Our road leads from Rome

8am Gus and I went to get picnic provisions from the ‘supermarket' but they needed 5 minutes to offload a van so we popped into the Tabac for an expresso and Gus had a chocolate croissant. I had asked for a double expresso, so they came in two separate tiny cups. Gus had to have the other one. (I think he enjoyed it). Bags and all we said goodbye to the flat and hopped on the first bus that came along that took us straight to the Eurocar depot. So I guess we eventually Sussed the bus system. Following Rita's commands (a valuable loan from Kerry and Rhoda - thanks chaps for the gps) we made it out into the countryside on the small roads in no time. A short stop in a wonderful hilltop town Narni, to take advantage of the beautiful views and free wifi, two pizza slices were also ordered as it was lunchtime. Our next stop was Spoletto, but not before we had taken several lengthy tunnels deep under the Appenines, driven up numerous hair pin bends, climbing through olive groves and passing more spectacular hill towns with natural forests from valley floor to summit. Spoletto was our supposed lunch stop so we took our picnic up 8 escalators to the top of the hill overlooking the town. That was a first indeed. We sat on the edge of a pretty gorge next to the via duct that spanned the valley. Bread cheese and ham, olive oil and Lemmon juice!
50 km later and we entered Assisi. We were late and made our way straight to the Basilica of St Francesco, how appropriate we should be there. We immediately attended evening prayers in the crypt next to the tomb of St Francis. Lovely singing! We spent some time looking at the incredible murals depicting the Iife of the saint, covering the walls of the two churches built on-top of each other. Ambling through the narrow streets, oh so picturesque, oh so romantic, oh such fun. Gus kept on shouting out, "I love Italy', - not too loud, but it is quite obvious the children have been totally taken in by the town as it sits high upon an Umbrian hill, overlooking the patchwork countryside. We stopped for our first pasta at a Tratoria which proved to be just what we needed, restful and tasty. For the rest of the evening we just popped into interesting shops and spent ages sitting at the fountain in the main square, watching, chatting, laughing and reminding ourselves just how lucky we are. Thank you Lord! Thank you family!


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Location:Assisi