After my night walk to Fontebranda I decided to sleep longer and book an other trip instead of what I planned originally for later next morning to Perugia. It was a good decision because even though I had to change trains two times I could travel through Tuscany by bus on the way to Chiusi.
It is true what they say about Tuscany. It is its own dreamworld with the hills, vineyards and villas surrounded by cypresses. Then during the train trip from Terontola to Perugia I saw another interesting location I was not aware of before: Lake Trasimeno. This lake seemed very promising. I am sure you can take good drone shots here and a have a nice day trip driving around it in spring or summer time.
After some travelling I arrived to Perugia and took the mini metro from the railway station to the centre. My first impressions of Perugia were that it is more urban, more spacious and more "Southern-feel" than Siena. Among my first memories is the beautiful view from Galleria Kennedy and from the view point near Rocca Paolina escalator. From where you can see Assisi and the mountains surrounding Gubbio with the bare eye.
I had several accomodations in Perugia because I wanted to see what the city has to offer. I stayed at an AirBnb and two different hotels. One of them was Hotel Iris which I really liked for its old castle charm.
Perugia was a great base for discovering the Umbrian region. You can travel from here easily by bus or train to nearby towns and villages. I will write about it in more detail in the next post.
First I saw Perugia as a travel base mostly but as I spent more time here I really got to like the city. There were many small side streets and alleys in the centre just like in Siena but the main square was more spacious like a big promenade. Besides this the centre had nice Italian fashion shops, pizza places, delis and ice cream shops. Some of the highlights were the city centre in general, Rocca Paolina, The National Archeological Museum of Umbria, the surroundings of Cathedral of San Lorenzo and The National Gallery of Umbria.
The bus station was close to Rocca Paolina and you could get to train station easily by mini metro from Pincetto/Porta Sole.
My favorite food places were: the small cafe close to Hotel Iris on Via Gugliermo Marconi where I ate some real good zucchini filled with ham and eggs. Non solo Testo and the deli right next to it on Via Nicola Danzetta. And a small street food place called Mr. Chips.
The Etruscan collection of The National Archeological Museum of Umbria is outstanding and one of a kind, besides this I really liked the amulette and numismatics collections as well. If I think of Perugia I remember mostly one of the streets where I was walking up to the city centre from different directions. The beautiful, endless view of the Umbrian plain with its towns built on the Umbrian hills and the view of the city with its yellow and terracotta houses in the sunshine seen from one of the viewpoints.
Surely Tuscany is amazing but it is so worth to travel a bit deeper more South and discover the beautiful, raw and strong Umbria and its towns and villages.
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