Assisi was a medieval walled town, a roman town and now a tourist town. It is home to the Saint Francis Basilica, the large church which stands out from the hill, an amazing sight from the valley below. Because the town is so old we had to park below and walk up the hill to it, We went to the Basilica first which was very big, and busy there were lots of monks and nuns walking around, many living behind the church. In front of the church was a big square which had pictures around it of Mother Teresa working in India. Inside it was dark and there was a mass in the main side chapel. Many people who arrived joined in. We went below the church to the tomb of Saint Francis, Patriot Saint of Animals. The tomb was filled with people praying, I found it very peaceful even though it was very cramped claustrophobic with all the people in the room with no windows because it was below the ground. The basilica was three layers high. There is Saint Francis crypt, the lower church and the higher church on top. The higher church was shut so we only went in the lower church and the crypt. In the lower church we went into a small exhibition about Saint Francis. It had his old patched and frayed robes and other possessions. Back outside we walked down through Assisi town stopping at the many art galleries and tourist souvenir shops. There was some incredible glass paintings on display. The pizza and Gelatarias were tempting. We walked to St Claire’s (Chiara) church but it was shut so Mum and Dad waited for it to open while us kids went home via the basilica to buy Oma a postcard and get some other things from the shop. We had lunch down at the camper and later Mum and Dad came home. Mum bought another scarf which is colourful and very nice. Then we drove to Trevi town a small, medieval walled town. We squeezed into a packed Aire and later that night found out why it was so busy. We played cards and went to bed while Mum and Dad went out for a walk. They took a long time and we started to get worried at 10 o’clock. When they got home they we very excited about their “Harry Potter medieval adventure” as Mum called it. As they were walking in town and around the wall in the dark they came along a street lined with oil lamps so they followed them .They ended up in the middle of a medieval re-enactment. They joined a group and walked around the alleys ways. Every so often there was a show or demonstration. They saw people mixing clay and making bricks and pots, very expressive theatre acts of love scenes and fights, fires under cauldrons…..
The next day we had a slow morning and pancakes for breakfast cooked by Johanna. Mum we off to the local basilica and the rest of us went into town to see what was there after last night. There were burnt lamps, and stalls. We founds the clay mix and made stuff and home that we cooked in the oven. Later we went into the town market to buy a lettuce and Madeleine bought some dice earrings form a jewellery stall in the antique market. In the evening lots of cars turned up and everyone was going into town again so we had another look. It was the same market but there were stalls where you could taste jams and fresh unfiltered olive oil. There was a crepe machine making crepes and sausages cooked on fires for sale. Everyone was buying fresh celery. That night over dinner we talked a lot about philosophy and religion.
The next day the weather was wet. We left Trevi and drove. We stopped for lunch at Spoleto. The rain had stopped so we went for a walk in town. We found a series of eight escalators that went up the hill. It was very weird. We took a long escalator ride to the top that went into the hill. Then instead of taking the scary elevator we climbed the emergency exit stairs. After 145 steps we were at the top which had a castle on it that is now a museum. We walked around the castle which was closed. On the other side we could see an old aqueduct that was very high. Then it started raining again. Some of us took the elevator back down and we all went through town. We stopped at the church and waited for it to open then went in. William said he couldn’t visit another church. Bad luck for William as Italy is the seat of the catholic church and full of them. As we walked down through town it was very slippery. Back at the camper we drove to a Lidl and stocked up ready for Rome. We drove in the dark to Civi ta Castellana where we stayed and had Margherita pizzas for dinner and Mum got mentally prepared for Rome (a bit city) the next day.
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