Today we took a road trip to Assisi in the county of Umbria. Sal and Nicole stayed behind to soak up some sun and maybe ride horses. We dropped off two Australian travelers staying at the Poderi Arcangelo to the town of Siena. It looked cute but we had St. Francis in mind. A note to future travelers to Italy...you need a car when you're in this neck of the woods. That's because if nothing else you have to get to the train station from wherever you are staying. We really did not need the car in Sorento but we're glad we have one here! Also, other than a few roads that were closed, it is not too hard to navigate with your GPS. I bought a Garmin chip for Italy/Greece (that was the only way to get Italy) so if you need one in the future let me know.
Assisi is, like all of this region, beautiful. I was drawn to this town for many reasons: it was the birthplace and town of St. Francis, one of my favorite saints; it is geographically and culturally a little different from Tuscany; and it is known for it's rustic Italian food ( stews, vegetables, etc). St. Francis is the patron St. of animals and a proponent of peace and simplicity. You all may be familiar with the well known poem/song "make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred let me sow love..." or the poem /prayer referred to as the canticle of the creatures "praise be to thee my Lord with all thy creatures..." Basically, he was a very cool guy that preached a good message (Dan-love IS everything)!
The Basilica of St. Francis was amazing. Unlike the mosaics in St. Peters, all walls were filled with frescos of paintings. Famous artists contributed to the art of this church as was the case of St. Peter. We were not allowed to take any oictures in the basilica. We also stopped by a church called Santa Maria degli Angeli, it was built over the small chapel given to Francis by the local bishop around 1200. The original chapel is underneath the dome of this church. Santa..Angeli is the world's 10th largest church. The original chapel of St Francis inside the church is, like he was, humble...me thinks he might be embarrassed to see the current church. Mom, inside the original chapel is a lock of hair from St. Clare who sounded the order of poor Clares. Basically she was the female version of Francis and I believe his first follower. One more tidbit for my Catholic friends and history buffs, St. Francis was actually never ordained a priest because he started his own order with the blessing of the Pope who had a dream about him. His "brothers" or friars took a vow of obedience, poverty, and chastity. He wore a simple tunic and gave up all his worldly possessions...his miracles included being able to be seen in 2 places at one time and receiving the stigmata.
Dinner tonight in the town of San Gimignano. It was a small trattoria called Laconta di Sant'Agostina. The trattoria was in the piazza next to, you guessed it, St. Agostina church. Dinner included wine, salad, and I had white beans with sausage, Tami- amazing ravioli with meat sauce, Nicole pizza with arugala and Sally a mediterranean salad. Belisimo! Tomorrow cooling with Katia...you would think we are tired of food ....NEVER!!!!!
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