Villa Verde Assisi

... are teeming with families, young people and older folks just walking enjoying the cool weather, hot coffee and all sorts of chocolate products. I even caught a wedding happening on Sunday. We have another two days here and will return to Rome on Wednesday afternoon….just in time for dinner and a full day of touring before heading back hone on Friday morning.

Best to all back home,

Jorge

... no photos are allowed anywhere within the Basilica di San Francesco).

We first toured the upper church of the basilica, which was built between 1230 and 1253. It is huge inside, and grandiose in style. One of the most famous pieces of art in the world is the 28-part fresco that circles the walls of the upper church (probably done by Giotto and his pupils, although – interestingly – the identity of these frescoes continues to be debated within the art ...

Back to the land of pay toilets. Don.t know why that bothers me so much but it does. It just doesn.t seem right. Anyway, we are now in Assisi. We got off the boat and it was raining, and then we had to take a detour to Assisi. the road was very narrow and hilly, It was a little tense for awhile. Saw St Francis ...

So the morning came and Licia and I each took our turn getting cleaned and ready for our exciting chocolate adventure.

It was about an hour drive through the beautiful Umbrian countryside to the Perugia exit from the highway. At this time traffic was getting quite dense as was our anticipation growing.

Arriving at the base of the hills, we came to an enormous parking lot with carnival rides and ...

... pizzeria where I had delicious lasagna. After lunch we browsed through the many stands. Sample after sample led to some major purchases. It was hard to pass up the various chocolate products when the smell just filled the air. There was everything from chocolate beer to chocolate “pills” to chocolate pasta!!

Heaven.

I’ll update you soon,

Siara

... I planned very carefully. I made sure the right route was programmed into our GPS and that the map was clear. We got up very early, thinking we would drive there, have our visit in the morning, enjoy lunch, and get home by 4 or so in the afternoon.

This day was as problem-free as the previous days had been “problem-full.” We found the parking lot we were looking for. We found a great map of the city. We had a deeply moving ...

... it to a few garages and nobody could get the part. Sam has also been trawling scarp yards but no luck so we were hoping to get to Assissi and spend a few days here waiting for a coil but didn't quite make it. Being broken down on the side of an Italian motorway was a pretty scary experience and when I say on the motorway I mean that literally - there was no hard shoulder and we were only just past a bend in the road. The Italians are crazy drivers - its bad enough being in a car ...

... must understand something. This last winter in Melbourne almost saw the first snow in over 20 years in the city area. Melbourne got excited that there MIGHT be snow. There wasn't any - but there was the chance of it, so it was a big news story. Hence my somewhat surprise and genuine excitement that unexpected snow was genuinely falling just outside the window of the train. Arriving at Perugia I was rugged up as best I could. I never anticipated snow fall, and I had left my main ...

... Like the Greeks, the Etruscans had their own set of deities; Aita, ruler of the dead and symbol of the underworld; Aplu, ruler of the sky, thunder and lightning; Cel, mother earth; Fuflans, god of wine, rebirth, and spring; Horta, goddess of agriculture; Laran, god of war; Menrva, goddess of knowledge and the arts; Satres, ruler of time; Thesan, goddess of the dawn and childbirth; and Tvath goddess of resurrection, just to name a few. The Etruscans were ...

... in telling the difference between entry and exit signs on staircases. Much the same as I have difficulty with "parking for authorised vehicles only" signs. Back out in Piazza Superiore di san Francesco, it was a furnace. We fled home to Brigolante. Again we noted that once you pass around the back of Assisi, and the northern flank of Mount Subassio, the air is clearer and the wonderfull unspoiled hills and mountains are a dramatic comparison with the hazy, industrial sprawl of the ...