tiny village, big hearts

Our last day in Florence, we took a day trip to Assisi. Early train ride through the Tuscan & Umbrian countryside. We had interest in staying in Umbria but decided to just day trip instead of packing up and moving to a new hotel again.
Arriving in Assisi, first things first: a morning cappuccino. To our surprise, we met the jolliest, welcoming man and his adorable son. They "whipped up" (slow and careful in true Italian form) the most beautiful and delightful cappuccinos. We shared some smiles with Angelo and were invited back for an afternoon apertif (sadly, he wasnt there later!).
We walked up the hill to Basilica de San Francesco. Assisi is an old medieval town, made famous for two popular saints: Saint Francis and Saint Clare. As we approached the Basilica, the next few moments couldn't have been more perfect. Franciscan monks exiting a nearby courtyard, entering the Basilica to find a mass occurring in the front chapel and monks singing in Latin. Blown away!
The Basilica was very unique in its design. Many of the churches we have visited have had a strong Gothic & Renaissance influence: darker, taller and more concrete. San Francesco was adorned with royal blue & gold ceilings, bright frescoes still in tact and numerous side chapels honoring various saints and holy people. The tile work around archways and detailed scenes depicting holy lives...beautiful. Downstairs, a small chapel holds St. Francis' tomb. (He's actually buried there!!) Moved to tears, Belle said a quick prayer and we ventured upstairs to look at the main altar and finish our little tour of the basilica.
Walking out, it was raining!! Oopsy, we banked on a forecast of 30% rain meaning no rain. Turns out, the drizzle made the mystery of Assisi even more real. Up, up, up via San Francesco to climb & giggle our way up a staircase to Rocca Maggiore. We didn't visit the medieval castle but, instead, took in the sweeping views of Umbrian vineyards & mountains from atop this hill in Assisi. After realizing how exhausted we were, we took our tiny feet in and out of alleyways to discover adorable sweetness and stone roads. Our favorite thing to do in every city has become just losing ourselves in the side roads & seeing what we can discover. And allowing moments for perfect silliness :)
Like Angelo told us at the beginning of our arrival, one day in Assisi is just not enough time but we were lucky with the few hours we got! Assisi offers medieval structure, fortress walls, adorable alleyways and a peaceful heartwarming ambiance.

Ciao!
Belle & Mack

 

Basilica de San Francesco

 

Alleyways & Staircases!