Wednesday 29th May

We left the unit at 7.45 & caught the bus & 2 trains to Tiburtina the main bus station for Rome in plenty of time for the bus to Perugia. The run was through beautiful country with little hill towns on either side of a large valley before we climbed across a range to another one. The land seems so fertile & all along near each town were various new industrial sites & warehouses which was a contrast to what we had seen further south. Italy's road network outside the cities is quite spectacular & nearly all the route was on dual carriageways on long viaducts & through many tunnels. Unfortunately it rained for about half the journey although it had eased when we got to the bus station in Perugia. Perugia is built on the top of a ridge & the approaches are quite steep but when we left the bus depot we saw an escalator followed by 2 more which took us into a mediaeval tower complex much to our surprise. After some confusion & help from a local we found our hotel which is about 100m from the main square down a narrow road & we settled in. When the weather cleared somewhat we ventured out to explore what is a very old city with many tiny lanes & alleys. Although we bought a local guide book with walks in it we soon became lost & ended up finding public lifts & more escalators as well as an angled lift on a cliff face. The equipment must cost a fortune to operate & maintain. The views of the surrounding Umbrian countryside are wonderful as so much of it is given over to olive groves & vineyards & in the distance we could see Assissi. After 2 huge pizzas for dinner we retired to bed after another interesting day.

Thursday 30th May

The weather looked better this morning but it was very cold, 9˚C, so we rugged up to go out & so we rugged up well. Crossing the square we visited the Hall of the Notaries, a14th century building where the walls are covered in paintings of various coats of arms & biblical scenes in a most unusual manner. From there we went to the cathedral across the square which is much more gothic than classical inside but with 17th century paintings & other trappings.

We decided to try to follow a walking route given in the guide but as usual, got lost & frustrated once more when we found a small market where Jane found a lovely silk top. When we asked directions to another point on the route we found that we were far from where we thought we were but luckily we managed to follow the route from then on back to the start. The final stop was an Etruscan well, from 300BC which still taps a vein of water. It was an amazing work 5.6m wide & 37m deep roofed with massive arches still supporting the buildings above.

After a rest we went on another walk with more success & came across a church outside the wall with a very ornate facade but an austere interior, behind which was a very elaborately decorated hall of a local lay group. We had to scurry back when it started to rain again & so we went across the road to a restaurant for a superb Umbrian dinner which we both enjoyed.

Friday 31st May

Woke up to find the valley obscured by rain & cloud so decided to find the railway station & buy train tickets for Florence tomorrow. To do this we took the Mini Metro which is an incredible cable driven, driverless car, system which is part tunnelled & part elevated for about 5km climbing up from the plain into the hill under the town centre. No wonder Italy is so broke, the technology would have cost hundreds of millions to build & a lot more to maintain. Tickets are €1.50 & are valid for 20 mins but well worth it just to see the system operate.

Returning to the town we went to catch a bus to Assisi, which we could see across the valley but had to follow the roadway as the down escalator system was not in use. We met a very interesting Englishman on the bus & went with him up towards the Basilica of St Francis. It is a very early Italian Gothic building effectively on 3 levels & is well worth visiting if for no more than this unique feature. From there we had a coffee with our new friend while outside it poured & then hailed during a thunderstorm. Having sat that out, we climbed up the town roads & saw one church which still has the original Roman temple facade, complete with pillars & portico & the church behind. The town is so picturesque as all the buildings are in the local stone & it looks so much a medieval hill town.

We returned down the hill to wait for a bus in the pouring rain & as it took us to the railway station we took a train back to Perugia. Luckily for us the rain had stopped by the time we got back so we had dinner & called it a day.