Road Trip.....all roads lead to Rome...Yay!

This morning we were on the road by 9am after a fulfilling breakfast in Florence. We had such a fun time in Florence I think we were all sad to leave. Junco our driver, was the perfect guy to put up with a van full of 7 crazy women!
Our first stop of the day was at the basilica Santa Maria Degliangeli Porziuncola there were many grey cloaked monks barefoot in sandals with knotted rope belts. This basilica had  a church within the church. The small stone church in the middle of the basilica was from the 9th century. It was here in the little church that Saint Farancis started the Franciscan monks order, there were so many monks the big one was built around it.. Part of St Francis remains, his hair shirt and a piece of his belt are here.st. Francis is the patron saint of Italy.
We were back in the van and further on we arrived in the other end of Assisi where we toured the
Basilica commonly known as the basilica of St Francis of Assisi built in 1228. Frescos were painted by Giotto and his apprentices. Here were many security guards inside, restoration work was in progress, an artist was painting the ceiling high up on a scaffold.
Still in Assisi we disembarked from the van once more and visited the Temple of Minerva, a pagan roman temple, which featured a church inside with lots of gold  and blue paint.
The wind was blowing as we walked uphill around the narrow streets. We were enticed into a really lovely restaurant for coffee and wood fired pizza, what a lovely stop. The Italians are  so warm and welcoming. We are all charmed by them and their quaint old buildings and simple way of life.
We then visited our 4th church of the day where the Ruins of the original foundation were visible through the floor of the church ,  this was the San Ruffino Cathedral . It featured a hall of portraits of pope John Paul II the most beloved pope of the era.
On the road again we headed towards Roma!!!
Traffic was increasing as we neared and thanks to GPS we found our hotel Santa Maria,  very many twists and turns through narrow streets. We were chewing our fingernails as we were sure our van would soon scrape the walls.
After checking into our rooms we walked out for a bite and picked up some more of that alcoholic stuff for our enjoyment.
A pasta dinner in the neighbourhood and back to our hotel Lounge for an after dinner vino. Tomorrow we will visit more of Rome's wonders.
PS......on our day yesterday we neglected to mention that 3 of us, Marion, Joanie and Sandy hoofed it up to the top of the Duomo.....a total of 423 steps up and the same down. It was not recommended for those who suffered from claustrophobia, as the stairway was very narrow, and twisted.