The Trip to Assisi

First frustrating day of travel. Bought second class train tickets to Assisi. Very confusing to try to find the train at the large Rome train station. Asked several agents and were told to wait at the end of platform 1. When our train was to arrive, a high speed train pulled in. Our train was to be a regional so we knew then we were at the wrong spot.

We saw another train outside the train station several hundred meters away. We ran with our luggage and got on it just as it was leaving. In the process we didn’t have time to validate our tickets –something we knew we were to do but did not know where to do it and did not have time to look for it. On the bus, you do it at a yellow box on the bus. We were hoping you also do it on the train.

An hour later when the ticket agent finally came to take our tickets, she tried to tell us in Italian that we needed to pay a $50 fine per person for not validating our tickets. We tried to explain what happened. She knew no English. So she found a passenger who knew English to translate. She insisted we either needed to pay the fine immediately or we would need to pay three times more. It took almost all our cash, but we finally paid it – seeing there was no other option. We are going to try to contest it at customer service in Venice, but not sure we will have any luck. The ticket office at Assisi gave us a form to fill out.

When we got off the train, there was an Asian young adult traveling alone who was crying. The ticket agent was trying to make her pay the fine also and she had no idea what was happening. Someone was trying to translate in English, but she did not know any English or Italian. The ticket agent was trying to get her passport to get her name and address, but she did not understand the word passport.

Traveling in a strange country without knowing any of the language and not knowing how to get around can be a humbling experience. We love the adventure, but today stretched us a bit.

Arriving in Assisi, we finally found our way to our hotel after showing several people the address. Next, we had to figure out how to take the bus into Assisi. Still feeling frustrated, we were feeling a bit intimidated as we arrived at the top of Assisi and started hiking in the direction we hoped was right.

Within the first block, we encountered a freelance writer from Alaska who has lived in Assisi for 11 years and she knew English! She spent the next thirty minutes telling us all about Assisi, what not to miss, where to eat, and all types of secrets and hidden places only locals know about. We told her we were here on a spiritual retreat and she gave us even more information.

She was like a messenger from God. She turned our day around! We walked through Assisi and got to the other end as the sun was setting. Since we did not have lunch and it was getting late, we got on the bus heading back to our hotel, looking for a reasonable priced place to eat. Finally found a pizza place, then walked to a grocery store to buy water and found that it was already closed.

Now that we know our way around Assisi, we look forward to the next two days of rest and retreat with God and the spiritual men and women of this town such as St Francis and St Clare.