Assisi and Val de Chiana (SHOPPING)
Hello all, hope all is well.  The last two days have again been very hot, over 35 degrees.  I officially have a true tourist tan...a camera strap tan around my neck, looks very attractive.

Assisi
Yesterday we ventured to the town of Assisi, as in St. Francis of Assisi.  It is a hillside town that attract thousands of pilgrims every year who come to worship at the Basilica of St. Francis.  We all agree that this is the most beautiful town we have ever been to in all of Italy.  All the buildings are of a light coloured ancient stone and the residents have taken great pride to take care of their homes and gardens, making it very breathtaking.   We walked the town for over 6 hours but all we managed was to find a "Rick Steeves" recommended restaurant (which took us over an hour to find) and see the Basilica and a temple.  The restaurant was fantastic, a fabulous meal for only $45...in fact almost every meal we have had here is less than $50, always great food and low prices.  We have all consumed A LOT of pasta and our new favourite meal item is WILD BOAR!  Luke loves the wild boar!

St. Francis of Assisi Basilica.  This is an incredible church constructed over 800 years ago to celebrate the life of St. Francis.  This man preached the principles of living a simple life, he had no possessions and lived in poverty.  His remains were encased in a tomb and buried under the church.  Because we did not join a tour we wandered the Basilica on our own while reading a guide book.  We thought we had seen the tomb of St. Francis (remember thousands of pilgrims flock here every year).  We sat in the Chapel and stared at the amazing sight. Luke feigns interest (he is getting good at that) and Serena hops from marble mosaic floor design to marble mosaic floor design.   We were getting ready to leave and Serena starts running down another flight of stairs off to the side, we tell her we are leaving and Paul goes to get her and he sees the sign saying "stairs to the tomb of St. Francis".  Ooops we had been staring at some random altar.
 We descend the stairs into this stone encased chapel and there it is the tomb of St. Francis.  A group of people rush to the tomb and fall to their knees in silent prayer...they touch the cage surrounding the tomb and continue their prayers.  Luke, Serena and I are in the middle of the group so we do the same.  Very powerful and moving.  We then sit in the chapel and I tell Serena there are four other tombs of St. Francis' friends surrounding his tomb.  She bounds off and in a fairly loud voice starts asking " is this a tomb Mommy?".  Remember this is a place where silence is demanded.  Before I can get to her she runs to the next tomb,  "is this another tomb Mommy".  She gets a very serious look from the monk in charge and some stares from the worshipping nuns.  Me thinks its time to leave!  Off we go...

We wander aimlessly trying to find a  roman amphitheatre and a castle but instead find a parking lot.  It is almost 40 degrees and we are withering under the heat so we settle for gelatos, some souveniers and head home.














Val de Chiana and the Outlet Mall

Yesterday we celebrated the man who lived with nothing and now we travel to the land of excess and shoes, wonderful shoes.    Another 4 hour walking day but we celebrate it with outlets stores who are having sales...how good is that.  140 stores in a lovely  outdoor mall.  A few items were purchased including 3 pairs of lovely Italian leather and suede shoes...lucky me.

 We top off the day by travelling to a monastery in  the middle of Tuscany tucked way back in the countryside.  What an amazing road filled with ancients estates and castles and long driveways lined with those "evil" Italian trees (a line from Under the Tuscan Sun).  We arrive at yet another amazing church  set in the most beautiful countryside.  I smelled pine trees and it reminded me of home...
We can't go inside this church because there is a wedding.  We are treated to seeing a bit of the service and watching the wedding party leave the church.  Again these Italian women know how to dress and they rock those high heels on those cobble stone streets.  Serena could not understand why she wasn't a flower girl in this wedding.  I guess since her Auntie Nicole and Uncle Simon's wedding she feels she should be a flower girl to all

Tomorrow is another day of hillside towns. Montepulciano and Pienza.  So far Luke and Serena have been great touring the towns and sites.  Serena keeps busy by chasing pigeons and Luke watches out for overhead bird bombs.   They are enjoying the sites and meals and souveneir shopping.  Our days seem to start around 9 am and we eat late here as most restaurants don't open until 7 or 7:30.  Kids are in bed no earlier than 10 or 11 pm every night.  Serena copies everything, I mean everything Luke does. Right down to the meal she orders and the souveniers she picks out.  Luke finds it annoying and we find it adorable.  Another three weeks to go...

Ciao,
Denise, Paul, Luke and Serena