Day 7- Dragged Kicking and Screaming From Venice, We Head To Assisi

Ok, we spent two nights in Venice, but it wasn't enough.

Early morning on our last day in Venice. That guy on the left just picked up a load of goods from a boat and is delievering it. That's why everything is soooo expensive. Those are the "Duckwalks" piled up on the right, when Venice floods at high tide, they line these up on platforms for people to walk on so they don't get their feet wet.

I stole this from the interweb, but this is what walking in St. Mark's Square looks like when it's flooded.We walked on these same duckwalks, but didn't get a photo. DOH.

One last look at the Doges' Palace

The view from the Bridge of Sighs. It was many prisoner's last view of freedom.

Morning beer delivery. It was left unguarded, I guess you wouldn't get very far if you started running with it.

Random arch in Venice

Our taxi back to the mainland

A little choppy on the Grand Canal.  Bye bye rich people!

Ron's looking to buy this baby.

The Leaning Tower of Venice

Sea Bass and Calamari.I had this in Burano.

Tour guide Sue pilots the boat. Vinnie is navigating.

Back on the mainland, we watch boatloads of cargo head back to Venice.

It's very busy on this little canal, and sometimes the boat driver's start cursing at each other. Even our gondoliers got into it.

Assisi

Still, we had more places to see. Up next was Assisi, a city located in Umbria, almost dead center in the middle of Italy. Birthplace to St. Francis. He was the Saint who talked to the animals.

St. Francis and Friends.

   So we make it to Assisi, and the town is amazing. It had to be rebuilt after a big earthquake in 1997, but they did a great job.

The Rocca Maggiore , the fortress above Assisi. It was built to defend the town, and to give the Pope a place to stay while visiting. It was built in the 14th century.

Portage has a pizza break on some 2,000 year old steps in Assisi.

Thanks, whoever took this shot of Portage and me.

 

 

We saw these guys everywhere!

A hilly little town

Tunnel leading from one street to another.

The priests gather just before before we had an amazing experience.

 So we were taking a tour of the church where St. Francis is buried. After we had seen it, our guide hustled us upstairs and sat us all down in the pews. The the doors opened and dozens of Priests came filing in, chanting. It was like a scene from a movie.They were celebrating St. Francis getting stigmata in September 1223. Or maybe the Feast of St. Francis. I can't remember.

Leaving the church after our religious experience.

Space is at a premium in Assisi. See the lady on her balcony watering her flowers?

These are the "cells" that the cloistered nuns lived in. They are known as "The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration", named after St. Clare, a follower of St. Francis. Want to become a Poor Clare?
"The form of life he (St. Francis) established for St. Clare and the Poor Sisters was to observe the holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ by living in obedience, without anything of one's own, and in chastity. "

Have fun with that!

At least they had a great view for the years they spent not buying anything or talking to anyone.

Back at the hotel, they had the Canadian flag flying!

                                        Public Restrooms in Italy
 A quick word on public restrooms, or "toilets" as they're called in Italy. IF you are lucky enough to find one, it may cost you 50 euro thingies (we would call them cents, we never did find out what they called them. 100 euro thingies makes up 1 euro.) So, say you were lucky enough to find a public toilet  and had the right change. There may or may not be an attendant in there that you have to tip.  I assumed this was for keeping the washroom clean, and keeping the soap and toilet paper topped up. This is NOT the case.
  Most public toilets don't have seats, some don't have soap. Some don't have paper (a painful lesson learned when I developed a bit of diaper rash), and some don't even have a toilet, just a hole in the floor (known as Turkish Style). But they do have an attendant! So bring pocket change, your own paper, and always carry wet wipes.You will be a hero to your traveling companions.

This is what they call a "Turkish Style" toilet. The "Pooping Experts" say it is healthier and more natural, since squatting lines up your intestines better and even prevents hemorrhoids. Kinda makes sense, we evolved squatting to poo, not sitting. OK, this is way too much information.

 Now that I think about it, the hotel bathrooms all had bidets, but no shower curtains. I guess the idea was to conserve water, but the only use the bidets got was to soak tired feet in, and when we took a 20 minute shower, water went all over the floor.

Next up, Day 8, and we're off to Pompeii, Naples and Capri.