Stan is scheduled to arrive Sunday at 8:30 but he calls to say he took the wrong train in Padua, delaying his arrival until 10:30. It means we’ll have trouble finding a place to eat. I find the station in the dark without difficulty, to my surprise. Italian streets are very well marked for the most part with signs to the major places but with one very annoying feature. There almost always seems to be a gap in the signs where you risk missing a critical turn. To my delight there is a spot with very good, free, wi-fi.
He’s on time and we search for a place. The one at which we stop is closing but the bartender directs us to another, complete with a hand-drawn map. It’s an enoteca (wine bar) serving Italian tapas. We have a simple, pleasant meal washed down with a local red.
Monday, Sheri, a good pal who’s the wife of a client, arrives for a couple of days on her way to England and a date with the swells at Ascot. She’s a character and we three have a nice day exploring Perugia, disappointed only in that we are too late for the market. That evening we decide to eat out, but the first restaurant is closed and on our way to another, we’re delayed for 20 minutes by a religious procession moving slowly down the highway, accompanied by flashing police cars. The pizza we finally locate isn’t as good as Joan promised but the cook has passed away in the last year and the new one isn’t up to speed yet.
Tuesday, we journey to Assisi, home to our patron saint, San Francesco. There are churches everywhere. Tourists are evident but not in great numbers. Sheri and I have an extended and pleasant lunch while Stan studies the Giotto frescos in the Chiesa San Francesco. Gitotto, Stan relates, was the first artist to use prospective and movement in his works. The church is amazing, with upper and lower floors, soaring arches and, on the lower floor, St. Francis’s tomb.
Once back home we, cook an elaborate meal, including eggplant involtini and 2 fresh branzini (local white fish) baked under a salted meringue. We finish the evening by watching Gladiator in English with Italian subtitles (for me, the Italian student – next Italian with Italian subtitles).
