The amazing night sky in Perugia after the weather cleared.
Thursday 13 September: Slept badly but woke to birthday emails from Anne and Lorna and Nigel and I facetimed for a while, so very nice start to the day. I had some running around to do before my hair appointment and it was windy and rainy but not unbearably so, in fact, it was nice to be cool for a change. My hair appointment was unbelievably successful. I couldn't believe how good it looked: I had loose curls, like ringlets and it looked really good; all for €20. So I've booked for next Friday and it will still be good for Monday when I leave Perugia. I asked Eva to book me a taxi to go to the train station as my carryon weighed a tonne - gifts for Anne and Ruari - and it was raining. And....just as I was ready to leave my lovely apartment I discovered I have shutters for my bedroom window. I am very thrilled about that because the piazza is just outside and it gets very noisy and stays that way until around 3:30 in the morning. Arrived in Umbertide and was met by Anne and Ruari. Umbertide is a lovely town but quite different to Perugia. It is further north and is flatter; no hilly streets (it was a shock to the system to get back to Perugia). The town is on the Tiber and after dropping off my bags in their lovely house we went for a long walk along the Tiber - very pretty.
Friday 14 September: Today we took the train to SanSepolcro in Toscano and saw the Piero della Francesca fresco. I had already seen the amazing frescoes in the Bacci chapel in Arezzo so I only have one more to visit to complete the cycle - the stunning Madonna at Monterchi, but I do not think I will get there this visit. When i was in Arezzo in 2008, I loved her so much I bought a postcard and a card not realising that she was in Monterchi. We had a lovely wander around the town, popping into museums and churches. We visited a lace museum and spotted that the thread that they use comes from Scotland.
The rose window in the ceiling of the duomo is made of alabaster. I know the photo doesn't look much but it was beautiful
This lovely doorway has a black dove(?) nesting in the hollow at top right.
We had lunch at a small ristorante which gave a discount with our tickets from the museum. I had spelt soup (zuppa di farro) - it was delicious. We shared a bottle of white from the Banfi estate. I had forgotton we were in Tuscany.
Arriving back in Umbertide, Anne and I wandered around the town, popping into shops and buying, of course. We called into Busatti, which is a shop that sells woven cloth. I bought a couple of little souvenirs and the owner said that another woman from Perth was staying in Umbertide and had been in the shop earlier. We Perthite women are everywhere in Umbria it seems. After eating at home, we then spent a fabulous Friday evening wandering around the various stalls - lacemaking, steel forging, 19C baking, brigands and bordellos - it was a lot of fun. It is wonderful to see the whole town involved even the teenagers are happy to play a part. There was the town band, a choir, dancing, and a circus. After we spent about three hours enjoying the sights, we stoped for dolci and vinsanto, which I liked very much. I was surprised because I had heard it tastes like sherry but it is not even close to sherry as far as I am concerned.
Lacemaking demonstration.
The local band.
The beautiful and fit highwire expert at the circus.
Anne, Ruari and me having just finished our dolci and vinsanto.
And so, after a very long day to bed about 12.30am.
Saturday 15 September: A beautiful morning but I am Perugia-bound. Ruari took me on a walk down to the river for a final walk around as the weather was clear and sunny.
The tower with the tricolore flying.
We headed for the train station and thought the train left from binario 1 but suddenly there was a loudspeaker saying it was binario 2 and we had to rush down the sottopassagio. I jumped on the train but it didn't leave for another 10 minutes, it was waiting for another train. The train was a very posh new smart train - electric - but not so posh it could manage the hill to Sant'Anna, we had to change to the old diesel train at Ponte San Giovanni to huff and puff up the steep hill.
Sant'Anna stazione. Tiny but very efficient - only four platforms.
When I returned to the apartment I did a load of washing - boring - then Daniela texted me to meet her but even after she clarified, I didn't understand the location. I was roaming the corso Vannucci asking where the Priori arco was - turns out it is the arch at the begining of the street. Now if she had said at the top of via dei Priori I would have understood perfectly. We had a drink at Caffè di Perugia - Mimosa for me, Bellini for her - and discussed tomorrow's tour. Bevagna first, then Montefalco where we will lunch and finally Tempio di Clitunno. She needs to be back in Perugia by early afternoon 'cos she is driving to Rome to pick up her son at Fiumicino.
At 9:00 I went out to eat at the downstairs ristorante. I was the only person outside but they had 20 people inside for a festa. I had penne with salsicce, peperoncino (unfortunately, I think they forgot the chillies) - very tasty but too much. And so ends Saturday...I leave you with a photo of Anne's cat.
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