Made it to Perugia

It has been a busy few days! My flights were uneventful and I landed on time Friday morning. After a train ride to Rome and the usual hair-raising cab ride, I made it to the convent. My room was very clean and had it's own bathroom. Once I got settled in I took a bus to Trastevere--my favorite part of Rome. (That makes it sound so easy, but it actually took a while to figure out where to catch a bus.) I had lunch (including 2 glasses of wine!) at a restaurant on the Piazza di Santa Maria di Trastevere and recovered a bit from all the travelling. Next I tried to find a chapel designed by Bramante which was supposed to be near by, so I climbed up and up the Juniculum Hill, but to no avail. It was amazing how many locals didn't know what I was even talking about! I've decided that I'm going to get a phone with GPS for my next trip! Anyway, the walks were pleasant, but it eventually became time to head back to the convent for dinner. This involved 2 more bus rides, but I made it in time to pull myself together a little before dinner.
As I said, the convent was a fine place to stay, but it was out of the way for trying to get into the main part of the city. It also challenged my language abilities because the primary language was French! I had been using Italian all day, so it was hard to remember the little high school French I still know!
At dinner I met a young woman who was in Rome for the first time and who was waiting for her tour to begin in a few days. However, she didn't know what she should see before then, nor how to get around. So we made plans for Saturday and spent the whole day tripping and touring. We started by taking a bus to near the Spanish Steps, but walked to the Piazza del Popolo first. I hadn't been there before and the Hunts had told me about the 2 Caravaggio paintings in the church there--the Conversion of St. Paul, and The Crucifixtion of Peter. They were quite magnificent, but were in a small side chapel on either side, while a much less interesting painting was the focal point of the chapel.
Next we returned to the Spanish Steps. I thought of Whitney when I stopped in Furla. Then we had a gelato on the Spanish Steps, per Maria's request! We had already done quite a bit of walking, so we were glad for the break.

I'm getting a funny note on the computer, so I'll publish then and then write a Part II.