When I get up the next morning, the freshness of the place is still everywhere. After breakfast I meander up the hill between the olive orchards to Assisi town itself. I just walk through cobbled streets, choosing whichever street seems to lead me to the top of the mountain. The day is just starting and people are busy opening their shop or cafe for the day, but not too busy to greet me with a cheerful 'Buon Giorno'. It's a sunny day and take my time, looking at this old place as I pass through lanes with charming houses and flowers everywhere. At the top is an old fortress, but before I go inside I sit on a bench overlooking the valley below. What a perfect day. Fields of wildflowers surround this fortress and just inside the gate is a wonderfully secluded cafe amidst a field of yellow. I pay my ticket and go inside and after walking through some very dark tunnles I climb some stairs that leads me to an area with a 360 degree view of Assisi and the surrounding valleys. I seem to be only one here today so I can take my time and just sit and enjoy the view, accompanied by a little bird.

There are plenty of places for meals and it's all wonderful and mostly bread, pasta and pizza... I will probably gain all the wait I lost in Asisa after a month in Italy - man!!! Well, everyone is so polite and charming but as the large crowds of tourists arrive, I seek solitude in one of the parks. As I walk on the grass towards my chosen spot I realize that someone is watching me. It's a bit much even for Italians, but then I realize that one of them is Flavia that works in the hostel. She greets me and introduses me to her boyfriend. He can tell I'm not from around here and asks if I'm from Scandinavia. When this is confirmed he erupts in a volcano of emotions and he manages to express himself in a mix of Italian, English and quite animated bodylanguage that people from this part of the world is his favourite. I am subsequently embraced and kissed and he cups my face in his hands and he is beside himself with joy. He even have to wipe away a few tears. This goes on for several minutes. Really. I can't stop laughing, and Flavia calmly explains that she is not from this part of Italy but she thinks that this is his way of making me feel welcome. After an hour of very intens talk and gesticulation - I am now up to scratch on everthing that has EVER happened in this little part of the world - and would I like to meet them tomorrow morning to go for an hours walk to the sanctuary in the forest where Fransesco lived with his brothers? It's the Easter week, and I don't want Flavia to spend her free time taking care of guests at the hostel. She assures me it's no problem, it's a while since they were there anyway.

I resume my hunt for a solitary spot, and find the perfect one under a large tree in the park, next to one of the numerous churches in town. The park is overlooking the entrance to the town and a couple of the streets. There are so many tourists here it's truly amazing they all fit. It's also because of the Easter, many people do a kind of pilgrimage to this place, and I'm sure there cannot possibly be a single catholic American left in the States, they're all in Italy! It is also the season for scouts to be out and about, and what better place to camp than the picturesqe town filled with religion and surrounded by nature? I tune it all out, reading my fabulous book and enjoying the warm rays of sun on my back as I lay on the grass in my own little world. My piece is disturbed by lightning, followed by a loud crack of thunder and the obligatory rain. And what a shower! For a while I'm safe under my tree, but eventually I have to seek sanctuary in the church. I really like that word. Sanctuary. By now I'm cold and wet and I might as well use my time waiting out the rainshower to have a look around the church. Even from inside I can hear the roaring thunder and the wind and rain trying to compete in volume, it sort of really works with temper of the people here. So intense. Wonderful, cheerful, including, generous, beautiful and intense.

When I get back to the hostel it's time for dinner, and even in this humble place there is a three course meal. I meet Marcel - he is from Austria, same part as the governator and Alois. He tells me he had dream about the group of scouts living in our hostel. He killed them all because they were making such a racket. And wow - they really do. We ask the boss lady how long they will be staying, we actually contemplate moving to somewhere else if they are staying for length of the Easter week. She tells us they're not, and we settle with that. I ask him if he wants to go to the Sanctuary with Flavia and her boyfriend, it would be nice to share the limelight with someone else. He would love to. We talk to Flavia and we agree that the best day would be on Sunday morning. Saturday evening is a big event too, and Marcel and me make our way up to Assisi to watch the procession. It's a bit scary for this non-catholic, but Marcel knows it all, and seems to be more used to all the symolism and the nuns and monks peeking out from every doorway and window. Even so, he's also taken by the grandour of the whole event, and the streets are full of spectators. It's a dark night, and there are stars above and dead silence. Then the drummers start to pound their drums, only once - with a long pause. The effect is so strong. The hooded figures carrying crosses, the cascet and sheer size of the procession makes me feel like something is going to happen. I almost listen out for the sound of a crow. Marcel and I are going our seperate ways, he is off on a blind date. This is Italy after all.