Perugia

Hi There,

Well we spent about six hours this morning wandering around the old medieval walled town of Perugia.

There are seven levels of the town and some have to be reached via a system of escalators around the town, great idea saves the knees a bit. Other levels are up and down steps.

There is a different feeling to this town, a kind of calm comes over you as you wander about. Maybe it is because of the fact that the town has a wall around it and has a sense of security left over from ancient times.............

The buildings are not as ornate as other cities but the Griffin which is the symbol of Perugia is everywhere.  The rooftops are covered with hand made terracotta tiles as you will see from our photos.

We walked under the palace Rocca Paolina, which has several levels under the city, it was so interesting........................there were tiny cells and dungeons, one of which Steve is in behind bars.  Very dark and cold.  Hope you enjoy the photos.  Off to Venice tomorrow............




      Griffin, the symbol of Perugia, this can been seen as statues, frescos and bas reliefs.

 Fontana (fountain) Maggiore was built in 1277, it is connected to a 5 kilometre ancient acqueduct that bought water to the main town square

                                            Steve in front of the fountain

     

Fresco on ceiling in a cafe

                                         



                                    Tiny apartments.....bedsits we wonder?

Tiny doorways too........

                                             
                                          The Palace, Rocca Paolina
With the fortress underneath consisting of 5 floors, with towers and foreparts, loopholes and emplacements to house cannons.
                         

                                                    Under the Palace

                                             Steve in one of the cells

Views from our room over the rooftops 

 

                       
                      And afternoon tea on the rooftop balcony of our hotel

Roma still :)

Sunday 15th May
I'm sure one would have to spend a year or more to see everything Roma has to offer. Just going thru all the Vatican Museums would take at least a week.

I always assumed Trevi Fountain was in a large piazza but we followed some little laneways and heard a crowd and suddenly it was in front of us.  Tucked away behind these beautiful ancient buildings in a little piazza.

We have experienced quaint little fishing villages such as Cefalu, hill towns such as Positano and Amalfi, island life in Capri, bustling cities, Milano, Roma and Palermo.  Can't wait to spend time in the city on the water, Venice and countryside in Tuscany.

We are now in Perugia, a 2 &1/2 hour train ride from Roma,( btw Roma train station is like an airport!!!)
We are staying in a 13th century building ancient frescos on the walls.  Perugia is a medieval walled city and its symbol is the Griffin and they make amazing chocolate!!!!

It is raining, first rain we have had since leaving Oz.  Apparently it is snowing in the Alps further north from us and this weather is coming down from England. We will be up north in a couple of days so I hope it clears before we get there.

Perugia is gorgeous, can't wait to go exploring this medieval town.  Great photo opportunities to be had!! We have a balcony room on the fourth floor, the fifth floor is the garden balcony, and we are overlooking these incredible ancient buildings with hand made terracotta tiles on the rooftops.  All the buildings we have seen in Italy have been multi storied.  They make use of every bit of space.

The Italians certainly love flowers, every street and balcony is ablaze with colour.
Most corners have flower stalls both cut flowers and pot plants.

a little restaurant in Taormina with flowers everywhere, Steve is posing up on the balcony............

 typical corner flower stall

 

and just a couple of my favourite photos :)

just wandering up some steps to get a better vantage point for photos and we found this little hand made ceramics shop

Well, it's 5.45pm here and I'm getting hungry :) so will sign off now and go and have dinner shortly at this cute little restaurant we found just around the corner.

'Til next time......................

ciao  xxxx

Still in Roma

Inside the Colosseum

 Lost for words....................it is sooo huge you have to see it to really appreciate the enormity

Queen for a couple of minutes...hehehehe

 feed me grapes, my lowly servant LOL or I'll send you to the lions........not really, he comes in handy sometimes

Some pics of the exterior of the Colosseum

Night time pics, taken at 10.30 on a beautiful moonlit evening. Simply breathtaking!!!

Just some photos of the sights around Roma................

Roma

Whilst in Roma we had a cooking class with Chef Fabio.  We cooked a six course Italian meal in his own home,  the food was simply amazing even if I do say so myself.  We were so full we could hardly move.  We made home made pasta from scratch.............
First course.....bruschetta
Second.......ravioli with zucchini and ricotta cheese
Third.....gnocchi with tomatoes and assorted Italian herbs
Fourth......Risotto balls made with buffalo mozzarella cheese and asparagus
Fifth.....chicken thighs marinated and served with roasted zucchini
Sixth......awesome marinated strawberries

all washed down with a delicious local sweet white wine.

 

Shopping for ingredients at local market

Making pasta for ravioli.so much fun :)

All ready for the oven

Eating the finished product.....YUMMY!!!!

  Chef Fabio after lunch

 The Extraordinary Cooking Class of  2011 Roma  

Ginger from Florida USA, Cheryl from Atlanta, Georgia USA, Chrissy and Steve from Tassie, our guide helping to buy ingredients, Matra from Argentina, Catherine and Ken from Alberta Canada.

Here we are on the balcony of our apartment in Positano.  This is a very pretty little hill town on the Amalfi Coast.  We are halfway up the hill. Lots of steps but great shopping so worth the effort and sore knees. LOL 

 This is one of the breathtaking views from our balcony, this is what we woke up to every morning, hard to take really.................

Another view this time you can see the Cathedral in the lower right hand corner 

 No wonder we get lost .............don't you love their sign posts..at least they are in english here

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beach view from one of the restaurants we frequented, this is early in the morning before the shoppers arrived

One of the beach artists........just beautiful paintings

Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Isle of Capri

The Amalfi Coast is Amazing!!!! The drive from Positano to Pompeii covers 1642 bends!!  Truly, no joke but the scenery is awesome.  Brilliant blue water and the buildings, well, they are built right into the cliffs on the edge of the sea.

We had a guide throughout Pompeii, the city is just as it was after the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD.  You saw some of the photos in our previous blog and we will post some more here.  We walked up to the top of Vesuvius, it was extremely steep and I really thought I wouldnt make it and Steve would have to go by himself but I got there.............eventually and glad I did  but never again. It was so hard.

Half way up it started blowing a gale and was difficult to stay upright and on the way back down it started to hail.  But at least we have another dream to cross off our bucket list. :)

Isle of Capri was very pretty but extremely busy.  They have 10,000 to 13,000 visitors a DAY!!!!! but in the winter it is dead and very boring.  Our guide, Anna Maria lives on Capri and  said they sleep a lot and amore, amore, amore.  The whole island closes down for six months.

It is now Saturday,14th May, we have been in Rome for 4 days.  We have walked around and inside the Colosseum, a long standing dream of mine, thrown coins in the Trevi Fountain, been amazed at the interior of the Pantheon, in awe of St Peters Basilica and the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel.  St Peter is entombed 20 meters below the Basilica.

We have wandered all thru the side streets and alleyways of Rome day and night and felt extermely safe, no problems whatsoever.  The food is great as you can imagine. Some great photos coming up too. This is our last night in this wonderful city, off to Perugia tomorrow which is in Umbria, for 2 days then Venice..........  

Us on the Isle of Capri

Temple of Apollo in Pompeii

 

Body of man covered in ash after eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD

 

Looking down the crater of Mt Vesuvius.  This volcano is still active today.