Italy Day 6 – Switchbacks, Stares, and a Saint

Switchbacks
The views from the roads here are beautiful, but the hairpin turns are so tight and numerous that I've had moments of feeling nauseous! That's definitely a first for me while behind the wheel of a car! I've been on a couple of roads where the GPS couldn't keep up with the turns – I guess it thought I had actually turned off the road or was going in the opposite direction.
“Recalculating. Turn left on – recalculating. In 200 metres turn right on – recalculating. In 150 metres– recalculating.”

Stares
Haven't had much in the way of annoying male attention over here, but I read somewhere that people here stare more than back in Canada and that's definitely something I've noticed. Back home if a guy looks at you it's generally the "once over" or they glance away when they realize you've noticed them looking at you. Over here the men stare at your face. Maybe I'm just encountering odd men, but it's a really weird feeling to glance up and realize a man is staring at your face and not... looking... away... for a long... time. It's awkward, to say the least.

A Saint

Assisi.

Click on the photo to enlarge it - the huge building on the far left is the Basilica of Saint Francis, the little castle on top of the hill is Rocca Maggiore. I walked from one side of the city to the other and to the top of the hill.

"It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching."
- Saint Francis of Assisi

I've been having a difficult time feeling like I'm really in Italy so I decided I needed to go somewhere stereotypically Italian. Some famous site that I've read about or heard about. I checked a map and the closest place was Assisi so it went on my itinerary for today. It definitely got me more on track with believing that I'm really here. I really didn't know much about the place but I'd definitely heard of Saint Francis of Assisi so it worked for me. The town is built into the side of a hill, as are most places around here, and had the winding streets and beautiful surroundings that me and my camera love. I wandered through town for a couple of hours, was impressed by my first view of Roman columns, explored the Basilica of Saint Francis and stopped by his burial crypt, walked the hill up to Rocca Maggiore for a view of the city just in time for the sun to break through the clouds and cast shafts of light on the fields below, and I'm developing a serious love of winter travelling due to the lack of tourists.

Roman Columns – Chiesa di S. Maria sopra Minerva
(Temple to Minerva).
1st Century BC, apparently one of the most perfect Roman facades in Italy.

Keri, this fresco in the ceiling of a little open area off to the side in the main square reminded me of you!

Saw quite a few intricate metal work.

Basilica di San Francesco.
Two churches built on top of each other between 1228 and 1253, an astounding medieval architectural feat according to a tour book.

The view when standing at the top of the stairs in the previous photo.

Really ridiculous souvenirs.

Not sure how these trees find enough nutrition...
my guess is that the wall below is filled with dirt, a design I've seen in other medieval walls.

The view from Rocca Maggiore at the top of the hill above the city.