Perugia: Day 1 (March 10th, 2013)

I'm getting better at waking up and going running. Today I probably did around an 8 miler, which is my long run for the week. I did pretty much the same route, going past the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio, and along the Arno River. Unfortunately, I had to run in the rain; that, combined with the fact that I wore the same running clothes that I wore for two other runs this week, well, I smelled pretty bad. But the rain didn't last long, and the sun even came out for a bit. I also got to see the Oltrano district a bit, which is the district south of the river. It's very residential. Because I started my run at 8am, I probably had a good hour of quiet streets before the tourists started coming out. Regardless, it was pretty enjoyable. I stepped in lots of puddles, which made for some pretty wet running shoes. I received one whistle, most likely due to the running shorts; most female runners here wear long pants; I can't deal with that.

Temperatures are in the high 50s to low 60s right now, and it's humid. With 7 days until the marathon, I'll most likely be wearing a tank to keep cool. Even though it's been raining, it's hard to run in weather like this.

I checked out of Hotel Benvenuti and walked to the Firenze S.M. Novella Train Station. Although the hotel was a bit far from the centro, and a bit on the shabby side, it was actually a great deal, and the TV in my room had a ton of news stations in English, including Euro News. I haven't watched Euro News since I lived in Albania! Plus, everyone behind the desk was very friendly and helpful.

Ah, the train station. I stood and drank a cappuchino before grabbing some Pringles and a panino rustico for the train (basically salami, cheese and lettuce). Taking the local train to Perugia is a bit confusing. When I bought my ticket, there was no date or time listed, no train number, and no seat assignment; regional trains must rarely fill up. So the only way that I knew which train to take was by going to trenitalia.com and finding the departure time that I wanted, which was 12:09pm. Then, when I got to the train station, I looked for a train with a 12:09pm departure, which was Foligno. That's how I knew which train to take. And they don't post the platform number until 10-15 minutes before departure. The class is on the side of the train, either "1" or "2", so that you know which cars are 1st class and 2nd class. I've only traveled in 2nd class so far, so I really don't know the difference.

I've always loved taking the train. But taking the train through Tuscany is a real treat. The countryside is green and mountainous, and I've even spotted some grape vines in the fields. I'm also seeing more houses. It's turned out to be a cloudy day; hopefully we get a break from the rain.

The train ride was only 2 hours, and we passed Lake Trasimento, which is beautiful and bigger than I expected. Upon arriving at Perugia station, I immediately grabbed a cab and gave the driver the name of the farm (Agriturismo La Volpe e L'uva). He seemed to know exactly where to go. We chatted as best we could, and I understood just enough to get an understanding, and to learn a few new words as well. Perugia is very hilly and the road to the farm full of twists and turns. I jokingly commented "Formula One" and he agreed.

Rafaella, the farm owner, greeted me out front and showed me to my "apartment", which is on the lower level of the house. It's huge! There's a kitchen and dining area, a separate bedroom, and a full bath. The size of the bathroom is twice the size of any of the hotel bathrooms I've had so far! And the view from the front door is amazing: lush, green hills dotted with houses and farms.

Rafaella drove me into the city center for the afternoon in her cute little car. She and her husband, Roberto, bought the farm in the 90s. She is from Perugia, and studied paleontology at the university and was then a professor for 15 years.

Perugia is gorgeous. You enter the historical center through a massive Etruscan arch, which I believe the cab driver told me was two thousand years old. The town has a main street, and lots of tight alleyways. At the end of the main street is an overlook of Perugia, the surrounding countryside, and the hills of Tuscany. It's absolutely stunning.

I found a hip bar on one of the side alleys, and talked to a few American girls, one of which was here in Perugia studying Italian (her friends were here visiting). She will be here for three months learning the language, and her credits will count back at her college. I had a few drinks there, and talked a bit with a friendly young waiter who wanted to practice his English. When I told him I was here to eat to run the marathon, he asked me how many kilometers. When I told him 42, he about fell over. "No! 42?! Are you going to win?" I think that sometimes non-runners can't comprehend why someone would want to run a marathon when they have no chance of winning. He kept laughing and exclaiming, "42!" and said he could maybe finish 1 kilometer. I told him he could do at least 5 kilometers, and that we will drink and then run together.

I ate about half a place of spaghetti carbonara con tartufo (spaghetti carbonara with black truffles) next door, before finding a cab back to the farm. It had been raining for some time (ugh, more rain!), and the cab driver wasn't familiar with the farm, so he used the voice recognition and GPS on his Samsung Galaxy phone to guide us. Again, broken English and broken Italian, but we had a great conversation about San Francisco; his brother in-law was a cook there for a period of time. He has only made it as close to the U.S. as the Miami Airport on his way to Cancun and Playa del Carmen. It's amazing how much I'm able to understand. We managed to find the farm, thanks to his awesome phone! Cab drivers here are so incredibly friendly. I was in bed at 8:30pm asleep by 10, the earliest I've gone to bed since being on vacation.