[Previous entry: "Amalfi - June 26"] [Next entry: "Ravenna - June 28"]

06/29/2004: "Pompeii, Assisi - June 27"

Today we journeyed to the Medieval town of Assisi and were able to see Pompeii on the way.

Although we were very sad to be leaving Sorrento, we were excited to see something new. First we went to Pompeii, which was a short Circumvesuviana train ride away. We only stayed for about an hour, but I'm sure if you were very interested in archeology, you could have stayed for the entire day. After seeing the destroyed city, it was weird to imagine how life must have been like 2000 years ago when the eruption of Vesuvias ended everything. There were even dead bodies on display, encased in their tombs of hardened ash.

After leaving Pompeii, we were off to Assisi. First we had to take the Circumvesuviana train back to Naples (eww), then we had to take the ES train to Rome (we paid the supplement, so we could guarantee seats), then an intercity train from Rome to Fragnola, then the smaller intercity train from Fragnola to Assisi. We missed the one we were supposed to take because we were on the wrong Binario (platform) - the signs were contradicting each other, so we freaked out for a second when we realized, but Mike found out that another one left a half an hour later (& he had an entire conversation in Italian doing so!).

Finally we get to Assisi, after we have been sweating for...hmmm...8 hours straight?? We checked out the posted map, and weren't sure if we could walk to our hotel or not. Rather then chance it, because it looks iffy, we take a taxi. As he takes us up the hill to Assisi, we realize that we COULD NOT have walked there! It was a beautiful town built onto the side of the slope, with many churches and steeples visible. He drops us off at the "main" piazza where our hotel is. It is actually a smaller sized square, but seems to be where everything in the town is happening. Our hotel is up an alley, and we have to walk up about 40 steps to get there! Once we got to the entrance we were out of breath, but happy that everything looked nice. For any of my skating gals, this was very similar to our experience finding the hotel in Rouen, France. There are only 7 rooms in our hotel, and ours was on the 2nd floor (no elevator). The shower is kind of funky - there are no doors or curtains, you just shower in the corner of the bathroom.After washing the sweat off, we took a stroll to the Basilica de San Francesco (one of the most well known Catholic pilgrimage areas in Italy). What we thought would be a "stroll" was actually a walk down very steep streets, which meant that we had to walk back up them later! We were both dying once we got back up...and we still plan to go back to the Basilica tomorrow when it is open!

We went back to the main Piazza and had some dinner at an Enoteche (Wine Bar)...we had some local white wine (we are still in an area where the white wine is considered better), and we tried a local orange drink - vino, Fanta, e spritz (not sure what spritz is, maybe vermouth?). It was good and very refreshing. Finally, we ended the night with Gelati and some people-watching, all while sitting on the front steps of the Cathedral in the Square. It was a very relaxing "night on the town."