Day 7 - Assisi

Day 7 October 11 -- Shifting Gears



Spent a leisurely morning on the farm. Went out in my p.j.s to check the weather (hazy) and enjoy the views of the valley one way and Assisi the other. The fog started to burn off mid-morning. Apparently this is typical. We made the short drive to Assisi and parked outside the wall (no traffic inside, except for taxis, delivering or picking up bags at the hotels, handicapped, residents, etc. -- but who’d want to drive in there anyway?) and started to walk. We’ve seen hill towns in Tuscany, but with the possible exception of Cortona, this must be one of the steepest. You can go to the top to park and walk down to the walls or park at the bottom and walk up to the walls, but either way you not only eventually have to return to the car, but go up and down and up and down within the walls.

The town is absolutely beautiful. Every one of these towns has an old center (old as in middle ages) and a “new” part (as in Renaissance). In this case the old was built on an ancient Roman site, and the original amphitheater has homes built right into the ruins. The local limestone is pinkish in color and the streets are paved with slate and this pink stone. (No cobblestones!) There was an earthquake in 1997 and they say much has been rebuilt, but we couldn’t tell the really new from the ancient, the old, or the so-called “new.”

The views to the south are of the only plain in Umbria, mostly farmland, dotted with villages, and to the north is a mountainous national park. Farther up the mountain on which Assisi is perched are the remains of a huge old castle (Rocca Maggiore) at one end of town and a merely big old castle (Rocca Minore, of course) at the other end. The streets are narrow (a given) and twisting (also given), and often open onto a piazza or a spectacular view. People have beautiful gardens, all in pots.

We had planned just to soak up the charm and avoid the “must see” spots since they were mostly churches. There are as many churches in the town as souvenir shops, which is to say a lot. But no, Charlie wanted to go into the Church of St. Clare, so in we went. Frankly, I felt like an imposter. Most of the tourists seemed to make this visit as a pilgrimage, and were there to do some serious praying. We got out pretty quickly, without seeing her crypt or relics. Of course, it is Sunday, and many of visitors were Italian. They may have just been going to church, and not tourists at all.

Since we’d come this far we had to see the Giottos in the Basilica of St. Francis. I remembered from my sophomore Art History class how important he was -- the first of the Renaissance painters. And the tour books (of which we found plenty in our apartment) describe exactly why. I’ll spare you the lesson, but just note that I was disappointed. The frescoes had been recently restored (post-earthquake) and that famous blue was there, but they just left me flat. There’s a pun in there somewhere.

So it turned out that we enjoyed the day apart from the major sights. There were lots of Franciscan monks in town (no surprise), but so many that I wonder if this is the only place they train or get assigned or if they all need to make a pilgrimage to be ordained. Will put it on my list of questions for Paolo, our host. Got a kick out of their traditional brown garb with rope belts but Birkenstocks or Tevas on their feet. I guess sandals are sandals.

We spent some time in a café with a wi-fi connection and read our email and we were able to post the last blog. And ate, of course. Our pace is starting to match the Italians with long, leisurely meals. Why aren’t they all fat?

Walking back to the car Charlie popped into another leather goods shop in search of the elusive eyeglass case. The artisan didn’t have one but said he could make one up in a couple of days, traced the outline, (one of the criteria was that it be very small) and we promised to return.

14,200 steps (most of them vertical)