A day trip to Assisi

Today we woke up early and boarded a bus for 3 hours to take a day trip to Assisi. This is the town where of course, Saint Francis of Assisi is originally from, and his basilica as well as Saint Claire's is located. Down the hill in a smaller town the original church that Saint Francis restored himself is located. We were all pretty excited to go on this trip and see a place very different from Rome. The bus ride was uneventful for the most part, except when we almost left Kayla behind at the gas station. I slept for most of the way, and so did everyone else.

When you drive up to Assisi, you are amazed because it really still looks like a medieval town. The buildings and roads still look like they did in the 14th century. The entire city is walled still, so it seems as if you can defend the city from invaders still. Standing at the top you get a beautiful view of the countryside. Assisi was WAY different from Rome. Life seems way slower than Rome, and Rome life seems slower anyways. There aren't cars flying by everywhere. Very few in fact. There also are not a lot of people walking around at all. Its really peaceful walking around Assisi.

We met our guide, Father Brian, who showed us Saint Claire's basilica first. It was not as large as some of the other ones we have been to, but her remains are still preserved down under the church. He told us the story about how many years after her death they uncovered her body to find it still intact. We also learned the legend of her single-handedly defending the town of Assisi against Muslim mercenaries.

Saint Francis' basilica was also very nice, and we had a short mass there. It really is a cool feeling to hold our own private masses in these famous basilicas and churches. Christians have been coming to these places for centuries, and we get to visit them and spend time there.

They provided us lunch at a restaurant in Assisi. It was one of the best ones we had the whole time we've been here. We had two types of pasta, bruschetta, roast beef, sausages, salad, and some kind of italian dessert. They also provided us several bottles of red and white wine, and they kept them coming when we ran out. We all had a very good conversation and really good meal.

We shopped around Assisi for a short while and then took the bus back to Rome. It was a very long day, but all worth it. Tomorrow, were going to see the Pope again, so I will have more pictures and stories. See you all in about a week!