Tuscany by train: Perugia to Venice

Perugia

Leaving Rome we accepted the fact we were now car-less and dependent on public transport till we reached the port in Venice. We totally took towards our new time of train travel through Tuscan towns! Our stops included: Perugia, Assisi, Florence, and Padua.

A cheap airbnb.com arrangement meant we were staying with some uni students in Perugia. Lonely Planet describes Perugia as one of Italy's best preserved hill towns; a hip student town with two major universities; a thriving art scene and having a never ending stream of cultural events and concerts. It was right.

The pathway that led across a former aqueduct

After negotiating our way though another 'lost in translation' moment on the local bus, we wheeled our luggage to a laid-back apartment group-house and were greeted by our lovely host, an Iranian guy studying Italian at the Perugian 'University for Foreigners'. Yes, that is its actual name. The inside of the house had been inexpertly but delightfully painted with flowers along the walls and the narrow, cosy bathroom had a makeshift shower created by pulling two shower curtains across to create a small square shower space. After your shower you mopped the leftover shower water away from the sink (on one side) and the toilet (on the other) towards the drain in the middle.

We were staying a comfortable 25 minute walk away from the main town squares but that was okay because it gave us a chance to get to know our host and learn a few new things - like a Persian's view on the difference between Persians and Arabs and how that contributes to everyday life and the political/religious structures in Iran today. It's not what we were expecting to learn in Perugia but was fascinating nonetheless.

Walking around the town I was grateful we had made it to Perugia, as it had been a choice on a whim, and we were surprised by the beauty and feel of the place. It was a real win. Our host pointed out buildings that pre-dated the Romans and all the satellite dishes that local artists paints in various themes every now and then. The theme of the day was 'rock-shirt style Jesus'.

In the words of another blogger, "Up until then I’d thought religion was broadcast by means of miracles, church bells and burning bushes, but the good people of Perugia have obviously kept their communication lines more up to date." The Jesus satellite dishes where scattered across many rooftops (so many!) Our photo didn't turn out, so here is a picture we sourced online:

Perugia's nightlife congregates on the steps lining the edges of the town square. Practically every night large numbers of local and foreign students chillax and play guitars or drums and chat with friends. Drugs are easily available and apparently quite an issue but apart from a brief musty sweet whiff that we recognised so well from Amsterdam we didn't come across anything.

We were told that Perugians have quite a history of bucking convention. Due to their wealth in ancient times they resisted the rule of the Pope; frequently fought with the Medici's in Florence and the neighboring town of Assisi (of St Francis fame); and one day - when locked out of their own church for denying the Pope - they held their own mass outside the church on the town steps! No one had a right to stop them from gathering and worshiping God... Pope or otherwise!!

For me, Perugian highlights were: walking around at night between the old buildings, trying specialty gelato and eating dishes with 'truffle' listed on the menu while sitting outdoors at tables on the cobblestones of the main street, popping into a free piano concert in an ancient council building, walking through the underground fortress which now houses a train stop (!) on its lowest levels and finding our way home walking over an aqueduct-come-footbridge.

Assisi - home of St Francis

The more I hear about St Francis of Assisi the more I have to respect the man. He alone has helped make the town of Assisi so popular, as many pilgrims come to pay their respects. We had downloaded an ebook on his life onto our iPads and listened earlier while driving on the Romantic Road in Germany (see previous blogs for these stories). St Francis gave up extravagant wealth and a military career at a fairly young age to own nothing and serve God by serving the needy for the rest of his days. His was a commitment that took a lot of guts and a lot of faith - spurring many to join him and take similar vows.

Perugia and Assisi often fought and now there is a regular 'walk of peace' between the two cities. We took the easier option and caught a train and a bus then walked up the hilly streets. The atmosphere in the place felt full of faith and peace.

We wound our way up through the beautiful ancient city-town, past stores with souvenirs or huge round mounds of nougat in various flavours.

At the top we walked along the crumbling fortress and sat to look over the town and the surrounding countryside as the light fell. We stayed and watched the rusty sunset turn to shades of dark blue. Nearby, a few other lovers and young monks in robes stood and looked out also.

With that special moment lingering in our souls, we wound back down many alleyways to the bus and the train, home to Perugia; sneaking the odd shot of all the nuns (and nuns- in- training) on our bus when I could.

Florence - an art capital of old

See the replica David statue?

$24 a night in Florence with Airbnb.com was great for the bank account; but with the seasonal timing and no air conditioning, 40*C heat, and an army of mosquitoes laying siege outside our window (lest we cave in and require air) it was horrible. We were within walking distance to everything and spent a lot of time walking near Medici family houses, leather goods markets and the fake David statue (the real one is in the Uffizi gallery - but does it really matter for the entrance fee?).

We took advantage of a tip-based free tour around the town, immensely enjoyed the artistic exterior of the duomo, bought real leather jackets at a great price, ate cheap street-Italian food and expensive speciality gelato.... and patted the golden hog which we hear will ensure a return trip there one day!

Making sure we'll come back to Florence - according to the legend anyway!

Me and the duomo on a scorching hot day

Close up of the duomo

There was much more of course; like the buckets of sweat, serious haggling and a saucy street performer dressed up as Cupid (the dressed up Leonardo Da Vinci near by didn't stand a chance next to this lady magnet!) but after three days the long, hot, airless, mosquito biting nights convinced us to cut our losses and try out Padua for two nights before meeting our cruise ship in Venice.

While in Florence we decided to take a tour of Palazzo Vecchio. But this was no ordinary tour, this was a 'secret passageways' tour. It might sound gimmicky but we enjoyed it. It also meant we got to walk in the footsteps of previous Dukes and nobles who inhabited the passageways and used them to quietly slip between their private escapes, their public chambers, the outside world, and the political epicenter of Florence. During the tour we were also taken to several small rooms lavishly decorated with paintings on all walls and the roof. We learnt about the 'codes' that these paintings represented and how the ruler of the day would store their prized possessions in safes behind particular paintings, all based on the code of the paintings and what they represented in a metaphysical or mythological sense. Lastly, we visited the roof.

When you visit the palace normally, you see the ceiling, covered with painting after painting arranged like upside down tiles. If you didn't know better, you would think The had painted the ceiling (in a similar way to the Sistene Chapel), but they haven't. It's a fake roof with an attic-like cavity above it that uses an incredible system of trusses and counter levers (or something like that... engineering and architecture are not our strong suits!). Whatever the proper name, these trusses hold the paintings steady, suspended below them to form a false ceiling. But if you only intend to visit the main hall below, it's okay, it all seemed pretty sturdy to us!

Padua

Padua was one of those places we didn't intend to visit, but found it convenient to do so. There was plenty to do for a day or two and we were glad we made this little stopover. Here are some of the memories Padua gave to us:

• I've never been so grateful for a mosquito free and air conditioned environment
• I saw a woman crying bitterly in the park and comforted her without a common language between us other than love
• We walked past Gallileo's house... and had to walk back because we missed it (an untapped tourist possibility waiting to happen for that one!)
• We ate amazing pizza at the same place - twice. One night with horse meat...! eek!
• We saw the most enjoyably ornate church display ever... and if you've been following our posts this is a bold claim indeed! The display in mention was for saints relics (eg bits of bones) surrounded by a room of gold and marble statues that were playing, talking, dancing and enjoying heaven. Photos weren't allowed, so I snapped away with my mind to keep this treasured scene for times to come.

Venice

Disembarking from the train, we excitedly boarded our cruise ship!! We will share with you more about the cruise in our next post.

We had a night and the next day in port so we continued on with our Venetian explorations, retracing some of our steps from our Topdeck tour (see blog post 'What happens on tour stays on tour - part 1') and buying a couple of cheap Venetia masks for the masquerade party the ship was hosting that night. We had already bought a couple in Florence (we heard souvenirs were cheaper there) but had packed them up with our excess luggage and shipped them home not knowing we would need them on the ship.

As the ship pulled away from Venice it first sailed down past the grand canal so we got a birds eye view of Venice, St Mark's square and basilica, and many of the sites. We later heard rumours that as part of Venice's plans to manage the silt and flooding issues in its canals, cruise ships may not be allowed to do this scenic voyage for much longer. We definitely enjoyed the opportunity to see Venice from another perspective. And, true to form, Venice was just as beautiful and picturesque as when we first visited in June.

A.