A year ago today I was in Assisi

This was our last day in Venice and then we went to Assisi.  The drive to Assisi was beautiful!  We traveled through the Apennine Mountains to the peaceful mountain village Assisi.  On the road we saw a lot of bridge construction.  The lanes looked so narrow and I would have been nervous driving on these roads in my regular car but our driver Raffaele was the best driver I have ever seen and had no problems.  It was pretty amazing to watch him drive.  I swear he knew to the inch where that bus was and how much clearance he had.  He did a great job and because of his stylish duds he earned the nickname Macho Man from one of our Globus cousins on our trip.  Raffaele was very stylish, in Italy his clothes were normal clothes because men dress more formal there but if he dressed that way in America you would think he was going clubbing.  Raffaele and Francesca, our tour director, made a great team and we really enjoyed our vacation with them and the rest of our Globus cousins.



A few of my favorite things!



Arrivederci Venice

The drive to Assisi was beautiful!  The red poppies were blooming everywhere and the valleys were luscious with lots of green grass.  We stopped on the way and had lunch at a great restaurant called Ristorante Bar Albergo S.Apollinare.  The food was amazing!  We had the Lasagna, click here for the recipe.  While sitting at the restaurant we could see a basilica.  The great thing about Italy is everywhere you look is something beautiful and historically significant.  Our country is such a young country, we have history, but nothing like Europe and it is amazing how much access you have to these historical treasurers while visiting. 

 

We arrived in Assisi after a long drive and were greeted by a big gate at the top of the town.  In this region the towns were settlements that were built on hills so the high ground could provide protection from invaders.  They dropped us off at the top of the village so we could walk downhill on our tour.  It is a very mountainous town with a lot of steep inclines.  Assisi is historically significant because it was the birthplace of St. Francis who founded the Franciscan order in the 1200s, for St. Clare who was the founder of the Poor Sisters and for Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows who was born in Assisi. 

St. Francis was a Catholic Friar who is one of the patron saints of Italy.  Francis was born to a wealthy family and even fought as a soldier for Assisi.  He had a vision during the war that made him lose his desire for wealth.  He begged with beggars and chose to live in poverty.   Francis of Assisi was the first person documented to have the stigmata wounds of Christ.  Saint Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals and the environment.  As we toured Assisi and learned of St. Francis I started to remember a children’s book I had as a child about St. Francis, it had a blue cover and birds surrounding the friar.  I can’t remember anything else but I can remember the book cover.     

 

 

This was a very sacred place and the more religious people in our group felt like this was a pilgrimage for them.  They prayed at St. Francis’ Basilica which was built above St. Francis grave.  By the time we got to Assisi we were all very tired and rummy so all the sudden it turned into comedy hour.  Our friend Danielle from Australia was exhausted yet still a jokester and having fun.  When she went into the church she dipped her hand in the holy water and splashed a little on her Mum, then Mum started saying “it burns, it burns” I laughed so hard I almost cried.  It was one of those moments that broke the tension since it was a very serious tour that day and we were all exhausted, we needed the humor from our new Aussie friends to lighten the mood of the group.

Our hotel was a meeting spot for Rotary.  I'm proud to be a Rotarian!

After the tour we settled into our hotel.  Our hotel in Assisi was unusual because it felt like we were staying in a dorm or in quarters at a convent or religious school.  The beds were hard, and it didn’t really feel like a hotel room, except for the view.  The hotel rooms had gorgeous views of the valley and Assisi.  After dinner at the hotel we all called it a night, we were exhausted and weren’t too excited about hiking up the hills in the town so we thought it best to get caught up on our rest since the next day we were getting back on the bus and heading to Pompeii.