Buon Natale from Assisi

Merry Christmas !!!!

Christmas in Assisi is just amazing!! In the spirit of the occasion, we had a Christmas tree made by Kai.

A tiny bit of trivia: San Franceso started the first nativity scene in 1224 called here as a Presepe. There are lots of Presepes on display here, in homes, on sidewalks, on doors and life sized ones that fill up an entire living space or sprawled in gardens and courtyards.

We did a Christmas hike up to Chiesa Eremo della Carceri where San Francesco had a hermitage. Didn't get to light a candle last night as there were too many people at the Basilica so we lit a candle at the hermitage instead for all family and friends in mind.

Ascended 1500m, approximately 4 km in 2 hours and descended in 36 min. Ruby hiked to nearly 3000m and I am happy to report that her lungs were ok. We climbed a equivalent of 130 floors. Total of 7.59km.
We arrived at the most tranquil and serene retreat.

As we were back in Assisi, lo and behold we had monk carollers with Father Christmonks singing and dancing to Italian hymns and other carols.

Finally the awesome foursome were all given a special present when we bought socks from a market in Siena. So we had to wear our present on Christmas day, hence the yellow socks.Read more