an excursion to the neighboring village of Urbino. On our way there we stopped at an ancient church, i think our guide said it was from the 13th century, i think, it was from the Roman Empire era.....i dont know, but it was pretty cool. All the stone was original and the paintings on the walls were faded but you could still make out the crucifixion of Jesus that was painted so long ago. Oh and as a side note..i met my first rude Italian..this guy who was working the cafe there behind the church made me buy something first before i could use the restrooms..UGH! I had to pee SO bad and it was pouring rain, i eventually gave up on giving him the "pleading big-blue-eyes" act that usually works (it didnt), so i had to buy some water, i was not happy.
Next we drove through a famous gorge. Our guide said that millions of years ago the mountain was split open by a earthquake, and ever since then the river that runs through it is bright green year round. It was pretty spectacular looking, the foliage was a deep green but the river was like neon green...so cool!
Finally we got to Urbino. It was breathtaking, to say the least. I mean its this medieval town up on a mountain side, with the most amazing view of Italy's finest hillsides. It was still raining and i was still not speaking (to heal my voice faster) but the day was not marred. We toured the Ducal Palace. It was very interesting, its smack dab in the middle of the town and it sticks out like a sore thumb; a gorgeous structure of white marble and stone...yeah, he was an ambitious guy. For instance, within his palace walls the famous painting that was the first "perspective" painting and was created there by one of his artists he was patron to. We weren't allowed to take pictures but i snuck a few. The palace was basically a museum of famous artwork, and there were an abundant amount of paintings of The Madonna and her Son, and of course Jesus on the cross....like..hundreds of them. After the palace, we had lunch, then explored the city. We found a look-out spot and took the most beautiful pictures of the view Urbino offered. Then we got back on the bus and took off for Urbania again.
The next 2 days (Thursday and Friday) consisted of rehearsals and making new friends. Last night though, a famous Italian opera singer (Katia something..) came to Urbania for a concert. Well...she's 70 so....yeah, she had quite a wobble...but she sure was having fun! And the Urbanians loved her.
As for today, i have Italian language homework (im still pretty bad at it) and some people in our program are singing in a aria-recital tonight, i sing in one next week.
Tomorrow's my 21st BIRTHDAY!! Im very excited to be having it in Italy, but wish my family and friends could be here to celebrate it with me. )= You're here in spirit.
Well, more about that later. For now, "Ciao!" and "arriverderci"!!
Love,
Maren