Saints are plentiful if you are a Catholic. I was raised Protestant, so I am always surprised when I discover the sheer number of things that have a patron saint. There’s a patron saint of comedians, one for gamblers- there is a patron saint for anesthesiologists. Catholics can be very specific when they are talking saints. We are in Assisi, home of Saint Francis. We arrived here on one of our more scenic drives and had a walking tour of the town, and more specifically, the church. Saint Francis was really into modesty, poverty, and living a not-so-flashy life. He wrote a will of sorts, according to our guide, asking that anything built in his honor would be modest and austere. Having walked though the basilica that bears his name, I can tell you that those who came after him failed spectacularly at honoring his wishes. It’s a properly fancy church with stained glass, marble and many, many frescoes. Oops.
There are several saints who are specifically assigned to travelers, but none specifically assigned to tourists. Misia, our tour director, said she would write to the Pope and tell him what hotel and which room each of us was occupying so we could be canonized, should one of us become the patron saint of tourists. I don’t think Cas and I are eligible. He’s a Protestant, too. It’s okay- I doubt either of us craves the spotlight that would put on us- maybe someone else can be the saint of the tourists.
When we left the basilica, we took off for our beautiful hotel, nestled in the hills of the Umbria region. Our hotel is an agroturismo hotel. It’s a new piece of vocabulary for me, but it’s pretty much a farm-to-table place. They grow the vegetables they serve and such, so when I say we had dinner at the hotel, it wasn’t because we lacked creativity. Sure, it was one of our included dinners on our trip, but it was also really, really good. One of our fellow tourists was concerned when the waiter came around to collect the plates, and she guarded her chicken admirably. Hey, it was that good. Our table also became the spot where the other tables deposited their wine on the way out. Each group (and there were three or four large tables) had a few bottles of wine. What they didn’t finish, they all seemed to drop off with us- meaning we had a rather impressive collection of half-full bottles by the time the dining room was empty. From there, we all managed to top off a glass and head to one of the terraces. Our hotel is called La Terrazza, so there are a few. If you get a chance, sit on a terrace in Assisi and have a glass of wine- totally worth it.
Today, we have a trip to Perugia, and that gets rolling in just over an hour, so I’m off to get ready.
For now, enjoy a photo of what things look like when you’re walking through Assisi. These folks see castles and basilicas every day- what a town to live in-
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