The youth hostel is
located on the outskirts of Perugia in a lovely old building in a
park, and the good news is that there's a Mini Metro station within
walking distance. The Mini Metro is a very cute and clever transport
system – two sets of raised tracks along which ride small
driverless carriages – that runs into the heart of Perugia.
There was a frigid
wind blowing as we left the hostel, so we broke out the hats, scarves
and gloves for the first time and then headed for the Mini Metro
station. Not long after, we're walking around a little Christmas
market in the old town. The old town itself is actually pretty small,
but it does have some lovely buildings, including a large cathedral. Nativity scenes are a big thing in Italy (you should see
the ready-made versions they sell here – you can easily pay several
hundred euros for one, and many have moving parts, including rotund
woman bakers swinging loaves to and from the oven and fountains with
actual water) and Perugia's cathedral had the most impressive we've
seen, taking up a whole chapel at one end. It was cleverly
constructed out of cardboard boxes and brown paper, and represented
a large part of Bethlehem – not just the stable. The girls were
entranced and had to be dragged away.
An ice skating rink
has been set up in one of the piazzas but it's obviously not very
popular as there are only two teenage girls on it. As they leave, we
let ours on – Sarah moderately confident and Zoe gripping tightly
to the wall as her skates skitter here and there. I left Kate with
the girls to explore a little on my own, expecting to return to tears
and bruises – so I'm very pleasantly surprised when Zoe skates from
one side of the rink to the other to greet me when I get back.
After lunch in the
basement dining room of a pizza chain, we headed back to the hostel,
catching a long escalator down to a different Mini Metro station.
With the wi fi still out at the hostel, we searched around for
somewhere to log on, ending up in one of the little restaurants
across the road. Then it was back for another lovely buffet dinner.
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