Assisi is famous for being the birthplace of St Francis and St Claire, and so the area is visited by millions of pilgrims every year. Given this it has a definite tourist aura to it, with shops filled with nasty made in china souvenirs. There were also lots of people from various religious orders - nuns, priests, monks. I turned to Luke while we were there and said 'you know, some people would save for lifetimes to be able to come here, and we just do it on a day off'.
The view down from the upper basilica of St Francis.
A fuzzy Luke outside the basilica.
Built between 1957 and 1979, these little bianchina cars had nothing more than a 500cc engine. I think I want one.
The basilica was packed to the brim with pilgrims and tourists. Nuns and priests were everywhere bathing in what was probably a very holy experience for them. Don't get me wrong, I think that St Francis had a few good ideas - living simply and without conflict (he went to Egypt to try to put an end to the Crusades), supported lay preachers, embracing and cherishing others and mission work in the Islamic world - but the place was disgustingly money focused. I could have paid €10 to have mass said for someone. They money tables were INSIDE the church, which detracted from the sacredness of the place.
After visiting the basilica we walked through the streets, stopping for lunch and gelato (although the cakes seemed very tempting).
We finally reached the Cathedral at the other end of town, which was much simpler and tattier than the basilica.
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