Perugia

Sr. Margaret lived in Perugia for two semesters, attending a special language school there, so she had it very much at heart to reconnect with her former community and professors. We planned a day trip, and Sr. Margaret diligently checked weather.com so we'd be appropriately equipped. After a week of warm and mostly sunny days in Rome, we didn't know what to expect in Umbria. Well, the Internet advised us that the whole country was going to be doused all day long Tuesday. Not just a soaking rain, but thunderstorms. So Sr. Margaret wore her (lovely) light raincoat, and packed rainboots in her backpack, along with a collapsable umbrella she had purchased from a street merchant outside St. Mary Major. I, not having a raincoat or boots with me (nor my nice folding umbrella which Jane gave me some years back), brought one of the giant, full-sized umbrellas available in the building foyer.
We had decided to leave the house at 6:15 so we could make it to 7:00 Mass at a Church near the train station, but then I suggested... 6:12. You know, when you travel with public transportation, three minutes can make all the difference in the world. Sure enough, we were no sooner out of the front gate when we heard the distinctive tone of a bus engine. We ran the few dozen feet to the bus stop, waving madly, and then boarded. From the bus, we got to the Metro stop and took the subway to Termini (train station). We were ten minutes early for Mass. All Souls Day. After Mass, I went to a bar for a latte and cornetto, while Sr. Margaret, who had eaten a very early breakfast, stayed to pray. At the bar, the gentleman who served my latte wanted to talk about the elections. This would follow us everywhere. They had never heard of absentee voting, and were impressed that we had already voted "per corrispondenza" on a "scheda ufficiale." After a delicious repast, I went to meet Sr. Margaret, and we headed for platform 2, PERUGIA.
The seats weren't the most comfortable in the world, I must say. And it was to be a 2½ hour ride... Oh, well! Plenty of time to pray, especially once we got out of the hilly region, with tunnels so deep into the hills that our ears were popping. We passed picturesque towns: Spoleto, Foligno, ASSISI (so gorgeous on the hill, with its pink and white stone). Finally Perugia. Sr. Margaret brought a box of chocolates from San Francisco. Sees brand. It is a San Francisco thing, and they are very proud of their chocolates, so she was bringing a gift to the sisters in Perugia. I was kind of embarrassed (bringing chocolates to Perugia, home of Perugina??? Perugia is the chocolate capital of Italy!), but I didn't say anything (yet). Sr. Margaret sketched me a layout of the town, and we headed off, she to an appointment with a former professor, me to scout out interesting buildings and items. The buildings are fabulous: pink and white Umbrian stone, usually done in layers, with gothic rose windows, balconies, and griffins everywhere. (The symbol of Perugia.) I took a number of pictures, and selected a few sites where Sr. Margaret could take my picture holding the Times-Picayune travel page, at Toodie's request. Outside the cathedral, merchants were selling the local ceramic products: fabulously painted mugs, espresso sets, spoon holders, knick-knacks. A bit outside of our budget, though, even bought off the ground in the locale of production!
I had been advised to visit a certain chocolate shop, so I found it and went in. They had only 6 varieties of chocolate candies, all hand-dipped or whatever it is on site, and they had about 10 flavors of homemade gelato--all variations of chocolate. I figured a store with that limited inventory, the stuff had to be really expensive, so I chose four pieces. It was about $3 something. The lady packaged them equisitely. Then I went off. Next I stopped in a bakery to get something to eat (didn't want to eat the chocolates right away!), and noticed a large quantity of what looked like slightly oblong sugar cookies. I figured it must be a local specialty. They were everywhere. But I wanted something to go with the black olive pate I had bought and brought in case of hunger, so I just got some foccacio with rosemary.
We met at the Pauline bookstore at... well, 1:00 ish, and the sisters brought us to their apartment in a renaissance buildings (site of the chancery office and archbishop's residence probably for 500 years!) for pranzo. Out came the Sees chocolates. The sisters were very kind, and tasted these "dolci." The superior spontaneously commented, "It's really good! Doesn't even seem American!" And then she laughed. Sr. Margaret felt vindicated. After that came a tray of cookies, and then a tray of special cookies, "dolci per i morti," made only for All Souls Day. They were the sugar cookies I had seen before! In fact, they are more on the line of sugar cookies made with almond paste, and from what I understood, they are a specialty of Perugia. We were there on the only day of the year when they are available! I called them "purgatory cookies." (Before heading back to the train, I stopped in a bakery to get some to share with the sisters where we are staying, and the proprietor gave me a free sample!)
All this time, we were lugging around boots and that enormous umbrella under a lovely blue sky. I called the burden our rain insurance.
We made it back to Rome at 8:05, and took the bus to the generalate, connecting with two other FSPs on the second bus back. It was quite a lovely day--with more to follow!