It seemed a good idea to segue from the megacity of Rome to Assisi before heading to Florence, Venice and Milan. Our day here proved we made the right choice. We had a day of wonderful, slower-paced exploration, blessed with sunny, incredibly blue skies in this gorgeous Umbrian town.
We had stopped here on our first visit and loved it, and the town did not disappoint. We arrived right at lunch time, found a great restaurant to start the day and wandered through the streets and shops, buying just a few things and took photographs of the beautiful countryside that is seen to advantage from the two basilicas there.
I love St. Francis Basilica, but as someone who grew up in Clairton, I have a great fondness for St. Clare of Assisi, the name of our main Roman Catholic Church. It’s especially poignant now as that church is being merged into a group with Holy Spirit in West Mifflin, where I now belong, St. Thomas a Becket in Jefferson Hills and St. Elizabeth’s right near the Pleasant Hills and Baldwin border. I lit a candle there to help that process.
Our lovely guide Fredericka told the stories of these two saints, both who came from wealthy backgrounds and gave it all up and their families to serve Christ and the church. St. Clare helped take care of St. Francis, and both lived relatively short lives.
We made it through the lower church, marveling at the frescoes (just recently cleaned) and visited St. Francis’ tomb. We couldn’t enter the higher portion, though, because security and the media were setting up for German chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit tomorrow. We weren’t the only disappointed tour group turned away.
The day ended with a great wine, cheese, olive oil and bread tasting at one restaurant, and a great pasta dinner at another. Early day tomorrow so we can head to Florence for a weekend there.