Assisi is for the Birds, or How Many Churches Can You Fit into a Rainy Day?

 One of our few rainy days found us in Assisi, joining the squelch of tourists paying homage to St. Francis in ponchos and umbrellas. Even the birds tried to stay out of the rain, sparrows hopping underneath outdoor tables, pecking at crumbs, swallows and swifts screeching their piercing cries as they returned to their mud nests plastered underneath the ancient eaves of San Francesco's medieval cathedral.

Turns out St. Francis had a soft spot for birds, at least judging by one of the huge frescoes painted on the wall of the upper basilica. He is depicted preaching to a group of birds, and the story goes that he was on a journey through Umbria when this group of birds stayed quietly on their perches instead of flying away when he approached. He preached to them, praising their nobility and all the great features like the ability to fly that God had given them.

They thought he was cool.

We made our way through three different churches on this wet day, each of them making us marvel at the architecture and artistry involved.  Then we were 'churched out'.  Time for lunch.

  We stopped at Trattoria Degli Umbri for one of the best lunches of our visit to the Italian mainland.  Since it is summer truffle season, I felt compelled to order an antipasto that featured a black truffle paste crostini, followed by a truffled medallion of veal tenderloin. Yum!  Ramona loved her taglioini served with a luscious but light lemony sauce along with oven roasted sweet, sweet, sweet cherry tomatoes. The highlight of the entire meal was this salad of pearled farro (spelt berries) with arugula, mache, cherry tomatoes and pecorino cheese. Nutty and chewy, the farro was a perfect foil to the bite of the arugula and the creamy sheep's milk cheese.  Oh, and I have to mention the house-made tiramisu and panna cotta we gobbled down for dessert.

Pic of the Day:  Under the gloomy skies, a bright red Vespa caught our eye, cowling decorated with delicate waterdrops, gleaming in front of some greenery clinging to the brickwork of a nearby hotel.

Italian scooters not only drive me crazy, they make me green with envy.  Scooters dart in and out of traffic like the wasp the Vespa is named after. When I'm driving I curse how they cut me off or roar by with inches to spare on either side of the car. When I'm walking I admire their sleek lines and ability to get almost anywhere faster that I could on foot, or by car for that matter.

I'd love to have one to motor about with in Vancouver, fuel efficient, traffic busting, right? But as I am frequently reminded by my safety-conscious wife: Car drivers in Vancouver don't get scooters; they'll crush you.  And, they're not very much fun to ride in the driving rain.  Oh yeah, it rains in Vancouver.  Sigh.