October 4 Assisi Spoleto
04.10.2010 - 04.10.2010
Assisi is an amazing town. A complete perfectly preserved medieval town. We parked at a large undergrown parking facility and entered the town near the Basilica di San Francesco. We had been unaware that Oct. 4 is a celebration commemorating St. Francis and the plaza below the Basilica was full with spectators and TV crews. Each province was represented with a banner holder carrying his provincial banner. It is traditional that each year another Italian province assumes the responsibility of supplying oil to the Bascilica.
We bypasted the crowd and entered the lower church and followed the line to the below ground Tomb of the Saint.
We then began the uphill walk towards the town center passed perfectly preserved buildings. The town is full of stores selling souvenirs of all different qualities as well as upscale stores.
We eventually reached the center square and visited the Temple of Minerva, an old Roman temple, now converted into a church.
We continued on the the Duomo, a church in existence during St. Francis's life and in the earlier Romanesque style.
After that visit we started down the hill and ate lunch at a restaurant named The Lantern with a priced fixed menu. Traditional italian fare; was excellent.
We stopped at a shop selling dolls and bought a gift for our 3 month old granddaughter. We visited a gallary named Minigallery_Assisi which sold oils and water color pictures of Assisi.
We could have spend more time in Assisi but we were on to Spoleto and by mid afternoon it started to rain.
In Spoleto we had great difficulty finding our hotel which was high up in the old town. Several roads were closed and the streets were extremely narrow. When we found the hotel we learned it was a fifteen minute walk to the nearest restaurant. We elected not to stay there and were redirected to a hotel off the mountain, Hotel San Lucca. Well we got lucky. Beautiful property operated by a young couple who had completely renovated the property in 1998. It could not have been nicer. Complete breakfast, large modern bathroom; hospitable common areas; own enclosed garage.
We had dinner at the Osteria del Trivio, a short walk from the hotel and had a first course and pasta dish. everthing made from scratch and wonderful local wine.
Posted by ejoffe 05.10.2010 09:45 Archived in Italy Tagged assisi
