Day 7 - Peaceful Italy

 

Another early start to the day! I think the travel director is right! I'll need another vacation after this one!

We set off from our lovely cliff side hotel around 8am, towards our next stop – Assisi. We travelled along the A1 back towards Roma and into Umbria. As we drove (due to seat rotation I got the front seat! Woohoo!) through the beautiful Italian countryside it began to change from low lying towns to hill top walled towns. As Chris explained we were now entering the Medieval times, with hill top towns that were their own city states, which used to fight with the surrounding city states. The mountain top and high walls were used as protection against invading armies. The countryside was beautiful. When you think of Tuscany, the rolling hills and sandy coloured buildings dotted throughout is what we were travelling through today.

 

Our first stop for the day was the Commonwealth War Memorial in Monte Casino. A solemn place with hundreds of soliders from the Commonwealth that served in WWII. This beautiful garden broken up by rows and rows of tomb stones with symbols of their country on them was very moving. Although there were 46 of us slowly walking through the area all you could hear were the soundings of the wind moving through the trees, and the birds chirping. Set at the foot of a large mountiain that had a monastery at its peak, it was a truly beautiful place, and beautifully kept. It was a sight to see. It was truly moving.

 

 

We all boarded back onto our bus, a little more quiet that before, and set off for our next stop- Assisi. On the way, Chris  discussed with us the history of this beautiful town set half way up a mountain. This was the home town of Saint Francesco (the saint our current Pope has decided to be named after). He was a saint who was said to be a friend to the poor and to the animals, and is said to have performed many miracles. After his death artists from all over Italy came to make and decorate a church dedicated to him, under which he was buried (one of the wishes he had). Another basilica was built above this one, and another. This amazing structure was made using the local pinkish stone, like the buildings surrounding it. Therefore, when we arrive late in the afternoon, the light from the sun made everything glow a soft rose gold colour, creating a warm, welcoming and calm feeling. It was stunning, and so peaceful! The feeling there was just one of peace and tranquillity, as you were surrounded by warm rose coloured stone buildings that are hundreds and hundreds of years old, and in suchbeautiful condition. As the basilicas are a religious spaces you could not take any photos inside (sorry!). Let’s just say, they were beautiful! They had walls of frescos which were still really bright with colours, despite being hundreds of years old. After a small guided tour of Assisi we had about an hour to wander through the windy streets of Assisi town. It was gorgeous to simply walk from shop to shop, completely different to the feeling in Sorrento or Rome. The cobblestoned streets led us back down to the bus parking lot, where we enjoyed a cold drink and a gelato. We then board our bus once again and went to our accommodation for the night. It was a beautiful old lodging building where visiting clergymen would stay when they came to visit the basilica. It was an old building that was made from the local pink stone, with a lovely inner courtyard with seating and a large marquee roof for protection from the sun (yay! Because my sun rash was rearing its ugly head again! Grr!

 

Our room was simple and functional (it had my two main things – bed and hot shower, although the water pressure was not great, it was a shower! Good enough for me!). We had a dinner at the hotel, with lots of local ingredients. It was a delicious three course meal with a rigatoni with fresh tomato sauce (yum!), a hot chicken a rocket salad with garlic and rosemary baked potatoes (yummo!) and then an apple struddle type thing with a light chocolate caramel sauce (divine!). With our tummies full and our eyes drooping we all headed to bed, where I basically crashed. Goodnight!