Buon giorno,
It's chilly and a bit rainy--giving a foretaste of what later in the year will be in Umbria. Stone walls can become bleak. I came back early because of the weather and also because I have to organize myself for an early departure tomorrow. I'm flying out of Florence. My taxi to the train station is booked, and I have done the on-line check in for Air France/Delta. I have to leave so early because there's only one train that goes directly to Florence Santa Maria Novella Station that does not require a transfer. And readers of my blog know how these train changes don't work out. I'm trying to avoid a similar unpleasant situation.
When I get to Florence I need to take the tram to the airport. I hope I can check in early and get to the lounge. I looked it up, and they have showers there. I'd love a hot shower rather than the tepid sponge baths I've been resorting to here. I could even wash my hair. Apart from any consideration to my fellow passengers, I just feel better traveling clean. I hope it works out.
I am glad I came to Umbria, and Perugia is a wonderful base. I'm sorry I did not get to Orvieto this trip, but I'll try to see it someday. Umbria is beautiful and so far uncrowded. The countryside is enchanting, and the food and drink hearty and delicious. If you don't or can't eat pork though, maybe it's not the best destination. I'll confess that the Porchetta was one of the highlights of my trip.
Perugia involves a lot of up and down. To help out there are scale mobile (that's escalators to you non-Italians) and lifts, but you will get a good workout just walking around the historic center.
I also want once again to mention the gracious kindness of the people of this lovely and fascinating city. Every encounter I had with the local people was warmly positive. Many went out of their way to help me out. And what is more, they seemed genuinely to enjoy helping.
So I'm hoping to run into that helpful attitude tomorrow morning. I feel very anxious about the trip. First I need to get my bags down a steep, dark, narrow staircase, and it's always worse going down than up because the weight poses a falling danger.
When I reach the train station, I'll have no problem getting the ticket, but then I'll need to go to a platform across the tracks, and that means going down stairs and up again. I have no problem being a pathetic little old lady looking for help. I just hope I find it. Getting help from kind strangers was how I made it here in the first place.
Dinner is linguine with the last of the Calabrian pesto and tuna. This is first rate and actually something I might recreate at home with American tuna rather than Italian. There's no chance of me getting real peso Genovese, but Calabrian pepper pesto is made by Barilla. I'll look for it.
Ciao for now
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