Sitting on the terrace in the height of the heat. Last afternoon here. Quiet, except for occasional soft footsteps, the odd cooing pigeon, and troops of lunatic pilgrims tromping uphill lustily belting Christian anthems. Can't keep a good pilgrim down. What's great about Assisi is the fervour of the religious inspiration, and how it precisely equals the fervour of the gelato-love, the souvenir shopping, and the piazza-sitting. St. Francis may be turning in his grave, but the commercialization of his legacy over the past 800 years has created a swell little town.