Day 8

Day 8 (April 7, 2006) Assisi and Rome, Italy

We woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel. Unfortunately, someone from our group had stuff stolen from their hotel room while they were eating. That bummed the group out.

We finally got off to Assisi and had a quiet 2 hour plus bus ride. We stopped and saw a demonstration on how to make pottery and had a chance to buy goods. A lot of us did.

We got to St. Francis' place and got a brief history about him. He was originally from France and led a decadent life style. He was stricken with disease and prayed to God for a cure. He got better and followed through on his pledge to give up everything and start helping the poor. He is certainly an inspiration to what God can do if you drop everything for Him.

We had lunch and spent some time in town and enjoyed the sights. Then we got on the bus again to finish the trip to Rome. The traffic increased noticeably as we entered the city limits. Before we got to the Hotel Raganelli, we had a meal of chicken and French fries.

After we got in, we put our stuff away and then prepared for a night tour of the city which was given by Mike. The weather was agreeable and we stopped at the Trevi Fountain and Plaza Nuvona to see the sights.

Tour director Mladen Ivanovich and Brien Simpson at the Trevi Fountain

We also enjoyed the Forum, the Coliseum, and the Vatican by city light. We didn't get back to the hotel until 11:30 p.m. Mike and I went to the Police station to fill out the report and got back to the hotel to go quickly to bed.