Assisi and a great bike ride

Having failed miserably at self-navigation, we chose another ride from Bike Umbria (http://www.bikeinumbria.it/strada/en/homepage.htm), this time a counter-clockwise route from the outskirts of Perugia, through Assisi, skirting Gualdon Tadino, through Casa Castalda and Valfabbrica, back to the car (carefully marked as a waypoint). The route is rated difficult, not so much for the steepness as the length of the climbs. The day was hot and muggy, with the promise of a major storm on the following day. The GPS navigated us nicely to the bridge near which we were to park, and I guessed right about how to find the sports field starting point. We headed out and up, passing through some beautiful countryside near the Perugia airport. David stopped to photograph a cemetary across from a vineyard being harvested, but we soon realized the real interest lay in the harvest. The machine used to harvest the grapes was fascinating. A tractor pulling a hydraulically complicated trailer drives between rows of vines as the trailer straddles a trellis of vines, shaking them violently to dislodge the grapes (and remarkably little else) into screws that move them up into hoppers on either side. At the end of the row, a waggon is pulled up next to it, and each hopper can be independently dumped into the waggon. The farmers seemed amused by our interested, but didn't offer us any grapes.
After nearly missing a turn with signs only pointing in the wrong direction, we headed past the airport and into Assisi. It was not entirely clear how we were to proceed through Assisi, since the assumption was probably that we'd explore it before heading on. Since the plan was to bring Nina back the next day, we didn't really plan to explore, but we ended up doing so anyway. We got a tourist map, then had to ask where on the map we were, then shifted into our lowest gear and rode up some incredibly steep inclines, dodging pilgrims and harvesting myriad remarks about our insanity or our prowess, or something. We made it finally to the top of the city, found the signs for Gualdo Tadino and rode on along very quiet roads through scenic farmland. The climb to Gualdo Tadino was long and hot, and we finished all the food we had with us without finding any opportunities to buy more. By this time we were acutely aware that we were getting into the dead zone between about 1:30 and 4:00 where everything is closed. Finally, after turning away from G.T. towards Casa Castalda (supposedly, but in fact not, the end of the climb) we found an open bar in Casa Castalda. It offered only panini with meat, a few pastries, and some pre-packaged treats. We bought some wafer cookies, ate them, toured the town looking for something better, and ended back at the same bar. The patrons were amused. I ate a greasy salami panino, David had a pastry, and we both ordered double cappucinos. This caused great confusion, but eventually the barista realized that we wanted one cappucino with two espressos (due caffe), and another one of the same. Thus fortified, we pushed on. A young cyclist had stopped near the bar to catch his breath, have a drink, and eye us, and he chased us down and zipped past us down the descent. We caught him at some roadwork, then stayed on his tail for quite a while (he wasn't a great descender). I eventually passed him, which caused him to push even harder, so we found ourselves racing down the descent. I love encountering competitive young men who just can't be beat by a woman. David stuck with him longer than I did, passed him, and then eventually allowed him to take off on his own. We stopped for gelato. Leaving the gelato place, we encountered him returning (his jersey indicated that he was from Gualdo Tadino). We're still wondering what he thought became of us in the meantime.
Some more nice rolling farmland, and we were back in the neighborhood of the car. Even after following the GPS back to the sports field, we needed it to find the actual car, as there were a lot more parked at that point than when we left.
That night there was an impressive electrical storm and lots of rain, which fortunately cleared up in time for us to find our way to the famous Perugina chocolate factory (now owned by Nestle). The factory tours are not going on right now for some reason, but they did show us a film in English about how the chocolate is made, offered us lots of free samples, and allowed) us to buy as much chocolate as they could sell us. There is also a museum showing old adds, pieces of machinery, and a replica of the worlds largest sweet, in the form of an enormous baccio (literally a kiss, the famous Perugina chocolate fondant with a whole hazelnut on top). This was mad back in 2003, weighed 5980 kg, and was measured and displayed in the Piazza IV Novembre in Perugia, before being hacked to pieces and distributed to passersby (this was all chronicled in another little video).
On to Assisi, into the first parking structure we found, and up a lot of stairs to the level of the city. We headed first to the basilica of St. Francis, which Mike and I saw shortly before the Giotto frescoes were devastated by the large earthquake in 1997. Since a photographic documentation of the frescoes had just been completed before the quake, there was enough information to piece them mostly back together. I still like the lower church best (the newer, upper one was simply built on top of the lower, which itself is built on top of the crypt where St. Francis is buried). Someday I'll figure out how to translate the ceilings of the lower church into a quilt. The arches are painted a deep blue with stars, with fantastic borders of optical illusions, floral decorations, etc varying from arch to arch, and even from edge to edge of a single arch. Hard to describe, easy to love.
On the way down to the basilica, it had started to rain in earnest making the sidewalks very slippery. The streets were a bit less slippery, but since cars kept blasting by through all the tourists and pilgrims, we stayed on the sidewalk. Then I slid practically into the splits, banged my knee and broke my umbrella. Damn. It had stopped raining but threatened to start again as we left the church, and we were starving, so we headed for the nearest restaurant that wasn't obviously set up to catch the tourists leaving the basilica. We ended up in the Trattoria Via Vecchio, which was actually quite wonderful. We met another American couple from North Carolina, who offered to combine with us into a party of 5 so we could get a seat sooner. One of the best meals of the trip. After lunch we found the Palazzo Vallemani, which housed a museum that we had seen a poster for (some Da Vinci's and medieval torture devices), but when we got there seemed to be having some other less interesting exhibit. It was starting to rain again, so we navigated back to the car and went home.
In the evening we had been slated to attend a sagra, a typically Italian local festival put on by small towns over a period of a week to 10 days and featuring local specialties (we saw one promising a roasted boar's head!). But the plans changed because the only good one was almost an hour's drive away. So instead the owner of the VRBO and her mother put on a lovely spread under a canopy (it was raining again) of a local specialty called pasta nocina (pasta with sausage) and pasta with tomato sauce for the vegetarians among us. A lovely salad, some crostini to start, and a fabulous watermelon to finish completed the feast. The other guests are all quite nice, including a new couple from Holland and his sister, who has lived in Italy for the last 15 years. We got her card, since she is a realtor and property manager.
Gotta go. The car is packed. We're off to Siena.