In August it is the time honored tradition of vacation for all of Italy, everyone and everything will be either gone on vacation and businesses will be either shut or on very reduced hours of operation, this includes banks, grocery stores, city public works, the government, doctors, hospitals, gas stations, mechanics, in other words everything. You have to see it to believe it, the whole country shuts down. We will do like everyone else and go away to the sea side. This year we return to Pesaro in the Marche region on the Adriatic and on our return journey we will stop in Gubbio, Assisi and Perugia in Umbria region.
This year is a special anniversary, it is the 800 anniversary of the founding of the Franciscan Order by St-Francis of Assisi, a very peculiar man who the Pope did not entirely approve of, because of his radical ideas of poverty. I think that the Pope as Sovereign of the World as he styled himself and lived in what is called to this day the Sacred Apostolic Palace, must have felt embarrassed in front of this man who spoke plainly and lived amongst the poor, preaching humility in the service of God.
Just yesterday I was reading the blog Italian notebook and found out that the Chapel of Santo Nicolo in Assisi is undergoing major renovations and the beautiful interior is being completely cleaned, revealing the original colors of the frescoes as they were when Giotto painted them centuries ago. You can visit the Chapel while the work goes on on special appointment and reserve a time to see the artists at work. This is what we did, a special treat to see such work in process, it is called ''Giotto come era'' or Giotto as it was. See also www.assisionline.com
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