ON A CLEAR DAY...

After a recent storm, the skies were so blue and you could see for miles – all the way to Perugia – and beyond…

EUROCHOCOLATE 2009

Just a reminder - Eurochocolate starts TODAY!!!

Yes chocoholics, it's that time again! Time to head for Perugia, where from October 16th throught the 25th you'll be able to see, taste and buy more chocolate than you ever thought possible at the annual EUROCHOCOLATE festival. The weekends are waaay too crowded for me, but during the week things are a bit calmer. Buon appetito!

IT'S CHOCOLATE TIME

Yes chocoholics, it's that time again! Time to head for Perugia, where from October 16th throught the 25th you'll be able to see, taste and buy more chocolate than you ever thought possible at the annual EUROCHOCOLATE festival. The weekends are waaay too crowded for me, but during the week things are a bit calmer. Buon appetito!

SANDRI'S IN PERUGIA

Anyone who's been to Perugia has no doubt visited Sandri's the famous pasticceria, known as much for it's beautiful interior as for it's beautiful desserts. Also featured are "Torciglione" snake-shaped bread, based on snakes that supposedly live in Lake Tresimeno.

With EUROCHOCOLATE scheduled to begin on October 16th, the window at Sandri's won't be the only place you can drool over some sweet treets in Perugia! 

PERUGIA AND PERUGINA

While out guest Annette was here we drove into Perugia to check out the new Perugia City Tour on an open-top bus.  We parked in the free lot and took the MINIMETRO up into the centro.  Since Annette's from Seattle we had to take her picture in front of the totem pole that was a gift from Perugia's sister city of Seattle. 

It was a cloudy day with a few drizzles, so there was a clear plastic covering over the bus. The weather did clear up, and we could have done without the cover, but I guess the driver decided better safe than sorry.  The tour, which begins at Piazza Italia, takes about an hour and covers pretty much all of the historical center of Perugia.  Because Perugia is so hilly, and because of the iffy weather, this was a great way to introduce Annette to Perugia without walking her to death.  We had some time before our tour began so we took a step back in time in the Rocca Paolina, just trying to imagine what life must have been like in those ancient streets. 

During the tour the driver stopped for about five minutes so that we could walk up to il Tempio





and the tour continued through the city, weaving in and out of the many ancient city gates.  After the bus tour was over we wandered down the Corso Vannucci and ended up at a great pizza place, Pizzeria Mediterrania, just around the corner from the Duomo. 

By the time we'd finished lunch the sun was shining and the skies were blue again.  We took the MiniMetro back to the car and drove the short distance to the Perugina chocolate factory.  We were joining a tour group for a tour in English at 2:30.  Eugenia, the woman who took over for our friend Corinna as the head of the museum, led the tour and answered all our questions.  After touring the plant several times I have to say it's always interesting.  Chocolates were being prepared for the Christmas season, but the most fun to watch, at least in my opinion, is when they're making the huge hollow Easter eggs. 

After the tour we sampled some chocolate and I bought gifts for my daughter and daughter-in-law.  Although the birthday gifts aren't much of a surprise - I think now they've become almost a tradition! 

After eating chocolate, naturally we needed to try some great red wine, so we headed to Vini di Filippo for a mini-sampling. The only thing that could have made this better would have been to have the chocolate and the wine together!

It certainly won't be a surprise when I say that we were all too full for dinner, so we stopped at the grocery for some arugula to make a salad.  Annette is a foodie, so she enjoyed looking around the grocery and bought a few things to take home with her. 

Here's a slideshow of all the pictures from that day in Perugia, and remember, you can click on the bottom right hand corner to make the pictures full size!

MONDAY IN PERUGIA

We've been taking our friend Annette to some of our favorite places in Umbria, and on Monday we visited Perugia:

IF YOU'RE IN UMBRIA THIS FALL....

Two of our favorite events in Umbria happen in the fall, and if you're here in Late October or early November you should definitely try to make time for one or both events. Of course you know at the top of my list is EUROCHOCOLATE. This year it runs from October 18th through October 26th. This will be our fifth consecutive year for Eurochocolate and I can tell you that it has grown at an alarming rate during that short time. The last time we were there on a weekend Corso Vannucci in Perugia was wall to wall people, and it was a struggle to get near any of the chocolate vendors, so I'd recommend a weekday visit if you can. Don't expect any free samples be cause they seem to be pretty stingy in Perugia, but I guess most of us who attend such festivals already know what we like.

Coming up just a week after Eurochocolate ends is the annual tasting of the new olive oil at the FRANTOI APERTI. As of this writing, just four weeks from the November 1-2 dates, the website still shows last years' information, but eventually current details will be posted. Last year I wrote about the five different zones Umbria has for it's olive oil and how the oil differs from zone to zone. You can read about it HERE. Because we know we like the spicy oil from the area around TREVI, that's where you'll find us this year too, and I'm hoping the be able to buy some of that yummy black celery that Trevi is famous for as well. (Clicking on the Trevi link will take you to the details for their events for Frantoi Aperti)

Fall is a wonderful time to visit Umbria. The days are cooler and shorter but the crowds are gone and you can load up your suitcases with plenty of chocolate and new olive oil.....maybe even a bottle or two of wine and you'll be able to pretend you're still in Italy long after the vacation is over! On the other hand, if you buy our house in Umbria, you'll have a home away from home just waiting for you whenever the mood strikes...and I'll personally guarantee you that no matter what time of year you're here, you'll always find plenty of delicious food and wine. How can you possibly resist?

A SURPRISE IN PERUGIA

You know how sometimes a visitor can tell you something about your hometown or local area that you didn't know? I guess as locals we don't read the guidebooks or research the history of places we take for granted. We had such an experience the other day. Even though Umbria is our 'adopted' home, with the rich amount of history in the area I think it's safe to say we'll never know all the stories and all the history! We were surprised though, when our friends from Seattle, Jill and Larry, asked us if we'd seen the totem pole that Seattle had donated to it's sister city, Perugia. Uhhh....no we hadn't!

We did know that Perugia and Seattle are SISTER CITIES, but we hadn't heard/read/seen a thing about this new totem pole. The four of us (along with 2 year old Daniela) decided to meet up in Perugia to check it out for ourselves. Larry said it was at one of the MINIMETRO stops, so this was also the perfect time to take our first trip on this new way into the centro or Perugia. After having received not one but TWO $100 tickets for driving illegally (but unknowingly!) in the centro a few years ago, we support any alternative means to get into Perugia.

We took the Madonna Alta exit just outside of Perugia and followed the signs for the soccer stadium. Just past the stadium is a new, huge, free parking lot, and although not well signed, we walked up the steps to some buildings, even though we weren't really sure what was up there. Once at the top of the stairs we found a little mini-mall, complete with a huge, upscale bar, a toy store, optical shop and a few other rather unusual shops, at least for this location.

Tickets for the minimetro trams are available at the bar or in machines at the entrance to the tram. One way tickets cost €1 each and the trains are frequent. Each car holds maybe 15 people, and for our journey on Saturday we had the car to ourselves. We wound up the hill to the centro, through a series of tunnels, stopping along the way at other stations. We got off at the last stop and watched our tram turn itself around for the return journey via a turntable like they use for trains.

A short walk up into the centro was made even better when I spotted a new GROM gelateria on the corner opposite the Post Office. We'd have a sweet treat for the ride back down to the parking lot! Once on the Corso Vanucci, the main drag in Perugia, we strolled, people watched and took a few photos. We discovered some Deruta ceramics for sale just behind the duomo, and Jill and Larry went to the police station to ask about the totem pole. And guess where it was??? Give up? It was down at the bottom of the hill, at the very first stop of the minimetro, right where we'd parked! We were all a little confused since we certainly hadn't noticed it. Although Larry had called it a totem pole I had Googled the internet and discovered that it was really an orca fin, decorated with Native American as well as Etruscan symbols.

When it was time to head back to the parking lot we of course stopped for a gelato (chocolate lovers, try the extra noir if they have it when you're there!), then took the quick ride back to the parking lot where we would search for the orca fin.


A quick walk around and all of a sudden, there it was!!! Yes, it was an amazing orca fin, rising out of a small pond on top of a hill! The landscaping left a lot to be desired, but still the sculpture itself was impressive. I'm not sure what the Perugini think of it, or if they understand the significance, but it's certainly not what you expect to find in Italy.



More pictures of Perugia and the Minimetro are on our FLICKR PAGE, in the folder entitled "Perugia and the Minimetro".

RENEWING OUR PERMITS OF STAY - PART 2.5

A week or so ago I wrote about seeing our appointments to continue the renewal process listed online. I hadn't been checking every day, and the first day I saw our appointments listed was on a Monday, and the Monday before ferragosto at that. Still, I hoped that whoever was inputting the info onto the website was coordinating their efforts with the person who'd be putting the registered letters advising us of the appointments into the mail. We'd paid for, and had receipts for the registered letters, but still no letters arrived. I felt sure that we really did have appointments scheduled, and knew that if push came to shove we could always print out the page from the internet site but still.....I wanted the letters to arrive!

This morning I thought maybe I'd go back online and check the status of our renewals again. Could a problem have been found? I didn't think that could be the case but still..... And then the door bell rang and it was our postina with the registered letters! Hurray...and finally! Interestingly enough, the postmark on the letters said "San Venanzo"...and had today's date! Obviously I have no idea how the registered letter system works in Italy, but it's quite different than the system in the states. Whatever.

We now know that after our visit to Orvieto we will NOT receive our new permessi that same day. I guess the fingerprints and photographs will have to go back to Rome for further processing. The questura in Orvieto should give us yet another receipt and a date to return for our permessi. For some this wait is months and months in the future. We hope that for us, in the province of Terni, rather than the dreaded province of Perugia, things will go a little faster. (Note to those thinking of moving to Umbria: the bureaucracy in Terni is MUCH less complicated than it is for Perugia! check carefully before making that final decision!)

Tomorrow we'll stop by the photo booth in Marsciano to have our photos taken. We're making progress, slowly but surely! More updates after our appointments on September 1st!

A CHOCOLATE VIEW

Here's a picture of one of the more unique birthday presents Art received this year....a piece of chocolate from SANDRI’S, the wonderul pasticceria in Perugia. The scene is from Perugia, of the famous fountain and beautiful buildings in the centro. Almost too pretty to eat......almost!!

CROSSING LINES FOR MUSIC

The region of Umbria is divided into two provinces: Perugia and Terni. For us, the fact that San Venanzo was in the region of Terni meant shorter lines and fewer delays when we first arrived here and had to apply for our permits of stay. Now that the provinical offices are no longer handling this procedure, the benefits of being in the province of Terni are less clear.

I couldn't find a map showing both the two provinces AND some key cities, so I'll do my best to explain the map above. The green part of the map is the province of Perugia, and the blue section is the province of Terni. I'm going to generalize and say that each city sits in approximately the position where it's name is printed. San Venanzo sits at the northeastern edge of the province of Terni, and is separated from it's closest provincial neighbors by mountains and winding roads. The closest city to us, the one we frequent most often, is Marsciano, just over the border into the province or Perugia, but much closer than any other city in our own province.

Of course I have no idea why or how the provincial lines were drawn, but as puzzling as it is, it can often be frustrating when doing business. Our friends in Todi and Massa Martana, physically close to Terni, must drive into Perugia to deal with any bureaucracy...and deal with larger numbers of people. We've never minded the longer drive to Terni to take care of business, because in the end the time we saved standing in line and dealing with various offices more than offset our drive time.

For our daIly lives though, most of our goods and services seem to come from Marsciano and/or the province or Perugia, and most of the events we attend are also within the province of Perugia...but getting information about goods, services and events can be quite frustrating! We'd love to have a phonebook from Perugia, and if it weren't for our friend Wendy, we probably wouldn't have one. Of course we have a phone book for the provice of Terni delivered, but aside from people and businesses in San Venanzo, we've never needed any of the phone numbers it contains. We want to have info about the local sagre and feste, but nothing from the district of Perugia seems to get posted in San Venanzo. At least we drive into Marsciano on a regular basis so that we can check out the billboards for information.

I doubt that the provincial lines will be redrawn anytime soon, but this summer common sense has prevailed and San Venanzo has joined the music festival promoted by the city of Marsciano. This festival, MUSICA PER I BORGHI, offers a series of free concerts set in the various 'frazione', or small towns that are part of the comune of Marsciano. This year San Venanzo participated, and on Friday night we played host to Fabizio Palma and Grazia di Michele, who apparently are well know from the Itaian show "Amici". (yes, that's "Friends"!) Clicking on the link in red to the "Musica per i Borghi" website will let you see what other concerts are still to come.

Due to the event being publicized all over the area via posters and newspaper articles, it was standing room only as the band finally began to play, nearly an hour after the schedule start time. Of course when did ANY concert ever start on time, then factor Italy into the equation.....

The group was interesting, funky, jazzy, with a great saxophone player. After the frist few numbers a singer came onstage accompanied by tow back-up singers. This singer...was HE Fabrizio?...talked as much as he sang, which I found annoying. thankfully he did have a great voice for types of cabaret/jazz songs he sang. And then he stepped over the line, doing a terrible, overly dramatic version of "Yesterday", that had me rolling my eyes and shaking my head.

I'm not sure what the many older residents of San Venanzo thought of the performance since we left before the concert was over. Early mornings and late nights are hard to do unless you take the tradtional Italian nap after lunch, and I'm just not a napper, so I was ready to call it a night before midnight. I hope the event was successful for all concerned and that San Venenzo will participate again next year...and maybe even join in other Marsciano/Perugia events as well.

YouTube videos are posted below..........

IT'S CHOCOLATE TIME IN PERUGIA!

It's chocolate time in Perugia! Yes, now through Sunday, October 21 you'll be able to wander the streets of Perugia and see chocolate everywhere! I should have posted this information last week, but honestly, if you're a dedicated chocoholic, and you're in Italy right now, you already know about this, right? Chances are you're in Italy BECAUSE of this festival!

Here's the official website: EUROCHOCOLATE FESTIVAL