Assisi

Wednesday May 31

We went to Assisi today. We were very happy to have found a parking space 1 minute from the church. Our excitement was short lived….we were at the wrong church. Where we really wanted to be was at the top of a beautiful hillside town, FAR above the first church. Once we got to the right place, we spent the afternoon meandering though the very quaint town of Assisi. St. Francis monastery was pretty neat. There are actually 2 churches built on top of each other, and the lower church is much more interesting and ornate than the upper church.

There is no picture taking allowed, and you are supposed to speak in whispers. If it gets too loud a security guard announces “Silencio” over a loud speaker (kind of counter productive if you ask me!) Anyway, we heard “Silencio” quite frequently…until Chris departed with Abby! On the way back to the car Uncle Pat suggested we hike all the way up to Rocca Maggiore. Ok, not really, but he was a good sport once we got going!

We hiked up to a fortress that overlooks the city and went inside for a closer look. We’re all in agreement that we got our money’s worth. After climbing some steep stairs and a tight circular staircase, we walked through a long tunnel that is actually inside the fortress walls. At the far end it emptied out into a polygonal shaped tower. We found ourselves up very high overlooking the Umbrian countryside. The wind was so strong we were afraid we might lose something…like one of the kids, or maybe even Pat!! We then headed for home and ate a gourmet meal at La Corta…Food was fantastic, but we almost left right after we got there. It had been suggested that we make reservations and thankfully we did…at least that way they knew to stay open! We were the only patrons. The server brought us only 3 menus and when Pat asked for a 4th he was told that 3 was all they had!!

Guess they were not expecting a big crowd! Despite the rocky start we stayed for dinner and it was fantastic. We had bruschetta with smoked salmon for an antipasto, then Pat had ravioli filled with clams in a clam sauce, Shelley had a delicious risotto, and I had gnocchi in a Bolognese sauce. Pat, Chris and I had delicious filets and Shelly had sea bass for her main course. They brought us a complimentary bottle of vin Santo (local dessert wine) when we were done. Fabulous meal! The night ended with Shelley, Chris and Annie kicking Pat’s ass in cards. Ok, again, not true; but we did play and have fun. Called it quits at 2:30 and thought we were turned in. Chris left to check on laundry, his loving spouse went to bed, and evidently he got locked out of the house. Who on earth checks laundry at 3:00am anyway?! Thankfully Pat has better hearing and was able to recognize the banging of someone in distress! Ciao!