Bright and early, we left Roma and hopped on the motor coach to our next destination: Assisi. While I can’t remember much of the ride as I caught up on some much needed rest, the closer we got to Assisi, the more beautiful it was.
This small city had a much different feel than Rome did. It was less crowded, it had a peaceful aura, and the style of buildings and architecture were more of how I pictured Italy when I signed up for the trip.
Our time in Assisi first started with some free time, where we went our separate ways for lunch, gelato, and shopping. My group ended up at this restaurant that had a variety of options we had not experienced yet. While I am not an adventurous eater, I loved the atmosphere of the restaurant. I had chicken with vegetables (finally!) and this delicious pita bread. It was so warm and fluffy and tasted amazing with the tomato sauce the chicken was baked in.
Of course, there was a gelato stop thrown in once we finished lunch. I tried two new flavors, chocolate chip and caramel, which was a fantastic decision on my end. The last hour was spent wandering the little shops that made up the streets of Assisi. There were your typical gift shops, but also wood-working, plate, and art shops lining the streets.
We met a lovely shop owner when we were looking through the art work in his shop. He recognized we were American and asked where we were from. Surprisingly enough, he has heard of Pittsburgh and mentioned how he wanted to visit one day. He’s been to other cities in the United States and was extremely passionate about his work. We were probably in his shop for at least 15 minutes while he talked about all the different pictures.
When free time was up, we met in front of St. Clare’s Basilica to meet with our tour guide Frederica for the Assisi walking tour. The tour started at St. Clare’s and ended at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. During this time we learned a lot of history about the saints, as well as history of the beautiful city.
The view from St. Francis was stunning. You could see for miles around you, and with the beautiful day, the view was extremely breathtaking. The church itself was wonderful too. Again, I loved seeing all of the different artwork inside the church. However, one disappointing thing was that we were unable to go into the upper level of the church. We were not informed it was closed and despite Frederica trying to help us out, our visit was cut short.
Our disappointment didn’t last too long when we were surprised with a wine tasting close to the basilica. The whole experience was amazing and easily made me want to participate in more wine tastings when I return to the States! We sampled two different kinds of cheese, a white wine, several red wines, several balsamic dressings and olive oil, as well as a dessert wine paired with almond cookies.
I left the store with some cheese and the almond cookies, as I thought they would be easiest to transport home. The almond cookies reminded me so much of the almond torte cakes and cookies that are popular back home!
Our evening ended with a group dinner and a trip back to our hotel. Tomorrow is another early start (a 6:45 wake up call!) as we head to Florence. At times it is hard for me to still believe that I am on this trip and experiencing so many different things in such a short period of time!