On to Perugia

Wednesday April 26, 2023.                                                                                  

Perugia dates back to the Etruscans who settled here many centuries before Christ. Later, the Romans established Perugia as a colony. It was a city worth fighting for, the Peruvian War occurred in 41 B.C. Marc Anthony surrendered here. In the Middle Ages it became a free municipality and thrived until the 16th century when it came under the control of the Papacy. It looks like an interesting town and we are about to find out.

Our train arrives around 1030 and we buy our tickets to Arezzo (our next town) and to Spello (a day trip) before we leave. Dave and Gwen are doing a day trip to Assisi so they buy tickets for there instead of Spello. I am last in buying tickets and unbeknownst to me the Police check Carol for her passport. She hands it to them and they say Zerilli, Italiano and she says yes, points to me and they go over to Gwen and Dave and check them. They leave me alone because I am the innocent looking one in the group or the Zerilli name is well known and respected in these parts. From the station we walk to the mini metro, which saves us a long walk up hill. We buy enough tickets for our day trip and return. Our apartment host sent someone to meet us in a square called Piazza Italia at 1130. This caused us to get off a different mini metro station than planned and I had to change my mapped route to there instead of the apartment. Google maps or Apple Maps by phone does not work well in most of these towns as it doesn’t know the small streets, stairs, and alleyways you walk. So I usually draw a rough hand map to get us to our places that we stay. The mini metro reminds us a bit of the monorail at Disney only a bit smaller. It is one single car and they come every 3 or 4 minutes. We get off the mini metro and wind up a hill which looks like it lines up with my map. It ends at a car park so we walk through it to a street on the other side and walk uphill (usually a good guess). I am not very sure we are going in the right direction when I see a package delivery guy ringing a bell for his delivery. I figure he knows the streets so ask him where a street that is on my map is and he points the way out. Feeling better, we make the rest of the way without any problems and Sonia is at the agreed to meeting place. She walks us from there down several small streets to our place, which is ready for us to check in. When we booked it we were concerned as it looked like it had a lot of stairs within the apartment. It does have stairs but they are wide and easy to navigate. The good thing is the bathroom is on the same level as our bedroom. It is a really cool place, very old with lots of character and in a medieval location. We hit it good on this one. Dave and Gwen leave their packs here as their place won’t be ready until later. Sonia gives us the information on the place and a map and we are ready to go. 

First order of business is to find lunch. We go on the hunt for a sandwich place I had on my list. We walk down to the main square, Piazza November IV where the  main cathedral, a large palace and a great big fountain are. There is a lot of activity in this town. We head down a small side street come into a square and find the place called Piada e Delizie. We get two sandwiches that they call Torta al Testo, one with eggplant, cheese, and a spicy pepper paste mix called Nduja, and the other with mushrooms, eggplant, and spicy coppocolla salami. A little glass of wine to go with them. There is only one small table in front of the place and it is taken so we walk down the street, sit on some steps and eat Italian style, in the street. The Tortas are amazing, the bread they use is crispy and it was all heated on a grill. The Nduja is really tasty and adds some spice to the sandwich. 

We head back to the main Piazza but take a different route up. It is a great choice as we enter another world, one with ancient fountains, Roman arches and tall medieval architecture. When we are back in the Piazza, we take a closer look at Fontana Maggiore. The fountain was built between 1275 and 1278 with two pink and white basins surmounted by a bronze basin. It used to be fed by the aqueduct that drew water from Mount Pacciano and did so without using pumps. The cathedral is interesting as the facade we look at from the square is the side of the Church and not the front. It is unusual that the front is not facing the main square. We also look at the Palazzo Priori, which has stood here since the 1300s and was the public palace of the city seat. We can peak in two rooms as the rest is now a museum. 

We meander down a side street and under an arched tunnel that seems to lead to a viewpoint. We have to walk through an indoor fish market that is closing but no one seems to mind. We get some sweeping vistas of this side of the city and the Umbrian Hills behind it. More importantly, we discover an elevator that goes down into the car park we walked through earlier and should save us quite a bit of up and downhill when we are going to the mini metro. A nice find for us. 

From here, our sightseeing is put on pause as we go back to our place to pick up Dave and Gwen’s packs as their apartment should be ready. They are on the opposite side of the main Piazza and we wind our way down the streets of Perugia towards their place. We see an Etruscan Arch  that used to be  the entrance to the city and was built in the 3rd century B.C.  At the arch we look for a street that should leave this small piazza and can’t seem to find it. Finally, I piece together exactly where we are on the map but do not see the street where  we are supposed to go. Or do I? I see a set of stairs where the street should be and sure enough it turns out to be the street. Gotta love Italy, where the streets have no names ( a song there somewhere) or perhaps aren’t really streets in the modern way of thinking what a street is. From here it seems simple, straight, left, quick right and we are on the street their place is on. We follow numbers to the end and find #2 the address we have which is right next to a small church. No one here to greet us, no indication that it is the apartment so we wait a few minutes look around to make sure we are on the right street, right number and finally text the owner.  We tell him we are at number two next to a small church and he says that is not the right place, he told us 2a ( he didn’t) and go up the street on the left about 300 meters. We check past the church but no houses there. We walk up another street and nothing. We text the guy the corner we are on and Carol stays there while I go back around the block. I walk all the way up the street and all of a sudden I see a building with a number you cant see so I walk up to it and sure enough it is 2a. It took four of us walking around about 40 minutes to find this. I gather everyone up and by the time we get the keys from the lockbox and walk up, a guy shows up to check them in. Stay tuned for more Dave and Gwen exploits from this apartment. While they are settling in, Carol and I walk up the road to the Oratory of San Bernardino which was built in the mid 15th century. There is a church next to it and when we go in it, we find an architect convention going on. There was a guy at the gate checking people in and he waved me through so apparently I look like a hot shot Italian architect. My name is Carlo Designaloto. We go back out and look at the polychrome facade of the oratory. Not much else to see here, we return to Dave and Gwens apartment and we all head up to see the cathedral. 

The Perugia Cathedral was never finished but the building was completed in 1587. The front facade which does not face the main square is the wall that remains unfinished. Inside, Hugh marble columns hold up the frescoed ceiling. One chapel contains the tombs of Pope Martin IV and relics of Pope Innocent III and Urban IV. The church also holds the Chapel of the Holy Ring, Which is Mary and Josephs Wedding ring. It is kept high in the altar of the chapel and is only available for viewing twice a year. The rest of the cathedral was nice also. There was on pillar that had hearts with offerings in them. We had seen this for the first time at St Anthonys Basilica in Padua and they indicate an offering for a prayer that was answered. 

After the cathedral, Dave and Gwen spot a little bar/cafe on the piazza and want to stop for a drink. We sit outside with a nice glass of wine, I get a cold refreshing white wine called Grecchia which is very good. They bring us a bag of chips to go with the wine. Nice to enjoy the sunshine and people watching. After a while, they say they are just going back to their place and get something quick later. Carol and I decide we loved the Torta sandwich so we head back to get two for dinner. There is a man behind the counter who was not there earlier in the day. Carol orders the one with the Nduja on it (I think she may be hooked) and the man says I should try the traditional one which is sausage, spinach, and cheese, so I trust his word and order that. 

We bring them back to our apartment and are again wowed by the flavor and the simplicity of it all. This is where our day ends as tomorrow we have a day trip planned so want to get a decent nights sleep.

Expenses Train Spoleto to Perugia 13.60E Mini metro 3E Torta Al Testo and wine Lunch at Piada e Delizie 17.50E Wine in the Piazza 8E Pastry for Dessert 1.50E Groceries for Breakfast from Coop 6.05E Torte Al Testo Dinner 10.50E La casina in Perugia Apartment 63E Walked 9.4 Miles