I woke up and decided to take a big run down to the lake. I think I left about 8 and found the direct route to town and the restaurant we ate at yesterday. It was pretty easy getting there except I had to run along down a busy street which was a tad scary. As I ran by one garden I saw one older woman picking a number of zucchini blossoms. I made it under the freeway and found the Lido di Tuoro which is really kind of a cheesy resort amusement park area. I found the modern statues that I have read about that commerates the battle of Hannibal and the Romans in 219 BC when his forces killed 15,000 Romans in the marshes hear the lake. I also found where the ferry leaves for Isola Maggione and spotted a woman I recognized from the pool yesterday. I make it back run walking and the whole trip took just about an hour. I was definitely ready for breakfast at 9:30.
We had kicked around what would be the best sequence for our three days here in Umbria. I thought that we should start north in Cortona and work south to Asissi, but Peggy suggested that we do the big day first and go to Assisi and Perugia on Tuesday and play it by ear from there. I rankled a bit at the idea last night, but I decided that it made perfect sense and to just go with the flow.
I had also discovered that there was a huge week-long jazz festival going on in Perugia called the Umbria Jazz festival. Tonight Keith Jarrett with Jack DeJonette and Gary Peacock were the headliners. Christine and I thought it would be a fun thing to do if somehow it seemed easy and we cound get ticket. But that would have to wait until we got to Perugia to check it out. On Friday night was Pat Metheny and Brad Meldau. This was the real thing. If nothing else we will have to plan to come back just for this.
Assisi
I don’t remember exactly when we left but it had to be between 10:30 and 11 so we headed south past Perugia to start out day’s adventure in Assisi. Then work our way back to Perugia. It couldn’t have taken much more than an hour so by around noon we had found a parcheggio and were on our way to discover Assisi. We started up at the top as far as you could get from the Basilica of San Francesco, the main building of the town. The first place we stopped was the Church of San Rufino. The most interesting features were the sculpture of Mary with the daggers in her heart and the special exhibit of painting of Pope Paul II. We had absolutely no information on Assisi so I decided to go to a shop across the street and buy a tour guide. Peggy came with me and we looked for a little too long as the old shopkeeper freaked out when I wasn’t quickly buying one. She kicked us out and started screaming heatedly. I quick fought back and bought the €4 one which actually turned out to be pretty lousy. But it was something.
We wandered up a hill and stopped next at a church that had to do something with Mary and a rose and in it was this weird display of symbolic statues of Mary. I wandered in to look at the display and the woman launched into a huge rap on these sculptures and how the different way you held them represented the different aspects of Mary and her life. It was really freaky actually, but I loved having someone fire away at me in Italian. We then wove our way down to the main square Piazza del Commune and the seven columned-Roman Temple of Minerva which was changed into a Christian church somewhere along the way. I got a better map at the tourist information office and then we wandered down the main way toward the Basilica de San Francesco. We stopped at a bunch of shops and even bought the girls a set of earrings. In the store where we bought the earrings Gary had seen some paintings he liked by someone named Martini.
The table
In the shop next door we wandered in and Gary asked a question about Martini and found out he was just copying a more well-known painter called Norberto. As we look around this shop we all saw some of the most beautiful stone tables any of us had ever seen. They were inlaid with all kinds of exotic stone including lapis and others. We asked how much they cost and the blue one with the lapis was around €15,000 and the green and yellow one was closer to €9,000. They would ship one for about €700. Oh could you see the minds beginning to process. It took about five minutes to realize just how much Gary was loving these tables and that it was actually in the realm of possibility that he would buy one. He first fell in love with the blue one but then thought that perhaps the green and yellow one would actually go better with the room as it is. We even asked how much the coffee table was and it was €7000. Gary and Peggy quickly had that look of this could really be a possibility and then Gary was gone. I found him sitting across the street down a few paces. He needed to get out of there before he really started to wheel and deal. We kept talking about it as we stopped for lunch at some quick serve pizza place. I got a pretty good tasting Pannini Rustica and an Orange Fanta and they got some gross pizza (Gary said it reminded him of seventh grade cafeteria pizza). As we walked Gary made the comment if the Jordan’s got a new table and the Gubitzes got a new table. Then the Nemys would really be pissed”
The Basilica de San Francesco
We wandered down the main drag after we ate and wound up at the Basilica de San Francesco the church that was built up around St. Francis’ burial place beginning on May 25, 1230. We all got audioguides which are an absolute must as there is so much to learn you could never get on your own. We started in the upper church and the incredible Giotto 28 fresco cycle. We also visited the lower church and then the remains of St. Francis himself in the crypt. It really is an amazing place. I cant think of one other church with that many frescoes.
From there we started walking up this tower in the north east corner, but turned around when one guy passing by said it was another four meters to get there. We wound up back in the main piazza, piazza del commune and had a gelato under a weird new fresco with crazy erotica going on. From there we high tailed it back to the parcheggio place and if I wasn’t a Christian I might have thrown my guidebook back at the old woman’s shop and called her a witch in Italian. I’m glad God still gives me some restraint. We got the car and headed out of town and tight out of town we stopped by the side of the road as there was a great field of sunflowers through which you could see the basilica. As we pulled up the street a guy almost hit us but we found the superstrata and headed back toward Tuoro. We had decided to dump Perugia from the itinerary in the day and we fell in love with Assisi.
We must have been back by five or six and somewhere in there we took a dip and then the three of us sans Christine used the wellness room for s whirlpool and a sauna. Then believe it or not it was eight and time for the dinner.
We had a table for four out in the patio area. There eventually were two other couple–one guy with tattoos–and a family. Our servers were Livio, Katrina, and Tanya and it was quite windy and we had to decide if we would be too cold, but eventually the wind did die down. The food was excellent again. As a result of our €7.70 lunch we were actually hungry I think. The amazing elements of the meal were the huge friend zucchini blossoms that they originally described as pumpkin blossoms! I think three of us had the little pork chop secundi. Peggy had the same Primi that Christine had yesterday for lunch. But I’m not sure anything equaled the raviolo I had yesterday. Christine and Peggy split the peach dessert and I got stuck drinking the grappa. WE even got to hear the harpist, which did turn out to be the owner Andrea. Love hearing “Beauty and the Beast” in Italy. Perhaps the best part of the meal was just walking up the 48 stairs to our rooms when we were ready.
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