On a quiet Sunday in Rome, August 22.

We returned yesterday morning from our vacation on the east coast and central part of Italy. Contrary to many who go to Tuscany, we have so far pretty much avoided it and concentrated instead with other provinces of Italy, such as Le Marche, Umbria, Emilia-Romagna and Lazio. In the summer heat, places to avoid are Florence,Verona and Venice where everyone and their uncle will be. Best to see those cities in early Spring, Fall or Winter, when few people are around and the climate is cooler.

On this trip we visited Pesaro, Rimini, Urbino, Assisi and Perugia. We had very nice weather except for one day of rain. Driving was not too stressful but you have to remember that in Italy on the highway there are 2 lanes one for drivers going 90 Km an hour and the other lane going at 160 to 200 km per hour. There is no in between and I am not always comfortable going at high speed, though the roads are excellent and well maintained, it’s the other driver and the tourist who rented a car that make me nervous.
at our hotel in Assisi.

On our way home from Assisi, in the last 40 km before entering Rome, on the opposite side of the highway going out of Rome, a huge column of cars stopped in a massive traffic jam, ISO Radio 103.5 was giving out traffic bulletin. It seems that the highway A-1 towards Florence is always blocked by some kind of incident.

This was a very nice vacation, we had excellent meals at half the cost of Rome, we bought wines from Le Marche, met some nice people, stayed in nice hotels, had a quiet time, one of the 3 operas I liked, mostly because the staging in the other two was far too experimental and was distracting and annoying at times. By far La Cenerentola by Rossini is my favorite of his compositions.

We also went shopping for shoes and clothes, found some great items on sale 50 to 70% off, end of season.
Fall fashion is already out, in this hot weather, it puts me off just to look at the window display.

We bought wines in Pesaro from the Accaj Sisters at their Enoteca which is housed in a 12 century chapel with a great underground vaulted brick cellar. All the wines are different from last year’s selection. We tasted some of them and others we bought at the recommendation of the sisters. Funny thing happened, we had the cases delivered to our hotel, they were kept at the Reception desk and on departure, the bellhop put it all in the car. I thought nothing of it, all was in order, when we arrived in Rome at home, I suddenly realized that one case was not a case at all but a big ledger book of all the hotel’s business correspondence and accounts for August. It was put in the car by mistake, no wine bottles missing.
Wines from the Marche region of Italy.

I phoned the hotel to let them know I had the ledger, they were much relieved as they had been looking for it everywhere and could not understand what had happened to it. It will be returned promptly to them by post.

In Assisi what I liked most was not the Franciscan church or the tomb of the Saint or the Giotto frescoes, no it was the excellent restaurant we went to 3 times, the food was that good and really well presented. I was a little uncomfortable in Assisi, as I said to W. it has an air of Christian Taliban, many people walking in a religion induce daze like drug addicts, Marx was right, religion is an opium.

They also have these so called international centres for dialogue, supposedly inter-faith, what it really means is, we talk, you listen. The other thing I noticed in Assisi is the lack of poor people, beggars or anyone seeking refuge. The Papal police (actual Vatican security see badge) patrol and anyone loitering is taken off the street pronto. Also at night the monks come out in group of threes and sit here and there watching the crowd, apparently to offer spiritual guidance, it looks more like the Inquisition about to pounce on anyone having too much fun.
Restoration work of Giotto frescoes in San Nicolo chapel.

The Giottos in the Basilica, must have been nice a long time ago, they are being restored now but the colors are terribly faded and they come out flat. It is interesting as a period painting technique but not much more. All of it is also a cycle of religious stories, martyrdom, last judgement and death. Painted in the Middle-Ages when life was short and brutal, full of diseases and dangers, in a repressed world, the message is or was life here is short and awful but wait until you die, it should get better. In fact I said to W. the whole place looks like a movie set for Lord of the Rings.

We were ready to come home after being on the road for about 12 days as nice as it was. Puppies were happy to see us and we found Rome, quiet and deserted, streets free of traffic but with oppressive heat. Arrived just in time to buy a few things at the grocery store before they close at 2pm. With most stores closed for the holidays, streets are deserted, only a few restaurants are open but largely empty of customers, this is how I like Rome the best, quiet.

The trip continues, now in Umbria.

We left Pesaro, loaded with excellent wines from Le Marche and drove to our next stop about an hour away in the mountains, the road is one of beautiful countryside and panoramic vistas to Gubbio. Unfortunately on arrival we discovered that this small town was the setting for a motorcycle race, lots of visitors and a massive traffic jam. Gubbio is very small, you blink, you missed it, it is an old town with walls, gates and narrow streets made for ox carts not cars, little or no parking. So after 30 minutes we decided to push on to Assisi, which is only a short distance away. This is the birthplace of St-Francis, his family were well to do people, he lived here and died here, not a long life, he was about 45 yrs old when he died in 1226. The city is located on a steep hill, again lots of stairs and very steep narrow streets, little alleys all shared between a few cars and all the tourists in town.
Basilica of St-Francis of Assisi.

The big attraction is the Papal Basilica, lower and upper sections, of St-Francis with its many frescoes painted by Giotto. One chapel, that of St-Nicolo is currently undergoing major cleaning and we were able to visit by special permission the site. An interesting story about this chapel involves the Orsini family, who are amongst the famous princely families of Italy. Cardinal Prince Napoleone Orsini managed to have a rule changed allowing people to be buried in side chapels of major churches around 1292. His younger brother Gian Gaetano had died after falling off his horse, the Cardinal used this new rule to have his brother and later himself buried in the side chapel next to the tomb of St-Francis.
Giotto decorated the walls and ceiling with various biblical stories but also with two major frescoes of the brothers being introduced to Christ by other saints and the Virgin Mary. The Orsini coat of Arms also appears 56 times on the walls and windows, so that you could not forget who was buried here. This new rule was widely used afterwards by the mighty and the powerful to have themselves buried next to Saints in Churches, a practice not open to ordinary mortals given the expense involved.
a street in Assisi.

Assisi is built of stone and has undergone massive reconstruction and repair after the devastating earthquake of 1997. The frescoes of Giotto had been severely damaged, many collapsing on the floor of churches, the restorer had to use the technique of the giant puzzle to put them back together, an extremely difficult task. This year marks the 800 anniversary of the creation of the Franciscan order.

Assisi like many sites devoted to a major Saint has its busload of tourists, cheap restaurants and souvenir shops, however it is not gaudy. It also has a lot of legends and myths surrounding the saint, it is all open to interpretation and it is largely a question of faith. Reality is mixed in with fantasy, like the love affair between St-Clare (Chiara in Italian) and St-Francis, who is another major saint in Italy, she too came from a wealthy aristocratic family. For the period Claire was an assertive woman and she left her mark on the Church.

Other Saints like Ruffino, Bishop of Assisi and Damiano also appear mixed into the story of Assisi. As for the Franciscans, they confine themselves to their cloister and the basilica, you will not see many on the streets. The order today has little to do with what St-Francis practiced or preached, it has grown into a wealthy congregation, owning multi-million dollar properties and priceless works of art. The same can be said for the order of St-Clare, also known as the Poor Clares, who despite vows of poverty are an extremely rich congregation.
Assisi vista from our hotel room window.

Assisi also has one excellent restaurant, the Nuova Osteria La Piazetta del’Erba on Via San Gabriele dell’Addolorata, we had 2 very good meals, imaginative cuisine, beautiful presentation, pleasant garden setting, excellent wine list and the owner and staff are very knowledgeable. All being said, you can do Assisi in one day and one night and then move on to Perugia or Spoleto both visible from Assisi and are at opposite ends of the valley.

Tomorrow Friday, we go to Perugia which is only 20 Km away and clearly visible across the valley from our hotel room window.

planning our August vacation

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