Day 40- Assisi

After another lovely breakfast, we packed our stuff and headed back to the Tronchetto car park by boat. Only €42 ($58) for our parking- Venice you are so expensive! Now onto our next destination- Assisi. We decided to stop here origianally because it was going to be a  long drive to Rome. It actually isn't half way tho! It is 406km from Venice and only another 196km from Rome. We had heard about Assisi because of St. Francis of Assisi. He is the patron saint of Italy, founder of the Franciscan order, and one of the most popular Catholic saints in history.  Not only is Assisi famous for that, but is a also a beautiful old town made from white marble perched halfway up Mount Subasio and is UNESCO listed.

Not many people are allowed to park their cars or drive up in the town unless you are staying there. The roads are very narrow and old. The drive was interesting to say the least. It was a maze of one way streets. We parked our car where we thought was ok and close to our hotel. But we couldn't find the hotel. After seeing someone else ask a lady for directions, we did the same. Finally after going down quiet a few steps and turning a few corners, we found Hotel La Fortezza! The owner was very helpful- gave us a map and an audio guide along with free wi-fi! We then found out we were parked in the wrong spot, which meant Paul had to back out all the way  down the road, which is not easy when there are other cars parked on the side and the road  is as narrow as one car! An experience! Because Assisi is very hilly and has stairs everywhere, we decided to take enough clothes for the night and the morning and leave our suitcases in the car. (Hope everything is still there in the morning!)
Once settled, we took a stroll to Basilica di San Francesco. This church was built in honour of St. Francis and his remains are buried in the lower church. Because we were enterting a church, we had to have our knees and shoulders covered. We already knew this and were dressed appropriately, but because we were heading up a lot of stairs and a hill, we decided to change our clothes again. Along our way up the hill towards the Rocca Maggiore (large fort), we passed this unusual looking wired fence. After a closer look we realised people had been sticking their chewing gum on it for what looks like along time. Of course when Daniel saw that, he wanted some gum! Mazz also joined in! We had to chew it first, which meant going to the castle first and then decorating the fence on the way down. The castle was more a ruin but it has this really cool tunnel that went for 100meters. We climbed some stairs and had a beautiful view of Assisi and the surrounding area. Back down the hill, we stopped to decorate the wired fence Assisi style. (Some of you are thinking how gross! Oh well! When in Assisi-do as the Assisians do!)

It was getting late and we hadn't had any dinner, so without a plan we wandered the streets of Assisi again.  Such a charming place. We finally found a very charming restaraunt. Disappointment plus. The setting was great, the food was nothing special!