We picked up our rental car at 9 am on Monday, Sept. 8th and were on our way around noon. It was a lovely day – bright and sunny and the traffic was good once we left Rome behind. Mark was our driver and he made the fast highway driving look easy! I was the navigator using my favourite map – Google maps!! Our final destination was a cute Airbnb just outside of Assisi but we decided to make a stop along the way.
Margie found a very interesting little town called Sant’Angelo di Roccalvecce. With only 100 inhabitants (mostly elderly), the town was becoming a ghost town. In order to bring tourists in, female street artists were invited to paint huge murals on the old buildings of the town. It was an amazing transformation that brought life back to this community. We explored the small roads and took lots of photos! We even managed to find a little corner store that made sandwiches for us.
As we drove closer to Assisi, we started climbing into the mountainous region of Umbria. Our google maps route took us along some impressive winding roads. We could see many villages and towns way up on hilltops – spectacular views! It was very easy to spot Assisi because of the incredible structures way up on the hillside. We had a minor challenge finding our Airbnb but with a bit of searching, we found it nestled between a few farm houses.
On Tuesday, Sept. 9th we made our first trip into Assisi. We had a fun curvy drive up to a parking lot and then made our way down through the narrow, cobble stone streets. There were many little shops and restaurants all mixed around churches and museums. At the bottom of the little streets was the Papal Basilica and Sacred Convent of Saint Francis. What an impressive structure with its amazing stained glass windows. A mass was underway when we arrived so we silently explored the many side alters and little chapels. We also went down to the tomb of St. Francis. It was very busy inside the church so we didn’t spend a lot of time in there. We were very impressed with Assisi and will go back later in the week.
Crimson Kathryn and her crew 