Signa Perugia

December 7, 2009



Didn't know what to expect of Perugia, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. It actually have a very medieval feel to it. It sits atop a mountain and I can see why it was originally located here as one gets a very beautiful view of the valley below….and any wandering mauraders! Italy is on a 4 day holiday since the Feast of the Immaculate Conception falls on Tuesday. The ...

... for the steep hike to the top of the mountain) to our last major site of the day – the Rocca Maggiore. This massive 14th century hilltop military fortress – oft-expanded, pillaged, and then rebuilt again – was really neat to tour, and offered us amazing 360-degree views of Assisi, Perugia, and Umbria beyond.

Upon leaving Rocca Maggiore, we began our descent into Assisi once again (for part of the way, down a long, narrow staircase built into the ...

... today. That has to be my favorite saint. Very busy here even though end of season. No wireless interent. We have one more day and we start home. I think we are ready to get home. It has been beautiful here and I have learned so much, but all good things must come to an end. See you all next week I hope.

So the morning came and Licia and I each took our turn getting cleaned and ready for our exciting chocolate adventure.

It was about an hour drive through the beautiful Umbrian countryside to the Perugia exit from the highway. At this time traffic was getting quite dense as was our anticipation growing.

Arriving at the base of the hills, we came to an enormous parking lot with carnival rides and ...

... pizzeria where I had delicious lasagna. After lunch we browsed through the many stands. Sample after sample led to some major purchases. It was hard to pass up the various chocolate products when the smell just filled the air. There was everything from chocolate beer to chocolate “pills” to chocolate pasta!!

Heaven.

I’ll update you soon,

Siara

So since I last wrote I have had a couple of days working here, it is pretty much all cleaning with some other random jobs thrown in to mix it up (there are heaps of bugs here so close to the lake so as soon as we sweep there are more - it is quite irritating ... the never ending battle!).

Yesterday after we finished up a group of us (me, Belen and the two Algerian cooks Armien and Amzen) all went out with Giangiacomo (who is the boss of the hostel) on his ...

... Inglese. If the weather holds out (and if we do) we may also go to Cinque Terre - a beautiful part of Italy - 5 little seaside villages that hug the Mediterranean coast and are connected by trails, so you hike from one to the next along rocky cliffs. I'll return with tales to tell and pictures to upload. We had a delightful day on Saturday, Our friend John, a brilliant Scotsman who has lived here for about 6 years and has turned out to be helpful ...

... America can't have such simple, yet grand venues? While siesta whittled away so did my time reading and enjoying lunch. I still hadn't see the main attraction, Basilica di San Francesco and looking at the map, if I timed it right, I could walk the 5km down hill to the city below and see Basilica di San Maria Degli Angeli before the bus came. Off I went strolling toward San Francesco, it is an amazing sight as you approach this massive structure ...

... mine was heavy! My hostel turned out to be pretty much someone's apartment with a large amount of bunk beds. It was actually a really nice place (Firenze Inn, on hostelworld.com for anyone who's gonna be around Florence...) with free breakfast, free dinner, free internet, and a free pub crawl every night. On the downside there was a grand total of two bathrooms, and normally around 30 people sleeping in the hostel. This also meant a couple of mornings we ...