Overstuffed and over heated

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Today we went to Perugia and Assis, which meant waking up earlier than usual (a full hour!!!) and taking a two hour bus ride, during which I think everyone, including Simone and Tim, our directors, slept. It was unbelievably hot in Umbria today. BUT that may have to do with the proper church attire everyone had to wear in order to go into the churches we saw.

Did you know that Assis has 29 churches? We only was 4 and I was exhausted.

Besides the heat and sore feet, I loved both places. Assis more because of the white and pink stone that is particular to the city and because it's just a better view. Perugia was a little too big city, yet still a little city in the middle of Umbria, which doesn't make sense when I type it out....

So after subtly searching for all the little doorways that funneled a stiff breeze too ruffle my skirt for a few hours, it was time to take another nap on the bus on the way to dinner just outside of Urbino. We got there around 7 and left after 11. I have never eaten so much at a restaurant before. There was salad, which I didn't eat because all the leafy greens looked too much like dandelion leaves (aruguala maybe?) and had prosciutto at under it all. There was an antipasti of eggplant something which tasted like lasagna, so I devoured it. There were TWO pastas: cheese tortellini with cream sauce and curly thick noodles with cheese and tomato sauce. Both were eaten with alarming speed. There was a main dish of chicken with more cream sauce and capers, which I had two bites of before I realized all I had already eaten. THEN there was dessert: Creme della Catalona, or something like that. Essentially cream pudding stuff with sugar on top that's lit on fire, all on top of syrup that smelled like rum.

During all these dishes, people were pouring in, raising the room's temperature about 10 degrees and thus making everyone sweat and sweat some more.

Now I'm in my room, having taken a shower with almost no hot water in a vain attempt to cool off, sweating some more even though my window's open and the fan's on high.

Did you know that Italians think that A/C is bad for your health? I'm pretty sure they feel that way about showering, too.

Much love,

Rachel

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