The end of the first (half) week of classes and a tour of the Universita di Stranieri

Ah, la fine settimana after three whole days of class! We have classes 5 days a week but on Monday and Friday we are in class for only 2 hours instead of 5 or 6.  The classes are challenging for us and we have to concentrate so much that we are exhausted at the end of the day when all of our 20 and 21 year old classmates are out partying (actually, as far as I can tell, the Chinese girls go home and sleep or clean their rooms--at least that is what they said in class).  We have three different teachers, all women, and all very entertaining.  Our only Friday class is a 2 hour conversation class.  Today the teacher took on us on a trip around the university, starting at the roof where there are some great views.

Our teacher, Sabrina (left) points out some landmarks for the class

Tom busily taking notes on the rooftop.  In the foreground is a classmate from France.

You can see the etruscan wall in the background--our Chinese classmates were underwhelmed by this wall

Sabrina, always gesturing!

just two of the many churches whose bells we hear hourly

 After admiring the panoramic view from the roof, we toured the rooms on the top floor.  The main building of the university, where our classes are held,  is Palazzo Galenga, formerly owned by a wealthy family.  Many of the rooms, especially on the upper floors, are splendidly painted, with frescoed ceilings and  chandaliers of murano glass.

Tom, still taking notes as he admires one of the rooms with some of our classmates

As we went through four of the rooms, each representing a different season, Sabrina related the history of the room and building and discussed the elements of the frescoes, so we had an Italian lesson in painting and history.

Just one of many staircases to climb each day--this one from the first to second floor (2d to 3d US)

After the other students went on 'la pausa' (break) Sabrina showed us the Goldena room which is a theater

UW classrooms were never like this

Murano glass chandalier

She also showed us the old library.  They don't have a library now "because everyone uses internet."

The school was founded by  Astorre Pattelli  and his bust and a plaque about him are in the library (below).

Sabrina points out the statute on our 'private' tour All of the Italians
wear their coats in the building because it is fairly cold, although we
hardy Americans just wear sweaters  (Sabrina has two sweaters,
a scarf, and a down jacket)

I leave you with this picture of the symbol of Perugia, a griffin.  Buona fine di settimana a tutti.

   

Our new home in Perugia, centro storico

Leaving Chioggia

We rented a car in Sant' Anna di Chioggia, about 6 kilometers from Chioggia and apparently the only car rental agency available.  The biggest car we could get was a Fiat 500 something, but it was not the mini Fiat.  Still, it seemed doubtful 5 suitcases and several boxes of books, sheets, towels, a large coffeepot and kitchen essentials acquired since we arrived on 1/11 would fit, but Tom made it work.  It was a beautiful if foggy drive through the Dolomites to Perugia, the capital of Umbria and our home for the next three months while we take classes (20 hours a week) at the Universita di Stranieri.  Non-residents are not allowed to drive in the centro storico except at designated times, so we parked and waited for 1:00 so we could get to the apartment.  Unfortunately, it was a 'you can't get there from here' situation, and Tom-Tom (our GPS) led us down increasingly narrow streets and kept directing us to turn onto streets that turned out to be staircases.  We were poised at the entry to a street that did not seem car-accessible wondering what to do when a kindly motorist behind us got out of his car and gave us directions, assuring us that we could indeed go down the street.  We did, but still couldn't find the apartment.  We did see the office for the place that rented us the apartment so we parked (illegally on the sidewalk--we are becoming very italian) to get directions but it was closed.  Just then, Mariarosa, our landlady called, and when apprised of our situation, walked over to ride in the car with us giving directions.  Although we were a 3 minute walk from the apartment, it was a 15 minute drive as we had to make a complete circle of the city to get to the one street that would allow us entry to Via Ulisse Rocca.  Tom parked illegally again, we unloaded pronto, and returned the rental car as quickly as possible.  Cars are not an asset here.

Our new apartment

The apartment is perfectly located, halfway between the Universita and the Piazza Maggiore, the main piazza of the old town, and less than two blocks from each. We found a bakery only 2 doors down and Tom discovered to his delight that a restaurant we enjoyed on our visit a few years ago is less than a block from our front door.  Since this is a University neighborhood there are lots of cheap eateries and since it is a tourist area, there are also a lot of decent restaurants.  You can have a good meal with appetizer, salad, primi or secondi, and plenty of wine for about 40 euro  for 2.  A budget option would be an 8 euro pasta dish each and splitting a mezzo (half liter) of house wine (vino di tavola) for a total of 20 euro for 2.  Happily we will not starve in Perugia.

Restaurant we went to on last visit is near our apartment

Entry to our street

leading to our street--narrow 2 way street!

Tom is standing in front of the door to our building

Classes are supposed to start tomorrow so we went to the University this morning hoping to get some information and/or register--all we have received so far is a letter  sent to our Seattle address to use in getting a student visa which we fortunately do not need.  However, despite a sign on the door saying it was open from 8:30-12:30, the universita was chiuso.  There were several young Chinese girls waiting outside the door with suitcases, but they didn't speak Italian, English, or French, and my Chinese is limited to ni hao, so we couldn't communicate with them.  I hope they have a place to stay and aren't planning to get set up through the university because, as we belatedly realized, January 6 is the Epiphany which is a holiday as well as a holy day in this Catholic country.  We have so much room in our apartment that I  plan to go back this afternoon and offer them a place to stay overnight if they are still there and without lodging.   Our apartment has a double bed and three twins, so we can accommodate guests.

Main bedroom (there is twin bed as well which is not shown in the pix)

4 marble steps lead up to the bathroom

Another view of our bedroom showing the arched stone and brick ceiling

Living room/dining room/kitchen--both wi fi and DSL

Another view of main room, and exit to hallway (below)

The Universita di Stranieri and our new neighborhood

This morning we took a little walk after finding the Universita was closed.  There are beautiful views from the city wall near the University and many interesting sights on the route back to our apartment.

L'entrada al'universita est chiuso

basketball court across from the Universita 

Etruscan arch dates back to 300 BC, currently being renovated

Tom next to city wall

Universita di Stranieri, main building

There are many long stairways like this which the GPS kept directing us to drive on

The foundation for these apartments is an ancient city wall

The appian way--all roads lead to Rome

We also discovered a nearby alimentari, the Italian equivalent of a 7-11, which was fortunate because we had planned on doing a large grocery shopping today and had very little food in the apartment.  Tom was able to buy some necessary items, guess we won't have to go out for dinner tonight after all.    Now we are off to explore and to visit an antique car show on the piazza that Tom wants to see.  Ciao a tutti.