Our final stop in Umbria was Perugia, which is the regional capital.
The mythical griffin is the symbol of Perugia and dates back to its Etruscan history.
Despite the city’s ancient history, its central piazza is named for November fourth, of Italian Unity Day. More to come about that holiday in the Rome post.
The piazza used to be a Roman forum, and it is now surrounded by churches and medieval buildings. When we were there, we saw a wedding party emerge from the church to the cheers of all the guests waiting on the steps outside.
As the regional capital, Perugia rules over all the cities in the valley below.
It is also home to Perugia chocolate (Baci), which are the Italian version of chocolate kisses.
The train from Assisi to Roma was a pleasant 2.5 hour journey.
In Roma, we are staying in a convent turned hotel, but there are still one or two elderly nuns still living here, along with some green parrots camouflaged in the trees.
Trastevere is filled with great restaurants within a few minutes of the hotel. At Tonnarello, we ate melon and prosciutto, fat spaghetti with eggplant sauce, and rigatoni with pesto. Later, biscotti and fernet branca.
I indulged in this amazing pasta with clams, mussels and other sea creatures.
Why can’t we get all these pasta varieties at home?
The Donna Camilla Savelli hotel is named for the Farnese noblewoman who founded the order of St Mary of the Seven Sorrows and commissioned the convent here.
We are not sorry at all to be here, but we did join the nuns briefly in the chapel adjoining the hotel for their evening service. Stay tuned for all the sites of Rome in my next post.
