Lunch in St. Francis' town, Italy

We arrived in Assisi at lunch time, and headed straight to Ristorante San Francesco right in front of the church. With its fabulous location, it's probably a very touristy restaurant.

 A watercolor I saw in a storefront (which was closed for lunch)

 

We ordered...

 

Veal ossobucco with porcini mushrooms, which was just okay

  

Ravioli with walnuts, which was good

  

Radicchio risotto, which looked a bit strange being purplish red, but was very good. 

(But then I love all kinds of risotto).

As you can see from what we ordered, we don't do prima or secondi piatti in any order--well, at least for lunch. Ravioli and risotto are prima piatti (first courses) and meat is secondi (second course), but we each order one thing, and then get a taste from each other's dish. Modified family style.

 

Then of course, dolci! This was coffee gelato but was so-so compared to the stand-alone gelato shops O tried on this trip. The food in this restaurant is not particularly spectacular, but I must say that the view is unmatched. This is a photo taken from our table by the window.

 

This restaurant is probably never empty during the summer, but since we it was off-season, it wasn't crowded anywhere in Assisi.

 

After we were sufficiently filled up, it was time to visit the church and the crypt of St. Francis.

  

The crypt is underneath the church and the whole area is very serene and solemn. Out of respect, I didn't take any photos inside the crypt.

After visiting the crypt, we went outside and walked through the streets around the church.

I found beautiful ceramics in one of the shops, but thought that I would wait until we got to Deruta, the ceramic capital of the Umbrian region.

Wrong decision. Although they seemed like touristy items, I never came across them again, 

not even in Deruta. I should've just bought it when I saw it. I should have applied the "Moscow rule of shopping"

These watercolors were nice too, but the shop was still closed.

I think Assisi is one of the most beautiful towns in the Umbrian region of Italy.