Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Day Eleven - September 28, 2008 - Assisi and Rome, Italy


Spanish Steps, Rome
Originally uploaded by sweetpeameg
Long drive today, but it wasn't too bad. We stopped after we came out of the Apennine Mountains and then again in Assisi.
Assisi is a beautiful little (and hilly) town perched on (and in) a mountain side. It's best known for Saint Frances of Assisi, who is kept in a crypt there. He was the saint of nature and also the patron saint of Italy.
The crowds there were unexpected (bus loads of nuns arriving when we left), but we were still able to visit the basilica and crypt before climbing uphill for views of the countryside. A great little place to stop before we did our final 2 hour drive into Rome.
Coming back to Rome was surreal because in so many ways it feels like we were just there and then it feels like we were gone for a month.
The hotel room was tons better than Venice and probably the second best (if not the best) the entire trip.
We quickly packed for our journey the following morning and then left to go into the heart of Rome for our farewell dinner.
Only about 14 of us went, but it was a good group and another large and fabulous dinner. First course was a plateful of anti-pasta and we sliced fresh pepperoni and salami at the table. Second course was ricotta stuffed ravioli and bowtie creamy pasta and a tomato pasta that looked like little shells. Next was a plate of meat including veal, chicken, pork and some potatoes and salad. Last was a slice of almond cake with a shot of limoncello and a cappuccino. I'm pretty tired of eating which is sad!
We then walked to the Spanish Steps and climbed to the top and looked out over Rome.
We only had a few goodbye's as everyone we spent most of our time with were going to be on our shuttle the next morning.

M

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