Assisi? I see.

OK, one last post documenting our Christmas trip to Italy, and then I promise to go back to talking about funny signs and LOLcats. We spent the last day of our most recent Italian vacation driving through a freak snowstorm to the Florence airport; we spent the second-to-last day exploring Assisi on a warm, sunny day.

Assisi is an old, brick, hill-top Umbrian town that is smaller and cuter than Perugia. We easily filled a day there doing little more than wandering the winding streets, taking photos, and poking our heads into the odd shop. Oh, and of course eating.

Lunch was at the very popular and delicious Trattoria Pellotta, which is just off the main square. My mixed antipasti was one of the best dishes of the whole trip.

Assisi is probably most famous for its two big saints, Francis and Clare, and it has the body parts stuffed in reliquaries to prove it. We ended the day at the Basilica of Saint Francis, where we were greeted by a very big nativity scene.

Up close, the life-sized figures were, well… would you want this guy coming to adore your newborn? And is that leprosy on his hands?

We picked up some uninspired audioguides and went inside the basilica with the rest of the tourists to gape at the Giotto frescoes depicting scenes from Saint Francis’s life. Every few minutes an Italian monk’s voice boomed over the loud speaker, warning the crowd to be quiet.

The lower part of the basilica contained yet another nativity scene. The crowds thinned as the sun went down and the chill rose in the air. It was time for us to go back to Perugia for one last dinner in Italy.