Assisi...

Jon had done some reading on the town of Assisi and especially, St. Francis, so he was our tour guide there. We parked and walked up into the town (most of these cities were built on a hill). It was another beautiful, medieval town.

This was the church built to honor St. Francis. St. Francis was one of the first monks, and taught poverty, humility and obedience. He left his riches and lived a poor, simple life. He taught the people in Italian instead of Latin, which was radical. He loved nature and considered all creatures important. He wrote the hymn, All Creatures of Our God and King. He was a great teacher.

This is the view of Assisi from the church.

I have received inquiries as to how Andrew is doing on this long journey. This is as good a time as any to document his daily structure.

At some point of every day, he decides he has had enough. Sometimes it results in a fit...sometimes he becomes very silly....and sometimes he just, plain sits down.

However, it is not too difficult to rev him back up. It could be a fountain to play in....

Cool garbage dumpsters where you step on a handle and the lid opens up...

Or a simple snack. He is a trooper most of the time, and we have to remind ourselves that he is only 4 years old when he is not such a trooper.

This next picture is of a church dedicated to St. Claire, who was a follower of St. Francis and started a group of nuns.....I think...... It was about here that I had also seen enough churches for the day. Unfortunately, I could not just sit on the sidewalk, play in fountains or step on garbage dumpsters....but I could get gelato.

By the way, here is another version of the automatic pay toilet. You put in your coins and the turnstiles let you enter the bathrooms. Just another interesting Italian culture fact....