Wednesday, November 26, 2008

My Trip to Perugia

There I am, sitting in my room in the hotel from hell on my second day in the lovely little city of Perugia....more pictures next blog. But first: that hotel! I choose it based on it being a budget room in the center of Perugia AND I could check in at noon, something I knew would be important for me because of my feet, I just could not imagine hanging out in a strange place in cold weather and waiting until 4pm to get into a room, since I knew I would be arriving at 11am.

So...that was all fine, except for the BUSY noisy street it was on, with a motorcycle parking place right around the corner, that afternoon there seemed to be a steady mind numbing assembly of did I say noisy bikes coming UP the long incline of Via Independendenza. I was determined to find another hotel the next morning. After getting settled in I wandered out into the huge square where there were no cars and many people it seemed having an afternoon apres church enjoying the many little and some bigger elegant bars in Perugia. That's all there is here so far as I can tell, 3 bars on every block. And what is meant by a bar is: cafe, drink, hard liquor or beer and little pastries that always look better than they taste and little bread sandwiches with invariably salami or prosciutto and possiby cheese in them, NOTHING else is available, no soup, no light salads, nothing but these damnable bready little concoctions. IF you want to actually eat, then you must go to a restaurant, and that means SPENDING A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY, like at least $20 for lunch and twice that or more for dinner. Then you will have something to EAT! OK I've gotten that off my chest. I even have come up with a little theory about why Italians are so notoriously disorganized: they live on coffee, sweets and little bready things all day, they do it standing up most of the time and spending as little time as possible. They have to be jittery all the time! NEXT post, some pictures

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had the same experience in Alamos, Mexico recently in a noisy hotel room on the square on Saturday night. The partying went on till 3 or 4 AM. Fun. I got as cranky as you sound from no sleep but learned a lesson from that one.
Love your colorful new pictures. Glad to hear you're painting again. Looks like there are great landscape and other subjects abundantly available. Sounds like your Italian could use a class or some systematic instruction. Best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving with your new family.
Hugs, Laura

sarajane said...

I feel your pain. Bread, cheese, meat, bread, cheese, meat. That's pretty much what I ate in Buenos Aires for two months when I wasn't eating ice cream, my other fave quick food. Real food means restaurants, which are cheap in BA, but require a two hour dining commitment.

I am home now and eating a lot of soup. Can't stand the sight of bread, cheese, meat.

Candace Dempsey said...

Gretchen, move to the Fortuna. It has wonderful breakfasts, is quiet and the people are sweet. Great central location too and not expensive. Life is too short to be in horror.

Gretchen said...

I have no idea how Italian Woman found my blog....believe me I was PLANNING on moving to the Fortuna the next morning, however it was so cold, RAINY so very wet, I just gave up. But believe me next time in Perugia, I will stay there. Grazie