Author: Michele & Frank

This is our last full day with our dear friends who are heading back to the States tomorrow. What better place to experience today than Assisi!

Assisi is about an hour’s drive from Paciano. We take the drive along the lake to jump on the highway. Once off the highway the drive approaching Assisi is quite picturesque. We plan on parking at the top of the town, reasonably priced and very convenient, and quite a beautiful, scenic drive, with an amazing view of the basilica as we pass by.

Regardless of where you fall on the religious spectrum, there is truly something about this place that moves you. Amidst the pilgrims from all over the world and the hawkers selling cheap souvenirs, there is a sense of calm that resonates throughout. It really is a special place.

The Basillica di San Francesco d’Assisi sits at the lower end of town so we have some walking to do. Pace is everything! Our first stop is the Cathedral of San Rufino, also known as Assisi Cathedral. St. Francis and St. Claire were baptized here in the 12th century. The architecture is striking.

As we continue our stroll, we come to the main piazza at about the halfway point to the basilica. Here you will find the Temple of Minerva. The temple was built in the 1st century B.C., and the facade has been preserved with six Corinthian columns supporting the main architrave. It currently houses the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, which was built over the temple.

We continue our walk until we reach the Basilica. It is built into the side of a hill and is comprised of two churches, the Upper Church and the Lower Church and a crypt, where you find the remains of St. Francis. The frescoes that decorate both churches were painted by several late medieval painters. The crypt is somber and quite moving.

We take a leisurely pace back to the upper section of town and soak in some of the beauty that surrounds us. We grab a gelato and begin to make our way back to Paciano!! We plan on dining al fresco tonight at La Loggetta, a perfect ending to a perfect day.

Today we say arrivederci to our friends. They are flying home tomorrow morning from Rome, and have booked a hotel near the airport tonight. They’ll drive to Fiumicino today, return the rental car, then use the free hotel shuttle to get to the hotel tonight and back to the airport in the morning. Smart and low-stress! Remember, they picked up the car in Orvieto… dropping off your rental car in a different city is always an option to consider. It often costs little or nothing extra in Italy. After breakfast we take one last stroll through Paciano before seeing our friends off.

On the way to Fiumicino our friends will stop in the little town of Fara in Sabina (in Lazio, just over the border from Umbria). This is the home of Teatro Potlach (Teatro Potlatch, a delightful group of performers that has collaborated with Touchstone Theatre of Bethlehem over the last few years. Mary (a Touchstone ensemble member) introduced us to Pino and Nathalie and Daniela, and we will try to visit them ourselves one day.

So far on our tour we have visited places we already know and love. Now we start thinking of the places we haven’t been. We have another nine days in Paciano and two days in Rome before we head back to Pennsylvania, so we start making a list: Potlach (above), Narni (near the geographical center of Italy), Dario Cechinni’s butcher shop/restaurant in Panzano, Gregory’s Jazz Boat on the Tiber River (where our friend Michael Stephans played a gig while visiting last year)… So much to see and do!

Today is a day of pleasant reflection as we sit and smile over our coffee, looking back on so many wonderful memories of our most recent visit with Ben and Mary and Roy and Cheryl. The many laughs, the food, the sights, the wine and of course the people. It doesn’t get any better.

We have ten more days in Italy before we head back to the states. No itinerary is necessary; the joy of travel and the willingness to be open to new adventures is all you need. So dear friends and travelers, we sincerely hope you enjoyed our shared adventures on this “virtual tour.” Today we share some memories of past travels, not to focus on the places to be seen, but the people we have had the pleasure of making those memories with.

Are you interested in visiting Europe? Would you like to travel without the constraints of a large tour group? It’s not hard to do, with a little bit of guidance. We can help with that! We’d love to hear from you.

Ciao for now!

Thanks to everyone who joined us on our virtual tour! We enjoyed sharing our adventures, and appreciated all the likes and comments. In case you missed it, scroll through our posts!

We undertook this project partly as therapy to deal with the fact that we’ve been delayed in going to our second home, and partly to show others how wonderful it is to spend some time there.

If you’re coming to Umbria, or if you just love to travel, we’d like to hear from you!

Ciao for now, and remember, “it’s not what you see, it’s how you see it!”