1, 2, BOOM!

We all have rough days every once in awhile even if you are living in Italy. Who knew? This morning we woke up, luckily not too bright and early, and headed off to Perugia for the afternoon. We used the local train station in Sansepolcro and in about an hour and a half we were in Perugia. The weather was beautiful. It was a pretty perfect day for walking around the city: sunny, warm and breezy. We stepped off the train and began our walk up the many hills to the center of the city. Being that it was Sunday most of the shops around the city were closed but the city was still busy none the less. There was a market along the main street. They were selling everything from jewelry to framed drawings of Perugia. After visiting the tourist office and getting maps of the city the 10 of us, 6 girls plus Dr. Webb and John Rose, split up into smaller groups. Lauren and I spent no time beginning our search for food. We walked through a food market where many vendors were selling meats and cheeses. It was very interesting to observe how the food market operated, however, it was not the kind of food we were looking to eat for lunch so we continued our search. We did not want our search for food to consume the majority of our afternoon so we quickly found ourselves in a small shop that served pizza, burgers and falafels. The place did not seem as if its quality of food was all that promising so pizza seemed like the safest option. Of course after all of our searching for a quick and inexpensive lunch, the lady behind the counter explained that they would not be serving pizza for another 30 minutes. Surprisingly not frustrated we decided to continue admiring Perugia and if we eventually found something to eat then that would be great but seeing the city was more important to us. While walking up and down the main street of Perugia I spotted a chocolate shop out of the corner of my eye and immediately thought, “I have to go in there!” Perugia is known for their chocolate so as far as I’m concerned a trip to Perugia without trying their chocolate is an incomplete trip. After chocolate, Lauren and I decided to get off the main street and began walking up and down the side streets. Taking the side streets in Perugia was the best thing that we could have done because we soon found an absolutely breathtaking view of Perugia. It was in this moment that the fact that I was having a rough day and all of the thoughts of how much homework I had waiting for me back in Sansepolcro disappeared completely. All I could think about was how God’s beauty is truly everywhere. Lauren and I sat down and admired the view for about 20 minutes before we started making our way back to the train station. We decided to take one of the earlier trains back home so we could finish our homework. As we were walking back to the train station I realized that I am better with directions that I thought I was. I remembered exactly how to get back to the train station from where we were. Granted, we went back to the train station the exact same way that we had come but we made it to where we were going on time and without getting lost.
Along with realizing that you are going to have rough days no matter where you are, realizing that God’s beauty is everywhere, and that I am pretty good with directions, I learned that there is just something about trains and train rides that put me to sleep. I have yet to be on a train and not fall asleep at some point during the ride. The views that you are able to see while on the trains are gorgeous! Every time that I take a train or a bus ride anywhere within Tuscany I am beyond amazed at how beautiful it is. I still can’t believe that I am living here!