Sometimes the best ideas are the most spontaneous. Like spending a week brainstorming possible day trips for the weekend until you get so frustrated that you're tempted to just forget about the prospect of traveling altogether, until, after coming home from the opera at midnight exhausted and cranky, someone simply says, "Why not Perugia?" and you respond "Alright, fine" just to get them out of your apartment so you can go to bed. So you wake up early, trusting that someone else has figured out the details and simply get on a train to Umbria. And it ends up being a completely and utterly wonderful day.
Jennie, Yvette, Jaimie, Lauren, and I met up with John and Adrian at their apartment and walked to the train station at 9:30 in the morning. After a lot of confusion over which train to take and where and how to buy tickets, we ended up on the correct train to Perugia. The train ride was lovely, passing through Arezzo and Cortona and Trasimeno, a city next to a beautiful lake that I plan on visiting as soon as the weather starts to clear up. We arrived in Perugia around one o'clock in the afternoon. After a quick cheap lunch at what seemed to be the equivalent of a train station diner (that amazingly had delicious stewed fava beans), we bought a map and started to explore.
Our Adventures had a rough start. After walking up the steepest hill imaginable, we came to the first museum only to find that it was closed, and had been since an earthquake a few years ago. But we continued on, and as we kept walking up hills and stairs we realized that the city was getting progressively older. The buildings became smaller and covered in moss, and the streets got narrower with more small alleyways that I kept running in until I would hear someone say "Where the hell is Alex?" There were frescoes on the walls and creches and religious icons, and I just fell more and more in love.
When we reached the city center, which was the top of the hill, the architecture changed dramatically. Whereas the city was very medieval, the main piazza was definitely Baroque, with wide streets and Napolean-esque buildings. We stopped at a chocolate store and I bought artisinal bacci (kisses) and took Album Cover pictures on the stairs leading to the museum. We finally decided to go in the museum, which has one of the best collections of medieval art is all of Italy. In the museum, I realized that while Renaissance art leaves me cold, I love medieval religious art. I find the gold leaf, the bright colors, and even the lack of perspective and realism terribly beautiful. I think it's the sense of mystery that accompanies those paintings. Life was still completely inexplicable then, and because of this completely magical. It's hard to articulate, but it really shone through in the beauty of those paintings of Jesus and the saints and angels.
After the museum, we considered getting dinner, but seeing as it was still early and starting to rain, we decided to just get the train home and eat then. As it turned out, this was a brilliant idea. Jennie had thrown the idea of doing a pizza and beer night, and I suggested Il Pizzaioulo, a pizzeria that my guidebook raved about. We made a reservation for 13 people, and got there at 10:00, like Real Italians. The restaurant was adorable, and the pizza was amazing. Lauren and I split a vegetariana pizza, and ate it so fast I think it was gone in five minutes. The crust was thick and fluffy, not gummy, and just charred enough, the sauce was perfect, and there was just the right amount of cheese. Everyone else's was delicious as well, and Lauren and I basically ate all the crusts from John's pizza as well. After pizza we went to an Irish pub that had really good beer until we got bored (there isn't much to do at a pub, and for some reason I attract guys in bars much easier in New York).
All in all, it was a really great day. Just goes to show that it's not always necessary to plan things out to a T. And that's something that I need to remember.
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