If I lived in Assisi this is where it would be

Driving in Italy is scary and I’m talking from a passenger’s perspective as I am never behind the wheel and it seems Marilyn and Jim are happy that’s the case. However Jim is usually pretty relaxed when he’s driving, but in Italy there’s no time to relax as the moment you do so, someone is either speeding up behind you, cutting you off or making a two lane road into a freeway. Those of you who have already driven in Italy know what I am talking about and have lived to tell the tale. We are slowly acclimatizing and take back all of the nasty things we said last spring in Panama about their driving capabilities ………..it seems we have met their match, and worse, in Italian drivers.  The drivers may be very aggressive but once they are out from behind the wheel of a car, they are wonderful – very helpful, very curious and seem to have a great sense of humour and I suspect able to laugh at themselves, but maybe they’re laughing at me……….who knows, who cares?

From Guilianova we drove for 3-4 hours inland totally enjoying the beautiful scenery, rolling hills and  sunshine – that is when we weren’t holding our breath because of approaching and passing vehicles!    We decided to make Assisi our stop with the plan to stay for a couple of nights to relax and enjoy the surrounding area.   No doubt all, if not most, of you know Assisi is named after the famous St. Francis  of  Assisi and from my childhood memories it was because of his love of animals and his peaceful nature, which as an adult have come to mean so much more.  The town of Assisi is dedicated to St. Francis, otherwise known as Francesco Bernardone, who in the early 13th century believed in, and preached, non-materialism and a simple lifestyle.  He was made one of the patron saints of Italy in 1939 and his home  town of Assisi is today unbelievably commercialized and the basic industry of the town.  We spent two nights and one full day staying right within the walls of Assisi at the Belvedere Hotel which, of course, meant parking the car in a parkade outside.   Our accommodation was fabulous and Enrico, the owner of the hotel, was not only a local, roughly in our age group, but when Marilyn and I were struggling to ask him questions at check-in he said, with a smile on his face, “why don’t we speak English”……..so we did!  Our first night in Assisi, which was our second night in Italy, was very relaxing as it was so quiet, peaceful and uncrowded and we enjoyed a great Italian meal,  with wine of course, and headed to bed shortly thereafter.    The next day, Sunday, we woke to the early morning ringing of Church bells……..and for the rest of the day crowds of people surrounded us as Sunday is a special day for families and tourists to arrive.  We hiked around the hills of Assisi sharing the narrow streets with foreigners from every country I am sure, as well as Italians coming to learn more about their patron saint.  Enrico said every Sunday is like this, but to be there in the summer is crazy as the population explodes  mainly during the day as for many people it’s a day trip; he stated that he was so looking forward to a break and for all the tourists to be gone.    It reminded me,  just a little, of living at the seashore in Nova Scotia and how quiet it is, especially traffic wise, from October to May and how it picks up over the summer and by September we are looking forward to not sharing the Tyndal Road  with all the cottagers – OK it might be a stretch but you get it, don’t ya?  Enrico sure  was right because come sundown Assisi was quiet once again and we casually found a restaurant that we just walked into and found another  great meal and wine.  I have attached a few photos hoping you can catch a little of it’s beauty!  First two pics are the view from our room.

Quite the hike up but worth the view!

Basillica of St. francis where he is buried(around 1226)