After nearly a week in Rome, with all its ups, downs and sideways moves of disarray and gaiety, we decided to spend our last full day in Italy by fleeing to the countryside. In the months leading up to our grand adventure, whenever we spoke to someone about where we were going and what we should do, we got a lot of different opinions of “must-see” places. One that kept coming up however was Assisi. It went like this, “Oh you’re going to Italy? Will you have a chance to get to Assisi?”

Or, “Italy is such a wonderful country, you should really try to head out to Assisi. It’s beautiful.”

Or, among our less wordy but still enthusiastic friends, “Italy! Fantastic! Assisi!” (OK, I made that one up. Shockingly.)

So to Assisi we did go….. and oh did we find perfection. Such a stark contrast to the streets of Rome, Assisi offered itself up in quiet contemplation. It didn’t demand your tears, sweat and prayers to survive like Rome frequently did. Instead, it just was, in all its peaceful splendor.

Built on a hill, Assisi gave you a few options for exploring it: bottom up, top down, or the Reader’s Digest version in which the bus dropped you off mid-hill, right around where the top visitors spots existed (surrounded conveniently by all the tourist shops…location, location, location). We opted to be one of the few that stayed on the bus until we reached the top, and winded our way slowly (and damply, once the rain hit) down the narrow stone streets.