Perugia. I have ended up in a house that is uniquely the
warmest welcome and comfort, full of extremely friendly people! There is a jazz
festival on here for the next ten days.
Through couchsurfing I met Vincenzo, who has opened his place to surfers
and friends to celebrate with him his graduation, and the jazz festival
holiday. On my first night here,
when we had all finished an amazingly massive meal of pasta and
barbequed meat skewers and chops, all the wine nearly gone (which is a huge
feat if you saw how much there was), we headed around the corner and up the
road to find the main stages closed and finished for the night.
This didn’t matter too much as the squares were packed full
of people, drinking on the street, dancing to drummers and horns jamming to the
side, general mayhem and festivity overflowing in the streets. Perugia is my
new favourite spot in Italy, incredibly relaxed and fun, students creating the
atmosphere buzzing around the town.
So a few days on and I love this place. It is a small old
town; yesterday I walked around with Dave from Milan, the super hot temperature
making this an exhausting feat. I didn’t even take my camera, thinking we would
be gone for a short time. Ended up meeting friends and eating conoli, a very
typical Sicilian desert made with ricotta, so SO good, as it was made by Gabriels mother in Sicily.
Also the night before I had some Tiramisu made by Vincenzo’s
mother, easily the best I have ever had. This is why I feel so lucky and happy
about this experience, I am welcomed with open arms by everyone to this place.
The town is so packed full of people, and yet I walk around and have friends in
all places. The best kebabs in Italy, the cheapest beer from here and the best
focaccia over there.
I was insistent on dancing at the concert in the square last
night, and of course there was a friend, Andrea, who came with me into the
midst of the crowd, it was a blast, and after going wandering with Julia for
another cocktail, half and hour later the crew is still in the same place more
or less, still having fun, drunken and happy with the rest of the population of
Perugia. The last few nights have involved wandering through the town every few
meters stopping to talk and continuously drink, those where all of a sudden the
sun is up and we are sitting around playing guitars and laughing and before too
long the heat sends us to bed.
Tonight I am assured will be the same, although I quite
secretly want to sneak off to bed early, whether my new friends let me or not
is totally out of my control.
