"Appartamento che è ancora disponibile?" "Is that apartment still available? "

Well, we have a few updates since our last post. On Friday night, we had another spectacular lightning storm, and as usual, we lost our internet for a few days. The videos are never as amazing as seeing it in person, but I posted a little video anyway! This was taken out the bathroom window (it was the best view), and you can see the castle in the flash. Be patient, the first half is all black.



On Saturday we made a day trip into Perugia. We have been to the city before, but had never been to the Centro Storico (historical centre). I don't think any of us expected much, so we were very pleasantly surprised. There is a beautiful piazza, with a typically amazing duomo, a fountain and an art gallery. Within this same area, there are countless restaurants, and as many shops as you could possibly want to visit. Plus, there is a bar that has about 1000 Belgian beers. (so of course, Terry was in love!)

As luck would have it, all of this is about 700 metres from an apartment that we looked at a couple of weeks ago. We had pretty much decided not to take the apartment, but after visiting this part of town, we all agreed this is where we want to be! So we emailed the agency yesterday, and went into town today to sign a bunch of papers. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that we don't get turned down because we are not locals!! The agency has to get us a tax number, and we have to register with the police. Am I the only one who gets nervous when the police get involved??

So we're on our way to having a place to live. Check out the map. There is lots of room for company; the living room closes off for privacy, and there is a wallbed in passageway (a glorified hall). With two bathrooms, we wouldn't be tripping over each other!

On Sunday, we finally visited Assisi (see the pictures on facebook). For those of you who were not raised in a religious household, St. Francis of Assisi is the patron Saint of Italy, and he started the Franciscan monks. He also converted St. Chiara (Claire) who started a group of nuns called the Poor Claires. So these two people turned their back on their families' wealth to help other people and dedicate their lives to God. I can't explain, then, why the churches in Assisi are quite so richly magnificent!! I mean, they are beautiful, but I wonder how the two Saints would feel if they came back today. Of course, you can't take pictures inside most of the churches, but if you're interested, you can find lots of pictures on google images, better than I could take, anyway!

The city sprawls over a hillside, and the buildings are all pink from a distance (and, surprisingly, they are pink up close, too!!).

We also toured a fortress above the city, which was not recommended for "people who suffer from claustrophobia or vertigo". I can think of a few possible visitors that we WON'T take here! (you know who you are) The walk from one tower to another was inside the city wall. It was barely high enough for Terry and Meryck to stand up straight, and too narrow to put your elbows out beside you.

If Terry's memory is correct, this went on for 138 metres - a little too far for people who don't like feeling closed in!! Unfortunately my camera battery was dead by the time we got here.

We got home in time to see a play at the castle. Of course, there were no subtitles, so we had to guess what was going on... it seems that it was the story of the Count Migliano, who our village is named for. We followed a group of musicians around the castle, and each act took place at a different location. It was fun, but we were all pretty tired, and left about halfway through, when the play took us within a few steps of our front door!

So our next trip will be the Cinque Terre next weekend - I'll make sure the camera is charged for that!