ASSISI AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
	Recently I went on a pilgrimage to Assisi with a group of Scottish Episcopalian friends.  When invited to join them I wasn’t at all sure it was my kind of holiday, but I am so glad I went.  It was many years since I had been to Italy and never before to Umbria.
	We flew from Stansted to Ancona on the Adriatic - with a great birds-eye view of Venice as we descended - and thence to Assisi by road.  As many of you will know, the sight of Assisi clinging to the side of the hill as you approach from the plain with its fields of sunflowers is quite breathtaking.  Quite a number of our group were members of the Society of St. Francis and we stayed in a convent turned into a guest-house run by Franciscan Sisters.  They were very welcoming and hospitable and as they were in everyday clothes the whole time one completely forgot they belonged to a Holy Order. During our stay we followed the life of St. Francis visiting the places and sanctuaries known by him - most of the latter in really beautiful and peaceful settings in the hills.  Possibly the most striking was La Verna in the Tuscan mountains.  We had a lot of free time too to explore Assisi and the main city of Umbria, Perugia.  It is quite amazing how Assisi is being rebuilt after the earthquake of September 1997 - they are restoring it as it was - or as close as possible.  The Giotto frescoes in the great Basilica of San Francesco have been restored and artists were painstakingly restoring the beautifully decorated ceiling at a dizzying height. The main reason for writing this piece is that the convent was  badly damaged in the earthquake.  The Sisters therefore had no income and in order to provide accommodation for guests again had to take the enormous decision to acquire a bank loan of 2.8m lire (£940,000) in order to rebuild.  In the wake of the ’quake the banks were inundated with requests for loans and the Sisters were very lucky to procure one.  Rebuilding has been completed and this is the first season they have been able to take in guests - and they would like to welcome many more. The Casa del Terziario is situated at Piazza del Vescovado 5, 06081, Assisi - tel. 075 812 366 (0039 in front if phoning from U.K.)  This is right in the centre of Assisi, with both the Cardinal’s and Bishop’s Palaces as neighbours.  The accommodation is simple, as is the Franciscan way, but very comfortable and with en-suite bathrooms.  There is a most attractive walled garden offering shade in the heat of the day and a perfect place to sample the Perugian house wine - plentiful, very drinkable and only £1.30 a bottle! Despite what you hear Italy is certainly no more expensive than the U.K., with the possible exception of Rome, and in many ways is cheaper.  For instance the return train fare into Perugia from Assisi - a distance of some 16 miles each way - was the equivalent of £1.50.  The fare from Clacton to Colchester is over £5.50 one way! Barbara Shuttleworth