ASSISI--A PRAY FREE ZONE

I woke up to a beautiful day yesterday and decided to take a train trip.  Assisi is only a 20 minute train ride away, and that seemed to be a good choice.  

So I caught a bus to the train station and got on this train.....

...and sat in one of these seats and before I knew it, I was there.  




I went to the information station where I was helped by a man from the Bay Area in California.  He gave me a history lesson on St. Francis of Assisi, offered some good advice on how to navigate the town in order to avoid as much uphill climbing as possible (and you know how much I appreciated that!), marked up my map with his illegible script, and then charged me a euro for it.  

I caught a bus to the highest portal of entry to the town and proceeded downward to explore.  It was now around 11:30 a.m., two hours from when I set foot outside my apartment.  

My first stop was the Basilica di Santa Chiara, a 13th century church that houses the relics of St. Clare, friend and protege of St. Francis of Assisi.  St.Clare was the daughter of a count in Assisi and followed the example of St. Francis against her parents wishes.  She founded a community of women religious called the Poor Clares.

Because of a vision she had while bed-ridden, she was named patron saint of television by a modern Pope in 1958 and is also the patron saint of sore eyes.  

Her tomb is in this church, as well as a number of her relics.




I wasn't aware of it, but the town was in the midst of preparations for Calendimaggio, a three-day festival celebrating the arrival of spring.  I could see evidence everywhere as I entered the main piazza where performance events were to take place.  

There were bleachers on one side of the piazza, where I sat to take this photo of the building opposite, which was decorated with colorful flags.  It was lunchtime now, and most of the churches were closed for "pranzo" until 2:00 or 2:30 p.m., so I decided to eat in a trattoria in this piazza. 



I don't know why I keep forgetting to take pictures of food, especially unusual dishes like what I had for lunch--grilled cheese topped with bacon. This wasn't a grilled cheese sandwich.  It was a thick slice of local caciotta cheese that was grilled to delicious crustiness and topped with what the menu called "streaky bacon".  Grilled eggplant, zucchini, and yellow pepper were served on the side.  It was molto bueno.

After lunch, I visited Chiesa Nuova, a church built in 1615 on the site of the presumed birthplace of St. Francis, the home of his  father, Pietro di Bernardone.

This is said to be an original door of the home and is on a level below the church.

Another door, more decorative.

And the altar in the church...beautiful.  











Next, I headed for Basilica di San Francesco, the plum of Assisi.  It's at the bottom of the hill that Assisi is built upon.  

On the way downward, I saw more evidence of festival preparations... people in medival dress, like these three lovely girls. 

And lots and lots of flags decorating buildings along the way.  

Then it is before me, the magnificent Basilica di San Francesco.  St. Francis was the son of a prosperous silk merchant and lived the "high life" typical of a wealthy young man.  While going off to war in 1204, he had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life and subsequently lived in poverty.  

He preached in the streets of Assisi and amassed followers, including St. Clare.  His Franciscan order was authorized by the Pope in 1210. He is present everywhere in this town.  
I wonder what he would think of this namesake cathedral. It has an upper and a lower part, and both are pretty grand. In the upper part, there are several frescoes that tell the story his life.

Pictures weren't allowed here, and there were frequent reminders to keep silent.  I can't describe the grandeur of this place.  It's enormous and there's a lot to take in, not just with your eyes, but with your spirit as well.  I can't describe the feeling I had sitting quietly in one of the pews.  Maybe it was awe.

St. Francis' tomb is here.  His stone coffin is enshrined in an open space above the altar in the lower part of the cathedral.  In the early 20th century, his most faithful brothers were entombed in the corners of the wall around this altar.

St. Francis is one of two patron saints of Italy and is also the patron saint of animals and the environment.

My last stop was the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli.  Here you see this chiesetta (little church) of Porzuincola within a grand church.  St. Francis was given this small 9th century church by Benedictine monks.

Here it is in the perspective of its enormous house.  Amazing!  Behind it, to the right, is the small hut where St. Francis died in 1226.  He was pronounced a saint two years later.  There are a number of his relics housed here.



I was very impressed that I didn't have to pay one euro to enter any of these grand churches.  I think there was only one I saw in Florence that didn't have an entry fee.  So it was a "pray free" day.

One regret--I didn't go up to the top of the hill to see what that building was.  I learned later that it's a fortress--Rocca Maggiore.  Maybe another day.

All through the day, I encountered panoramic views like this.  It was a really lovely day, and I think you can feel the spirit of St. Francis in the streets of Assisi.

On the bus ride back down to the train station, a "controller" came on board to check that everyone had a valid ticket.  I've experienced this maybe three or four times in Italy.  If you don't have a valid ticket, which cost all of one euro, you're fined 30.99 euro if you pay within 60 days, or 90.64 euro after that.  I wonder who picked those numbers?  One young man was removed from the bus by the controller, and, I'm assuming, was given a fine.  It wasn't a blessed day for him.

I wish I could have seen some of the festival performances scheduled for the evening, but it cost 40 euros for entry, and I wouldn't have been able to see much before the last train back to Perugia to make it worth that.  I was thinking of going back today, but, unfortunately for everyone in Assisi, it hasn't stopped raining since 5 a.m.

SURPRISE HOLIDAY

I had a number of errands to do today—buy groceries, go to Vodaphone to see why my Internet key doesn’t work, find a language school, go to the pharmacy, etc. etc. etc.  It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, and my first stop was a café I found that has free Wifi.  I wanted to relax, have a cup of cappuchino, make a grocery list, check my email, and catch up with my several games on Words with Friends.  My next stop was the grocery store, which was closed.  There were four paper signs taped inside the door indicating that the store would be closed today—not sure why one wouldn’t have been enough—but I couldn’t figure out why. 

I continued on to try to find the Vodaphone store. 

When I got to the bottom of the hill, there was a crowd gathering by the bus station.  There was a band playing.  

There were lots of people with flags.  And there were more people with flags streaming off several buses that were stopped at the curb.  Clearly, this was a celebration of some kind, but I hadn’t heard anything about it.  I haven’t had Internet service since I got here last Saturday, so I’m a little out of the loop.

I couldn’t find the Vodaphone store that was supposed to be in that piazza, so I wandered back to the bus station, tried asking a couple of Italians about the holiday but didn’t understand their answers.  One woman motioned for me to follow the crowd that was streaming upward on the escalators to the city center.  So I did.  (Side note:  I've noticed a lot of people kissing on escalators here....people of all ages...not something I've seen elsewhere....is it just the passionate nature of the Italian people or vacationers amping up the romance?)

Shortly after I arrived at the city center, I heard a couple of women speaking English and stopped them to ask if they knew what was going on. 

I could see bunches of bright colored balloons lining the street leading to the main piazza and hundreds hanging over the piazza.  I was informed that today is Labor Day in Italy.  I learned that there would be a parade and a lot of speeches. 

I walked to the main piazza and got some pictures of the balloons.

And of the parade….leading it was the band I saw at the bus station.

Following them were several groups, representing different unions, each with a unique flag.

Some groups were in uniform, and there was even a group of pensioners with their own special flag.

On the way back to the down escalators, I found the Vodaphone store…closed, of course, as the majority of the shops and businesses are today. 

Clearly, I won’t get any labor done today, and I’ll be eating out!

P.S.  Since I haven't had Internet service for 6 days, I'm catching up on my posts.  I've posted five new entries today while doing my laundry.  YES, I have a washing machine!  YEA!

THE TRUFFLES OF TODI

Bernadette likes it so much here that she decided to skip language school and stay another day.  Our adventure for Monday was to take the bus to Todi, a town of about 17,000, built on two hills (of course).  It’s another walled city, and part of the one built in pre-Roman days still exists.  The most recent wall was built in 1244 and is mostly intact.  Archeologically, Todi’s origins date back to the fifth century B.C. and, like every town and city in Italy, it has been ruled by several different regimes over the many centuries since.  

There are no escalators or elevators to be found in Todi, so there was a lot of climbing up hills on this day.  

Across from the bus stop was this incredible Church of St. Mary of Consolation, which was constructed over one century, beginning in 1508.  The interior is in the form of a Greek Cross.

There were three polygonal apses and a semicircular one.  

There was wonderful statuary in each.

And a beautiful altar, of course.

Bernadette and I waited for a bus to take us up to the city center, but after 15 minutes, we decided we would try to walk up, having no idea how far "up" was.  I could do some whining about this ascent, especially about how I felt when a bus passed us by at about the halfway point, but  I'll spare you my misery. 

We passed by this impressive Church of St. Fortune on our way "up".  (I did not add these steps to my climb.)

And we enjoyed some beautiful views of the countryside during my frequent pauses.  

We finally reached the top of "up" and shortly entered the Piazza Grande, where the grandest of Todi’s buildings dominate the scene.  

There was the Palace of the People, which dates back to 1218 and is connected by a large staircase to the Mayor’s Palace.  

The Palace of the Priors, built in the first half of the 1300’s is similar in architecture.  

On the opposite side of the piazza is the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary. 

There was a craft show in the Palace of the People, and we looked at some beautiful woodworks, embroidery, and ceramics, and I almost bought a beautiful cashmere sweater for 200 euro.  Fortunately, I came to my senses, because what I don’t need are more clothes to add weight to my luggage!  I’m glad I didn’t have my ATM card with me, because I was very tempted.  Todi is an area with a plentiful supply of truffles, and we saw several shops selling "truffled" products.

We found an archeological museum, but didn’t go inside, because it was just a lovely day to be wandering the streets outside, which is exactly what we did.  After a couple of hours, I was famished, and we had lunch at a restaurant that had been recommended to us by a man at the train station in Perugia.  He was from Todi originally, and he had played soccer with the owner of this restaurant.  His nickname with the team was “the bomber”, because he scored a lot of goals.  

Unfortunately, the owner didn’t remember “the bomber”, but we had a lovely lunch on the patio overlooking the surrounding countryside.  

I was very tempted by the gnocchi in cream and truffle sauce, but I’ve been wanting to try a dish with boar, and there was a stew on the menu that looked good.  It was.

There isn’t a lot to see in Todi.  We wandered through the side streets for another hour or so after lunch, enjoying the charm of the narrow streets and arched passageways.  

We caught a bus to the train station at mid-afternoon and headed back to Perugia, arriving in time for Bernadette to pick up her bag at the apartment and take another bus to a different train station for her return trip to Florence.

It was really wonderful to have Bernadette’s company for my first weekend here.  I don’t know how I’m going to find my way around without her as my excellent navigator.  I imagine I’ll get lost a few times, but I’m very motivated to find those escalators and elevators again!

A HILL OF A CITY

Fortunately for me, my friend Bernadette, who came to Perugia with me to spend the weekend, is a born navigator.  This woman has the most incredible sense of direction, and where there is a problem, she will find a solution.  She discovered escalators and elevators almost everywhere we went that allowed me to avoid climbing up scores of steps.  So what could have been an exhausting exploration of the city turned out to be not half bad.  

Perugia is the capital of the province of Umbria, the eastern neighbor of Tuscany.  The countryside, in my opinion, is not as spectacular as Tuscany’s rolling hills, but it places a very close second.  Vineyards and olive orchards dominate the landscape here, just like Tuscany, and this area is also known for its wonderful truffles, lentils, and the delicious pecorino cheese made from the milk of the flocks of sheep ranging in the hills.  Ah, the truffle.  The season is from October to March, so there are still some fresh truffles around, but not for long.

Perugia is the center of art and culture in Umbria.  There is a large university here and thousands of students roam the city streets.  The student population of approximately 40,000 makes up a quarter of the city's entire population!  The historic center is surrounded by two rings of Etruscan and medieval walls.  

In the center of the city is this beautiful fountain, Fontana Maggiore, which is the symbol of Perugia.  It stands in front of this huge Gothic cathedral.

In the same piazza there is also the Palazzo dei Priori and the National Gallery of Umbria.

The day was too beautiful to spend time inside galleries and museums, so Bernadette and I just roamed the city, taking in whatever sights came before us.  On our way up to the city center, we discovered some of the escalators (a set of four) and found a variety of shops inside the stone tunnels at the top of the last one.  

These vendors must have to pack up their wares every night.

I loved these funny clocks, one a dog.

And the other of cat.  Can't you just picture them at each end of someone's fireplace mantel?

We encountered a couple of other markets—Sunday is a big market day in Italy—in one piazza there was an antique market, in another there were vendors selling the food products of Umbria.  This is truffle country, so I am in heaven when I can buy sausages with truffle, cheese with truffle, truffle oil, truffle cream, etc. etc.  For starters, I bought some truffle sausage and some truffle cream, as well as some outstanding pecorino cheese and these incredible cheese biscuits made with 10 different kinds of cheese.  A loaf of local bread rounded out my market purchases.

Bernadette and I wandered the city for several hours and captured some of the sights along the way. 

Since this city is built on a hill, you often encounter fantastic views like this.

And this.

On our way back down the hill to the apartment, we stopped at the supermarket to buy supplies for dinner.  

I made a wonderful risotto with that truffle sausage, mushrooms, and red bell pepper, adding a dollop of the truffle cream at the end for extra truffle deliciousness.  That, with some bruschetta, made for a delicious meal. 

I was pretty exhausted at the end of the day and didn’t even mind sleeping on my slightly lumpy mattress.  

MOVING DAY

I have only casually mentioned going to language school in Florence.  And I will only briefly mention it here.  I had a great experience there and was very fortunate to have an excellent instructor for grammar.  We covered some of the same material I had already learned in Sorrento, but the instruction methods were much superior, and I think I actually understand some of the usage patterns of prepositions (although it’s doubtful that I’ll remember them in conversation), and I have a better handle on irregular verbs and indirect pronouns.  I’ll be looking for a school in Perugia, but I’m a bit handicapped, because I don’t have Wifi in my apartment here, and I can’t seem to get my Internet key to work.  So I need to locate the store of my telephone/Internet carrier.  This will be difficult without Internet and with a landlady that speaks little English.  At least I get a chance to practice my Italian with her.  However, I haven’t learned the language of washing machines, and thermostats, and TV remote controls.  The TV remote won’t matter, because I have NO English channels here. 

My friend Bernadette decided to come to Perugia with me for the weekend, and we took a train from Florence.  Fortunately for me, there was a very nice young man who helped me get my heavy luggage down one set of steps and up another at the Perugia train station.  Every month, there are adjustments for me to make, as I move from one place to another.  The appliances are different in every apartment, I have different kinds of cookware and dishes, and the beds and pillows all feel foreign at first.  When I entered the building, I discovered my apartment was downstairs, and I thought I would be in a basement apartment with little light (and maybe be cold again!).  But when I walked in and opened the shutters of the one huge window in the apartment, I found myself with the view from the second floor.  How could that be, you ask?  Because I’m in a city built on hills.  

So I’m pretty happy with the view I have of a beautiful tree across the street, but not so happy with the fact that the street is a very busy one with traffic 24/7, although there’s not much in the middle of the night. 

 And I was absolutely daunted by the 183 steps we had to climb to get to the city center.  I was on flat land in southeast Asia and Florence was also, for the most part, so now I have to get my mountain goat muscles back into condition. 

Oh, I cannot forget to share my delight that this apartment is WARM!  It may not be as artistically decorated as the apartment in Florence, but I won’t be shivering under blankets here.  

ARRIVEDERCI FIRENZE

It was sad to say goodbye to Florence.

No more idling on the bridges, enjoying views like this.

              Or this.

No more crossing through the Duomo piazza and having my breath taken away every single time by the magnificence of this cathedral.

No more sitting on the steps of some wondrous church and seeing something interesting happening, like people whipping around the piazza on these whatchamacallits. (Someone please tell me what they're called.)

I'll surely see more statuary, but not the number per square foot you find in Florence.  (It's not David's tush, but it's a nice tush.)

Around every corner you turn, there's something that captures your interest.  It's a city rich in art and culture, and unfortunately, gaggles of tourists everywhere.  I won't miss navigating my way around tour groups galore.  I was surprised at the number there were this early in the season.  

And I won't miss being cold all the time.  Here's hoping I have a warm apartment in Perugia!