Umbrian chocolate

I had a great time in Spain and it was nice to experience yet another country, but I'm always happy to be back in Rome, no matter where I was before. I just feel so good in Italy now, so comfortable. Nevermind that I still get lost from time to time and I'm always making mistakes with the language and other daily things, to me it's still the place to be. However, at this point I was begining to see the end of my trip on the horizon, so the best thing I could think of to put that and everything else, out of my mind was to ride. There is nothing I love doing more than hopping on a bike and going someplace new, and the weather was good so that's what I did.

I went out in the morning to see if I could procure a good horse to take me through the countryside, having made no prior reservations. I went to a place where I knew they would have a motorcycle, but they wanted a bit too much for it, 95 euro per day to be exact, or about $135 at today's exchange rate. I wanted it for two days, maybe three. The weather was expected to change in three days so I was hesitant. No more riding in the rain for me if I could help it. Anyway, they wouldn't give me a better deal so I went to the nearby scooter rental place, Bici e Baci, where my friend Gerry works. I was pretty sure they didn't rent motorcycles, but maybe he could help me. I told him my situation and he called a friend of his who rents motorcycles and got me a deal, two days for 150 euro cash. I just love the way the Italians work, you can get anything you want if you know people. If you are ever in Rome and want to ride a scooter go see Gerry, he's the best, and tell him I sent you (www.bicibaci.com). See how it works? O.K., so I had a bike, now where too? The regions of Umbria and Tuscany sit just to the north of Rome, and I really wanted to see some places there so I decided to ride first to Perugia, which is close to most of the places, and stay the night there. I didn't get the bike home until after 1:00 in the afternoon, might have been 2:00 even, so I figured I had just enough time to get to Perugia before dark. I packed my backpack and my trusty map and hit the road.

Now they have good highways in Italy that you can use to get from A to B pretty fast, but they also have some GREAT scenic, twisty, just plain fun roads everyplace in between. I never like to ride in a straight line for too long so I just look at my map and pick the most crooked line I can find and go there. It was a great choice too. As soon as you leave Rome you immediately find yourself in the middle of nothing but stunning countryside. I had a great ride cutting through the hills and fields, up and over a mountain with breathtaking views of the valley below, it was perfect. It took me maybe less than three hours to get to Perugia with plenty of sunlight left.

I was in Perugia last spring with Eleni for about an hour, and from that short time I knew I wanted to see more. The city is located at the top of a large hill surrounded by rolling green hills and mountains with amazing views all around. I may start to sound like a broken record here, but everyplace I'll be writing about in the coming pages was similarly incredible, and I just don't have the vocabulary to describe it all. Even the pictures can't do it justice with those 1000 words they're worth, you just have to see it yourself.

As I was saying, Perugia is both old and new. The old is on top of the hill, and the new sits around it. I believe there are two universities there and they even have their own chocolate factory, Perugina. And as a matter of fact, I arrived at the start of a chocolate festival of sorts, with chocolate vendors lining the streets with tents and everything chocolate. Sweet. It was a bit cold by then so I got some of the hot chocolate that I saw everyone drinking. If you've never experienced hot chocolate in Italy you should. It isn't some powder mixed with water, and I'm really not sure how they do it, but just imagine melting down a chocolate bar and maybe adding a bit of cream, it's like that. Now that I was warm and chocolately I needed to find a place to stay for the night, so I found a hostel and got a bed for two nights. I figured I could just stay there and use Perugia as my home base from which to explore the countryside since it's in a great location and I liked it there. I relaxed and got cleaned up then went out to find some dinner. I walked all over town and ended up at a place on a small alley right next to the hostel. I got the "tourist menu" special that included pasta, a meat plate and dessert. I'm probably boring you with all my stories about food by now, but hey, it's Italy and that's what we do here, we eat, and we eat well, and oh my God the pasta was fantastic! Wish I could remember the name, it was like a thick spaghetti, but hollow in the middle, and the meat sauce was just amazing. It was a great way to end a great day, and the best was yet to come, trust me.