Perugia

Hello viewers,

I have returned after an illness, two crazy weeks at school, an internship meeting with a local organization here and a detour last weekend to Venice for the last weekend of Carnivale...don't worry, we'll come to that later.

Since my blog is now out of order chronologically I'll clarify the dates of my trip to Perugia.

January 30th was the all school trip to Assisi at the end of which several friends and I, having planned ahead and made reservations beforehand, left the bus going back to Florence and instead the cheapest train I've ever been on. (Seriously, I've had panini more costly than the ride from Assisi to Perugia)

Upon arriving the four of us checked into the four person hostel where we were staying for the night and began to walk around as the sun set. Scoping out a place to eat for dinner we came upon one restaurant that came highly recommended by the front desk of our hostel.

Dinner was great. I turns out gnocchi, quail, red wine and the best jokes the four of us could think of make for a fun time.

After dinner we wandered around the city, mentally marking the spots we wanted to make sure to see the next morning before returning to the hostel to sleep.

Upon awakening we quickly set out to see several different museums and attractions in Perugia thanks to a museum pass that included several of the more popular attractions. We saw a great deal of religious renaissance art as well as several churches and the Etruscan well, one of the oldest wells in Italy that predates the Roman Empire.

Also included in our tour of the city was an outdoor market, several small balconies where we could look out on the city and the countryside surrounding it. I could just make out Assisi in the distance. The two city states were bitter enemies in the Middle Ages and constantly at war with one another. As I looked across the valley towards the small city on the hill I could imagine armies marching across the plain to war.

More recently, Perugia is famous for its chocolate. After a visit to a chocolate shop we went to a small cafe that served some of the best hot chocolate I've ever had. (Melted chocolate and orange so thick I had to eat it with a spoon...like chocolate soup) After that we traveled on the mini metro, a transit system something like a love child between a subway and a monorail. As we moved toward our train station, we were treated to one last glorious view of the city at sunset before we boarded a train to Florence.

Upon returning, I realized once again that I had large amounts of reading that had once again been relegated to Sunday evening to be completed. Oh well, such are the dangers of traveling Italy, I suppose. And anyways I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thankfully, now I am relatively caught up with the blog and I will post pictures and stories of the excursion to Venice for the last weekend of Carnivale within the week.

For now, however, I say goodnight and I'll talk to you all soon.

John