I can remember the first time I visited Assisi nearly twenty years ago. My father was driving a rental car with Suzy, my mother and me and we had been planning to visit the basilica of St. Francis to see the famous frescos by Giotto that depict the life of the saint. As we arrived in town, despite there being a perfectly good parking lot below the basilica, my father insisted on getting closer to the basilica, ignoring the "pedestrian only" and "restricted access" signs and driving into the enormous piazza right in front of the church. I had no idea how athletic my mother really was until that moment, as she was able to fold herself in half and literally hide herself underneath the passenger seat as we parked our van in front of a sign that read "reserved parking." I'm sure the pope didn't mind that we parked there that day.
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