Assisi

This morning we went to Assisi, a beautiful drive through the Umbrian hills. We first visited St. Mary Angelus which is a church within a Cathedral - literally. It is a huge church built to enclose the tiny stone chapel rebuilt by St. Francis as well as the spot where St Francis' own cell had been, where he died. From there we hiked up this hillside (this part of the world is nothing but hikes up the hills, as only very small vehicles are allowed onm thenarrow streets - and a taxi ride can be harrowing, maybe with the intent to convert anyone non-Catholic.) AT the top we we had a guide, a friar named Ed, who toured us through the Basilica of St Francis - actually two Basilicas one on top of the other and a chapel underneath built around the actual tomb. It was a fascinating look, the lower two levels by far more intruiguing than the main Basilica at the top, even though it is the top one that is the more famous for its frescoes by Giotto. If you remember, a few years ago the basilica roof collapsed in a 6.5 earthquake, but today you'd never know.

After that we walked around the town a bit, but stayed pretty close to the main square. ONe thing that particularly caught our attention are the doves that are strung on wires over the squares dotting Assisi. These a re a project by a group of nuns who apparently are selling the doves made of soft white plastic as a fundraising project for Dahrfur; The effect is moving, and we got the address so that we can maybe send for some from home, to hang from the trees in our front yard.

We were scheduled to go on to Gubbio this afternoon, another small Medieval village. We were to have dinner with our host Allisandra in her villa, an 800 year old palace oin the HIstorical Registry, but we opted to return to Spello to do some shopping and to catch our breath. The countryside is just too beautiful not to take time to just sit back and breathe.