I shared this trip with my good friend and colleague Ilene Steinkruger. She had visited Assisi on her trip last summer but, being on a tour, saw little of it. The trip to Rome went as planned with a few hours in Delta's Sky Lounge in Atlanta. My Fiat Panda was ready and waiting at Avis at Rome's Fiumincio Airport. We headed north for a one night stay in Civita di Bagnoregio. Unfortunately, host Franco Sala did not come up to the B&B from Orvieto the day we were there but Nina & Gina, his right had helpers, took good care of us and fed us well. Franco's wireless worked flawlessly.
After breakfast on Friday, we headed for our nine day stay in Assisi stopping at Deruta, famous for it ceramics, and in Santa Maria degli Angeli to visit the basilica there. It is famous for the Porziuncola, the most sacred place for the Franciscans. We arrived about mid-day in Assisi. We had lunch at Dal Carro. When dinner time rolled around, we headed by car to Palazzo di Assisi to the Osteria di Cambio where I feasted on their great spaghetti alla carbonara.
Saturday we spent the best part of the day visiting the various churches and other sites of Assisi stopping for great pranzo (lunch) at Buca di San Francesco.
Sunday morning after Mass at Santa Chaira Basilica, we made the mandatory climb to Rocca Maggiore, the fortress at the top of the hill upon which Assisi is built. For lunch we had some cheese and salami in the convent courtyard. In the afternoon drove to the wine district of Montefalco stopping at the Arnaldo Caprai vinyard. On the way back to Assisi, we stopped for a short while in Bavenga. That evening we again dined at Dal Carro.
Monday we stayed in Assisi having lunch at Trattoria da Erminios and dinner a Ristorante La Lanterna.
Tuesday we rose early and caught the 0625 train to Florence arriving just before 0830. As luck would have it, the San Lorenzo market was open so we got to see Regina (my favorite jewelry vendor) and did some shopping. From there we went to the Galileo Science Museum near the Uffizi Museum of Art. Next we visited the Basilica of Santa Croce. It is quite a place with many famous figures of history honored there. We tried to go to the Accademia Gallery, home of Michelangelo's David, but the lines were long and not moving. For lunch we had a pork sandwich (yum, yum) and vino at Nerbone's in the Mercato Centrale. There Nerbone has been serving cucina povera ("poor people's food) since the market opened in 1874. We arrived back in the Assisi area at about 1415. We visited San Damiano in the afternoon. It is the original home of the San Damiano Cross from which Christ spoke to St Francis urging him to "rebuild my church." Since being placed in public view in 1957, the cross resides over the new altar in San Giorgio's Chapel in the Basilica di Santa Chiara in Assisi. That evening we dined at Trattoria degli Angeli in Santa Maria degli Angeli.
Again on Wednesday we stayed in Assisi all day visiting sites. It was Ash Wednesday so I called Sister Marcellina at Casa di Santa Brigida and arranged to have lunch there. It was delicious and it is always good to see sister again. After that filling lunch, we chose to have pizza that evening at a local pizzeria.
Thursday we set out again in the trusty Fiat and visited Castiglione de Largo on the shore of Lago Trasimeno, west of Assisi. From there we headed to Cortona, made famous in Frances Mayes' novel, "Under the Tuscan Sun." We sight-saw briefly and had a wonderful lunch at Trattoria La Grotta. When we got back we made one more trip to Osteria di Cambio in Palazzo di Assisi for their wonderful spaghetti carbonara.
Friday being our last day with the car, we drove over to Bettona in the heart of Umbria's "Marlboro Country." Although there were no crops growing in March, I remember from my earlier trip that much tobacco is grown in this area. We visited there for a while and then had lunch at Il Girasole in the tiny town of Castlnuovo di Assisi. It was so good that we decided to do the pizza thing again that night.
After breakfast on Saturday, I drove over to Perugia and turned it in to Avis and took the train back to Assisi. While I was gone, Ilene rode the Assisi "A" bus which travels a loop around the city. When I returned, I made a speed test run to Rocca Maggiore making it from the convent to the summit in twelve and a half minutes. Later we had lunch at Dal Carro once more. That night we ate at La Lanterna.
Sunday morning we attended Mass at the Basilica di Santa Chiara. We lunched one final time at Dal Carro. As a side note, Caffe Duomo, an old wireless Internet location from earlier trips, was being remodeled while we were there. They had their grand opening on Sunday and we visited there for various events at 1100, 1500, 1700, and 1900. It was packed and all had a great time. After the last event we went to Trattoria da Erminio's for our final meal in Assisi. On the way back to the convent, we stopped one more time at Caffe Duomo for my after meal gelato.
Monday we caught the 0705 EuroStar to Rome arriving just after 0900. We checked into the Hotel Alimandi and got settled there. We lunched at Insalata Ricca. I had carbonara and fries. Later in the afternoon, we took a bus over to the Hotel Harmony to visit my old friend and owner, Reno. We chatted with him and had a beer there before heading over to Steak House nearby. I eat there once each trip to Rome. Of all things, I had steak and eggs there. Following dinner we took the subway over to the Coliseum and wandered about there for a while. We took the subway back to the hotel. We were going to stop at the Spanish Steps on the way back but due to construction the last train on the "A" line, was at 2100 so we let it go until Tuesday.
Since it was forecast to rain all Wednesday, we made the most of Tuesday. After a great Alimandi breakfast, we took the bus to Piazza Navona. From there we walked to the Pantheon, then the Trevi Fountains where we tossed our coins in insuring a future trip there. We stopped at the nearby North American College and I made my reservation for the Papal Audience during my trip this coming September. Next we visited Piazza Republica and the Basilica od Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri. From here we took the subway back to the Alimandi stopping briefly at the Spanish Steps and Via dei Condotti, the home to the shops of the famous fashion designers. After a light pizza lunch we visited the Vatican. Since it was such a nice day we decided to make the climb to the Capula of Saint Peter's. It is 500+ steps from ground level. However, you can take an elevator part way and reduce the number to 350 or so. We did the latter. The view was spectacular from there. I stayed for 1700 Mass then headed back to the hotel. We had dinner at La Rustichella. I had risotto alla crema di scampi. It was one of the very best meals I have had on any of my visits to Italy. After a gelato at Gelateria Millennium, we gave it up for the evening.
Wednesday was pretty much a lost day as it rained most of the day. We had breakfast at the hotel, lunch at a nearby seafood eatery called Il Bar Sotto il Mare 2, and dinner once again at La Rustichella. We also went over to Saint Peter's again that day and briefly again to the Spanish Steps.
Thursday, we took a van at 0530 to the airport for our 0845 flight back to Atlanta. It lasted 30 seconds under 11 hours from brake release to touchdown. Again we visited the Delta Sky Lounge then caught the flight back to Colorado Springs, arriving there at 1959. It was a great trip; a bit chilly in Assisi but still a great adventure.