On Wednesday, we were hoping to go to Lucca to ride bikes but, alas, the spotty off-and-on rain dissuaded us. So we hung out at the beach house, washed clothes and got ready to leave for Assisi on Thursday. We made a final trip into Camaiore to pick up a few things and have lunch at our favorite ristorante there, Locando de Monche, so we could eat there one more time. I took a picture of Bev with our favorite server there, Ilyr (pronounced "Ilya"). Ilyr speaks decent English, but with a bit of a German accent. It turns out that he is from Romania, but lived in Germany for a couple of years, where he learned English. He laughs at his German-accented English. I was in the mood for fish and Ilyr highly recommended a fresh fish from the area, so I ordered it. When it came, it was the ENTIRE FISH, and it "only had eye[s]for me," so to speak!
After getting everything packed up, and the house cleaned and buttoned up, we got on the road about 8:30 this morning, Thursday. Our driving skills, including the toll roads of the Autostrade, Italy's interstate highway system, are definitely improving! Yesterday we re-loaded the "Europe City Navigator" on our Garmin, hoping it would improve what has been a frustrating experience here in Italy. The area around La Pieve, where we've been basing out of for the last two weeks or so, doesn't even show up on our Garmin! So with Garmin actually showing the Assisi area, but primarily with Bev's navigating the old-fashioned way, we made the 3 1/2-hour drive to Assisi, arriving around noon.
Approaching Assisi is a beautiful sight! The hills of the Umbrian countryside are glowing green, and Assisi sits on the side of one of the hills, with the St. Francis Basilica and other churches looming over the valley in their splendid, pink-and-white glory. On arrival, we tried to get a room at a place Rick had recommended, but when I called, I was surprised to learn that they didn't have a room for tonight. Rick's book made it sound like rooms would be plentiful, but our first choice was full. We then called our second choice and they had plenty of vacancies with a good view, so we went there and were pretty overwhelmed with the panoramic view of the valley below! Enrico is the owner and his wife, Mary, is from New Jersey. We never met Mary, but Enrico was very kind, and his English was very good, so that was really helpful for information about where to park, etc.
We spent the afternoon walking around Assisi, and Bev commented on how clean and beautiful the city itself was, not to mention the beautiful setting of Umbria. We toured the Basilica of St. Francis, which is beautiful and impressive. I'm pretty sure that the wonderfully simple St. Francis rolls over in his grave regularly, seeing how ostentatious the basilica erected in his honor. Rick said that Umbria is known for its great sausage, so we dug right in with a couple different sausage dishes for lunch, and it was terrific. By the time we had dinner, we couldn't wait to order sausage again! Before dinner, which is always late--around 9:00 p.m.--I had gotten a bottle of a red Umbrian wine for 9 euro and we shared the bottle on the patio of the hotel and saw a gorgeous sunset with a nearby church in the foreground. The pictures give you an idea of the fabulous view! As usual, however, no photo can capture the panoramic beauty.
We had one of the finest meals we've had in Italy tonight at Trattoria Pallotta. You guessed it--another Rick Steves recommendation! He hasn't missed a beat for us on this trip! Thanks Rick--keep up the great work!
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