Heading north

Leaving Rome in a little car is a trick, leaving it with a 60 person bus is just amazing.  But our driver successfully navigated the vehicle our tour guide nicknamed "The Monster" through five hotel pickups and then we were on our way. 

First stop was the town of Assisi, home to St. Francis, or should I say San Francesco.  In 1228, two years after the death of the saint, the new order decided to build a Basilica in Assisi.  This was the first major religious building I saw in Italy, and it was far from the last.

Assisi itself is set upon the side of a hill, which makes the town proper a series of switchbacks aligned with the old Roman walls.  On one end is the Basilica, with wonderful views over the valley below.  Inside there are frescoes which mark a shift in subject:  instead of purely religious figures, they show the common people instead.  It has multiple levels, the original, the crypt below where the saints body is entombed, and a more airy upper level built later.  Like many Italian holy buildings, photos were not permitted inside.  A quick stop for lunch and then we were on our way.

The next stop was Siena, set in the middle of Tuscany.  Once a major crossroads, the buildings constructed during the Renaissance heyday are wonderful.  The centerpiece is The Duomo.  Every major city in Italy has a Duomo, which was the most important church in the city.
 Every place I visited seemed to have a unique feature:  in the case of the Siena Duomo it was the wonderful floor tilings.  This is where being part of a tour is unfortunate, I wish that I had more time to explore the museums in the historic center, or climb the tower in the Piazza del Campo.  Next time!