Assisi

I'm home from Italy and given the lack of blogging material, you'll be seeing more pics from the trip in the week to come. It was a great trip - a tiring trip - but I saw (and ate!) so much. Mom and I went to Assisi during our sojourn in quiet Spoleto and it was just as beautiful as I remember - and more crowded!


The flowers were in bloom - oleander, geraniums, roses - making the steep streets gorgeous!


Of course, part of the charm of Assisi is the view of the valley below. The old part of Assisi is perched on the side of a hill, three miles from the train station in the town below. I was super proud of Mom and I for figuring out and taking the bus (totaling all of 3.80 euros) instead of an expensive taxi. We were quite the frugal travelers!


The attraction of Assisi - the reason pilgrims crowd the streets - is, of course, St. Francis. The basilica built to house his remains would appall him (he was such a simple man) but this was how the Church chose to honor him - a man who breathed new life into a struggling, corrupt institution in the Middle Ages. It's ironic that this basilica, in Assisi, is the only property owned by the Vatican outside of Vatican City.


I've never seen so many pilgrims - and tourists - as there were at Assisi that day. The last time I was there, it was a quiet, sleepy town. It seems, however, that Assisi is now in vogue in Italy. There are more religious souvenir shops than ever before.

It saddens me to see the first friar turned into a money-making machine. Everyone wants a part of this man - or, at least, everyone wants to be able to say they've been to Assisi.

Anyways, mom and I visited almost every church in the city and we walked our legs off! Then, once were again in the town below, we walked from the train station to S. Maria degli Angeli - the church that houses the church Francis rebuilt, and the place he called home. This place is almost more moving than the great basilica. To step inside Francis' church is always a humbling, thought-provoking experience.

And that was our day in Assisi.