A marvelous day in Assisi!

Today began at 6:45 am when Betsy's alarm went off. We needed to be on the bus by 7:30 am to head out of Fiesole on our way to Assisi. After a quick breakfast, we headed down toward the bus stop where our coach bus was waiting for us. It was about half-way down the hill that I realized I left my purse in my room and thus was without money for the day. Oh, well. This turned out to be a good thing for me.

It took two-and-a-half hours for the driver to take us to Assisi. I slept through most of the drive due to lack of sleep the night before and the motion sickness I get when taking coach buses on long trips. When we arrived in Assisi we met up with our guide, Giuseppe. He took us on a audio-guided tour through the Basilica of St. Francis. Giuseppe's tour was a delightful mix of humor and history. I already knew a fair amount about St. Francis but he was able to tell me a little bit more.

The basilica is a gorgeous church that's three levels. The upper basilica, the lower basilica, and the level where St. Francis' tomb is. We were able to see all three levels and gaze at the frescoes and artwork. No pictures were allowed so to preserve the frescoes but it was a glorious sight that will stay in my mind for a long time. I was able to take a lot of pictures outside the basilica which I will upload tomorrow.

After touring the basilica we walked through town toward the Basilica of St. Clare. We met back up with Bob here as he had left us before entering the other basilica. Here we said goodbye to Giuseppe and went to seek out lunch. Ania, Allyson, and I immediately separated from the group going right instead of left. We walked around for a long time, got a little lost, couldn't find the restaurant we wanted to find, and ended up eating pizza at this little pizzeria. Along the way we looked in a few shops and bought a few pastries on our walk. Wait until you see the pictures because there are no words to describe the views.

The three of us met back up with Bob and Jill around 3, a half hour before the bus would leave Assisi. Bob treated us to hot chocolate for me and Allyson while Ania and Jill got fresh squeezed blood orange juice. Ohhhhhh, each tasted heavenly as I got to taste the orange juice (sooooo much better than Tropicana).

On the ride back to Fiesole, I tried to do the assigned reading but kept falling asleep instead. I did read a good portion of the assignment but not as much as I could have. Buses tend to make me sleepy for some reason. We had an hour before dinner at La Reggia when the bus stopped in Fiesole. I walked back to Villa Bonelli, dropped my stuff off, logged online to check my email, turned around and walked up to La Reggia.

Dinner tonight was interesting. The first course was another amazing pasta that tasted sooooo good. The second course, though, is where it got interesting. We had french fries and rabbit. Yeah, that's right, rabbit. I didn't know what it was at first and tried it because I'll try anything once. To me it tasted like porkchops but what we were served was shaped kind of like drumsticks but not quite. Anyway, when Bob told us it was rabbit that we were eating you heard this simultaneous indrawn breath before forks were set down on the table. It really wasn't all that bad but just the thought of eating the Easter bunny or a little furry animal kind of ruined my appetite. Dessert though was the great tiramisu. MMMmmmmmmmm.

We're going to Lucca tomorrow, barring bad weather or train strikes. It will be another early morning and long day so I'll say Ciao for another day.