Our last full day in Italy started out very hot. We had breakfast again at Tre Vaselle. After getting our bags we drove to Assisi, one of the holiest cities in the world for Catholics. Parking was extremely difficult and there were lots of people there. We walked to the Basilica di San Francesco, the burial place of San Francesco, known to Americans as Saint Francis. I didn’t know this but Saint Francis is one of the most revered saints in the Catholic religion.

The church is huge and beautiful, with an upper and a lower church. Inside there were lots of frescoes, and silence was strictly enforced. We went down to the tomb of Saint Francis, where it was very hot. There were lots of people devoutly praying and some were even crying. It was a strange experience for both of us.

After we were done in the church, we walked toward the main piazzas up the steep steps and the hills. We were very hot, thirsty, and hungry. We couldn’t find a good place to eat so we had pizza at one of the tourist places.

We went to the church of Santa Clara, which has pink and white marble walls in front. We had to wait for it to open, so we stood around and took some pictures.

Next we went to the Duomo, which has a facade of half Roman and half Gothic architecture. The inside was kind of plain and uninteresting. We got some panna cotta gelati and mini chocolate and vanilla cannoli. The cannoli were very expensive but amazingly good. Assisi is known for its cannoli as well as being the resting place of St. Francis.

I bought some Birkenstocks at a store which said there was a discount for them, but the lady only gave me 2 euros off. It was still a good deal but that was funny.

We saw first century Roman columns in one of the Piazzas, then started driving towards Firenze, where we would stay our last night before our early morning flight back home. On the way we stopped in Arezzo, known as the place they filmed Life is Beautiful, but couldn’t really find what we wanted to see and gave up.

When we got to Firenze, we showered and repacked for the the flight home. Then we drove into the city and had dinner at Cinghale Bianco, which we wanted to eat at when we were in Firenze at the beginning of the trip. We had mushroom lasagne, spinach and ricotta balls, a half kilo of bisteca fiorentina and really dry chicken.

That was the end of the trip. Overall we both had a great time, and would recommend it to others. Next time we go to Italy we will do the Southern part like Rome, Naples, and Sorrento.