Assisi and John the pig

Photos: John enjoying prosciuto filled tortellini; Santa Maria degli Angeli church; friar on his iPhone; Basilica in Assisi

Oct. 6
Today we went to Assisi. It seemed to have become very commercialized religion since the last time we were there (something like 15 yrs ago for me and about 25 for Dick.) Lots and lots of tour groups and tourists in general that made it just seem a bit unappealing. We walked around the town a bit then went to the basilica which is quite impressive....basically one church on top of an older church and then the tomb of St. Francis on the lowest level. The upper church has frescoes all the way around the church detailing the life of St. Francis and another row of frescoes above that have stories out of the new testament depicted. The lower church somehow seemed a bit more spiritual, more quiet and not quite as many people milling about. Originally we had planned on spending the better part of the day there but decided to leave after the basilica. We went to Santa Maria degli Angeli which is the town below Assisi. I actually remembered this church from the last trip. It's constructed over the original tiny church of St. Francis. There's something very moving about this church that made it memorable for me. It's quite beautiful and very large. Neither of these churches allow photos to be taken inside. It will now be memorable also because I was walking around looking at things and managed to trip on the platform of a confessional and fell very hard onto the wooden platform of the confessional causing me to say words that are not supposed to be said in church. I managed to seriously bruise my knee, and smack my right hand, right shoulder, and elbow.
We drove back towards home on a small picturesque highway and had lunch in Torgiano, a very small town that is known for producing a red wine which we enjoyed with another excellent lunch at a restaurant that was recommended by a policeman in the town. And, as luck would have it, we parked in front of an artisanal gelato place so my dessert was convenient and fabulous! On the way home we drove out past our town of San Venanzo just to see some more of the countryside.
We have made friends with John the pig. A real pig. He is actually quite adorable and we took him our scraps of fruit every day. It turns out he is willing to eat PORK!! We had some leftover tortellini filled with prosciutto which he seemed to LOVE!