Gotta love Sundays in Assisi.
Church bells ring like there's no tomorrow. They ring regularly throughout any ordinary day but, on Sundays they take a special liberty and make sure everyone in town is awake. Joe wants me to make a little recording so that one day, when we are totally sad about not being here, I can play it back and we can swoon.
Yesterday was another of those perfect Spring days. We had decided to "take it easy" and not have any real plans so we started with cappuccino at the charming "La Piazzetta di Agnese", named for the little square that has a seriously sweet view. The owners are two lovely women and service is always great. That is not all that unusual here in town. People who work in the bars (aka cafes), are pleasant and welcoming. And, they do not expect a tip. It's just customary to be nice. Of course, there are exceptions but we've already eliminated them from our list and keep going back to the "nice" ones. There are choices. Many. And, lingering is allowed. No need to rush. Ahhhhhh.
After lunch at home (there were some nifty leftovers from the night before), we set out on a walk down to Santa Maria degli Angeli. It's one that we always enjoy, especially on a day when there are lots of tourists in town. A great escape route. Our plan was to walk the two miles down and then take the bus back from the train station. With, of course, the requisite stop at McD's for use of their restrooms.
There's an ante-room adjacent to the toilet room. It's where you wash your hands. Quarters are tight and there's a sign on the main door to the toiletti that reminds people to not crowd while waiting. Just a little Covid precaution. So, when it became my turn to join the waiting group, two little girls entered. A nice dad was exiting with his son and he pointed out that the senora has been waiting and that they would have to get to the rear of our little line, which they sweetly did of course. So, we stood there together, and we exchanged a few little words. I told them I was American and asked if they spoke English. They did not. I said something about us being women and therefore waiting to use the proper toilet room. They giggled a bit and said...."Dough-knee", correcting my "Donni"(donna, meaning "woman"). And, then they jumped the line. But sweetly.
Our walk was complete, or so we thought, when we hit the bus station. It was us and another darling family of four and yet another Italian language lesson. This time we found out that these kids were taking English lessons in school (they start very young here) but were finding it difficult. Hey, when I was seven, I could barely speak English! Can you imagine assuming that everyone in our country could also speak Italian?? Well, we waited about an hour. Met a bunch of others who were also awaiting a bus that never came. And, then, having decided that if the bus actually did arrive, we were way over the passenger limits and probably would be left behind anyway. Lots of line jumpers were arriving and surely organized chaos was about to ensue should that bus ever arrive. So, with bus tickets in hand, we decided to start walking back. Maybe a bus would come along at some point. Eventually, we came to a stop where we met up with small group of people also waiting for same bus....which still wasn't coming. Finally, a bus was spotted. Only this, was not THE bus for which we were waiting. This nice, huge, empty bus was not in service. But...a very kind gentlemen and his wife flagged him down and, much to our surprise, he stopped and invited everyone at the stop to hop on board as his guests, providing we were all willing to get off at San Francesco.
An hour of our day saved, we did exactly that. San Francesco, the area below the Basilica, and off we all went, profusely thanking both the driver and our new heroes. Our bus tickets still un-validated, we caught the mini bus that took us the rest of the way.
Needless to say, the Spritzes were-a spritzing when we finally walked through our doors. Hail Mary and thank you Ralph Kramden-inni!!!
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