Saturday 15 October 2011
After a blustery night in the country we knocked on the camp owner's door to see if she would call a mechanic for us and explain our situation. She set us up with a mechanic of hers who would be ready for us whenever we came, so we had a light breakfast and, since the only other people in the camp were leaving about the same time we were, we asked if we could follow them out, just in case we broke down and had no means of leaving. They said that was fine, and sure enough, we broke down in the middle of a rural road. They kindly drove Charles to the mechanic while Nicole and Dian waited with the car.
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| View from atop the tow truck |
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| Riding in our car on top of the tow truck was exciting, but not exciting enough to warrant sheer joy |
While waiting for Charles' return, they saw a pair of hunters with dogs, dressed in camouflage, coming back to their car. Dian asked what they were hunting, and one of the men opened a small pouch, revealing a mound of fresh truffles. Tow #3 at least had a picturesque drive for Nicole and Dian as they sat in the van all the way to the mechanic.
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| Stepping into Assisi |
We had come to realize that the third time was a charm when it came to mechanics, and sure enough, this one solved the
real problem, a loose bolt, and even gave it a little test drive around the block to make sure. No more squeaks, no more broken belts - we hoped.
With our confidence restored and the car in good shape, we decided to take a trip to Assisi, St. Francis' home. There were posters all around the town announcing that Papa Benedict XVI would be visiting on the 27th of October, which hadn't happened since 1986. After parking the car and entering the city. we barely got past the gates when Nicole saw a poster of Steve Jobs on a wall. We all read a speech that was printed from his 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech, and we were very moved. His motto for life was to "Stay hungry. Stay foolish." With his words swimming around our heads and the knowledge that he had passed on, we walked through the town.
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| Weapons next to holy items? |
Charles mapped it all out for us, and we went from the Basilica of Saint Claire to the Duomo of San Rufino to the Basilica of Saint Francis through the non-touristed route. It was humbling to see relics from St. Francis and St. Claire, such as her hair which she had Francis cut when she entered his order, his blood-stained clothes, and his tomb.
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| Characters in Assisi |
Once we stepped outside again it was fairly windy, so Dian bought a wonderful, soft brown scarf. Near that shop we wandered into another, full of wonderful, unique wood carvings of all sorts. The artist sat sedately behind his desk, and we overheard a pair of American women lamenting that they could not buy everything in the store.
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| Dian and her new scarf in front of the large church |
We felt it was time to go, so, taking a different route back, we left for our car. Unfortunately, this route led us outside the city, making us circumnavigate on foot along the outskirts. Dian needed to rest, so Charles and Nicole hiked aaaaalll the way back, and picked Dian up in the van and headed towards the camp. The camp was alright, but we could not help but shiver in anticipation for what awaited us at Colleen's.
We had come to realize that the third time was a charm when it came to mechanics, and sure enough, this one solved the real problem, a loose bolt, and even gave it a little test drive around the block to make sure. No more squeaks, no more broken belts - we hoped.
With our confidence restored and the car in good shape, we decided to take a trip to Assisi, St. Francis' home. There were posters all around the town announcing that Papa Benedict XVI would be visiting on the 27th of October, which hadn't happened since 1986. After parking the car and entering the city. we barely got past the gates when Nicole saw a poster of Steve Jobs on a wall. We all read a speech that was printed from his 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech, and we were very moved. His motto for life was to "Stay hungry. Stay foolish." With his words swimming around our heads and the knowledge that he had passed on, we walked through the town.
Charles mapped it all out for us, and we went from the Basilica of Saint Claire to the Duomo of San Rufino to the Basilica of Saint Francis through the non-touristed route. It was humbling to see relics from St. Francis and St. Claire, such as her hair which she had Francis cut when she entered his order, his blood-stained clothes, and his tomb.
Once we stepped outside again it was fairly windy, so Dian bought a wonderful, soft brown scarf. Near that shop we wandered into another, full of wonderful, unique wood carvings of all sorts. The artist sat sedately behind his desk, and we overheard a pair of American women lamenting that they could not buy everything in the store.
We felt it was time to go, so, taking a different route back, we left for our car. Unfortunately, this route led us outside the city, making us circumnavigate on foot along the outskirts. Dian needed to rest, so Charles and Nicole hiked aaaaalll the way back, and picked Dian up in the van and headed towards the camp. The camp was alright, but we could not help but shiver in anticipation for what awaited us at Colleen's.
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