Assisi and Florence

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This morning we said "Goodbye" to Rome, climbed on our bus and headed north toward and then Florence. Assisi, the home of St. Francis, was our first stop. We walked through the town which was perched on a hill with steps heading up and down from the main road. It is the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Franciscan religious order in the town in 1208. Assisi is the home of many churches including The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi and Basilica of Santa Chiara. After a thorough tour of St. Francis Basilica we were on our own for lunch and ate at a small lunch truck off the main area.

Following lunch we returned to our bus and traveled to Florence. We arrived in Florence late in the afternoon and with no activity planned our tour guide, Carolyn, offered to lead a walk into town to areas we would not see tomorrow. The walk was more like a jog and we ended up leaving the group and eventually taking a cab back to the hotel for dinner. We did get to see the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge). It was built in 1345 and has housed goldsmiths and jeweler shops since 1593. The Medici family used the corridor above to move between the palace and the Uffizi. It was the only bridge across the Arno not destroyed by the Germans in WWII.

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