Wednesday July 27th

Wednesday July 27th

The alarm went off at 715 and no one was happy about that, but we had places to go and things to see!
We wolfed down apples and bananas, showered and were out the door by 8. We needed to catch a cab to the train terminal as Darren the tightwad wasn't about to risk taking the bus to save $5 and getting there late. We walked 2 blocks and a cab magically appeared on front of us! In we went and off to the Termini!
We went down a few new streets we hadn't seen and a few magnificent buildings we hadn't noticed as well. In hindsight we really should have gotten the hop on hop off bus tour ticket the first day to get our bearings. Rome is the cheapest tours we've seen at 20 euro for adults and 10 for kids. If you are ever in Rome for 3 or more days, highly advised. Good bang for the buck.
We got dropped off at the train station and checked the billboard of times. Train postings only go up 30 minutes before they leave and platforms are only posted 15-20 minutes before departure.
We thankfully found a McDonald's as the boys were 'Italianed out'. We grabbed breakfast and waited for the    platform to be called. We tried to find a washroom but we're too cheap to pay 1 euro each so would wait for the train.
Back to McDonald's to wait and no sooner had we sat down than up came Platform 3!
Off we went with giant backpacks in tow.
Walking through hordes of people all headed to different trains was mildly similar to the Harry Potter films and them frantically getting to 9 3/4!
We found car 4 and seats 42,44,46,48 and we were all facing forwards as opposed to restaurant seating facing each other.
Old Italian men were having a spirited conversation on the train and it was a reminder of how very little conversation we've had in English. We've sat in restaurants with hundreds of people and all the conversations have been Italian. Only occasionally have we had brief conversations with a few Americans or Brits and only one Canadian from Ottawa jogged past us. No one said anything on days when I was wearing my Flames cap or Canada shirt. It's all about Italia here!
At 935 we departed. This was my first train ride on a Trenitalia train. My only other train ride was from London to Paris at 5 in the morning in total darkness and lacked the romantic nature as Krista slept through the entire thing and most of it was in the Chunnel or dark.
There were many many trains arriving and leaving the station as we departed. I was excited! We unfortunately did not come across Thomas the Train in any of our journey. Apparently he is somewhere in England. ;)
The Italian countryside is absolutely beautiful - though be it quite dry. Lots of interesting vegetation I didn't recognize but many farms with cattle and hay. There were any trees planted symmetrically in fields buy much too large too be grapes - perhaps olives?
There were a surprising number of tunnels to travel through where it was dark for long periods of time. Each time the air pressure made our ears extremely wonky. Sometimes just one ear and sometimes both. Very odd. No elevation change but distinct pressure changes. Will have to Google this later.
Just noticed a gas station with fuel at $1.29 for regular and $1.47 for premium. Only slightly more expensive than Canada. Apparently they get their fuel from the Saudis here.
Time flew and we got off at our first stop at Foligno as we had to change trains to get to Assissi. I asked for directions as soon as we got off and got one of the train people to walk us underground through a tunnel (they called it a subway) and down an obscure platform to 1N which wasnt marked very well. Instructions are important.  Even though they were completely in Italian - the Morozs don't do well finding some places on their own... ;)
We grabbed a quick ham and cheese panini and coke/sprite and jumped on the train as it left 10 minutes before the scheduled time on our paperwork. Phew.
Wednesday July 27th part 2

The air conditioning on this train was 3 times as good as the last train but the seats were very firm but brand new. The intercom gave instructions in Italian followed by English. Thank you Trenitalia!
There is plenty of time to blog on the trains that's for sure.
Another screaming hot day with not a cloud in sight. I think our time in Ireland will be significantly different.
We began to arrive at Assisi and the view was like something from a movie looking over an Italian countryside of crops and grapes and huge brick buildings towering on a hillside away from the train in the valley. Wow. Wow. Superwow.
We got off the train and spoke to the service desk man about getting bus tickets into Assisi and storing our luggage. 10 Euro for bus tickets and 12 Euro for storing our 50lb backpacks. Thank goodness...

We had a great little visit with a lady from Christchurch NZ who had been here 3 days - mostly unexpectedly as she rolled her ankle horribly and it was the size of a grapefruit. She gave us advice on what to see and do and off we went! Jumped on the bus that took us way up the hill to the Basilica  of St Francisco (St Francis). The lady told us lineups were 2 hours long but we only waited 10 minutes to clear security.
Upon entering the first part, it was a dark but beautifully adorned church with a side entrance to St. Francis' tomb. We lined up in the queue and walked patiently to the basement to a lavish tomb and casket. We knelt and said a quick prayer and carried on touring the grounds above. After climbing several levels and over 100 steps, we stepped into the Basilica itself and it was massive. The walls were adorned with tapestry like paintings with dimensions of 40 ft by 40 ft. The history of Christianity from before Christ until the 3rd century was beautiful. It would have been great to spend an hour here bit with two teenage boys who lost interest in ancient art on hour 2 of day 1 meant it was a rather quick tour...
We departed and admired the beautiful countryside.  We headed to the central area of town. Now this required a rather steep grade of cobblestone and pavement between 10 and 30 degrees at times. After 20 blocks we turned left and strode up many many many stairs and then a serious hill. A solid 1 hour hike with major cardiovascular activity. We were huffing and puffing like chain smokers and dripping like the kid who stood too close to Shamu at Seaworld. We are talking a serious workout here.
After everyone's heart attack and mild strokes subsided, we paid 15 Euro to walk up even more steps to get inside this 2nd century castle including 5 flights of 20 stairs each.
These weren't ordinary steps, they were slippery stone steps in a circular stairwell.
Once we finished those, we walked outside and around the corner to the towers and had to climb another 50 steps to.get to the very top.
WHAT A VIEW!
You could easily see for 100km. We took some selfies and panoramic shots before heading down for the first time all day. A completely different experience.
We grabbed a few Popsicles and I sampled a very delicious Pieroni.

We hiked down the hill seeking help out a restaurant and were swayed by an owner to try their pizza and lasagna and Free WiFi.  We caved and in we went. We shared 2 meals and we're surprised to see a 2 Euro hospitality charge per person. Sheesh. This is apparently quite common in tourist towns of Europe. We checked some other restaurants on the way down and sure enough everyone had a surcharge. We stopped in some shops and bought a few knick knacks, some paddy whacks and even gave a dog a bone before making our way to the bus stop. Around every corner was a view like no other and certainly not something you'd see in Western Canada unless you considered the grape winery region in southern BC and Ontario. 
Wednesday July 27th Part 3

We made our way down to the bus stop and waited in a bit of shade (still 40 degrees) before catching a ride way down the mountainside back to the train tracks.
Surprisingly we had an hour to wait before out train and not quite enough time to tour the other large domed church about 20 minutes walk away. We opted for the air conditioned McDonald's down  the street and loaded all our water bottles up with ice and had a quick snack before heading back to the train station. We got our bags and the train promptly arrived at 521pm. We hopped on and off we shot for Florence.
Jacob was asleep almost instantaneously as was Krista. Nicholas stared off into the distance like the lyrics to the Gambler while listening to some music. I couldn't help but continually be in awe of the countryside whining past us and the thousands of homes dotting the Italian hillsides. Every major stop had  similar features.
Camucia - one of the train stops had a giant hill off to the right with a gargantuan monastery or two up on the hill. Beneath those would be dozens of mansions that looked castle like from the valley. Beneath those would be hundreds of brick buildings with tiled roofs that resembled an ancient roman city. Down in the valley would be even more houses.
This was the entire 3 hour trip to Florence from Assisi. Italy is a pretty big country running south to north for sure. Thousands of farms and millions of trees - more than I expected that's for sure.
A storm was blowing in just as we left Assisi and we had rainshowers off and on. Our train was a bit older and had the loudest squeakiest brakes that ground us to halt every 10 to 15 minutes stopping at train stations.  We watched the people sitting and waiting for their train in both directions wondering what their story was. Not knowing the language is unfortunate as you really miss out on the conversations people are having not to mention how I enjoy visiting with strangers and getting to know their story. Something I'll look forward to in England / Ireland.