Assisi, Italy

The next stop was the small ancient city of Assisi in Italy's Umbria region. FYI, don't arrive here late in the evening, because it is small enough that there are no buses or even taxis running. After missing several trains and buses from Termini in Rome, I was again left without a place to stay at 11:30pm at night at an empty train station. After knocking on several hotels in the area (that looked closed) a manager woke up and gave us a room. Assisi (the touristy part anyways) is located way up on a hill (think ancient walled city) and takes 30 min. to get there by bus up a steep, windy hill.

The city is beautiful and peaceful. You will find excellent gourmet food at reasonable prices, 50+ age tour groups from around the world and overpriced knick-knacks and pastries. Assisi is was the site of religious pilgrimage for many centuries because of St. Francis, who studied/lived/died here. You could probably see everything in a day and a half, maybe one night's stay.