Our little sleeping beauty did not want to wake up, despite the encouragement from the farm roosters! We had to wake her up finally around 9:00, for fear of missing our breakfast.
Breakfast was lovely, who knew you could eat cake at breakfast!! And fresh boiled farm eggs were pretty great too. Cheese, fresh bread, meats, and cookies were also ready for the taking! We filled up and then a quick hello to the donkeys and then off to go visit Assisi for the day!
at our agriturismo del baccio!
We had no idea how incredible Assisi would be!!!! Assisi is a medieval town, built up a hillside. At the top of the hill sits a castle built in the 12th century! Also, there is an enormous church where the remains of St. Francis are buried! We toured the church and it was unbelievable! No pics allowed, but my goodness, the whole ceiling is adorned with paintings from various artists, the church itself is from the 12th century, and it is absolutely enormous! There is an upper basilica which is huge, but so is the chapel on the main floor! Deep in the catacombs of the church lie the remains of St. Francis or St. Francisco. When we were down there, Opal received an impromptu blessing from a priest who was sitting down there! And given a little prayer card! It was very moving. The church itself is one of the holiest catholic shrines in all of Italy, and while we were there, there were several tour groups of nuns!!!! Sara got really excited when we found out that St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and the natural world!!! It felt like a perfect place to be! Shout out Maggie!!!
The St. Francis church. So big! This picture doesn't even do it justice!
Walking up to go tour the church...we had no idea what we were in for!
Then we were off to explore the town. We had read about a well-reviewed restaurant that we wanted to try for lunch. We got a little panicked because we waited until around 2:30 to eat, and most places were closing! This sent us in a panic to get in to eat, so we power walked up super steep streets until we arrived to find out that by the kindness of the chef, they would serve us lunch. Whew! Again, we dined al fresco.
The lunch was absolutely fantastic! Stuffed squash blossoms, an artichoke in phylo pastry served in some sort of cream truffle puree and pastas!!! Oh, the pastas!! A shrimp linguine of some sort and a tagliatelle wild boar bolognese. Yum, yum, yum. And of course, wine! Dessert here was one of the top! A lemon mousse! With yogurt or something! It was awesome!
This was definitely one of the best meals we've had start to finish!
After our intense feast, we needed to work off some of that deliciousness. So, up the steps and the giant hill to the castle we went. And when we say steps, we mean steps, and then more steps, and then more steps. Maybe close to 1 km in steps! And after the steps we starting climbing the hill! But it was all worth it for the spectacular view as well as the castle tour!
the steps we climbed
the castle walls
At the top!
going to the top!
if these walls could talk!
we really wanted her to walk for the first time in a castle
walking on the floors of glass--pretty sure these weren't original!
We made it to the top! Now back down!
all signs point to left???
After the castle, we decided it was time to head back to our country home and see the donkeys! We knew dinner would be soon! When we got there, we let Opal crawl around with the chickens and feed the donkeys some hay. Dinner came soon and we were enjoying another incredible meal by Luccia. Started with a wild boar salami and their homemade bread with their homemade olive oil. Then, a nettle and ricotta tortellini in a butter sauce and after, a porchetta and side salad with their olive oil that they produce. Dessert was a yogurt flan with berries --it was awesome! And of course, some spiced wine to finish!
enjoying the view before dinner!
Opal was confused as to what animals around her were real...and Peter was having fun playing with a stuffed (we don't know what it was--maybe an ant eater/raccoon/mole toy??). She was delighted and confused!
After much deliberation on where to go next, we decided to stay here another night because it was just so perfect and get up to visit the town of Gubbio in the morning! Our sweet hosts said no problem and we got a great nights sleep again!
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