From above you can contemplate landscapes as glossy, silvery green basins, hills that descend slowly to the valley bearing towers, bell towers, basilicas, monasteries. Limpid sunsets, of a red without excess, fade over fortresses and olive groves, among the sounds of bells and swallows. The light air gives a sense of physical euphoria.
-Guido Piovene-
Hello Hivers,
today I will be completing the experiment that me and @aurzeq started last week. Just a quick recap, we went on a business trip in middle Italy, going through some amazing cities like Norcia, Cascia, Rieti and Assisi.
Last week @aurzeq told you how the first day was, describing in detail our lunch and dinner and our visit to the cities of Norcia, sadly not in a good shape after the 2016 Earthquake, and Cascia, a very nice city we visited by chance.
Rieti
Rieti is considered by the authors of the classical age to be the geographical center of Italy, an adjective that today belongs to the city of Viterbo.
The city, per se, is not very famous for something in particular, but still it has a really nice historical center and, being in Lazio, the local cuisine is really good.
In Rieti we had the pleasure of tasting some specialties of Roman cuisine, really good.
Below I show you some photos of dishes we ate.
"Spaghetti alla gricia", the specialty of the restaurant.
"Strozzapreti alla matriciana" a timeless dish of Roman tradition.
"Beef roulade" stuffed with pecorino cheese and spinach.
"Roast beef" with potatoes.
"Tiramisù" a special dessert of the italian tradition.
Assisi
This was my first time in Assisi, and I must admit that I was quite impressed. The city is located on the north-western side of Mount Subasio, in a moderately raised position with respect to the northern Umbrian Valley.
The main reason why the city is famous, apart from being really pretty, is for an historical character that was born here: San Francesco d’Assisi.
I have always been impressed by the story of San Francesco, so for those that have never heard of him, I will try to explain who he was.
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Photo from Google Search
San Francesco Francesco of Assisi, born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone was an Italian religious and poet. Deacon and founder of the order that later took his name (Franciscan Order), he is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion;
Francesco was the son of a wealthy merchant, Pietro di Bernardone, and so he had a carefree and, in some respects, dissipated youth, as often happened to the offspring of a good family.
He also participated to the war that opposed Assisi to Perugia in 1204 and was also taken as prisoner. During one of his travels, he got sick and while he was recovering in Assisi his conversion started. He renounced his family and his possessions, giving himself up to the hermitage. After two years he began preaching the gospel with the first core of followers. After a series of trips to Spain, Egypt and the Holy Land, upon returning to Italy he organized his community, which in a decade had grown considerably and had carried out an active work of proselytism.
Francesco was a key figure in his time, and his example and action were of inspiration for a lot of others who followed his example. Just think that the new pope chose as name that of Francesco I, giving an idea of how important this saint was and still is in Christianity.
Now that we have introduced him, let’s get back to the city. As I was saying Assisi is located on the side of a mountain, so the view is stunning.
Another consequence is that the city is all up and downs, and you have to be in a good shape to be able to live there (this is why probably we didn’t see anyone of the locals who was overweight).
The city has a lot of touristic attraction, some of which you can see in the next photos.
But the main attraction is still related to San Francesco, and is actually the Basilica of San Francesco.
Basilica di San Francesco
The basilica of San Francesco is the place that since 1230 preserves and guards the mortal remains of the seraphic saint. In the year 2000, together with other Franciscan sites in the district, the basilica was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The basilica is really amazing, and what makes it even more special is that it is possible to approach it form the upper side of the city, so that after taking a left turn, you get to see the building from above in all its magnificence.
The entry is guarded by soldiers, and this gives the idea of how much an important monument it is. The inside is, if possible, even more beautiful, but unfortunately it is not allowed to take photos, so at least on this you will have to trust our words (or you should also go and visit yourselves and thrust me it will be worth it).
We have toke some pics but are not so good because we had to do them in secret.
Assisi was a great discovery for me and even though we didn’t have so much time to visit it (this was still a business trip, not a vacation) I still got plenty of time to appreciate it and take a lot of nice photos.
This was a funny experiment, and for sure the next time we will have a business trip like this one, we will retry again.
@aurzeq started last week. Just a quick recap, we went on a business trip in middle Italy, going through some amazing cities like Norcia, Cascia, Rieti and Assisi.
@will91