Day 9 - Perugia and Rasiglia

Day 9 -- October 13 -- Perugia and Rasiglia

Awoke to a real fall day. Clear and bright, but nippy. Then off to the big city. Charlie must be getting confident as a driver, because he did a couple of very Italian maneuvers. By Umbrian standards, Perugia, the capital of the region, is large. It has a major university and a well-known college for international students studying Italian. And it has the feel of a city, rather than the towns we’ve been seeing. Although perched on a hilltop, as they all are, this one has a series of escalators on several sides and coming up from the parking area we came through some underground vaulted brick tunnels. It isn’t quaint or particularly charming, but it feels “real” and not like a tourist attraction.

We spent time in the National Gallery of Umbria, an “important” regional art museum. The collection has a checkered history, as does the town. Far more sacred art than I’m generally interested in, but the arrangement in chronological order over 5 centuries did help me appreciate the changes of perspective and how figures became more vivacious and naturalistic as the Renaissance progressed. We could even tell when oil paints started taking the place of tempera as the colors became more vibrant. And (finally!) secular work -- landscapes and portraits. There are only so many crucifixes and virgins one can see, regardless of how much gilt they’re dressed up in.

Also visited the Exchange Guild and Merchants’ Guild. The former was frescoed by Perugino, before 1500. The latter has been a charitable institution since 1390 and still is! We walked the main promenade, filled with cafes and upscale shops. And then out toward the edge of the downtown.

One of the highlights was a purchase (and consumption) of chocolate -- chocolate is to Perugia what ceramics are to Deruta. Unfortunately, we’ll miss the world chocolate expo next week.

Came home late afternoon for our “date” with Paolo and Luciana Tonti, our hosts. He escorted us up the mountain to the village of Rasiglia (pop.34), his ancestral home. Once there we saw a video of the generations-old regional art of weaving and Luciana gave a demonstration on a 100+ year old loom. We each got a turn to try. It’s one of those things that looks much easier than it turns out to be. She had several old looms, and the work is beautiful. We realized that the coverlet on our bed here was made by her hand -- and must have taken months to create. Only she and one other woman can still do this. They have three grown daughters, but only one has shown an interest, and since she lives in Milan mom hasn’t had much opportunity to pass the skill on to her.

Then they offered a “light” buffet. And here is the NEWS! Charlie ate eggs! She’d made a vegetable quiche, and served us. I thought he’d just push it around his plate to be polite, but he actually ate it! Then (maybe it was the wine) he asked for seconds! He couldn’t have been hungry, because there were sausages grilled in the fireplace, bruschetta (made with their own olive oil), cheese from a local farmer, some other cured meat, bread, and then dessert. Then chestnuts roasted on an open fire ..la, la,(could they have known they’re one of his favorites?). They could not have been more hospitable and charming. His English is much better than hers, but heavily accented. We all managed to have a pretty lively conversation.

Back down the mountain and home.

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