Assisi
Day 9: Assisi by NightAfter riding the bus from Florence and stopping in San Gimignano, we had already had a full day by the time we arrived in the city. The intrigue of a city neither of us had spent much time in before pulled us on to wander the streets by night.
Most tourist make this a day stop so the city is quiet in the evening. The locals roam about between their homes and eat at the same restaurants Rick recommends. Tonight, we ate at, La Pallotta, a restaurant just around the corner from our hotel. It was a busy with customers and unless you got lucky like we did, you needed a reservation. One church we walked into tonight is built on a Roman cistern. There are places throughout the church with glass windows revealing parts of the ancient structure. It was incredible to see. There was even crown molding is the cistern. Those Romans go all out! |
Day 10: Exploring Assisi and Wine Tasting
Being first to the Basilica was worth it to admire the church in peace and soak up the history and art at our own pace. We used Rick's podcast to navigate our way around the church. It was nice to be able to listen to the description while you are looking at the architecture and art instead of reading and then looking up at the subject.
From the basilica, we did the walking tour backwards. This was one of the best tours because it took us places we may have missed otherwise: a tiny church, great views of the castle, and buildings shaped according to the roman theater that once stood there. One awesome moment was when we walked out of the city wall and ran into some German tourist coming the opposite way. We hadn't seen tourists out this far for quite a while, so were were surprised. But when we saw them holding Rick's book (in German, of course), and they saw us with ours, we all had a good laugh!
A hike up to the castle, rewarded us with great views! After a break and a change of clothes, we went WINE TASTING!
Going to a wine tasting is always a good decision. I mean there is wine, and you drink it. What can go wrong?
Assisi was the perfect place to take some time to learn about the regions wine and sample it. After vans picked us up in the town square, we winded down the hills to Sportoletti, a winery not far away. We were given a tour through the winery and then seated at two large tables where we sampled their many wines. Taylor absolutely loved the Fidelia Bianco, the wine pictured above. The only problem is the shipping cost more than the wine, so a $9 bottle of wine turns into a $20 bottle quickly. It still wasn't a bad deal. |
Later, Trattoria da Erminio helped us even out our alcohol to food ratio in style! It is tucked away like the gem it is. We will certainly be coming back here. Taylor ordered the fixed-price meal which provided a nice sampling of local food and flavors.