Someplace in Umbria......

And now..........a basilica dedicated to everyone's favorite franciscan friar

(hint: he was the founder of said order) Yep, you guessed it!! San Francesco d'Assisi!!! My that church is big........ It's really too bad that we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the basilica: it's absolutely breathtaking in there!! There is a "chiesa maggiore" (that's on the top) a "chiesa inferiore" (that's below deck) and then there's San Francesco's tomb (which is a little spooky) where Patrizia and I stayed for about an hour crying together....don't ask how a person such as myself was moved to tears in this church, but it was somehow a really emotional experience. I cried when I first entered at the top too.....I couldn't help it, I was completely overcome by its beauty I guess...........

And then there was Santa Chiara...... apparently a cohort of San Francesco....Chiara also lived a rather pious life devoid of possessions....I know a pope or ten who could take a lesson


Where Santa Chiara lived for a period of her life......


Santa Maria degli Angeli.....also contains the Porziuncola where S. Francesco is rumored to have died.....

But it wasn't all churches all the time.......we did manage to get to the Foro Romano
which is really kind of sad compared to the one in Roma.....but forum-ish all the same



and we managed to see some scenery.....I'm telling you Umbria has really beautiful countryside....I am quite impressed

the scenery is really breathtaking.....

and then there are quaint streets such as this...

There are actually paintings in the Pinacoteca!!
(go figure....I mean Pinacoteca only means picture gallery in Italian....ahem)

These ladies are in the four corners on the ceiling......





this one is my favorite by far......


le due cuginette

Not to mention the gratuitous nap on the train home....

those churches can really wear you out!!