We continued on our journey, leaving Assisi on a foggy morning, but great views of the valley below. The walk down to our busses was so much better than the walk up those same stairs. The bus ride for today took us along the Adriatic Sea to Lanciano, which is described as a well-preserved medieval town, and home of an 8th century Eucharistic Miracle. We continue on the bus to San Giovanni Rotondo, which is the both the home and birth place of Padre Pio. I had studied his life many years ago and knew about the Stigmata. What I did not know was the work he did building hospitals in the area. To hear about how this project was started and then where it is now, a 3000-bed hospital and a leader in health care in the area, is just amazing. There are several churches in the complex of hospitals and churches, and all were just magnificent with the architecture and the art. One of Padre Pio’s famous quotes was “Pray, hope and don’t worry. Anxiety doesn’t help at all. Our Merciful Lord will listen to your prayer”. Wow, that says so much in such a simple way, I have always admired the religious order of the Franciscans, I guess due to their work with the poor. I have known several Franciscans in my life and each and everyone of them could be described as gentle and kind. We spent some of the evening touring the churches of San Giovanni Rotondo, and seeing them in the twilight hours added something special.
The Amalfi coastline was our destination for the next day. I have always loved beaches of any kind, but the Amalfi coastline takes it to a whole different level. There are sheer cliffs and hillsides with olive, lemon and orange trees everywhere you look. I was amazed at how they have gardens and orchards in such small places and on the cliffs. The view was always great and we had wonderful views of the Mediterranean all day long. We stopped at some lovely spots for lunch and shopping. We stayed for a few days in Sorrento and did day trips from there. I want to return to this area and explore more of it. We visited a farm one evening and they demonstrated how to make Mozzarella cheese and pizza. They served us a great meal of farm fresh veggies, great pizza and pound cake with limoncello. This area is known for linens, ceramics and wood carving. If you have not guessed by now, I love to shop and wanted to buy some of everything, but had so little room in my luggage. I did ship some stuff back, but we could not ship the limoncello and I wanted lots of the one from the farm!
The group was a fun group and included a ton of Texas Tech fans. The hotel found the football game on a streaming service and even set up a “tailgate” party of meats and cheese for all of us to enjoy while we watched the game. Not sure they knew what to think of all of us, but by the end of the game, several other guests had joined the party and the locals all learned to “Get your Guns up!“
We had seen so much and gone at a very fast pace, so our last day in Sorrento was slower and a little more low key as we would finish off big spending the next 4 days in Rome!
