Sybil’s Leaves 2009: A Little Reconnaissance
July 5, 2009
Sundays are still days of rest in Italy. Almost all stores are closed (including my favourite cafeteria) and church bells sound on the hour. Nevertheless, I kept myself occupied with reconnaissance work. Michelle, who lives in the apartment below ours, and I went for a long walk in a new direction to find a grocery store where “real Italians” shop. We were successful! And we covered over 5km of terrain in all.
The medieval part of Perugia is beautiful – but the streets are small and there is no parking. There are a surprising number of Asian students wandering the streets at all hours and Michelle has told me that this is the result of an agreement between the Italian and Chinese governments for cultural exchange. The apartments are small and, to my dismay, appear to suffer from cockroaches. Although my own alcove is spotless, I have seen three cockroaches and killed two. I miss my Booey, but these are poor replacements as pets.
As we walked outside the city walls we encountered rosticcerias, fruit and vegetable stands and other useful stores (though still no kitchen supply place and I am starting to wonder where ANYONE finds things like corkscrews and kitchen knives here). We tried to make it to a true supermarket that was advertised on the bus-shelters, but the road looked a little too dangerous for two people on foot. Cars here drive VERY quickly and without a sidewalk we decided to be cautious since we had found what we were looking for already.
After 2 hours walking in the beating sun, I was happy to get back and take a nap. But my adventures for the day were far from over! Saturday night I had decided to plan a trip to Gubbio for Tuesday – but I still hadn’t found the bus depot in town or the escalators which connect it underground to the historical center. Wandering into the historical center armed with only a map I managed to get completely confused but eventually walk to the bus depot above-ground (the very LONG way) and come BACK on the escalators. Escalators don’t sound inherently cool – but trust me – these ones are. Perugia is on a hilltop and the escalators connect two squares that are otherwise a steep climb from each other – but take you through excavations of the original Etruscan foundations of the city! It’s like a moving museum (and free! Too cool!). I learnt that it would only take 30 minutes to get to the bus depot, but that I will not be going to Gubbio on Tuesday as planned for there is a bus strike planned that day. Wednesday it is then.
I had planned to eat out last night (no food in my fridge) at one of Fodor’s most recommended restaurants which is conveniently only three minutes down the way from me. However, there was no way I was making it until 8:15pm without nourishment. At 6pm I caved and made pasta yet again. I have decided that the solution to this recurring problem is eating out for lunch instead which is served at the more reasonable hour of 1pm.
After dinner I continued reading some Paul Auster (which is giving my nightmares actually) and started watching Scrubs as recommended by Khuffie. I have come to the conclusion that I am not practicing nearly enough Italian since I arrived in Perugia – and the first step towards rectifying this is going to be buying a paper every morning.
