Seriously, only in Italy.
On our first rest stop yesterday we actually visited this big pottery warehouse and had a 10 minute demonstration and then got to browse their shop and use their restrooms.
We made it to Assisi about 15 minutes later. Assisi was beautiful. Again, originally thought it would be just this tiny religious town but these towns are all so impressive. Assisi had just as many restaurants and shops as Verona.
The view as you drive up to Assisi is breathtaking. St. Francis' Basilica is massive. Stefania (just learned she spells her name with an "f", not a "ph") toured us around the streets first, took us to the top for a panoramic view, and then we went into St. Chaira's church and saw her tomb. After that we had some free time and had lunch at a cafeteria which is just like a buffet. But in Italy, this is the best buffet ever. I had risotto for lunch with all kinds of grilled veggies. Amazing.
After that we toured St. Francis' Basilica which was gorgeous. We also visited his tomb under the church as well which was amazing. You're in a beautiful underground cave with candles and gates and ornate ceilings and an altar with his tomb. We sat down and just watched everyone walk through for awhile. It was very peaceful and humbling.
So, the afternoon in Assisi was very nice. We boarded the bus again on the way to Rome. Probably about another 1-2 hours in the bus. Once in Rome, Stefania told us about the neighborhood we are staying in. It is called Parioli. Its extremely exclusive and expensive. Multi-million dollar residences.
This hotel is like 100x better than the Florence one. We are back to big breakfasts and showers that aren't just holes in the floor. Though this shower just floods and our carpet is all wet.
I am beginning to hate Italian bathrooms and electricity. Dealing with converters is just frustrating now as we all try to charge our stuff at night$.
We are also beginning to come up with nicknames for a lot of the people on tour with us. We have a group of midwesterners and they are so... midwestern. Makes us happy to be from where we are, where fashion is cute and not things like velvet or pleather pants.
Last night we had an included dinner at a cute trendy spot in the historical district of Rome. Rome has 3 million people living here so it is very much like NYC. Dinner was a buffet (but remember how amazing I said Italian buffets are) and afterwards Gianluca took us to Piazza Novona for "Rome's best gelato". I said to him "Gianluca... Do you ever eat BAD gelato?" And he actually said yes! So, we need to believe him when he takes us to the "best" places.
What am I on now! Gelato #8? Whatever it is, I had Ananas flavored (pineapple) and I think it was the best I've had so far.
The Piazza was buzzing at night. We got to stroll around for a few minutes and then met up with Stefania for our Rome at Night tour around 9pm. We walked around to a few places on foot... The Pantheon and Trevi Fountain were as wonderful as I thought. Threw my 3 coins into the fountain for luck (first one means you will come back to Rome, 2nd is any wish, and third means you will get married).
Then we boarded a bus for a panoramic night drive. Saw St. Peter's (the pope's light was on! That means he was still awake), the Colesium (amazing, simply amazing at night - can only imagine when we visit during the day tomorrow) and many other monuments. There were a lot of Angels & Demons references. When I get home, I want to watch that movie again, for sure.
The tour bus took us back to the hotel. I find myself awake until at least 12:30-1am every night. I guess with the napping on the bus and the wacked out sleeping habits, I just get a weird jolt of energy and end up packing, cleaning, writing postcards and saving photos all night.
We are standing in line to get into St. Peter's Square right now. Breakfast at the hotel was back to the big breakfasts like Venice, thankfully. We are so excited to get to the Vatican today. We are touring the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican, seeing the Pieta and more while in the square. Then we have some free time in the city. And then later on this afternoon we are going to the University of Rome for some time with some Italian professors and students. Stefania said this is the first year they have done this portion of the tour at the university. Should be interesting.
Tonight dinner is on us. We're planning to go back into the center of the city.
We opted out of doing the catacombs optional tour tomorrow. Its not a must and we'd rather get some more free time in Rome.
Think that's it for now. We haven't moved on this line yet but I'm gonna go stroll around. Ciao!
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