Today we traveled to Assisi. The bus left at 8:30 and many of us woke up earlier to enjoy a quick breakfast at Bar 2000. The bus ride was about an hour and a half, and at one point we stopped to get our fabulous tour guide Giovanni. When we arrived in Assisi the first church that we visited was St. Clare Basilica, or Basilica di Santa Chiara as it is called here. We saw the beautiful artwork that adorned the church. Giovanni also took us down to a lower level where we got to see St. Clare's tomb. Then we continued our trek uphill to see the house where St. Francis grew up for a quick stop before journeying on to The Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take many pictures. Giovanni lead us around the Basilica showing and telling us about the different pieces of artwork that were painted on the walls and ceilings. We even got to see the famous "Gig'em" Mary. The group was then lead down the stairs to see the tomb of St. Francis.
For lunch we walked to a ristorante to eat some much needed and welcomed pasta. After lunch, we split up into small groups. Half of us went to the Rocca Maggiore which was the castle that overlooked the town and surrounding areas, while the other half of our group went to explore the town and to shop around the cute stores. Going to the castle was quite a journey! The castle was located on a steep hill that we unfortunately had to walk up. When we arrived at the castle, we went up and down small sets of staircases in order to reach the top of the towers. The staircases were composed of incredibly small steps that were also very slippery. We were all a little worried of slipping at one point or another. But enduring the danger of falling down stairs was worth it. The view was absolutely amazing. At one point, half of us were at one tower and the other half were at another. It was pretty cool being able to yell "Howdy!" across an ancient castle to one another. When we finally left the castle, some people got some gelato and decided to shop around for a while before finally meeting up with everyone to walk back to the bus to head over to Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. By the time we left the basilica, we were all so tired that we couldn't wait to get on the bus to head back to the center. Almost everyone fell asleep on the bus ride back! When we got back to the center, we ate dinner, had a small discussion about tomorrow, and headed out to gelato as usual.
Ciao!
Jacqueline Macias and Bethany Smith
Entering St. Clare's Basilica
Walking to the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
Group picture!
Lunch! Yum!
Outside of Rocca Maggiore
Sleeping on the way back home
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