Easter and the last week in PG

I can't believe that my Italian adventure here in Perugia is almost over - for this time at least. I've just been out admiring my favourite views for the last time, out over the valley towards Assisi and the one from Porta del Sole, and assuming of course that I'll be back again one day. Most of the packing is done, the books have been consigned to the Italian postal system, and I have only one last exam to do in the morning before I bid farewell to my friends and journey on to Florence tomorrow afternoon.

So for the update....Easter here was a little odd. Most of the weekend it managed to rain, and rain, and rain some more. Easter Saturday seemed like a normal working day, and Sunday was also a bit non-descript. Easter Monday, or la Pasquetta, then is the day where people get together and eat out with friends, although given the terrible weather this may have been a less popular option this year. It was also the day that I relocated upstairs to the first appartment that Ginny and I shared back on the first TMC trip in 2003 - a scary prelude to the whole packing up and leaving a week later though. Still, it made studying for the exams more enjoyable - 2 minutes reading the notes, 10 minutes gazing out the window. Braving the rain, Ambar, Hannah and I met up for an Easter drink at La Tana dell'Orso in the afternoon so that we could admire the view (of course) from the back window, out over the valley. It was fun and relaxing, and Ambar gave us both Kinder Easter eggs which was a nice surprise. At 6pm, in swirling snow again, Hannah and I set off by bus to San Fortunato as I had been invited to dinner. It was so exciting!!! Their house is beautiful, reminding me somewhat of the Chevassut's house in Monniaz - maybe because of the sheer size, age and stonework. I met Hannah's aunt Caterina, her uncle Adolfo and 6 year old cousin Ruben, who was very keen to display his juggling skills inspired by his weekly visit to Circus School. Then, since I was a guest for dinner, he changed into a shirt, tie and jacket, as parties are a serious business, but then there was a slight altercation about the lack of a table cloth. This was eventually resolved and then Adolfo's brother Ugo also arrived to join us for dinner, which was served after watching another juggling episode of course. Dinner was delicious - pasta alla pizzaiola, followed by grilled fish or steak, and then a crostata for dessert, served around the big dining table in the middle of the kitchen, which was complete with a roaring fire upon which the secondo had been cooked. It was so nice to be part of an Italian family dinner and enjoy a bilingual evening talking about films, studies and crimes (!) - the Meredith investigation continues to dominate news here. Finally it was time to bid them farewell with Ugo giving me a lift back to Perugia on his way back to his home somewhere near Lake Trasimeno. For an Italian he also drove like a normal person - no weird swerving, talking on his mobile or smoking all at the same time. It was a shock!!!

Tuesday was supposed to be a study day but the view proved difficult to resist, and of course I had to meet up with Hannah to find out how the translation exam had gone in the morning. This turned into lunch, coffee....the usual. Wednesday brought my first exam, which was on Letteratura with fabulous Fabio. Hannah went first, while the rest of us waited outside in varying states of nervousness. On second thoughts, maybe the glasses of Prosecco we gulped down in the bar just before the exam weren't such a good idea! No worries though - he seemed more nervous than we were, and since he had given us the choice of pairing up for the exam, Anya and I did ours together. I'm sure she'll eventually forgive me for making her talk about Masetto's story in the Decameron, and since we all got full marks for it, it seemed a good way to begin. On Thursday we had the exam for Contemporary Literature with Maurizio 'molto cool' Pistrelli, which I was even more nervous about - it must have showed because I only got 28/30. Disaster!!! Friday brought 3 exams - Storia del Cinema Italiano with the scary lecturer who was actually really good for the exam (we ended up talking about Peter Weir films after I said that neorealistic ones were too depressing), Storia Medievale which went for half an hour because we were having a good chat, and then finally Storia dell'Arte Medievale, where predictably il prof Lunghi did go off on many tangents but I just laughed. 30s for all 3 exams too, which is just crazy but I won't complain too loudly.

On Saturday morning the beautiful sunshine inspired a visit to Cortona - finally!!! And just because I'm leaving, things are working well. On Friday we had all managed to collect our attendance certificates from the Segreteria without drama, and then when I got to Terontola the bus driver actually waited for me to buy a ticket from the tabaccheria at the station before we set off up the hill. Cortona is small and stylish, but the gradients make Perugia seem almost flat! I wandered along the main shopping street (along with all the local residents and gaggles of tourists), browsed the street market, went to the Diocesan Museum which has a truly stunning Annunciazione by Fra' Angelico, sipped a cappuccino, admired the view as far as Lake Trasimeno, bought some of the obligatory postcards and finally jumped on the bus back to Terontola, which arrived with just enough time to buy a ticket before the train came. How convenient!!!! This meant that I had plenty of time to attempt a visit to the Post Office upon my return to Perugia. On the way there I bumped into Hannah so she came along for the adventure. Once again, just because we are leaving, the man behind the counter was hugely helpful - to the point of giving me packing tape to put my two parcels of books together so that they would be cheaper to send. It was miraculous!!! A quick visit to the Coop to get the Bellini supplies was followed by an almost last coffee at Morlacchi, this time with Zach and Nikos. Hannah and Zach had things to sort out (Drama of the Week #43938738), Nikos once again would only talk to Zach (even after we had all had dinner at his house on Thursday night), so evidently it was time to leave them all to it. Besides, we were all meeting up a bit later, given that it was a beautiful evening, for a sit and chat on the steps, followed by a battle through the teeming crowd down Corso Vannucci to have a gelato whilst enjoying the views one more time, and then back to my place for a pre-dinner Bellini and admiration of my view session. Then it was time for dinner at Ambar's suggestion of a restaurant down a tiny lane off the Corso called 'Al Mangiar Bene'. The food was absolutely divine, which wasn't unexpected as it's part of the Slow Food Association. We all ended up having pizza, although mine was done as a calzone, filled with mozzarella, potato, onions and rosemary, with rocket dressed in olive oil scattered on the top. Yummo! This was followed by the sharing of two desserts - a tortina al limone and a slice of crostata with chocolate and ricotta, washed down with coffee. And it was a bargain....definitely on the list for future visits here. Our next visit was back to Morlacchi for Black or White Russians, more coffee etc as we waited for summer time to change over. It was also a chance to say goodbye to Mauro and Nikos, who once again was unable to speak except through Zach as his intermediary. So strange!

Sunday, my last full day in Perugia, has meant packing and all the 'lasts'. In the afternoon I met up again with Hannah, Zach and Ambar to enjoy the sunshine on the steps, then it was time for one last stroll before finally updating this post. I just looked on the BBC site and read a story about the chaos of Terminal 5, especially after both Sharon and Cathryn sent me messages about it. The new terminal has only been opened for flights for 4 days now, and today they were happy that 85% of the flights actually made it out. The 15,000 pieces of lost luggage over the last four days should be sorted out soon too... good grief! I hope they've got it sorted before my flight to Istanbul on Friday. Fingers crossed!!!! Now it's getting later and my notes for the Storia della Lingua exam with la prof Anna still haven't been opened, so I guess that's a signal that I should sign off and go and do some work. There's always tomorrow in Florence!

Arrivederci Perugia!!!!

La Pasqua

It's been a while since I updated this so there is a bit to fill in. Firstly, we had a series of excursions as part of our lectures for Storia della Lingua Italiana and Storia dell'Arte Medievale. Our favourite lecturer, Anna Mori, organised a visit for us to the Biblioteca Augusta here in Perugia to see a selection of their books from the 1500s. As you do. Anyway, we saw a manuscript of Dante's Inferno, complete with miniatures attributed to Lorenzetti, a printed copy of the letter written by Cristoforo Colombo to the King of Spain letting him know that he had stumbled across America and claimed it for Spain, and various other books published just after the invention of the printing press. It was quite impressive! Then, later that afternoon due to the mild weather, Elvio Lunghi took us for a stroll around Perugia to check out the links between Etruscan, Roman and Medieval architecture found through the sculptures of the public buildings and arches here. The next morning, la prof Anna met us again for a tour of the Archeological Museum to check out the Etruscan collection, which consists mainly of cinerary urns. Since it was also La Festa di San Giuseppe here (and therefore also Father's Day), she bought us traditional fritelle afterwards, followed by a coffee stop as well - naturally!

On Sunday, since it was Domenica delle Palme, I decided to go down to Rome for the day to check out the celebrations. My train left at 7.15am and I wasn't hopeful of finding a bus running that early (which turned out to be the case) so my day began with a sprint to the station. Thank heavens it was downhill, that's all I can say. I made it with just enough time to buy my ticket and jump on the train, and then promptly dozed off. Of course, the good thing was that I arrived so early in Rome that I had time to wander leisurely...or that was the plan at least. After a coffee stop at the Illy cafe in Termini, I popped into Santa Maria Maggiore to listen to a bit of the mass and then decided to head over to the Vatican. On the way there I discovered that the Rome Marathon was being run - maybe the suffering of the runners was meant to echo the suffering of Jesus - around the streets of Rome. This necessitated a bit of sprinting for the tourists as we had to keep crossing the 'track'. Still, I made it to the Vatican finally, bemused once again by the state of the traffic etc - due to the marathon many of the streets had been closed, resulting in major jams. The traffic police were copping a bit of flack, it has to be said, but it was quite amusing nevertheless, as long as you weren't stuck in a car. Just as I made it to St Peter's, the Pope started his cruise around the square in his Pope-mobile, so I watched it on the big screen. Dodging the columns, that was the closest I could get. Oh well....at least I had a taste of the atmosphere, including the cheering. I also managed to accomplish one of the things on my list - I bought the other rosary beads for Cath McCole, complete with papal medallions. Now I just have to send them, meaning another joyful visit to Italia Post.

By this time it was getting towards lunch so I headed off towards Piazza Navona, where I met up with Lisa, Justin and Olivia. I hadn't seen Lisa since a visit to Perth about twenty years ago so it was great to see her and meet her husband and daughter. After pizza with broccoli for lunch at a little pizzeria off Campo de' Fiori, we went back to their appartment just down the road for coffee and colomba. It was so nice to just chat and compare stories, family updates etc. I'm sure our mothers will be touch as a result. Hopefully we'll catch up in Florence as we pass through in May and share a gelato or two. They've booked an appartment in Santa Croce until September and will use that as their base. Lucky things!!! After all our chatting, and with my bag full of fans made for me by Olivia, it was time to wander back in the late afternoon sunshine to the station for my 6pm train. Luckily I got there just as the train was pulling in so I could bag a seat - the train was completely packed, standing room only by the time we left. Still, what a great way to end the week!

This last week has meant the formal end of our lessons - next week it's exams which really are starting to scare me now. It has also meant starting to say goodbye to people - Juliette, the French girl in my class, decided not to do the exams so she's gone to France to see her grandparents in Montpellier for Easter. Ambar, Hannah and I went around to her place on Thursday night for a crepe party. I have to say, they were delicious! I'll have to try and make some when I get back. Even Lachie would have been impressed, especially when she flipped them!!! Thursday also brought unexpected snow which completely blanketed the city for the morning, and then completely disappeared by that evening. I'll have to load some pics of that when I get back to England too.

Easter here seems a little strange. For example, Good Friday is a normal day ie with lessons etc. All the shops were open as per usual, like today. We'll see what Easter Sunday brings, but I've heard that the big holiday is Easter Monday. It's a mystery, like many things in this country. I'm going to try and go to a mass in the Cathedral tomorrow. I called in there last night after my art history class and stood for an hour listening to a sung version of the Passion story as the Gospel, followed by a somewhat rambling homily by the Archbishop, and then left after the crucifix was processed down the aisle ready for the Veneration to begin. Just those bits took over an hour, so I felt that was enough. Plus people come and go all the time, check their mobile for messages, and get this - one woman answered her phone and had a chat with a friend. This country, I tell you, has issues!!!!!

Oh well, I guess I should go back and do some more study....oh the joys of Boccaccio. At least the Art History one should be funny - he told us last night that the challange for us in the exam is to try and talk more than him! On that note, I'm off to hit the books. Buona Pasqua!!!

La Serenissima

Ah Venice....what more can I say? There's nowhere else in the world quite like it, which has to make up for the high prices, the completely disoriented tourists (they just need to let go and get lost like the rest of us) and the kamikaze pigeons in Piazza San Marco.

I zipped up on the train last Thursday to meet up with Sharon, who was on a 'glass research' trip - pity it couldn't be tax deductible for her, I say! I'm sure there's a way to wrangle it somehow given that she's working at the local council in the recycling department. Surely that involves glass, but perhaps just the smashing of it! Anyway, having caught the local train to Florence, I had just enough time for a cappuccino and a croissant with custard in it at the bar before my next train came in. I decided to catch a Eurostar (2nd class only, drats!) but it turned out to be the new, even faster version. It was tremendously stylish, even with the chocolate brown interior colour scheme. Even better, there was enough space to stretch out and enjoy the view as we hurtled through the countryside, which was disappointingly devoid of snow.

I arrived in Venice just after 3pm and was once again bemused to stroll out of the station and be presented with that first view of the Grand Canal. Our 4 star luxury hotel was definitely very swish with a view out over the hotel garden (and the back of the building but we won't dwell on that). The Hotel Amadeus is certainly worth a plug - and if I have trouble remembering the name in future, I just have to look on the sewing kit, pen, shoe sponges or soap that I collected during our stay. Not to mention the selection of jams from the breakfast buffet, which was also excellent I have to say. Since Sharon's flight into Milan didn't arrive until later that evening, I decided to head off for a stroll via the Rialto towards San Marco. Despite the hordes of tourists (because I of course am a local - not!!!) stopping dead in the middle of a narrow calle whilst trying to get their bearings, Venice still is a great place just to wander. And get lost of course. Sharon's train finally got in at around 11pm, and then we had to chat for a while, before finally crashing out for the night.

Our first full day in Venice was spent just walking until our feet steamed. Despite the mammoth breakfast, I still felt the need to maintain my caffeine level a few times - although Sharon has tried to claim that I gave her the cafe tour of Venice. Clearly this is an exaggeration. We also made it up to the top of the Campanile which would have given us the usual beautiful view were it not for the arctic wind buffeting us. We did one quick circuit before joining the queue hopping about waiting for the lift to return us to the much warmer ground level. It's amazing what a difference 100 metres in altitude makes. We also toyed with the idea of taking a gondola ride but decided that the 60 euro 'special' winter price was still a little high. Finally, to round off the day we had a Bellini at the 'Olandese Volante' - hmmm.....they're nice!

Our second day was taken up with a visit out to the island of Murano. Of course, we visited the glass museum which had some tasteful pieces, but these were discounted by the sheer volume of so many truly hideous monstrosities. Sadly, photos weren't allowed but that's probably just as well. Luckily there were 'installations' dotted around the island so we snapped them instead. Because it was Saturday afternoon, none of the studios were open so we had to content ourselves with watching videos of the glassblowers at work instead, and look in a few shops of course. We found a little cafe for a late lunch which was obviously frequented by locals - Sharon managed to try a few local delicacies as well as the cheapest Spritz in Venice. On our return to Venice we tried out an Irish pub and then Sharon discovered, much to her incredulous delight, that Scotland had beaten England in the rugby. In typical unbiased fashion, BBC World managed one line about the game but neglected to comment on the loss, focussing instead on Johnny Wilkinson's record for the most number of tries.

Sunday was once again spent wandering the backstreets of Venice. I offered to let Sharon navigate but she declined, so we just walked with no real plan, around to the Biennale Gardens (stopping off at a tiny bar for a coffee obviously frequented by locals, along with their dogs of course), the Arsenale and along the canal back to San Marco. It was very relaxing, especially away from the crowds, although we both soon admitted to suffering from glass shopping overload.

The following day we jumped on a train and headed to Verona to check out the main sights - Juliet's balcony and statue, the Arena, the crenellated bridge, the Piazza dell'Erbe....the usual day trip. I had to have a meringue gelato for Cathryn but have to admit that I was a little underwhelmed by it - I'll stick to pinolata, cassata, tiramisu etc in future. The other thing to remember about Verona is that the public toilets at the station cost 70 cents a visit - even Harrods Luxury Washrooms aren't that much. But they were definitely better than the ones on trains and if you've got to go.....our return to Venice was by double decker train - stylish for a simple regional train. I looked out for Castelfranco Veneto but must have been going in the wrong direction - missed it again Steve. Upon our return, Sharon had to stock up on her local delicacies such as Colombe and the luridly green pistacchio flavoured Pan del Doge, and then we decided to splash out on dinner so that Sharon could have tiramisu for dessert. One final Bellini at a bar on the way back to the hotel, and that was the end of our jaunt to Venice.

The next morning, Sharon had to catch the 6:30am Eurostar for Milan (poor her!!!) while I had the much more leisurely 1:30pm departure, weighed down with Sharon's Scottish 'Daily Mail' newspaper and an 'OK' magazine - so exciting!!!! Now I'm back in Perugia and have made it through my long day of lectures today. Once I've recovered fully, perhaps I'll head off to Cortona on Saturday if the weather looks nice. Then I guess it will be time to study for those exams!!

Musings on life in Italy

Well, I'm into my third month here in Italy and of course it's still beautiful. However, the chronic inefficiency which faces you at every turn is a little wearing after a while. Some Italians seem to delight in making life difficult, like the inablity to queue, or acknowledge that someone was there before them and therefore should be served first. Another example happened last night when Livia, Anya's room mate had to leave for Pescara by bus. However, no-one had bothered to tell her that, unlike ALL the other buses departing from Perugia, the one she wanted left from the train station. Consequently, she missed the only bus to Pescara leaving yesterday and had to change her plans. What was worse though was the man in the ticket office laughing at her misfortune since she was obviously upset. Charming!!! The other thing that absolutely staggers me is the sanguine acceptance of the number of people who die here in industrial accidents. Since I arrived not a week has passed without a report on the news of at least one death - today in Molfetta alone five people were killed in a factory. No-one seems to think this is strange. Or even the fact that the mountains of rubbish still adorn the streets of Napoli and people were offended when the EU stepped in and told them to clean it up - not that it's happened yet, and it's only been 8 months or so.Then I remind myself that I am just a visitor and how Italy deals with such things is not my problem.

On the other hand, some things are fantastic. On Sunday a small group of us caught the train to Spello so that we could walk the 8km Via degli Olivi to Assisi. The wildflowers were out, the sun was shining - it was glorious. We spent the afternoon wandering around Assisi marvelling at how well cared for it is - in contrast to the messy streets of Perugia - before catching the bus back. So some things make me realise how happy I am to be here despite the whinging. Besides, I'm off to Venice to meet up with Sharon on Thursday - stay tuned for news of our adventures!