Rain

We left Orvieto and it was raining.  We made our way through the countryside to Perugia via Assisi.  A lot of the road wound through the Tiber River valley.  There was a lot of evidence from the February flooding, as trees were swept along the banks on both sides and left in strange places as flotsam.  There is a large reservoir from the daming of the river, but it was unable to prevent flooding.  Fortunately it was in February so the spring wheat crop had not been planted.  I suspect the valley would be spectacular in the sunshine, but we just saw it gray, albeit green and dismal.

At Assisi there is Italy's number one religious pilgrimage site, the Abbey of St Francis of Assisi.  The abbey and it's churches are dedicated to the Franciscan order, plus there are convents of the St. Clara order.  St Francis lived until 1224, for about 44 years.  Apparently according to church records he performed several miracles and was beatified only two years after his death.  The church was built on an old church, which was it's foundation.  The lower church supports the upper church, which was completed only 10 years after construction started in 1236.  The old church was the first church in Italy to have stained glass windows.  The new church lost all of it's stained glass windows in an earthquake, which was interesting because it was built almost directly over the old church that didn't loose any windows.  The new church also lost two sections of the roof and 4 people died, whereas only minor damage occured in the old church.  Pictures were not allowed in either church.  Both St Francis and St Clara's remains are in the basement of the church, in there respective dedicated areas.  St Clara was a follower of St Francis.  Her order is a cloisted order.  St.  Francis of Assis is the patron saint of Italy.

Assisi is a walled town, that has about 3 miles of wall fortification.  The weather did not lend itself to walking around the town.  It was definitely damp and chilly.  Of course that did not stop Roger from having some gelato after lunch.

We left Assisi and headed to Perugia, which is the capital of the Umbria region.  Italy has regions like the US has states, as a result of the country's unification in the late 1800's.  Tomorrow we'll be going to Tuscany to visit a town with a little bit different history.

Umbra is known for Italian terra cotta, ceramics and dairy products that include soft cheese and milk chocolate.    We're going to have a guided evening stroll around Perugia, if the weather cooperates.