Ciao!
Apparently
Erasmus study is not a five-month vacation and work is starting to pile up,
hence this post being put up quite late (scusate,
devo studiare!).
 |
| Assisi |
On the
Thursday before Perugia I had to run a few errands, including trying to hand in
my Learning Agreement only to be told that I needed the change form to be
signed before I could be signed up to my lessons… It was so annoying because it
meant having to chase the Coordinator here (and by chase, I mean it took us
forever). I will be writing a post about the Erasmus paperwork on the
University of Bath Placements’ blog (which you can find here: http://blogs.bath.ac.uk/hss-placements/ ), so keep your eyes peeled for a
detailed description of the mare…
Anyhow, I
eventually managed to pack my little weekend suitcase and I met with Vero, Jess
and Megan to go out for dinner. Initial plan was going to Dino’s for some cinghiale ragù, but the place was closed
so we ended up in Nonna Gina. The food was great – I had tortellini con panna e prosciutto and we had some shots of amaretto and grapa on the house. The waiter was really nice and it was an
overall lovely evening chatting and eating – what more could we ask for?
On Friday I
went to my regular lessons and then Megan and I set off on our Umbria escapade.
First problem? Megan couldn’t print her tickets. Fortunately they only need the
QR code so having them on your phone is alright. Second problem? The Flixbus
was delayed by a whole hour, which meant we weren’t actually pressed for time
to get to the station, but that it took us a while to reach Perugia. The coach
trip itself was fine – I slept – and then Cristina came to pick us up at the
bus station. We just about managed to catch the last minimetrò into the city (guys, it’s a super cute tram that connects
the centre to the peripheries) and the bus to her house. We were knackered and
starving by the time we arrived, but finally there. Cristina (you might
remember her from my Stonehenge and Glastonbury posts) was lovely enough to
host us for the three nights and we stayed in her sister’s room. Her house is
amazing and she was happy to show us around for the weekend which was
fantastic! On Friday evening all we really did was have dinner together and
broadly plan our weekend. We had frittata
and veggies with chocolate cake for dinner and we met her flatmate Francesca.
Then we called it a day – we were tired!
On Saturday
morning we got up at a decent time and got ready to head over to the station
and get the train. Plan? Spend the day in Assisi which is a small town nearby.
We took the 10:18 train and reached Assisi in about half an hour. The day
started sort of cloudy but eventually the sun came out so, although it was a
bit chilly, it was nice out in the sun. First we walked from the station to
Porziuncola which is the Cathedral that San Francesco built. We passed a
MacDonald’s on the way (I don’t even eat there often but it’s nice to have the
option…) and there were security checks at the entrance to the Cathedral, but
nothing much. The Cathedral itself was quite nice. No pictures allowed but I
managed to sneak a couple of snaps… The unique thing about it is that the
actual building built by San Francesco’s order is still inside the nave, so
it’s a church within a church. We also walked around the Rose Gardens but it
was too early for them to be in bloom… After Porziuncola we decided to head to
Alto Assisi. We were going to take the bus but the day was so nice we opted to
follow the pilgrim path instead. There is a brick path connecting Porziuncola
with Alto Assisi paved with names of contributors, so we made our way. It took
about half an hour to reach the town. It was worth it though, the sun was
lovely and we got to see the landscape properly and get some really nice shots
of the town from the outside.
Eventually
we got to Alto Assisi and reached the Basilica di San Francesco. It took a bit
of effort and by the end we were hot and sweaty but we did get the proper
pilgrimage experience right? To get into the Basilica we again had to go
through security control and this stop was clearly more touristy. Fortunately,
the entrance to these places is free despite them being so touristy, which is
great because you actually have to pay to get into the Cathedral here in Siena…
Anyway, the interior of the Basilica was amazing – decorated with frescoes by
Giotto. Again, no pictures allowed but I managed to take a couple of them before
being told off… I didn’t think I’d visit Assisi and see the frescoes, so I’m
happy I actually got the chance!
After the
Basilica we were kind of hungry so went out on the search for a non-touristy
restaurant. On our way we passed the Piazza Comunale and a few pastry shops
which looked absolutely amazing and sugar overdose provoking. We eventually
settled for a place called Terra Chiama which looked sleek and not that
touristy despite still being quite central. I went for tagliatelle con asparagi selvaggi and they were so yummy! The
waiter was also really welcoming and the options Megan and Cristina chose were
just as tasty as mine, so if you’re ever in Assisi definitely check them out!
Also, the decoration of the toilet was definitely curious, so I’ll leave it for
you to discover…
After lunch
we walked to Santa Chiara where there were some alleged treasures from the era
– personally doubt that but each to their own. The views from the piazza in
front of the church were great though. From there we kept on climbing, went
past San Rufino but couldn’t enter because there was a funerary service and
eventually reached Rocca Maggiore which is the medieval fortress at the top of
Assisi – made it from the bottom and now we’re at the top, right?
Unfortunately, we had to pay to enter the fortress so we ditched that and
walked around the building. The views were amazing – we could see where we’d
got off the train and the long distance we’d crossed. There were also wild
donkeys and two tourists having a full-blown photo shoot with them; it was
hilarious!
On our way
back to the station we decided to reward ourselves and went into Pasticceria
Santa Monica for some treats. The place reminded me of La Casita and the two
waitresses were blasting old-school hits on the speakers – so cool! I got a cappuccino and shared some panpepato and fondente with puffed rice and forest berries which was pure dark chocolate
heaven with Megan. Definitely needed after such a hike, but we were so full by
the end! We actually stayed there for a couple of hours chatting which was
super nice. Then we walked back to the station as the sun was setting and got
back to Perugia. We were knackered but as it was a Saturday we decided to go
out on a night stroll after dinner. Francesca and Cristina took us around the
centre, which was packed with students as it was Saint Paddy’s. Somehow we
ended up at an Irish SU party where they were playing live folk music – it was
great! And what a surprise when I turn around and suddenly see a bunch of
Erasmus students from Siena! What were the odds?!
On Sunday
we woke up latish, I took a shower and we got ready to explore Perugia. Perugia
is a pretty big city if you consider the outskirts, but the actual historical
centre is quite small and reachable from Cristina’s house. We visited a lot of places: il Templo, la
Fontana Maggiore, il Palazzo dei Priori, il Pozza Etrusco, la Galeria
Nazionale, la Catedrale, Rocca Paolina, Piazza IV Novembre, I Giardini
Cardicei, San Francesco al Prato, la Via dei Corsi,… We pretty much did all of it and it looked very
different from the night before even though it was the same places. Everything
is also quite close which was good because we avoided having to walk too much.
We had lunch at Il Testone and had a
torta al testo which is supposed to be a special dish from Perugia. It’s
like a sandwich with focaccia style
bread and mine was filled with sausage and spinach. It was really good. We had
lunch under the sun and then went to grab some bio ice-cream; mine was orange
flavour and a combination of ginger, pear and cinnamon – so good! We also did
some shopping and got ourselves some 5 euro sunnies from Tiger because why not?
After that we decided to go back home and rest for a bit. Cristina was going to
mass and we were to join her later to go for dinner with her church friends. I
really wanted to meet up with Fra and Luca but unfortunately they had been busy
over the weekend and I had already agreed to go to the dinner, which went on
longer than we anticipated. It was a bit of a strange situation because I'm personally not religious so I felt a bit out of place even though everybody
was nice and polite. After the dinner we wanted to get some cornetti with Nutella because it’s tradition to get them after a
night out and since it was our last night there we wanted to try them. The
place Cristina usually goes to was closed so we went to another one – it was a
Kurdish shop tender with whom we had an interesting conversation about Kurdish
treats like baklava which he also
sold. It was really hard to understand his accent but we made it work! I had a ciambelli with Nutella which is pretty
much a chocolate spread filled donut. Yum!
On Monday
morning we were returning to Siena, so we took it slow and got ready and made
our way to the bus stop – missed the first bus but we weren’t in a hurry so it
was alright! The Flixbus was again late so we had to wait under the sun for a
bit but we made it home.
Grazie mille Cristina for having us over the weekend, it
was great to see you again!
The rest of
Monday I spent running errands, cleaning, cooking and all that jazz. I’ve
signed up for three more months at the gym so there is no escape now! This week
I haven’t done much as I’ve been busy with getting the Erasmus paperwork
sorted, catching up with lectures and preparing my French presentation for
Friday. Even though most of the week has been fairly uninteresting, here are
the things worth jotting down.
On Tuesday
evening I went with Vero, Megan and Jess to the Tea Room near Piazza del
Mercato and had a lovely piece of cake with some lemon and ginger tea –
definitely going back! And then later that night Megan and I went to the ESN
tandem but since it didn’t look very promising we ended up joining Megan’s
flatmate and her friends at Maudit, an English pub where they give you a number
and you can send other customers messages. It was a lot of fun – there’s mean
people but you can also have a laugh! Definitely going there again! On Thursday
I met with an Italian girl called Grazia from UniStraSi for a tandem exchange
and it was really nice. We spoke a bit of Italian, Spanish and French and I
hope to meet up with her again soon! Then on Friday night we went out to a
student party at Contrada dell’Onda. I went to Megan’s for pres but ended up
swapping location to the Piazza with Vero and Suzanne. The night was alright –
the music wasn’t great but we had fun nonetheless. Vero and I ended leaving
after it finished at 3 and managed to grab the last pizza slice at La Trofea
and enjoy it on the Piazza. I ended up going to bed at like half five…
Therefore, on Saturday I was exhausted but I forced myself to get up at 10, go
out to buy a couple of things I needed (yay new trainers!) and do some more
presentation work and then I met with Vero and Megan in the evening to book our
Easter weekend in Bologna – can’t wait! We will also be going to Parma to visit
Sara, so I’m looking forward to it! There was another student party that night
that I really wanted to go to, but with only four hours of sleep I decided to
stay in… #soboring Sunday I spent at home (the weather wasn’t great anyway) – I
slept in, made pancakes for brunch, cleaned and finished some work. It was a
pretty chill day. Also, there was a dead pigeon on our corridor and neighbour
drama went down because nobody wanted to touch it… It eventually disappeared.
And today has also been pretty chill. I finally managed to hand in my LA and I
succeeded at making banana bread for the first time. Later I’ll go to the gym
and I’m planning on having an early night…
This week
I’ve also decided to run for fencing Social Secretary next year. I’m going to
be snowed under with work but it’s the last year of Uni so I want to make the
most of it! If I’m honest, I can’t wait to go back to England! I’m missing
fencing and BUSMS and general British life-style…
Sorry for
the long and overdue post, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. See you next
time and don’t forget to follow me on my other social media:
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