Oct. 21: Assisi

Bye Spello and hello, Assisi!

Our last look from Spello until it was time to go to Assisi

That door is the entrance to our Spello hotel room from the patio. Notice that even in an upgrade, we were given the only room by the heating/cooling system.

May as well get this fact documented before moving on: We didn’t walk to Assisi today, which should have been the last leg of the walking holiday. This is a first for us. We’ve never skipped a walk, since the walk is the point of booking this type of holiday. We decided it was okay since getting lost a few times on this tour added better than 10 miles of walking, which is more than we would have done to get to Assisi.

Instead, we packed our hiking gear and shipped it off to Nashville from a Mailboxes Etc. location, freeing up some space in our luggage for purchases. We rode with our luggage transfer to our hotel in Assisi. And to balance out life, our hotel is located at the very bottom of the steepest hill yet, so walking up to the Assisi town center is a hike each time.

We had a great day today. We did need to upgrade our room again. The bookings by Macs Adventure are so utilitarian — tiny rooms with no space for us and our luggage. For just a few euros more, we increased the space and moved into a room with large windows that open to a beautiful view. Just as important, opening the windows means that we get a flow of air into the room. Italians like more indoor heat than we prefer.

We dropped our bags and made the climb up to the center of town to begin exploring Assisi.

We can’t pass by these kind of props.

Sweet shops are so beautiful here, but we resisted going inside.

A little shop on the main plaza featured beautiful leather purses on display. Betsy was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. And there she met Michele Tomassini, a charming fourth-generation leather craftsman. Within minutes, they were laughing and talking like they had known each other for years.

No lack of confidence here, the shop is named Michelangelo

Michele (the “ch” is pronounced “k”)

And then Betsy spotted the ceramics created by his mother.

These pieces are being shipped to Nashville even as I write this.

She also did find a purse she liked.

After that, it was back to the room for a bit. We decided to skip lunch and make dinner reservations at a place recommended by Michele and we wanted to be hungry. So, none of those chips and peanuts they bring to your table when you have a glass of wine at a cafe today. We decided to have a glass in our room with our view.

Betsy set up our own little seating space in front of the windows. She’s never shy about rearranging hotel room furniture and improving our space.

Fortified by a glass of wine, Betsy took off to explore more of Assisi. I stayed in to rest my foot for a while, read and relax. She walked from the top to the bottom and all around the city and snapped lots of photos.

Repairs and restoration are under way on so many of the ancient buildings.

This statue of St. Francis was in the garden of a former convent, now a guesthouse run by nuns.

This proprietor in this meat, wine and cheese shop was so friendly.

Then we went to dinner at Ristorante iL Frantoio. It was a beautiful spot just a few steps from our hotel. The food was deliciously gourmet, but the real treats were the little surprises the chef served. The amuse bouche included tiny ice cream cones with an olive oil ice cream, not very sweet, topping a savory, garlicky cone. There was a tiny pumpkin creme brulee, just a creamy tablespoon of packed flavor, and a piece of crisp bread, shaped like a fish skeleton, with two small dollops of trout pate, a very thin tuile of spicy red pepper and a couple of other items designed to fool the eye and the palate.

It looked like an olive, but it was filled with a flavored olive oil that spilled out when the shell was broken. It is meant to be a substitute for butter on bread.

We split a beef tartare appetizer with snowpeas and crispy potatoes

My pasta course of ravioli carbonara with pumpkin

Betsy chose gnocchi with black truffle as her pasta course.
She can’t resist gnocchi on a menu.

The vegetarian main course was a celebration of simplicity. Just some perfectly roasted vegetables with a balsamic raspberry sauce.

Betsy’s main course was beautiful but inedible. It was minced fish braised only to the warm stage in a package of cabbage. She attributed her choice of this dish to a loss of translation.

After we ordered a dessert to split, they surprised again with pre-dessert treats. Just some tiny bites of chocolate, raspberry, chile and some kind of sweet olive oil gummy that defies description.