Perugia Street Musicians

Two short videos of some awesome street musicians we saw in Perugia!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10100121076698559&set=vb.43803260&type=2&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10100121078664619&set=vb.43803260&type=2&theater

Day 6 ~ Corciano and Perugia

Today we got an early start and headed out to the little hill town of Corciano. We visited Villa Pieve where Ian stayed six years ago when studying photography with MSU.  It was all pretty quiet being a Sunday and very peaceful in the hills.

Hilltop town of Corciano

Villa Pieve

After a couple of hours we returned to Perugia to wander the city for the rest of the day. We started our accent up into the city center from our hotel, which is just inside the old city walls. The city center was filled with people and the stores were all just starting to open up. We found out later that we were experiencing the Festival of the Dead (Fiera dei Morti) and the market was full of life! Some impressive street performers were also entertaining the crowds with a variety of exotic instruments.

Fiera dei Morti festival market in Perugia

Garlic at the market

Rugs at the market

We spent some time walking to the edges of the city walls to see the spectacular views and some time underground in Rocca Paolina (Pope Paul III Farnese paved over an entire district of the city during the Salt Wars to build a fort) exploring the ancient “historically uneven” walkways. We made a few small purchases from some local venders in the market - including a new leather belt fitted specifically for Ian. We spent some time in the Cathedral of Saint Lorenzo after the Mass and then returned to take in the Fontana Maggiore with the night-lights. Tomorrow we take off to visit the city of Orvieto and then south to Sorrento. Night!

Basilica di San Pietro, Perugia

City light on the old walls

Day 5 ~ Venice to Perugia

We slept in a bit this morning before packing the car and heading to Perugia. We spent most of the day in the car traveling through the Veneto and Umbrian countryside. Today we learned that the Italians like passing three cars wide on two lane roads! Very interesting, but I quickly got the hang of it. I took a couple of Photos of the Umbrian hills from a rest stop this afternoon but then it began to rain so we decided to head straight for Perugia. Tonight we did some laundry and relaxed a bit. 

Umbrian hillside farms 

Umbrian Vineyard 

After that, on a recommendation from the hotel, we went to dinner at the restaurant across the street and it was absolutely amazing! We had a Chanterelle mushroom, yellow squash, and pancetta risotto with crawfish tails and braised beef ravioli with black truffle. Both were absolutely delicious, and we had a wine to go with it that was new to both of us-a Montefalco Rosso-which was also absolutely wonderful. To top it off we ordered Tiramisu for desert and when it came we discovered it was "do it yourself", we got marscapone cream with cocoa powder, espresso, and lady finger cookies. So we dipped the lady fingers in the espresso then in the cream and cocoa powder and it was very unique and tasty. Here are some additional photos from previous days as I did not take many photos today, enjoy!

Venetian Column capital

Gondola Prow

Venice church

Day 4 ~ Venice Continued

Today’s post will be quick since it is late. The crowds were extra large today since it is a holiday here in Italy (Nov. 1 is All Saints Day). We leisurely waded our way through all of the throngs of people to the north of the Grand Canal. We eventually arrived at St Mark’s Cathedral and went inside, where they were still playing organ music from the morning’s holiday mass.

A Gondola approaches Rialto bridge

 Colonnade in Piazza di San Marco

The amazing golden mosaics of St. Mark's Cathedral

We looked around inside for a while before heading to lunch. The afternoon brought us to the island of Murano north of the main part of Venice for a glass blowing demonstration and a purchase as a gift from Amy and Mom (Thank you very much!) Today was a mostly leisurely day, but still tiring and we are heading off to bed now, Goodnight all!

The beautiful art of glass blowing

Day 3 ~ Venice

We took the hotel shuttle into Venice this morning since we are staying on the mainland about 15 minutes from the city. We began the day with breakfast and some simple wandering around, stopped at a few shops, took photos, and enjoyed the beautiful little details that abound in this amazing city.

Venice Garden 

Vines on an old building

We stopped for a quick lunch in Campo Santo Stefano then headed out for a gondola ride, Sarah’s highlight of the day. We went across the Grand Canal and through some of the smaller canals west of Saint Mark’s and it was incredible. Our Gondolier was friendly and funny and spoke enough English to give us some history of Venice and tell us about all of the interesting sights.

Us on the Gondola

Gondola approaching a Venice bridge

The Galleria Dell’ Academia was right around the corner from where we were dropped off so we decided to visit there next. They were running a temporary exhibit on sketches by Leonardo Da Vinci with lots of interesting details about his life and work that are rarely seen. His paintings and final inventions are widely publicized but this gave a glimpse into all of the preparation required for him to produce all of that amazing work. By the time we came out it was almost sunset so we headed towards St. Marks Square.

Venetian spires at sunset

From there we wandered north toward the Rialto Bridge, grabbing some dinner on the way. After dinner we checked out the Rialto Bridge we made a few final purchases and wound our way back through the maze of canals and pathways to catch the bus to the hotel after a fun, long and tiring day.

Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge at night

Happy Halloween and good night!

Day 2 ~ More Verona and Zenato Winery

Today we woke early to investigate our rental car situation, which, was ultimately successful when we accidentally found it by giving up after an hour long search. We then had some delicious filled croissants for breakfast and proceeded to the Castello Vecchio museum. The castle was built in the 14th century and turned into a museum shortly after WWII. The castle was amazing and the museum had a lot of wonderful paintings from all over Italy (but mainly the Verona area) dating from 1200-1800, as well as some great artifacts from the castle's military history.

Bridge over Adige River to Castello Vecchio, Verona

We then headed to Verona's Duomo to take a peek inside. A classic example of an Italian cathedral, and very wonderful, sadly no photos worth posting but it is a must see if you are ever in Verona. We then booked it to pick up the rental car before they closed for lunch, grabbed some panini on the way and grabbed our bags from the hotel.

Next we were off to the Zenato Winery in San Benadetto, but when we arrived early we decided to take a drive further out the peninsula where we indulged in some gelato and took a short walk along the shores of Lago di Garda.

Upon arriving at Zenato we were greetted by Mateo who gave us a wonderful tour and led us through a tasting of six of their wonderful wines: a sparkling Lugana, Lugana, Corvina Merlot blend, Ripasso, Amarone Classico, and Rigoletto Lugana dessert wine. Sarah is looking forward to bringing some of these into the restaurant to share with friends and regulars.

Zenato Logo on a wine cask

Old wine press

Half of Zenato family's personal wine cellar

We left Zenato for Venice, stopped for dinner, got a bit lost then finally found our hotel thanks to some cryptic Italian instructions from a nice old local involving lots of hand motions. Off to bed so we can get more exploring in tomorrow!

Lights on the A4 Autostrada

Verona ~ Rain and Gelato