After the shopping, a stop at Santa Maria sopra Minerva set us to wondering if every city would have such a church built over a Roman temple. At one point we followed the bent-over people through a tunnel, down more stairs to St. Francis' family shop. One photographer found an olive grove with olives on the trees she could shoot through a fence. Then I saw the back of a church through the branches. Down more stairs, wide and shallow this time, we came to San Stefano. This tiny old sanctuary touched me more than the bigger churches. It was simple with only a fairly new Madonna and a San Stefano of our youth. On the rear side wall was a rapidly disappearing fresco Madonna with friars. Then on to San Francisco Basilica. Giotto. Giotto. ANd more Giotto. And something I had never realized: angels do not all have gold or white wings; here they had "rainbow wings." Once alerted, I began to see them everywhere. Do not ask how many art classes I have taken or how many angel paintings I've seen. For supper we returned to our favorite local restaurant along with a few other local folks. Once again we slogged uphill to our warm convent rooms. We had only allowed two nights in Assisi so in the morning after breakfast, the Sisters called their taxi driver friend, Gianpaolo, who drove us down the hill, left our bags with his friend at the train station, and took us to Santa Maria degli Angeli. The small little building seemed almost overwhelmed by the huge structure that sheltered it. Many people praying here, very quiet, very holy spot. We followed Rick's directions back to the train station and set off for Firenze.
Sue
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