Weekend in Perugia

This past weekend after the excitement of the Amalfi Coast, I decided to stay in Perugia, however my friend Mary from SMC is studying in Rome and has been dying to get me to come so to test out the Eurail pass, I decided to go there for the night on Thursday. I left immediately after my 11 AM class ended and arrived in Rome around 4:30. The train ride was beautiful all throughout the Umbrian countryside.

Upon arriving in Rome I was hit with the reality that in contrast to Perugia, I was now in a real city, a very big city, where the people are not quite as friendly. I wasn't sure how to exactly get to Mary's appartment but I knew I could figure it out. After a train, a bus, and a tram ride I somehow found my way and got let into the appartment by her roomates as she was in class until 8.

Mary had planned a dinner party for that night with all the SMC girls that are in her program (there are 5 of them including Mary). She made us an unbelievably delicious meal and with great food and drinks we were having a blast. We then got ready to go out to il discotheque. Although Perugia is a college town with it's own charm, Rome was a completely new experience. I stayed only the night and left the following morning but it was a great time and it was awesome to see a familiar face in a foreign country. Only the minor glitch of spraining my ankle hindered a great day in Rome!

I had to get home quickly because we had an italian cooking lesson with a professional chef who splits her time between Italy and New Mexico. It was an awesome experience to have had. We made tiramisu, homemade pasta, homemade meat sauce, italian style salad, and bruschetta. Learning the pasta making was one of my favorite parts. As I was telling a friend recently, there are recipes for pasta, but to make really great homemade pasta it really comes down to feel. When making the dough you want it to be soft but not too squishy, moist but not too wet, it all comes down to feel, so learning from an expert was really great !

After our night of pasta making, the rest of the weekend laid ahead of us. I had orginally planned on exploring more of perugia this weekend, but with the sprained ankle, I found myself doing some fun things around the apartment. We cleaned, bought more groceries and did some laundry. It was a beautiful day and sitting out on the balcony of our apartament really made me appreciate what a wonderful opportunity I've been given in coming to Perugia for four months, and this is an experience I'm never going to forget!

Sunday was homework day. With lots of assignments to get done for Monday (my longest day of the week) I rested the leg again and did some homework, taking a break in the afternoon to go get a manicure at a really cheap salon a friend and I found in Perugia center. Overall, this weekend, though not turning out exactly as planned, was a great relaxing weekend in Perugia !

peace and love
xoxo
aisling