The Long and Hilly Road: Assisi in a Day

We spent little time relaxing on Sunday as we were off to the train station at 6:30am for a full day in Assisi with a group of Saint Mary's girls. It was our first trip on our own in Italy! 

On the train to Assisi!

After a relaxing train ride with beautiful scenes of the Italian countryside, we arrived at the Assisi train station. 

We've arrived!

Assisi, which is the hometown of St. Francis and has a basilica named in his honor, is located on a big hill/small mountain (we say both because as we shortly discovered, it is way too big to be called a hill). In order to get to Assisi from the station, one can either take the bus, pay a taxi, or walk. Instead of being logical and taking a quick taxi ride or bus into town, we all thought it would be fun to walk in order to save money. 

The city in the clouds.

On our walk to Assisi; it's not that far...

Or maybe it is.

Let's just say that not a moment went by while walking up the hill/mountain to Assisi that we weren't having seconds thoughts about our money saving option. We knew Assisi was hilly, but we hadn't realized that literally Assisi was only hill, and in order to get anywhere in Assisi, the walk is not a walk, but rather a trek. If you ever want to visit Assisi, be more prepared than we were to get some exercise! 

The long trek up the hill.

Looking up at St. Francis's Basilica.

While it was a long uphill battle (pun intended), when we reached the city and travelled up the steps to the Basilica of St. Francis, the views of the Umbrian countryside (the region in which Assisi resides) were absolutely spectacular. 

The view of the countryside from above.

Friday was St. Francis's feast day (Pope Francis had spent the whole day there- we just missed him!), so we caught the tail end of the festivities; flags and balloons still lined the streets, along with some posters greeting the popular pope. 

Decorations for Pope Francis. 

We made it up the hill in time for a beautiful Italian mass at St. Francis's Basilica. After mass, we spent time exploring the city, taking in the views, visiting some historic religious spots pertaining to St. Francis, and shopping! 

St. Francis's Basilica, where we went to mass.

On our way up one of the many hills in Assisi, we saw a sign at a shop that said something along the lines of "Come in and try the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar in Umbria. Do it now because you're not going to want to walk up this hill again!" This sign alone convinced us to go inside the shop and see what it was all about. We ended up meeting the little old man who owned the shop, and we had a wonderful conversation with him. While Italian, we learned that he had lived in the US for many years before settling in Assisi. And yes, the balsamic vinegar and olive oil were amazing, so delicious that we bought our parents a small bottle of each! 

At the end of the day we decided Assisi was well worth the possibility of being sore the next day. The city was absolutely charming and quiet (something we haven't been used to since coming to Rome), the views spectacular, and the people kind and gracious. We also decided that the benefits of having all of these steep hills were a) all of the little pockets of amazing views, and b) the guilt-free feeling of eating gelato because you deserve it! While a long and exhausting day, it was a great way to start our many weekends full of adventures in Italy and all over Europe! 

Time to say goodbye!