Photos of Perugia

Autumn colours

2011-11-06T21:22:00.002+01:00

Perugia is beautiful even when the streets are wet with rain, and the leaves look bloody red, or sunny yellow.

A mixture of colours against the backdrop of intransient stones.

And Via dell'aquedotto, with its persistent magical aura, welcomes the fall.

I have to catch the train

2010-04-30T13:03:00.000+02:00

Leaving from perugia is always hard. I'll be back... All of us will be... Soon...

On the station

2010-03-21T14:00:00.000+01:00

Well now, that's a strange destination to go to, isn't it? Trenitalia, has it's ups and downs, even those rare moments of greatness, when your train just happens to beat every possible obstacle and you triumphantly arrive to the airport, moments before your check-in line closes. But more likely there are these moments that should be forgotten... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bYH79JLqhQ ;)

?

2010-03-20T14:00:00.000+01:00

For that one of you, who first tells right what this is exactly and where this is, I promise to send a bacio perugino. Or at least a postcard... ;) I made this photo last may the 25th on an extremely beautifull sunny day.

The Street Painter

2010-03-19T16:08:00.001+01:00

He, like he always does is painting. Mostly the same thing. This was made last autumn. In these days he was making one right in front of Feltrinelli. If any of you know his story,or talked to him, please share it.
A.

V.I.D.

2010-03-18T15:00:00.000+01:00

Here on this paparazzi shoot we can see Frank the dog from man in black (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wapr7LMdKU&feature=related , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuBgniZcGOg&feature=related ) admiring the biggest tourist attraction for most visiting K9s. The plastic hound, that's not to be touched (non toccare per favore) or as we can humblely declare it, the Untouchable is a masterpiece of modern art, such a delicate trompe l'oleil that it not only fouls the average four legged visitor, but even species with more delicate vision of space and colour, like a classic perugia foreign student.

Literature kills

2010-03-17T14:23:00.000+01:00

Words are not much. You don't need words. Cambio la lingua. Capisci? Che ne ti frega? Words are decorative. Playfull. But profound? Did you ever get close to anybody just by words? And without using one? I don't need to write. You don't need to read. Just enjoy the picture.

Perugia is alive

2010-03-16T19:37:00.000+01:00

Well now as spring is coming the city has just awakened from it's hibernation. January and february were as some of you who used to reside around here remember it. Peggio. But now as the clouds went away and light is shining all arund the reconquista of the piazza had begun. And it's just nice to walk around dizzy headed and easy-hearted as we go from gothic darkness to meditarranean summer. Sadly my camera is out of order and until I can get a new one I can't share any of the new beauty around, but I'll share a small cycle of my unpublished autumn favourites... Get ready. ;) Peace with you(z).
A.

Talking about that...

2009-12-27T15:41:00.000+01:00

I remember the first time when I tried to talk to people about Perugia, people who never lived here. Outsiders. And I realized I couldn't. People nagging me about what's happening, asking for a story and I just stayed mute. I tried to talk in the beginning but then I realized there is a serious communications breakdown happening. Later I changed my habits and started to talk about something totally casual. After some time I realized a lot of us are haunted by this strange sensation. The mystery of it never stopped coming back to me.

Why? Could it be that we cannot talk of things because there is nothing real here anymore? Nothing that truely exist? Nothing? What if the old city has been dead for centuries by now, without anybody noticing it? And now as we love and caress it there is nothing else we hold between our arms, but a two thousand year old mummy? Maybe the only living things left here are the human beings that are called here by the darkness that lives in the middle of the mountain, called from different places of the globe, and then they are left alone wandering around in the dark mist of the Valley of the Shadows. Our eyes clouded by fog, our hearts filled with despair. We just float around like the particles of physical gas, people who rarely find one an other but when they finally do, they really stick together, gaining reassurance by feeling the light of other living creatures, because it really helps to keep the nothingness, that surrounds us, away. Little fireflies in the night. Chains, strange forms, circles of light. Maybe that's why we come here. The spectacle of light is always clearer in the darkness. We can see the beauty, the shining of the soul much better in this ethernal valley of the Umbras. A merry christmas to everyone. I love you my friends, this post is for all of you who enlightened my life.
(this picture is temporary i'll replace it as soon as I get my laptop back on the 11th of january)

Santa magic

2009-12-08T19:40:00.000+01:00

As one walks it's path down the road in the twilight, as the end of the year approaches we sink deep down into our thoughts thinking about all the things we have done. Maybe in a way of good and bad, of darkness and light, how much harmony was there in the melodies we sang, how much hope we have left and how much love we could find, if we would just have the courage to look up a bit, and not just walk blindly onward down the path, on this twilight road.

Memories

2009-11-27T02:39:00.001+01:00

We don't have memories. In Perugia the past the present and the future are all mixing up into a big mass of existance. The substance is a bit nubbly and in occasional moments we find fragments of our memories lurking behind the corner, attacking us with a sudden clearness that seams bewildering. Like little drops of the truth that is being witheld from us because the ever happening town doesn't let our mind focus on anything but our momentary social life. We are damned and blessed people without past and not thinking about the future. We are cripled by this way of life as much as we are gifted with it. The city wasn't built for us, it was built for people who leaved deep down in the sewers of history, but now we are using it, we live amongst it's aged stone walls, we walk on the labyrinth of it's roads each of us following our own personal Ariadne's thread, blindly holding on to our individual fates. This alters our perceptions too. We are living in a dream. And the dream is true. As I make my long conversations walking on the streets of perugia I realize, everybody relates to this town. Few can resist it's magnetic charm, and yet only a few can stand it for a long time. The photo here was taken right in front of the church of Monteluce. May peace rule the world.

Via Brunacci - Il cielo e sempre piu blu

2009-11-05T19:36:00.002+01:00

Light and darkness can be devided sharply or softly... The harsh climate of the mountains of the shadows doesn't really leave a lot of room for the grey place between black and white. Our world is changing even though our Perugia in it doesn't. Recent studies suggest that global warming is happening even much faster then the previously anticipated worst case scenario. The permafrost lands in Siberia are melting, and thus letting loose a huge amount of metan in the atmosphere, greater and greater every day. The iceacapes are disappearing, suggesting that in about 10 years this planet won't have permanent icecapes, just seasonal ones... The seasons are getting divided as sharply as does the light in umbria... When you wake up the morning you can see the ever warming weather battleing with the air coming from the poles, the air that is cooled down by the melting ice. You can never know which will prevail, the collapsing summer or the desperately rampaging cold that gets nastier and nastier as it feels it's end closing up on it. This was a beautifull day, leaves getting yellow, and the people slowly walking on the streets, leaving there car behind as they are approaching the centro storico. So shall we arrive there soon as well. Yes a good omen we always need, because winter is coming soon. I can feel it.

Walking - bony hands in the dark

2009-10-22T17:30:00.000+02:00

Friendly, you might think the trees are, when you start your walk to the city. Autumn has it's tolls, and life is slowly diminishing from the leaves, but in the light the shining colours of autumn are a joyfull view. After nightfall everything changes. The naked branches seem to be moving, trying to grab you, try to stop you, to not let you pass. You can only hope to reach the pale light that shines from a faraway house, shelter from the wreckless wind that blows between these mountains.

- A -

The arrival - spotting the city

2009-10-20T18:30:00.015+02:00

Kindest follower,

in "Perugia Photos" first autumn sequel I invite you to take a walk with me from the outskirts of Perugia, from Monteluce, the mountain of light, to the core of Perugia, Perusia Augusta, Perusia vecchia, the ancient town, the meeting point of the shadows that are always lurking in Umbria. The City lies between it's aged walls, some of whom were erected even before the counting of time began in these lands. And they are still standing proudly, well preserved, virtually unchanged by the constant sieg of the tides of the ages. They had withstood these attacks so well, that even today on almost no other gap then the old gates it is possible to enter or exit this cage, this anthill of lost souls.
The traveller who first sets his eyes on the City in a sunset, like this, might wonder if he has left the surely bounds of reality behind him and set foot on the shores of a tale that is about to happen. The town is magnetic, you can hear it whispering in your head, you can feel it after a while as an entity, as a person as a friend as an enemy, as your love. The adventure grows more and more exciting after the first quick flirts with the City, and as the game intensifies, it sooner or later changes everybody but the blindest or the most callous hearted. Few can resist few can stay insentient. Can you?
Well a lot had been told today, and much more hadn't. Let's take some rest, maybe a good night's sleep shall we, before we continue this journey to the heart of this charming little place?

-a-

A new Era

2009-10-19T17:29:00.004+02:00

After months of silence and a long wait a new era has come. The october sun is fading and winter is creeping upon us. The dark shadows are getting longer during the nights, the silence of the city in the cold hours after midnight is torturing our brains if we dare to listen to it through the drunkness we force upon ourselfs to escape this reality. Myriam has left so it's upon me to run this blog if I can. So try to get through the distance my kind reader, through the pointy bars, try to penetrate through this fake window through the thick walls that lie between your reality and ours, who live and fight to stay alive, here in Perugia, mystic city. Or WTF. The picture was taken on the way to Monteluce, one day before the arrival of the big cold. The cold that shall rule our life for quite some time from now on.
A.

Giotto

2009-06-02T10:24:00.002+02:00

Giotto di Bondone, San Francesco feeding the birds from the lost polyptych of Siena

Tempietto

2009-06-01T12:28:00.002+02:00

The San Michele Arcangelo Church, commonly called Tempietto, is the oldest church in Perugia. With a circular Paleochristian groundwork from the end of the V century or beginning of the VI century, the same internal structure as the San Stefano Rotondo Church in Rom, and its gothic front door from the XIV century, this tempietto is a pure visual surprise at the end of Corso Garibaldi. An isolated place in an extreme part of the city where silence, peace and spirituality emerge at the most!

Arco etrusco

2009-05-31T12:46:00.001+02:00

Archi

2009-05-30T12:50:00.000+02:00

Mitica Cinquecento

2009-05-29T13:02:00.001+02:00

Not in Perugia but it could be as you can find Fiat Cinquecento more and more when you go down South Italy...

Vertical vs. Horizontal

2009-05-28T12:17:00.001+02:00

Beyond the trees, the university of Perugia...

Dante

2009-05-24T10:38:00.000+02:00

"Intra tupino e l'acqua che discende del colle eletto del beato Ubaldo

Fertile costa d'alto monte pende,

Onde Perugia sente freddo e caldo

Da Porta Sole..."

"Between a sand martin and the water that flows down the elect pass of the blessed Ubaldo

Fertile cost of the high slope mount,

Where Perugia feels cold and warm

From Porta Sole..."

Divina Commedia, Paradiso XI

Terrace!

2009-05-23T10:34:00.000+02:00

... Because Perugia is not only made of arches and stairs but also by some private terrace right in the centre...!

Stairs and arches

2009-05-22T10:29:00.000+02:00

Perugian equation: stairs + arches = città affascinante!

The Hottest City In Italy

2009-05-21T13:49:00.002+02:00

Today, it was said that Perugia and Roma are the two hottest cities in Italy. And precisely now, it's exactly 29,5°C, not bad... not bad!

The sun is shining while the nature is giving its best, what a dream team!

Outdoor Life

2009-05-20T17:54:00.002+02:00

The weather getting always hotter and hotter, people get more curious to what is happening outside...

This old man stayed at least one hour in his balcony watching and glazing on the few passing people on Via Maturanzio.

Well, how do I know that?

I might have stayed staring at him for more than an hour too while enjoying my first sunbathing!

But do not think people are all enjoying the sun.... most of the windows blinds are down the whole day... hopefully to keep the cool inside!

Sad, isn't it?

Holy Water!

2009-05-19T17:47:00.000+02:00

20, 23, 26° degrees!

Getting hotter and hotter in Perugia!

Finally a real good reason to eat gelati everyday!

The only sad side of Perugia in Summertime is that there is no water... the water of the Fontana maggiore being inacessible... the only solution is to find other fountains... any idea where this one could be?

Nb: notice the soap to wash your hands after your melting ice cream :-)

Looks Like A Village

2009-05-14T08:48:00.003+02:00

From some points of view, Perugia just looks like these small Umbrian or Toscan villages.... small houses coming out from nature, the wide blue sky behind...

Procession Of Illusion

2009-05-13T08:38:00.000+02:00

Tonight, going down Via dei Priori, a strange melody could be heard from the top of the street. Going down and closer to the murmer, a religious melody came out of a crowd in front of the San Filippo Neri Church. And suddenly, a white blinding statue was moving above the faithfu's heads! Magic or just an illusion, anyway, it gave the right impression!

Palazzo dei Priori

2009-05-12T20:32:00.003+02:00

The Palazzo dei Priori: the most important, the most beautiful, the biggest palazzo in Perugia! How could we have never talked about it?

One of the biggest and most magnificient architectonic expressions of the Italian medieval population. The articulation of the volumes, the assymetries and the irregolarity of the foundation shows its long building phase, starting from 1293-97 until 1443, altogether with the use of preexisting structures. Nowadays, the palazzo is the city headquarter and Galleria nazionale dell'Umbria.

Here above, the front oriented to the Corso Vanucci shows the successive building interventions: at the first level trifore - windows with two arches, line up and above a fabulous repetition of 19 gothic trifore that repeat the below ones. On the same example of repetitions, on the top of the building are standing the becatelli, the cornicione and the merli. (Sorry for the non translation of the last words...)

Perugia Anima Mia

2009-05-11T21:17:00.000+02:00

Perugia

Just a name initially

Then a city in Italy

In Umbria precisely.

A place to go?

Where else to go?

Meeting new people

Different but all adorable

And above all unexpectable!

A place to be

Where someone you'll be.

Hanging in the piazza

Eating a pizza

Pure dolce vita!

Sitting around a fire

Not a moment to hire

Surely a dream to live

Before you leave...

Perugia, cara mia

Perugia, anima mia.

Different Stairs

2009-05-11T21:11:00.000+02:00

No, there are not only the stairs in front of the Duomo in Perugia... although they are far the most famous, used and useful! Here is a different type of stairs you may find in Università degli Study!

I precise, there are quite hidden and only the most privileged students can use them! So go and find them!

Use Your Balcony!

2009-05-09T15:52:00.002+02:00

In Perugia, and most probably all around Italy, balconies are mainly used to hang linens on the clothes line or leave some stuff you do not need inside... strange that with such a nice weather coming for these following months, nobody seems to like to enjoy a breakfast on the balcony or a sunbathing in the afternoon... too bad, they do not know what they miss by closing the blinds...

Wonderful Roses Time

2009-05-08T08:19:00.002+02:00

Together with the warm weather, beautiful roses are showing up in the forestage of Perugia!

Rear Window

2009-05-07T09:44:00.007+02:00

Everything is a question of point of view as previously said...

What about this point of view?

From the open window of a bathroom you can see a girl in a room just in front through her open window...

Hear two old neighbours talking from their balcony about the nice weather, the noise of the never-ending work across the road, the song of the birds...

Feel the new warm air that announces softly Summer...

Smell the intense emanation of coffee from the kitchen...

What a waking up from an open window in a bathroom somewhere in Perugia...

Like a rear window.

Teatro Pavone

2009-05-06T13:40:00.003+02:00

The Pavone Theater was built between 1717-23 and was restructed and decorated as a theater in 1765. Nowadays, it is an important auditorium in which movies, concerts, debates and other kind of cultural events take routinely place.

Just a tip between you and me, the best sit is in one of the boxes - loggia - in the first floor. Boxes fit up to five or six people and sometimes people even bring their own pizza to share and watch a movie... practical and convivial, almost like in a drive-in!

Reflected Perugia

2009-05-05T13:35:00.001+02:00

Reflected Perugia, black & white Perugia... just a different look for a city that appears different depending on the weather, the season, the people who live in, and, of cours, your point of view!

Interlacing

2009-05-04T11:47:00.002+02:00

Branches interlacing

Almost suffocating

But likely dancing

As the wind passes through

The birds only a few,

The light breaking out

As a laughter out loud

Kitschy San Francesco

2009-05-03T11:36:00.000+02:00

At sunset, the sky becomes a colourful palette of numerous shades of pink, from very intense to very bright. And the light from the sun slowly disappearing behind Umbrian hills gives that pink colour to the warm stones of the buildings. Here, San Francesco seems to be made of pink stones... kind of kitsch, isn't it!

We Never Get Enough Of It

2009-05-02T11:31:00.000+02:00

... because you simply never get enough of these little streets in the city centre.... what else to say?

1st May = 1st Relaxing Day At The "Beach"

2009-05-01T11:24:00.000+02:00

The 1st of May is a public holiday in Italy and we were lucky to have a perfect sunny day. So for once, there is no picture of Perugia because it would have been a bit sad to stay in the city while the Lago Trasimeno can offer you relaxing activities at the lake side... beach volley, football or just lying on the grass and watching the marvellous view on the different islands in the lake...

... And During The Flood...

2009-04-30T10:39:00.002+02:00

Yesterday and today suddenly, surprisingly and at any time of the day, it was raining cats and dogs. Seriously, we are talking about shower rains, just like South-West Asian monsoons. With the difference, however, that it was pouring only for a few minutes. Maybe for a short time but it is almost never hailing over there... meanwhile here, you had better not been outside like this woman hurrying up to go home!

Perugino

2009-04-29T13:13:00.003+02:00

It is time to know Perugian most famous painter: Pietro di Cristoforo Vanucci, called il Perugino. He was born in 1448 in Città delle Pieve close to Perugia and masterized his talent in Florence working for Pierro della Francesca and Verrocchio in their own workshop - botteghe - between 1470-72 together with Leonardo da Vinci. After travelling in Roma, Lucca, Bologna, Venezia, Cremona, Ferrara and Milano, he became one of Raffaello's masters, deliberately chosen by Raffaello himself. Perugino died in 1523 in Fontignano.

Here above, a detail of one of his most delicate and extremely beautiful Madonna and Child, of which Raffaello may have letf his genius hand touch too.

Pietro Vannucci and Raffaello Sanzio, Madonna and Child with the Infant St. John (ca. 1500), oil on wood, 73 x 52 cm, Kress Collection

Before The Flood

2009-04-28T10:32:00.000+02:00

Who said Spring was here for good? Well, fact is that Spring in Perugia rhymes with raining! So thank you for opening your pink, green or whatever coloured umbrella to make the rainbow appear, together with the sun!

London, Montreal, New York?

2009-04-27T10:04:00.002+02:00

Perugia, as previously said, has surprising buildings that do not really belong to Italian architecture... This door with stairs, for instance, remembers some typical entrance you can see in London with different colourful doors, or Montreal with higher stairs... or again maybe New York in Greenwich Village?

After a while of seeing Perugia as an Etruscan and Medieval small Umbrian city... maybe it appears to be not that Italian?

Kidding, this door could only stay in Italy. Look at the colour of the wall. This orange that recalls sienna - terra di Siena, a specific orange clay from Siena - and this light coming from the top right, just like light hits buildings in Roma and gives it this famous atmosphere. So, despite some hints to other cities, Perugia will always be very Italian...

A brownstone in Perugia?

2009-04-26T22:04:00.003+02:00

This brown-orange-blue building right in front of Teatro Morlacchi somehow remembers of New Yorker brownstones in Brooklyn... Perugia can maybe pretend to be a megalopolis? "Cosmopolitanly" speaking, defenitely YES!

Liberation of Italy, 25th April!

2009-04-25T11:41:00.000+02:00

Today was the celebration of the Liberation of Italy from fascism in 1945. Perugia city centre was crowded and there were parades playing folkloric music and some other playing drums and throwing quarters flags. Corso Vanucci was full of life and enthusiasm and a real friendly atmosphere was floating all above Perugia, together with the first burning sun rays!

Italians take their time...

2009-04-24T20:54:00.003+02:00

Italians take their time... everybody know that. And it is very common to hear: the more you go down South, the more they take their time. Well, Perugia is almost right in the centre of Italy so it may show a good average.

Let's have an exemple! San Agostino Church in Corso Garibaldi was first built in 1256-1260 with a gothic basement but was completly restaured in the XVIIIth century. Here we can see the lower part of the front probably built during the second half of the XIIIth century, while the upper part was defenitely built in the XVIth century.

Well, of course, that does not mean the church was under construction for three centuries, but it does show some typical careless to give the front an harmonious impression.

However, does is really shock?

"Umbria, the green heart of Italy"

2009-04-23T21:12:00.001+02:00

Umbrian touristic slogan, "the green heart of Italy", could not be more appropriate these days. With the Spring, the warmer light and longer days, hills around Perugia are getting greener and greener. They leave their dark relief for an intense green and softer relief. Just to look at them from any panoramic views in the city brings you a new feeling of wideness and peace...

Flowers Offerings

2009-04-22T21:25:00.000+02:00

Napolitans might be devotional passing in front of small altars hung up on walls at every corner in the city while Perugians are devotional by offering fresh plants and flowers to any possible Saints. Nice way!

Street Art

2009-04-21T21:34:00.000+02:00

There is almost no street art at all in Perugia except some stickers hung around the city. Usually they are small and not very aesthetic but this one just made me smile when I passed by. But how else could I have reacted in front of this back and white mustachioed old accordion player looking at me with his funny face?!

Paths to tread

2009-04-20T19:48:00.001+02:00

Parco Sant´Angelo in spring.
This season makes everything ten times more beautiful, even if you think it couldn´t possibly get any better.

It´s all one big point of view.

2009-04-19T21:11:00.000+02:00

Snowy path? Snow flowers.

2009-04-18T22:28:00.000+02:00

Traces of old

2009-04-17T21:25:00.005+02:00

Shedding trees and growing buds in the garden in the park.

Never to open again

2009-04-16T12:45:00.000+02:00

For the sake of aesthetics, for the sake of symmetry, the windows once killed have been painted on the facade to leave people the hope that they might still find the window sills somewhere, that air will invade the rooms through the wide open wings once more.

False paradise

2009-04-14T09:01:00.000+02:00

Hidden in a real paradise. Behind a gate.
Broom close by just in case the fake setting needs a bit of brushing up.

Trapped

2009-04-13T17:40:00.001+02:00

One of the moss ladies, always sprinkling water, its naked stone body covered by the green layers of time and water fashioned clothing.

Silently guarding

2009-04-12T10:30:00.000+02:00

Whether it is the streets full of people or the chaotic traffic overflowing with cars, the statues majestically watch our lives unfolding.
All kisses and cars honking, all cries and seldom moments of quiet Italian observation are caught in these guardians, preserved for those who can read the language of the still.

Still in bloom

2009-04-11T20:25:00.000+02:00

Listening to the boom
of the earth and the sun
The wind on the run.

Blossom smell is in the air,
coloured petals in our hair.

Purple haze

2009-04-10T20:17:00.001+02:00

A photoshoot on the picturesque streets of Perugia, while the cameraman leads the bride and groom to the spots where memories find their best frames.

Purple....Like the lilac trees? We´ll see about those soon.

Pre-Easter

2009-04-09T11:36:00.004+02:00

With a little anticipation, here is what is happening tomorrow evening in all over Italy: the procession of the Death Christ. It must be something!
Happy Easter to all of you!

Asymmetry

2009-04-09T11:23:00.004+02:00

For chance, the terrible earthquakes that are continuously happening in L'Aquila have no effect in Perugia. But looking at this picture we could ask ourselves if it did not happen yet...? Has the Earth gone crazy? Actually, we know already the answer. Yes, it has, and for quite a while from now on... unfortunately.
Let's give all our support for the homeless people in L'Aquila...

Class

2009-04-06T10:03:00.003+02:00

Isn't this window great? So, nothing special to comment about except that Italian have class not only when dressed up but also just by decorating their store windows. May you like it or not!

Burano in Perugia

2009-04-05T10:31:00.003+02:00

Down Via dei Priori you find Via della Spesa on your left, a very charming street with pastel coloured houses and green shutters as always. It just changes from the common grey old houses in the city centre and that makes this street appear very different from the Via dei Priori area. Well... we could say that it is Perugia's small Burano island!

A Taste Of Umbria Jazz

2009-04-03T10:17:00.002+02:00

Perugia is especially well known for its International Jazz Festival in July, simply called Umbria Jazz. But as an antipasti, Perugia could enjoy this really jazzy concert in the Conservatorio di Musica. A pianoforte, a guitar, the drums, a double bass, saxophones, trombones and trumpets made us swing on our chair for more than an hour. Musicians' faces getting redder and redder the longer they went into improvisation and got caught by the rythm and spectators' faces more and more relaxed. Well, for sure, it was not a classical concert but, indeed, a good taste of what is waiting for us during the ten day Jazz Festival!

Again, In The Clouds...

2009-03-31T17:30:00.002+02:00

Last picture of the mini serie "Perugia in the clouds"... even the fanciest public transport belongs to the clouds! The Minimetro is the proud of the latest technology of Perugia and this very small automatic metro not only makes you smile everytime you see it passing over your head but is also very useful at the end. Connecting the city centre to the stadium takes only 15 minutes. But be careful, the last run is at 9pm!

Still To Heaven?

2009-03-29T12:16:00.002+02:00

After having posted the picture yesterday, Perugia seems to give more clues to some higher spiritual life or whatever similar... Where do these stairs lead? Again Heaven? Or might they just allow your mind go in the clouds. In Italian we say avere la testa tra le nuvole - to have our mind among the clouds...

150 Metres To The Right

2009-03-28T11:29:00.003+01:00

What is in 150 metres to the right? Heaven? Heaven in Perugia? That is possible since Perugia has so much resources to exploit and so many surprises to make your every day life so special here!

Blue Door

2009-03-27T10:03:00.002+01:00

Perugian shutters might be green as previously said but doors might be... blue?
Well, not as a majority, but you can bump in front of a blue door while walking through Perugia, Spello or Orvieto. This is not Nottingham in London but just the Umbrian way to make it different from the traditional old varnished wooden door.
So which one is in Perugia?
I give you an int, it is in Corso Garibaldi. Does it help you? :-)

Dancing on buildings

2009-03-24T08:24:00.002+01:00

Little statues, holding up bits of history in their palms, while they dance their immortality away.
Guess where?

Winding roads

2009-03-23T10:20:00.000+01:00

Taking a walk down Via della Pergola, you wish you could take all the roads you see, stroll through the olive gardens and even go far far away to the hill tops you see in the distance.

Let's just hope that we'll have perfect weather for roadtrips soon...

Green windows, fresh days

2009-03-22T08:15:00.001+01:00

All the windows here are green..almost each and every one of them. The buildings are all painted in earthy colours, and the windows are green like the trees. Is that because the houses breathe through them?

Might be. All I know is that they look mighty well and colour my days , especially when you can smell some freshly cooked pasta when they're open wide.

Pitch-red-blue

2009-03-21T01:55:00.001+01:00

On the ground, everything was pitch-dark.
In the air, the colours were playing a bizarre game of tag, flirting with eachother.

The sunsets on the not-so-little hill are always blushing, or engraved with scarlet letters.

Dark and scary

2009-03-20T09:02:00.000+01:00

Beautiful paths at night have their own mystery. They turn a shade darker and the trees turn white in the light of your camera.

Strangers walk past you, you hear your footsteps echo on the Via del Acquedotto, but you look above you and see the streets, you look behind you and see the stairs, you look above and the stars blend in with the light of the moon.

That's when you realize...it's not dark. It's not scary. It's just you and Perugia, on a date.

Living In A Castle, Or Almost

2009-03-19T15:16:00.003+01:00

No, Perugia is not only an old Medieval city... no, we do not only live in old houses... yes, there are still tracks from the old times... and yes, there are some who live in modern house and Medieval tower, simultaneously!
Yes, this is Perugia!

Save The Culture!

2009-03-18T19:20:00.002+01:00

It is currently under discussion whether to close the Academy of Arts - Accademia delle Belle Arti P. Vanucci.
The Academy was founded in 1573 by Orazio Alfani and Bino Sozi and since 1901 it occupies the ex-Franciscain convent, next to San Bernardino's church. The convent also holds the Museum of the Academy.
So as previsouly said, the city of Perugia would like to close the Academy, surely for economical reasons... I personally have not a real opinion about that since I hardly never heard about it but I would just say that, despite the regression period the whole world is going through, we should not forget that culture is essential. It might not give any big income but it certainly brings open-mindness, curiousity to the external and unknown environments around us and liberates imagination and creativity which are both essential to express the strongest feelings we may precisely have at the moment: anger, frustration and incomprehension or hope, joy and love. Or just a strong need to fight for Culture! So please, be welcome to enter the fight and let's save Culture!

Indelible Mark

2009-03-16T10:28:00.002+01:00

Can you see whose profile is it?
...
Even though Perugia insists on showing its absolute communist political orientation, there are marks that could never be erased.
So, here above the profile sculpture of Benito Mussolini...
No more comment.

18.03

2009-03-14T22:04:00.002+01:00

18.03 and the sun is still on the sky... in a few minutes, though, the sky will take nice sunset colours and that something Perugian could enjoy on this Saturday afternoon! Just for the pleasure of the eyes!

Aboundance Perusia

2009-03-13T16:27:00.002+01:00

In the XIIIth century, a little bit earlier than Giotto's frescoes in San Francesco of Assisi, the city of Perusia started an urbanistic project in order to embellish and glorify the prestige of the city. Not only the acquedotto was built (see previous post), but two fountains were commissioned: Arnolfo di Cambio no more existent's fountain and Giovanni Pisano's fountain, more known as fontana maggiore. To be able to bring water to city and, by consequence, to its inhabitants, was meant to prove Perugia's sense of civic protection. Here above, you see one of the numerous sculptures in the fontana maggiore, more precisely the sculpture of Perusia, representend as the abundance domina set in the extreme opposite of the sculpture representing Roma, its worst enemy!

Honour To San Francesco

2009-03-12T11:38:00.005+01:00

Perugia being close to Assisi, we could not not mention San Francesco in this blog. He had such an influence that churches devoted to him are spread all over Umbria, Italia, Europe and so on. And this for now eight hundreds years! Indeed, this year sees the 800th anniversary of the composition of the first Rule of Life which Francesco and his companions presented in Rome to Pope Innocent III and the Papal court in 1209. We do not exactly know what was written, but Tommaso da Celano tells us it was a composition of evangelical passages mixed in with rules to guide the monks in their daily life together. Francesco's calling was infact to live life according to the writings of the Holy Gospel.
Here above, a wooden sculpture represents San Francesco holding the Holy Gospel and a child in the San Francesco church in Perugia. His three knots rope is to recall his further vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

Flowering Spring

2009-03-11T14:26:00.003+01:00

What a surprise on my way home when I suddenly realised how fast this tree had blossomed! I cannot hardly remember seeing the buds on it that it is already totally blossomed!
Una meraviglia as we would say here!
So Spring is defenitely here, not only the birds sing it every morning, but the trees show it too! What is gonna be next sign? Eating a gelato on the scalette (stairs) of the Duomo? Already done, sorry!

From Water To Way

2009-03-10T09:50:00.004+01:00

No picture of the acquedotto has been posted yet so this is high time! Built between 1254 and 1276, it was meant to bring water from monte Pacciano to the city and the fountain - fontana maggiore, in piazza IV Novembre. Among the authors, Fra' Bevignante e Boninsegna da Venezia took part of the project. In the first half of the XIX century, it was transformed into a pedestrian path to connect the borgo Sant'Angelo to the centre.
Nowadays, it is part of the touristic visit of Perugia and is indeed, a very nice way to hit the centre, passing through the 700 year old Porta Conca.

Back To School

2009-03-09T11:54:00.002+01:00

It is one week now that university started the second semester, one week to pick up the courses, one week to get used to wake up early and go back to a healthier lifestyle, one week to find the classrooms... talking about that, looking for a Portuguese classroom (yes learning Portuguese in Italy, very logical!), I got up wandering around empty rooms in a university building I did not even know its existence and watching at this beautiful panoramic view. Learning Portuguese was not such a bad idea at the end!

Politically Correct?

2009-03-08T10:10:00.003+01:00

Today is the International Women Day. Italian women will get flowers, some of them will show off on the corso in their most expensive and fashion clothes, some other will have a nice lunch in a trattoria, osteria or restaurant (no need to cook today!), and others will maybe just go out and have fun being a woman!
Well, all that celebrating for those who believe that women deserve an international day and have to make the most of it today. On the other hand, the most feminist women will just spend this day as an ordinary day, because women do not need a special day to compensate for all the inequality and suffering some of them, a lot of them indeed, do put up with every day. In fact, the fight is every day...
"Woman is the future of man" as it is written on the poster. What to say?
I would personally rather say: "woman and man together are the future of humanity".
So have a nice day to all of you and let's make the most it all together, hands in hands!
Peace-

First Terrace!

2009-03-07T15:51:00.002+01:00

Nothing really artistically special on this picture I admit but, nevertheless, I could not walk through Corso Vanucci without taking a picture of the first terraces on the corso! People do still wear coats and gloves, their hair blowing in the wind but the sun is shining for good! At least for a few hours! But hell, Spring is defenitely here and it feels just good! Cheers!

Looking For Nature?

2009-03-06T17:14:00.004+01:00

After having dreamt of those olive trees - olivetti, for nearly 6 months, I decided to jump off my balcony and reach the hill in front it (cf: post from the 10th February, Wild Into The City). It was a sunny afternoon and I was looking forward to wandering among olive trees, smell the olives, touch the olives, watch the olives moving in the wind... but what a surprise when I noticed that it was private and completely enclosed by fences!
Well, my dream just remains a dream and I will look for other olives trees in this full of surprises city!

1, 2, 3, ... 500!

2009-03-05T16:31:00.002+01:00

The Italian cultural myth, the most beautiful and beloved car of all times, the symbol of a whole generation, the old Fiat 500 - Cinquecento - is still alive in every Italian's mind! Especially now that you can see the new Fiat 500 driven in every street, the old one, the real one, gets more and more priceless. In blue, white, yellow, green or most commonly famous in red, we love its familiar curves, its mini size and its expression or maybe we just love it because it is the Cinquecento!

Perugian Humour?

2009-03-04T20:53:00.002+01:00

Mixing art and consumerism: humour or insult? To laugh or to be shocked?
Well, today, we could only laugh at such a mix, especially in Italy where you encounter the art at every corner...

When the rain is over...

2009-03-01T02:14:00.001+01:00

...the Torre degli Sciri, with all its 46 metres, and eight hundred years, seems to be crying, all the water flowing freely down its stone cheeks.

What's left? These tear marks, black with time. Tissues, anyone?

Small park happiness.

2009-02-28T10:02:00.001+01:00

Piccolo park next to the Collegio at Via Innamorati, the place to be when the sun is shining and you're too lazy to walk too far away from the student hall.

Yes, I think I still remember the feeling.

Another Perugia "seaside" photo

2009-02-27T12:32:00.001+01:00

Just to make sure the sun stays with the city, we offer yet another set of foggy waves.

Still not convinced to take your swimming suits?

Last Sales!

2009-02-26T19:03:00.002+01:00

Believe it or not, you can buy a rabbit, a kitten, a parrot or whatsoever, on sales! Until 20% discount on puppy! Don't miss it! And buy a basket for your new pet for only 0.55euros!
Scary no?

Misty mornings, foggy days

2009-02-25T10:46:00.002+01:00

Who said there was no sea in Perugia?
It's more than once that I saw it spread its white, fragile waves of fog upon the city. Luckily, from up high you don't have to swim. You just sit back, relax, and breathe in the peace.
Or maybe make fog castles with the tips of your fingers.

Gone With The Wind

2009-02-24T16:18:00.003+01:00

Today, as well as the past two days, it looks like Spring is really chasing Winter! Evvai as would say Italians! The sun shines, the birds sing, the wind dries the freshly washed linen... so this tryptich came up to my mind when having a little bit of sun after my daily after lunch coffee. Sometimes, no need to wander in the streets of Perugia to realise how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful city! People complain about the cold and rainy weather of this city... and they might be right complaining but once Spring shows off... all these frozen feelings are gone with the wind...

They're watching us

2009-02-23T19:09:00.002+01:00

All these architectural details that we miss while we're happily waking around, our eyes searching the ground...you'd be amazed!
It took me 6 months to notice the faces that were watching me, from a building you can find where Via Baglioni meets Piazza Italia.

and there's a whole army of them sleeping on other building facades!

Enjoy The Day!

2009-02-22T15:27:00.002+01:00

Sunday relaxing Sunday... as "work kills", enjoy your day!

Not Only Medieval...

2009-02-20T11:16:00.003+01:00

Very often, the longer we walk in the old city centre, the sooner we forget that a whole modern city belongs to Perugia as well... and this part is quite significant indeed. Going down the Rocca paolina
by the scale mobile - escalators, we reach piazza Partigiani. A new area lately built last century. The place is actually not really nice as it has the only utility to hold the bus service, nevertheless, it is always interesting to see such a contrast between the medieval architecture and the modern one so close to each other.

Yeah it's happenning

2009-02-19T17:44:00.004+01:00

The Scalette, the stairs of the Cathedral. The social center of the city. The place where everyone meets. Always. In december in the late night hours you still have crazy napolitans making street music. And in mid-february on a sunny day people are sitting there like this. Like they've been doing it for the last half-a-millennium. As we always say: Perugia is happening!

Almost 500 metres high, but feeling higher

2009-02-18T23:19:00.003+01:00

At the end of Corso Vannucci there's a neat little park and next to it there's this view point that smartly indicates the mountains nearby, the cities that you can see in the distance and a lot of other things.
I tried to get this fellow out of the photo, but after waiting for some minutes for him to walk away I realized that I would also stay there for a good half an hour if I were him, just staring and thinking about mountains, churches, nature and culture, what man destroyed and what man created. So I decided to immortalize him.

Now, as he's gazing at the sunny view and the mysterious view indicator, we're looking at him, and he doesn't know a thing about our close analysis of his back.