Pictures from Assisi

Here are some of the views of Assisi. It is the city at the top up the hill. The train and bus are at the bottom of the hill.





The weather was getting bad but we had an umbrella




A view from Assisi. It was overcast.




This is a fortress that is near the trail of where St Francis first heard the word of God. We climbed up to it and it started raining. What's a little water?



We walked the path that St Francis walked, that was lined with Olive trees. I took a close up picture of an olive tree because I had never seen one this close before:





Different views of San Francesco.









Seymour in front of the upper church





This is a hedge in the front of San Francesco. I had to take it upside down but it says "PAX" - I think that means "peace" in latin. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me.





They have lots of souvenirs with this on it. Again I think this says "Peace is Good". It is not Italian so I assume it is Latin. Paxton should enjoy seeing his name in hedges :)


A fountain in the city.





Other churches and views in Assisi

























Rooftops:





This is a modern day statue depicting a couple the last time they say St Francis. The friar said that they would not be holding hands if this was an old statue since marriage back then was almost always to improve wealth and power, not for love.



I liked this sign to watch for school children. The bigger child carries one of those big plastic cases that I see either high schoolers or college students carrying all the time.




I will take pictures of the B and B and my room tomorrow. Hopefully one day I will actually be able to post these!

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Train Strike to Perugia

Short post. I got to the train station and found that there is a train strike I think just for trains going to Perugia. So I walked around the town near the train station instead. There is a big old beautiful church here just behind the train station I got to see. This town is quaint and has real shops and a supermarket. Assisi has a few small grocery stores but I couldn't find Seymour's food there. Now he will have 8 more cans to eat up quickly!

I had heard about the strikes here but this is the first time it affected me. They don't know how long it will last but I am hoping just one day. I need to find a Vodafone store and buy my train ticket to Cinque Terre for next week. Also I need internet access to find a place to stay after Cinque Terre.

Last night we walked around Assisi and I got in on a few tours that were in English. There are Friars who do tours in various languages. I am assuming that there is a monastery here because there are lots of nuns and friars around. Again I took Seymour into the churches we could get in. Technically, their sign shows a picture of a dog walking with a line through it and Seymour is in his sling. I'm just saying . . It did start raining hard last night and I saw on the news this morning that there was flooding in Rome and Naples.

So here we sit in McD's again - this time with fries and Coke light. Maybe tomorrow I can get the internet issue fixed.

St. Francis Would Be Disappointed

This will be all words with no pics. I wrote to the owner of the B&B I was going to in Assisi to get directions. The directions pretty much said to take the bus to San Francesco church and everyone knows where it is. No they didn't. You have to take the bus from the train station because Assisi is probably 2-3 miles away - up hills.

This place gives Montepulciano a run for the most hills. In fact I think Assisi would win. So, I got off of the bus and trudged up the rest of the way to the church. Didn't see the B&B so I asked someone and they had never heard of it. Off I went, up more hills pulling my suitcase, carrying my back pack and periodically carrying Seymour when he wasn't stopping to smell and pee a few drops at a time. I tried getting out my computer to see if my vodofone sim would work. I paid for 2 months; doesn't appear I got 2 months. Up more hills until I lucked out and asked a store owner where the info office was located. He didn't understand me and said there was an Internet cafe across the road. I went in and bought a geleto and asked to use the Internet. The only way I was able to find this hotel was to go on airbnb and go to the listing. Then click on street view and looked at the 360 degree view so when I walked again I recognized the Pizza sign. People have got to give better directions!

My room is nice and has a TV with Italian stations. I started watching it to help me learn more Italian through osmosis.

Back to the church where St Anthony is buried - no dogs allowed! Doesn't that seem crazy? I went to the info office to asked who was in charge of that church. Is it the Pope, I asked. They acted like they had no idea - so much for an information office! I am calming down a little and did sneak Seymour into the upper church but the police stopped me when I tried to go into the lower church where St Francis is buried. I might give in and leave Seymour at the B&B so I can get in.

Assisi itself is beautiful, almost too perfect. I walked around this morning and took lots of pics but I will need to figure out how to post them without having to take a bus to McDonalds. I hope to go to Perugia tomorrow and see if they have a Vodafone store where I can recharge my SIM card. I am here for 6 days.

Packing to Catch the Train for Assisi

I am frantically trying to pack everything so it fits into my suitcase. Seymour has his own idea!




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I Love Lucca, Italy

Maybe I love it because it sounds like "I Love Lucy", but that is only part of the reason. It took about an hour to get there by train and you could see the countryside changing as we got closer to Lucca. There were more mountains, green fields and flowers than I have seen in other parts of Italy. Lucca is a walled city - love those walls - with beautiful churches, shops, and a big surprise I'll talk about later.

I also liked that since it is a walled city, it was harder to get lost. You can also walk up on top of the wall; it is very wide and has a grassy hill on one side so it isn't totally a "wall". People walk and jog there. Seymour and I did our part to enjoy being up there above the city:









As usual, the churches were magnificent. I just don't feel right taking pictures inside the churches but they really affect me emotionally. I realize that the big money was with churches back then so they could hire the most talented artists to do the work. I think that is part of what amazes me with these churches - the amazing artwork. Here are some exterior views of some of the churches:









This is all mosaic - so there, Ravenna!














I also love the narrow streets and ornate buildings. I don't think these do it justice:








Of course there are always statues. I took pictures of a couple:









They were putting large tents up all over town. This is just a small portion of them. It seems that they are having some kind of expo this weekend. I'm sorry I will miss it.




We went to the Museum of Modern Art where they were having an exhibit of some of Peggy Guggenheim's (sp?) collection. They also had her life story in different parts of the exhibit. She lived in NYC but also lived in Venice. She helped people escape Germany during the war and married an artist Fritz or Frantz - so he could come to the USA. They separated 2 years later so it was really a marriage to save him. She seems like the kind of woman I would have enjoyed knowing. They also allowed Seymour in to the exhibit.
This is the outside of the Museum we visited.


We went inside a few of the churches - even the ones that had the dog with a line through it signs - and weren't stopped.

But the cool thing that happened was, as I was doing my aimless walking around the town, I looked in a window and saw a woman grooming dogs. There were 3 large dogs inside, 2 walking around and one being groomed. I knocked on the door because it was locked and asked if she could trim Seymour's nails. She asked if he was good - of course - mostly - so she cut his nails. When I went to pay, she said it was free. So nice, and so needed!

I then found a pet shop and bought some kind of talc or something so I can wash him without water. I haven't opened it yet. I also found some little round disks about as big as a quarter that are dried ham. Close enough to Seymour's chicken tenders. So far he won't eat them, but I'm not giving up. I am hoping he will eat some so they clean his teeth a little - and give me a break with having to smell his breath!

In summary, Lucca is a very pretty walled town with lots of beautiful churches, is pet friendly and has a groomer! I was told that a lot of American expats live there. I still like it :)

We are back at the albergo and Seymour is sleeping on the bed as I write this. I need to start looking for additional places to stay on airbnb and start packing. Our train leaves at 10 am tomorrow for Assisi. The place I will be staying does not have internet. I am hoping I can find a place that does or that my cellular sim card will work in a pinch.



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Monday in Livorno, Italy

There is good news and bad news. First the good news - I finally got to eat some fish in this port town. The bad news is that the fish was in fillet form, on a sandwich, from McDonalds :) I tried but never found a place that had anything except pasta or pizza. McDonalds is right beside the Information office I have stopped in more than anyone else in the history of Livorno. I went in twice today - first to ask where that infamous mall is located - and second to get another 3 day Livorno bus pass. Luckily I bought the pass because I either lost or something happened to my first one. But it was expiring tonight and since I'm only going to be here 2 more days, I just started my new pass today.

I was told that the mall is on the other side of the train station "no easy way to get to it" my friend from the info office said. What kind of mall has no easy way to get to it? So, I took the bus to the train station and found my way underground to the other side, walked past some industrial buildings and got to the mall. I know I should have taken a picture of it. It was called the HyperCoop (I think). It was a large round building that was 3 floors. The first floor was all parking, since I guess most people drive to it. The second floor was about 1/3 the Coop grocery store that was kind of like a Walmart and then there were a number of small stores around the circle. They had elevated moving walkways instead of escalators and have shopping carts that you can use to go all around the mall. The third floor was only a partial floor and looked like it had a couple of fast food - meaning pizza or pasta - places there.

I was looking for a pet store to get clippers to cut Seymour's nails and to look for a new carrier for him. No Pet Store in the mall and no clippers in the Hyper-grocery store. How do people take care of their dogs over here????

When I came back to the hotel, Dai's husband told me about the Pet Store on the Bus 10 route (not again!). I decided to give it another shot. I had to take a bus from our albergo to the train station and then another to Piazza Grande to get the Bus 10. Not all buses go to the train station nor do they all go to Piazza Grande so it can be tricky - but I have another 3 day pass!

It was starting to get dark but he told me to look for the McDonals and the pet store is across the street. I peered out the bus window and finally saw a McDonalds - was that the one - but no pet store. I am giving up finding anything here. Maybe in Lucca or Assisi.

So, I have no pictures today but I do want to take one of the front of this small hotel. The owners say it is ugly but it has grown on me. Tonight I washed clothes in the sink and borrowed the owner' drying rack and washed a bunch of clothes by hand so they are now drying by my window.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a more interesting blog.

Sunday in Livorno

It was a pretty quiet day. As usual, I got lost trying to find the mall but I found out it was probably closed anyway. Pretty much everything is closed on Sundays here. So, I took a bus to the ocean, which was only a few bus stops since Livorno is on the ocean - but of course had to use the bus pass! We walked around there. They have a park, children's merry-go-round and lots of little restaurants lining the area. The merry-go-rounds were both enclosed. Here is one but it is not a very clear picture:





I tried to find a restaurant with that seafood speciality but only found things like pizza with shrimp and some kind of fish. Just walking without being lost was relaxing. Ocean view:





We then walked back to town and I had a salad at the same place I ate yesterday - with the Medina vinegar!

I then noticed that on my map, the information person wrote that if I took bus 10, it would go directly past that big Pet Store. I took bus 10 from start to finish and never saw the Pet Store. I did see a big Toy Store, similar to Toys R Us.

So the day ended with walking back to the albergo, which is an event in itself because it is tricky to walk between the bikes and the cars and motorcycles driving down the sidewalks. In this picture, I am trying to show the sidewalk, the cars parked on both sides and cars driving up the middle. The actual street is on the right. You can see people in a distance on the "sidewalk". I was told that you only needed to be 14 to drive here and that some small cars do not even require a license. I was also told there are lots of accidents - no surprise. I hear ambulances regularly.





Here is the hospital that is close to our albergo. Quite attractive.





Today we are going to try taking the bus in front of our albergo and see it is goes anywhere near the mall.

Then I want to take bus 2 back to Montenero to check out what we missed at the top of the funicular. I also have to find a place to do laundry later. I don't think they have any - or many - dryers so I will need to hang clothes up so they dry by the time I leave Wed. morning. I was told that they can't turn heat on in the hotel until sometime in November or they will get in trouble. That is fine with me since I am enjoying the cool sleeping temp.

Tomorrow is Lucca.

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