Assisi

After two weeks of rain, the sun finally came out on Alex's day off, so we headed out to Assisi.

View of Umbria from Assisi. The streets were VERY clean, which we found pretty odd.

On the way up to the Basilica of St. Francis, we found this restaurant with an incredible view of Umbria and Mount Subasio. Awesome food and wine too!

The basilica of St. Francis is built on the lowest slope of Mount Subasio. Here is a view from the base of the mountain.

The Upper Church. Construction began in 1228, two years after St. Francis died.

The courtyard connecting the Upper and Lower Church. St. Francis' remains were transferred here in 1230, when construction of the Lower Church was completed. Four of his most faithful companions are also buried with him in the grotto beneath the Lower Church.

Piazza di San Francesco. In front of the basilica.

It is off-peak season for Assisi right now, so there were relatively few tourists and pilgrims.

Urbino

Our first trip together this new season was to the town of Urbino, about 1 1/2 hours from Fabriano (I'll post pictures of our town soon). Urbino is located in the Marche region of Italy and used to be a center of great learning and culture in Western Europe.

The town is situated on top of a very steep hill.


In front of the Palazzo Ducale (Ducal Palace).


View of the Ducal Palace from behind.


This is the house where the painter Raphael was born. That's Alex's teammate Mike. He's a lot taller than he looks in this picture. Check out the steep incline. All the streets in this town are VERY steep.


Hilltop views of the Marche from Urbino.

Fabriano Apartment

This is the best apartment we've had in Europe thus far.


The kitchen and living room.


Black leather couches. And a full sized dining table.


The office area.


Kitchen. Notice the dishwasher next to the refrigerator!!!

Hallway with 2 bedrooms on the left, and 2 bathrooms, one at the end of the hallway and one to the right.

Master bedroom. Lots of storage space.


Half bath, with a washing machine.


The full bath, complete with shower, bathtub and a dryer.


Our overly large patio. You can see the mountains of the Marche in the background.


Seriously huge patio next door with an awesome view.