Days 6 and 7

Day 6

We left Orvieto this morning in our little Fiat. We were sad to leave this wonderful hill town but excited to have a new adventure in a place we have never been before -- Perugia (remember Amanda Knox?), a walled city of 200,000 people. We took the scenic way, driving along on hilly, winding roads alongside fields of red poppies, villas, olive trees, and grapevines. Elisa, from our Orvieto hotel, had printed out the Map Quest directions. The only problem was  they were in Italian. We thought we would be OK, but we didn’t know how big and hilly Perugia would prove to be. When we got close, there was one turn after another, and the co-pilot couldn’t keep up and we were soon hopelessly lost. We just kept going up the hill towards the central district at the top. We parked the car near a lively pedestrian-only street and set off to find someone to help us. We ended up at Hotel La Rosetta. 

The woman at the desk said our Hotel Priori was in the medieval district, very close if we were walking but very difficult to get to by car. She tried to give directions, but there were many very steep and narrow one-way cobblestone streets to navigate, and we didn’t think we could do it especially without a map. 

We asked if there were any rooms available at La Rosetta for two nights, and there were, so we decided to stay right there!!! The woman helped us cancel our reservation, the butler parked our car along a narrow hilly street, and we got settled into this very old four-star hotel. The walls are so thick that we can only get the wi-fi signal in the lobby. Our door and windows are so thick and tight-fitting that we can’t hear any noises from other rooms or outside, but when the windows are open, we can hear the lively street noises below....people talking, laughing, and music. I guess we won’t be driving to Assisi tomorrow as planned. We wouldn’t be able to find our way out or back in! 

 Day 7

Perugia is a small city built on two mountain tops.  We normally associate elevation change with recreation trails, not parts of a city, but Perugia is an exception.  We’ve seen only one person pedaling a bike so far, and they had an electric motor for assistance.  The streets we were to follow to our ill-fated hotel reservation are all alike - none are straight, none are level, and all seem very narrow..

We took a quick one hour bus tour of the city on a very small tour bus with narration over headphones at our seats.  While this is a beautiful city, we don’t have the time to walk to all the sites due to the size and hilliness of the city.

The city has many walls.  They were used centuries ago to ward off invaders.  There is an Etruscan wall built over 2000 years ago, walls built by the Romans after they defeated the Etruscans, and finally walls built in medieval times about 1000 years ago.  And they are still standing!   Stone masons probably didn’t suffer from unemployment in Perugia back in the day.  

We especially like their man-made arches.  The following picture is taken from within an arch looking at an arch with smaller arches.  If you know your architecture, you can probably tell what centuries the stone work comes from.  We are simply impressed by the beauty of all the stone work.

The sculptors’ hands are seen in places to enhance the churches and piazzas.  In the Piazza IV November Piazza, there is the Fontana Maggiore(below).  

and the following modern sculpture at one of many Catholic churches.

By the way, the significance of the name ‘Piazza IV Novembre’ seems to be a mystery.  4 November should tie to an event, but we’ve asked and are yet to find a good answer.  If you have one, comment on the blog please.

For those of you in Seattle and Grand Rapids, Perugia is a sister city.  We didn’t see anything celebrating Seattle or Grand Rapids other than a sign when we were trying to find out way into the city.

We were going to say that there is not much to recommend about Perugian food.  Once again, we are in a city where the bakers don’t use salt in their bread.  We learned on our bus tour that about 500 years ago, the pope of that time tried to raise money by taxing salt.  In this city state, they decided not to pay.  Wouldn’t you think they’d be over it?   However, our dinner was at another one of those unpretentious small places off the beaten path. The following is a picture of the door into the place.  

Hours later after a simple dinner of local organic food, we were satisfied that we had another special meal.

Tomorrow we face the challenge of finding our way out of this unique city to Assisi and Norcia.  At least we have had a good dinner.