Perugia, Italy

We made it to Perugia on Saturday. That strike was for trains all over. One man told me that he works in Rome and couldn't get to work on Friday. But the strike was over by 5 pm Friday night - how convenient for having a 3 day weekend :)

There was an International Chocolate Festival going on in Perugia. It was a madhouse. If this is the off season, I would hate to be here in season. It is the same for Assisi. Major crowds all over town.

Anyway, it is interesting how you get into Perugia. You have to take a bus from the train station and it lets you off at a bus station about 1/2 way up the hill. You then go through a series of cave-like tunnels and up a series of escalators to get to Piazza Italia, where the major sites are. Here is what the tunnels look like:





In the various tunnels there are some small shops and they had one area as part of the conference where they had chocolate and wine displays. I am assuming that this is where chocolate comes from since it was in the middle of a chocolate display:





Here are some pictures of the craziness at the Chocolate festival. I actually got some chocolate at the "Choco Gadget" booth. Expensive, but yummy!











They had a booth for dogs, too. I got a free sample (they said it was safe) but Seymour wanted nothing to do with it.



Perugia is considered one of the best preserved hill towns in Italy. It has a bit of a gothic look. More pictures:
























This fountain is in the middle of the piazza Italia and was designed by Fra Bevignate and built by a father and son around 1275. (I found that info in my guide book).



Here is a view downy the hill from the city center:






We also went in to see the worlds most beautiful bank - there was a lady behind the counter so I don't know if it is a working bank or not. It was all beautiful wood - didn't take a picture and can't describe well enough. Think of a library in a very expensive house - that's the style of this bank.

Overall, Perugia would be a difficult place to drag your luggage to - a taxi might be best - but I think it would be worth staying here for a few days and exploring when the International Chocolate Festival isn't going on!

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