Perugia

If Assisi was a fairytale, Perugia was medievel and in the main has been left more in it's original stste. The contrast between these two old historic towns is miles apart. We have since found out that Assisi received a massive refurb, reno and thorough cleaning for the bi-centennial. Those Catholics certainly spent some money on it.
It was great to see and experience what Dominique told me about Perugia and the places and sites she had encountered previously. I found walking amongst the Etruscan and Roman buildings absolutely fascinating and I was struggling to take it all in. The Piazza IV Novembre was great. It had a very old church which is undergoing a major resttoration and the Fontana Maggiore, which is out the front of it, both around 800 years old. Breathtaking to say the least. Since Dominique and the girls were here two years ago they have built a "Mini Metro" elavated train line that goes up over part of the lower university and town area and then goes up through the mountain and arrives near the top. It then joins to 3 very long escalators which take you right into the old town area. (It has a very futuristic feel to it. You step into a carriage and off it goes. No driver and only one carriage at a time. Before this was built it was a bus and or a very steep walk to get to the top of the mountain.
It was quite overcast with rain on and off, so after a lunch break consisting of "Porchetta Panini" (yes Michelle, Dominique found the cart) so I could try one too!!!! It was great! We did a little bit of window shopping and as I had been keeping my eye out for an Italy leather jacket...I finally found one. It's black and I look pretty sharp..... Couldn't resist buying another pair of shoes as well!!!

Cheers
Mark