Mercoledi

 Daily life for us here, isn't all that different from daily life back at home.

We're settled into our apartment.  It's on the second floor of the Palazzo and the windows, each one of them, commands a breathtaking view of the valley below. There's a constant little audio, softly produced by pigeons, that emanates from the windows and every morning, it is a renewed thrill to open the shutters. There's very little street noise except in the evening when the teenagers use our street as the route back into the center of town, after a visit to the basilica. No, they're not necessarily holy kids.  They, for the most part are chaperoned groups of kids on school vacation. Thousands of them, without exaggeration. We see them everywhere, marked by either matching hats, tee shirts, jackets or by their clumping into subgroups as they follow a leader holding a giant pinwheel or flag. God bless the teachers who give up their time to lead these groups!

Yesterday, while returning from our gentle walk downhill to the tranquil San Damiano  (It was here that Francis wrote the Canticle of the Creatures  and it was the dwelling place of St. Clare and the order of Poor Clares that she founded) and our killer climb back up into town, we stopped by our local alimentary (convenience store) to pick up a few items that we needed for dinner.  In the tiny shop was an American couple. As we helped them in purchasing some fruit (never touch it, always weigh it before handing it to the cashier, etc.) we started a conversation (are you surprised?), exchanging the typical who's what's where's and when's. They are from California, "following" their teenage daughter who sings with a gigantic choir group, around Umbria. Joe thinks she said that there are a hundred or so members of the choir. "Oh yes, we have seen them in their red jackets!" They told us that they would be singing at the Basilica this evening. Well, of course we put that on our agenda. After all, we live five minutes away (going) and at least twenty, retuning (all uphill).

So, last night, at sunset, in one of the most stunning settings, the Upper Church of the Basilica of Saint Francis, we attended a Mass and heard the beautiful vocals of a magnificent choir of at least one hundred talented and dedicated teenagers. We were uplifted by the beauty of it all, surrounded by the  twenty eight murals on the walls, depicting the legend of St Francis, done between 1297 and 1300. While tradition holds that these were the work of Giotto di Bondone, there are scores of art historians who, throughout the ages, have disputed this claim, citing an all star lineup of three artists of the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The transept of the church, in all its splendor, is without dispute, the work of Cimabue. 

The Mass, in English, was said by the same Franciscan friar who did our Easter Sunday Mass. His homilies are relevant and current and it was a pleasure being in his presence once again. After our Mass, another was due at 8:30pm. One that would include a thousand! No doubt, most of them teenagers. 

This morning, our faithful friend, Pietro, picked us up again for a weekly "big shopping" trip to the Eurospin market outside of town.  Before arriving at the market, we made a stop at this area's branch of an incredible chain of frozen fish called "Sapore di Mare" Le Pescherie D'Italia" (the fishmongers of Italy). It's impossible to describe the Sapore experience. A huge store, lined with endless possibilities of every variety of flash frozen fish from shellfish to whole fish. Fish combined with other ingredients, fish for anything and everything you could possible require, need or wish for. You scoop the product into a plastic bag (like the vegetable department), weigh it and bring it to the counter. We even got a 10% old folks discount because today is Wednesday!The label spit out from the scale also prints out the cooking directions (in Italian but hey....). Pietro guided me through the process and assured me that when defrosted, everything there was remarkably good. Can't wait to try some. Risotto?

Trip to the big Eurospin, and to Sapore and back home with a huge haul for around $70.00 by 10:30. 

Life here is very different from back home. There's no disputing that.