We have now been traveling for four weeks. We’ve been in lovely Assisi since Friday, and today is Tuesday. Tomorrow, we leave for Cortona, home of the story, “Under the Tuscan Sun.” Staying in one place for more than a day or two allows us to slow down, and we are ready for that.
We woke up on Sunday and after breakfast, and we each had a massage at the tiny but lovely, two room spa at our hotel. I went first and then Shawn. During his massage, the sky opened up, rain poured down, thunder raged and lightening lit up the sky. It was the perfect afternoon for downtime. We napped in the afternoon. When the rain stopped, we had a quiet dinner on the grass with other hotel guests as well as people from the town below.
Yesterday, Monday, we took a walk into town where many people in the community of Assisi live. We visited a bank and went to a grocery store to get some supplies to get us through the next two weeks. It was a good walk and we always see things we aren’t expecting when we go out and about.
Today, we went back up into the hilltop town of Assisi and I tried again to find the ceramics shop in my memory from years ago. Shawn was patient as I went in and out of each ceramics shop. We found the one that felt like “the one.” There were bowls with art very similar to the one we have at home, the one I purchased in Assisi 16 years ago. When we walked in, I immediately felt a connection, a kind of soulful remembering. The lady who was running the store had only been there seven years, she told us, and she didn’t know the lady who worked there before. I am glad Shawn and I are here in Assisi together. The buildings, streets and endless nooks, arches, staircases upon staircases and hidden walkways with countless elevation changes are dreamy and magical. We walk up and down every street we can. We eat pizza and pasta again for lunch. I marvel at the fact that wisteria is everywhere, one of my favorite plants, and that we are looking at a tall evergreen tree from the patio of the restaurant we have chosen this afternoon, likely some sort of cypress. Wisteria has completely enveloped this 10-story tall evergreen. The white birds that we have been watching throughout our lunch today all flock into the scene unexpectedly when I take a picture of the beautiful wisteria covered tree. It feels like a gift.