We were sad to leave Rome, there was so much more we wanted to see. But, more great experiences were on the agenda, so we boarded the bus and headed to the tiny mountain village of Assisi in the beautiful region of Umbria.

Our two hour ride to Assisi was punctuated by village after village crowning many of the hills of Umbria. Each looked like something from a long ago fairy tale. It became apparent to me how the feudal system included so many kings, lords, knights, and such. I’ve read about city-states, but seeing them made the concept crystal clear.

Assisi is a mountainside village, dominated by the Basilica of St. Francis. Not only is it a popular tourist destination, many devoted followers of the Franciscan order make pilgrimages to this sacred site. Assisi was the home and burial place of St. Francis, founder of the Franciscan order. The church he led is enshrined in a larger building in the town below the mountain. As with many of the sites with sensitive art work, photography was not allowed inside the basilica. The structure is actually comprised of two churches, the lower church, and the upper church. The lower church contains frescoes that serve as an art history lesson of late medieval and early renaissance art. We were also able to go downstairs to the crypt and see the tomb of St. Francis.

The upper church is beautiful, though not ornate like some of the churches in Rome. The altar contains a large wooden structure with seats for a college of cardinals, and one seat for the pope. Our guide, Giuseppe, told us that when Pope Francis visited, he refused to sit in the papal seat, but instead opted to sit as a cardinal. From everything we learned of St. Francis, this act was very consistent with the saint for which the pope styles himself.  The nave was lined with frescoes showing the life and work of St. Francis, who gave up a life of wealth and luxury to live humbly and serve the poor. Our guide also pointed out a fresco which illustrated St. Francis as the first to depict a nativity scene. With this knowledge, we knew another nativity was a priority for the day. I really enjoyed learning about St. Francis. If I were catholic, I could easily see myself following the Franciscan order.

After our tour of the basilica, we were given a couple of hours to explore the village and have lunch. The street from the upper church was lined with numerous gift shops. Each were packed with trinkets dedicated to St. Francis and other emblems of faith. There was no shortage of nativities in any of these shops. After about five stores, we finally found one that seemed unique enough for Janet’s collection, and small enough to fit in our luggage.

With the nativity chosen, we needed to find lunch. We knew kind of what we wanted, but we were now a few levels up from the base of the village. Fortunately a staircase led us about five stories down to where we needed to be. We chose a lunch that was refreshingly simple. The menu consisted of two types of panini and our choice of wine. Our server also included some samples of their house cheese to try. We sat on barrels at a barrel table and enjoyed the ambiance of this local treasure.

Following lunch, we boarded the bus and headed to Florence. The trip was three hours, and I can’t blame our tour mates for napping. Most were much older than us. But I didn’t pay this much money to sleep. Maurizio was pleased we wanted to see the country side and was more than happy to tell us all about it. For about an hour we enjoyed a personal tour guide through western Umbria and eastern Tuscany.

We arrived in Florence and proceeded straight to Michelangelo’s square. I’d seen this vantage point on Rick Steve’s video and was excited we were going there. The road along the way was lined with beautiful houses built on the Tuscan hillsides. It was almost a dream come true.  The view from this plaza is hard to beat and we took some amazing pictures.

After checking in to our hotel, dinner was on our own. Maurizio explained the difference between a ristorante, trattoria, osteria, and taverna.  We chose a trattoria that’s less formal than a ristorante. Our dinner companions, Tim & Ivy, were a delightful couple from New Jersey who gave us some excellent travel tips. Our day visiting Assisi was awesome, however we knew that our day in Florence would probably be amazing. The only preparation needed was a good night’s sleep.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller