Today was a travel day. We left the comfort of the beautiful Santa Maria hotel, but knew we would have continued blessings on our next leg. We began the day with a big breakfast. After Bruce turned in the key, the hotel manager came out to give us a lovely book of Rome. I don't know if they do it for everyone or just people who stay a long time. Either way, this book, our unexpected blessing of the day, has pictures of sights we saw, and some we missed. It will be fun to compare it with our own pictures.
We then caught a taxi to the train station. The driver was hysterical! It was tricky to understand his Italian, but Bruce caught some. He offered to drive us to Assisi, but when Bruce joked that he could for the price of the train tickets, the driver said Bruce was cheap! Then, as as we passed stores, and Bruce said no shopping, the driver said he was molto cheap! Ha! I guess the driver has no idea what we have spent to get here! :-)
The train ride was pretty uneventful. We did meet 2 couples from California. We had fun comparing vacation notes. But we all agreed that the personal hug from Pope Francis takes the cake!
We arrived in Bastia, a small town outside Assisi. No taxis! And we had issues with the cell phone (long story, since resolved. ) Silver lining of the day: 2 kind older gentlemen helped us reach the cab company that services the small towns, getting people to Assisi. Thank goodness! The roads here are narrow with no sidewalks. Different than Rome, since cars are not watching for pedestrians. The taxi got us to our hotel in no time. Here are the kind strangers who stuck around until the taxi came. Molto gentile!
We enjoyed dinner in the hotel restaurant, featuring local wine and local olive oil on the fresh baked bread. Yum. This was my 3rd glass of wine this week, and I had a cappuccino for dessert (4th one ever!) Italy is corrupting me! :-)
Looking forward to seeing the beauty of Assisi tomorrow! I will share more pictures then.
Ciao!
Kim
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