My epic return to Perugia

I am so lucky. I can’t believe I’ve found a place and people halfway across the world who, for now, make me feel at home. I can’t not (yup, that’s a double negative) be back there someday, for good. After being back in the states for 7 months (was it really that long? Or that short?) I was starting to have my doubts that I really couldn’t actually pick up and move to Italy, but being back in Perugia made it all come flooding back. No offense, U.S. of A., but this place has got you beat.

Well, in a nutshell, the title of this entry says it all. This past weekend in Perugia was epic. Incredible. Amazing. Unreal. As close as it could get to perfect, even. Etc., etc., etc. I don’t even know where to start! At the beginning, I guess. I skee-dattled out of class early on Friday, missing my second hip-hop/popping + class with the crazy, hilarious, Italian Moreno, we call him Momo. I decided I wanted more than 36 hours in Perugia, which is all that the trains would get me if I left any later on Friday or on Saturday, especially because the train strike last weekend ruined my plans of having two weekends there. So, I brought my packed backpack to class on Friday and literally ran out as soon as my rehearsal was over. No major problems getting there, only the one hour delay of my train out of Florence that wound up getting me to Perugia at 9:30 instead of 8:30, but it was okay because that’s still a decent hour (for a Friday night, at least). Stepping off the train to the (very crowded, because of Umbria Jazz going on) Perugia train station was SO surreal. I immediately tried to soak it in and let it hit me that I was really there. I took the mini metro up to the center and emerged onto the main road, Corso Vannucci, from a familiar side street right near my old apartment on Via Bonazzi. The center was jam-packed with people walking, dancing, and drinking accompanied by the concert going on the huge stage set up in the main plaza called Piazza IV Noviembre. It was unreal. I probably stuck out like a sore thumb, in my bright coral summer dress and giant backpack, and all the while I was smiling like a loon and taking huge breaths inhaling the smell and trying to take it all in, all among people dressed up in their best and partying on the streets. I was shaking a little I was so excited! I made my way through the crowds and called Mauro who directed me to his apartment right by the Universita per Stranieri. He gave me a giant hug when I made it up there, he feels like one of my best friends even though we only met a few months ago and haven’t even spoken much since I was last in Perugia. I then met a couch surfer who was also staying with Mauro, Alice from Australia. She was really sweet. Mauro went and got us some pizza while I showered the traveling and the day’s dance classes off (when I had left for the station earlier I was already dripping. Too much detail? Too bad.) At midnight, we went out to the center, to Dempsey’s obviously, and I saw EVERYONE! Seriously, I think every Perugian who I met when in the fall who still lives there I ran into in the center. It was so much fun—a lot of them didn’t know I was coming back, and most of them I hadn’t even spoken to since I was last in Perugia, so when I tapped them on the shoulder and they turned around, their reactions were insane! They flipped. For all they knew, I went back to America and that’s all she wrote, and there I was right in front of them. So, there were lots of wide eyes, squeals, and enormous hugs! I also met lots of new people—because of the jazz fest, there were like 10x as many people around. From New Zealand, Australia, Germany, the States, England. Coincidentally, there was an Australian guy who talked with Alice for a while, and it turns out that not only are they from the same city and area of the city (Melbourne), but this guy had taken Alice’s older sister to a prom some years ago. Crazy! We walked around the center and stopped at the two big outdoor stages, watching really fun blues bands. Alice and I got convinced to go to Domus with Sofia, Yannick, and others, and we danced there until 5am. I always tell myself that I’m not going to go there, and somehow I always wind up there … haha. Elisha, if you’re reading this, you know what I mean, right?! On the way back, it was surprisingly still hopping in the center—a bunch of guys had formed some sort of a ghetto drum circle (garbage bins, etc.) next to the stairs and there was quite an eclectic group of people dancing the night away.

I surprisingly only slept a few hours—I think just knowing that I was in Perugia and time was limited, my body didn’t let me sleep too far into the day. Mauro went off to get some errands done, and since he only had one extra set of keys, Alice and I stuck together. It was a nice, yet windy day (wearing a dress was unwise), and I had the intention to take the fullest advantage of being in Perugia. I took Alice to all my favorite places. But first, haha, we met this weird awkward Italian guy named Andrea at the fountain because the night before, at Domus, Alice met him and had drunkenly agreed to meet him in the afternoon. It was pretty awkward, haha—first, I was surprised he even remembered to come in the first place, but Alice soon realized that it was a really dumb idea. He seemed like a perfectly nice guy, but he spoke barely any English. So, he just kind of awkwardly came with us as I walked us around the center, I tried to help translate so the two of them could talk. So, I took Alice and Andrea past my old apartment and the next door gelato place (my favoriteeeee), and to Piazza Italia so they could see the incredible view from there. I also took them to Pierto’s pizza place, Pizzeria Etrusca, the first pizzeria my roomies and I went to on our first day in Perugia. Even the guy who works there recognized me! And I got the 4 cheese pizza that I still dream about, yessss. Andrea finally peaced out after the pizza, and Alice went back to Mauro’s for a nap, and I stopped at Fashion Bar and reunited with crazy, awesome Flavia. She was very happy to see me and it was just like old times! I stood at the bar as customers came and went, I just watched her work and she would sing along to the songs playing on the speakers, we talked like we used to (mostly in Italian, she still doesn’t know much English), and she even made me take drinks to some customers outside, hahaha she used to do that all the time too. Her customers outside kind of laughed at me because I was laughing, I told Flavia “non lavoro qui!” (I don’t work here!). Hahaha but it was so perfect. After hanging there for a while, I took more walks around the center, going back to all my favorite panoramas of the countryside and my other favorite spots, of course stopping for the biscottino gelato at the gelateria that I still dream about. I probably walked back and forth on Corso Vannucci 10 times, just back and forth, back and forth. I also finally got a hold of Antonio, and stopped by his apartment and got to hang out with him for a while, it was so great to see him. I found Alice in Piazza Italia and we headed back to Mauro’s for some pasta and then back out to the center to see a great band play whose set we had caught the end of the night before. The three of us had a great time jamming. In the evening, after a power nap and some dinner, we went back out to the center and I ran into even more people—even people who I had (don’t tell!) kind of forgotten about. In fact, crazy story. Alice was supposed to stay with another person when couch surfing, and for some reason they didn’t communicate in time and that’s how she wound up at Mauro’s. She didn’t know this guy, named Francesco, they had only met via the couch surfing website, but they thought it would be nice to just meet for a drink in the center. So, I went with her to meet them in front of Dempseys, and who is waiting there to meet us but Francesco #2 and Francesco #3 (as they were in my cell phone in the fall), the roommates who I had met in the fall and hung out with a bunch of times with the girls. It was, just, so wild. Of all the people, of all the Francescos (cuz, if you haven’t caught on, there are a lottt of them), what a coincidence. We watched the Soul Spinners, a great band from Memphis!, play in the center, and I ran into Antonio again—we were coincidentally standing right behind him in the crowd. For the rest of the evening, Mauro and I just continued to go to our usual places, including Merlin where I ran into MJ and also Tim, who has since moved back to the Netherlands but was just there for the week, so it was so nice that our time overlapped. At this point it was already 3am and I was exhausted, so I went back and went to bed while Mauro and Alice went to Domus. There was NO way I was even going to leave time to be convinced to go again, hahaha.

And no, sorry sisters + Kathleen, very unfortunately I did not make it to James Taylor—we stopped by the box office earlier in the day and it was already sold out =(.

On Sunday morning, Mauro and I both woke up earlier than we wanted to (the bells woke me up at 9). So, he and I got a cappuccino and cornetto at Bar Duomo and then took a really nice, really long walk. There is a church and park down kind of away from the center that I always wanted to go to in the fall but never made it there, so we walked there together. We went inside the beautiful cathedral and watched a little bit of the mass going on, and then explored around the park a bit more. And we took the really long way home, walking around the center along the road that had no shoulder, but the continuous breath-taking view of the Umbrian countryside was so worth it. We cut through the underground city, stopping at some exhibits down there of Jazz + American history (interestingly enough). We stopped at the festival for some lunch and more live jazz, and barely made it back to the apartment we were so exhausted because we had been out and about for over 2 hours! Hot and sore from our “adventure in flip flops”, we just relaxed in the apartment. But it was such a nice morning/afternoon. Mauro and I had a great chat, he shared some cool Perugian history with me, and it was a really fantastic way to just enjoy being there. On my way to the train station I stopped at the Piazza one more time to see the really awesome drumming on stage, and to say one more goodbye to some friends. Getting back to Perugia was a breeze, no problems with my two connections in Florence and Pisa. Getting off at Castiglioncello around 11pm, I was behind three funny, kind of discombobulated German backpackers, guys about my age, looking for the beach so they could camp on it. I lead them there and they asked me about the security and if it’s good to camp on. I wasn’t really sure what to tell them cuz I’ve never tried camping on the beach in Catiglioncello, so I just told them their best bet was to find a spot and stay until they get kicked out. It was funny. I got some gelato for dinner in the park, came home to find my roommates all chilling in the kitchen so we got to share our stories about our weekends (they went to Cinque Terre!!), and I was incredibly exhausted after barely any sleep and lots of traveling but still on a high from all the excitement, but finally I made it to bed and slept like a rock. Monday was rough, but worth it in every way.

Moral of the story: I. Love. Perugia. And I love you for reading my blabbering! Thank you!