Assisi

(The town crest taken from outside the dinning room of the hotel where we stayed.)
Many people know of St. Francis of Assisi, many do not know his name was John Francis. Yes, just like me, he had two names, but he chose to go by his middle name, and not his first name. Assisi is actually 2 cities. There is the city in the valley which is where most modern life takes place, and then there is the ancient city where Francis lived his early life. It has, by some strange power of the Saint himself, maintained a lot of the old world charm. Most of the old part of the town is not open to motorized traffic, though they do get in and about, but it is a real walking town. I was first in Assisi in 1979. It was a beautiful town that was to remain in my mind as just that a small town. Going back this time, 28 years later, I was afraid it would have become like Florence, an over crowded tourist destination. It had not. It is still a quiet and peace filled place to see and walk about.

This is a typical side street (sidewalk) in town. It went up to another level of the town were the locals actually live. Very few people who work in the old town of Assisi
actually live there, they live in the valley below and commute to work here.

This is a typical shop in the town. I love the chianti bottles hanging and the straw brooms. It is such an "old world" experience.

Not all the churches are big. This is a small chapel in a residential area of the town. It was so quiet and the setting of the olive trees made such a nice transition to the stone tower and old bells.
Earlier I showed you a shot of the bell tower of St. Clair's Church from outside the walls. This is inside the walls walking towards the church itself. You can see the city really does set on a hill!

This last shot is special to me in many ways. I was, as mentioned earlier, here in Assisi in 1979. At that time I was with a group of people, many whom have passed on to the next life. Among them were Fr. Siro DalDegan and his mother, Congressman Gene Chappie as well as his wife. We all stopped here to take a group picture with the modern city of Assisi in the background. As I looked out over this spot, I remembered these fine people and "stood" with them again for this picture. I can still see them with me, and if you look close, I am sure you can too. :)


Thus ended my day in Assisi. From Assisi, we got onto the buss and headed for Florence.