Ciao Perugia

WOW!! I can't believe I'm leaving!! It's been an absolutely amazing time here......I'm going up to Genova to visit my family.....more pics from there.....

and so I leave you with some stunning images of Perugia....hope you had as much fun here as I did....... Baci dall'Umbria e ci vediamo ancora quando arriverò a Genova!!........

the Griffin of 1477......500 years before I was born!

Corso Vannucci

La Fontana

Porto d'Ercule

Sala dei Notai e la Galleria Nazionale d'Umbria

Corso Bersaglieri

the view from the roof of the università

this is a false grade.....look closely though and you can see the aqueduct....ah.....the genius of Roman engineering!!

Sala Grande....that painting in the back is a futurist painting (can't remember the name of the artist) but it used to have a depiction of Mussolini in it....til the fascist regime fell and then they painted over him......il Duce probably wasn't too thrilled...

San Francesco.....

La Madonna

The walk home from university.....

San Francesco al Prato....

God, Umbria is really beautiful....

Arco del sole ? the scudi at the top fast became a symbol of Perugia....this wall was originally constructed by the Etruscans....and added to by the Romans.....

the cityscape is really breathtaking from up high....

illegal pictures of Apollo from the sala dei notai.....the ceiling is just incredible though!!

I don't think I even knew the name of this chruch but it's right at the end of corso bersaglieri.....this is where I turn right to get to university......Piazza Fortebraccio is just down the street.....

I will miss it sooooooooooo much!!

Ciao! ci vediamo alla prossima...

Foligno

may I introduce to you the flattest town in all of Umbria.....

I was completely amazed to see people on bicycles here!! I mean a woman riding through the piazza on a bicycle!! and an old man even!! eh, wait that doesn't sound right....the old man was riding a bicycle I meant....

see how flat??!?!? ok, well maybe not from that shot, but I swear, it really is FLAT....but this is a nice segue into the gratuitous church photos (of which there seem to be many)

here's the outside (from street level)...

and the inside.....

I wish I had a baldacchino like this in MY house!

never missing an opportunity to showcase everybody's favorite virgin.....

I especially love the moon and snake at her feet.....robbing the pagans again I see?
There is also a military base here (which thankfully I didn't have an opportunity to photograph) and this was a relatively short trip....next stop: Spello!!

Spello

So as I blog on, I realize that I pretty much take pictures of all the same things in different cities......
there are however slight variations....for instance, I was running like a MADWOMAN to catch the train back to Perugia (in spite of the fact that a very scary bald man with an earring offered to drive me back and if not all the way to Perugia as he originally suggested, then at least to the train station......I politely declined in an attempt to avoid all the potentially horrendous endings that the situation could have....my being dead was the number one thing on that list of accidents to avoid).....so I didn't take a picture of the sign in the train station at Spello as I have done in almost every other city I've visited.....I'm weird like that....I start doing a random thing at some point along the way and then it becomes a sort of ritual....
but I digress (as I do in every post) on to the images!!
Spello is on a really steep hill....

But the security is tight.....the people in the middle ages were apprently very wary of unwanted intruders

unfortunately, the signage can sometimes be a little bit confusing...

the requisite church......this one is obviously not as decadent as some others that we've seen...



and what would a medieval town be without the delightful strade strette???

And then of course, like every town on top of a huge hill, Spello has some amazing panoramic views......there's a little park that's way up on top of the hill (in fact the whole city is built on a damn steep hill....didn't I tell you Foligno was the only flat city in all of Umbria??) and from this overlook a whole lot of land is visible:

oh wait, isn't that my house in the distance over there???!?!?

and no kidding, it really is that close to Perugia.....

un Ponte ed una Fortezza

No, it isn't a puppet show.......It's....(can I have a drumroll please??)

SPOLETO!!!! YAY!!!

In addition to the aforementioned Ponte and Fortezza (also lovingly referred to as a Rocca) hang on, photos to follow.....
we also have a lovely chiesa....

lovely both outside .......

and inside.......

ahhhhh, now what would you pay???




I finally managed to get a focussed shot of the ceiling fresco..... this was no easy feat, trust me!



Spoleto has a delightful park with breathtaking panoramic vistas....

the Rocca is visible from the park as well....


I spoletiani call it Fortezza Arnoz on account of the ex-owner of said fortezza.....
my friend Françoise (whom I met at the train station in Perugia.... completely unplanned!) and I took a trip into the Fortezza which sadly, was used as a jail for quite some time; in fact, up until very recently. Many of the freschi were destroyed by either the state constructing cells or the inmates being bored to bits.....well, we weren't permitted to take pictures inside the Fortezza. The whole trip is rather interesting: the "tour" lasts about 45 minutes and is guided: the museum-goers are taken through the rooms that were previously palatial, then incarceratory, and now some are used for important town functions such as official gatherings and the like, and its obvious function as museum. So anyway, they take you up this hill (and steep too!) in a small bus....trust me when I tell you that long winding roads in Italy were not meant to accomodate vehicular traffic....not to mention the fact that this is, after all, a FORTRESS and I suppose that they probably did not want just anybody to have easy access to their fortress and whatnot, but I digress.....anyway, after this short but very bumpy ride, (which really now, would have taken ten minutes to walk and it wasn't like it was too cold or something but whatever......this is Italia we don't ask these sorts of questions here) we arrive at the fortress which is locked....of course the tour guide has keys and you enter into the courtyard from which you can see the six original towers (and of course none of them were open but the tour guide informed us that if we come back tomorrow, the inaugural opening will take place...thanks lady, but I'm only here for the day) so anyway, after said tour of the fortress, which was quite interesting and educational.....

we walked around in the park a bit.....and found......(another drumroll please) the PONTE!!!!!!

view from one side.......



and from the other side.....



this was an aqueduct once upon a time......and is still a functioning bridge actually......apparently, people take their evening passeggiata (stroll) here quite frequently.....

Spoleto (like all Italian towns) has the best strade strette..... (narrow streets that is)


and the coolest time-keeping devices!!!