We departed the intense, muggy city of Rome for the more central hub of Florence, and passed through the verdant hills and sunflower fields of the Umbria region.
We broke up the 5 hour bus trip with a stop in Assisi- a mideival hill town known for being the home of St. Francis- a famous patron saint and namesake for the current pope.
I read en route that the town and region is also known for their truffles and pork sausage, traditionally made from wild boar as well famous for a hearty red wine Sagrantino De Montefalco. Our guide, Elena, brought the chaperones to a lovely place for lunch where I tried the one of the local delicious that my budget allowed for. 
(Unfortunately not the truffles or the wine.)Staying on in Italy for two weeks after the school trip when Greg joins requires a lot of restraint now, but also I’m more excited to splurge when there is someone else there to share it with.
We toured the famous St Francis Basicilla 
(no photos allowed inside ) that sits amid the hills with gorgeous countryside surrounding as far as you look on all sides. 
After the stretch for our legs, we got back in the bus and finished our ride to Florence. We walked to our hotel, which was a block from the arresting Duomo, got dinner and checked in the for the night. It was around this time we started realizing that our itinerary wasn’t complete; our guide and lead teacher were moving things to different days or talking about adding excursions, but then the students would have to pay for the cost of entry to whatever the new activity was (and they already had to pay out of pocket for the gladiator school.) We tried to keep up with the changes and expenses. All I knew was that tomorrow I would be back on a bike again after two years.
Hillary's Travels 
Hmmm..I thought that the big deal with Exploredia was how everything was super set out and organized!?? Seems like major oversight..their part? Your > for not noticing itinerary issues sooner???
However, Usually everyone can use more downtime…fake it as part of the plan!