This broad promenade is called the Corsi Vannucci, by the way, and is named for Pietro Vannucci, one of the greatest of Italian painters, better known as Perugino. Born in Citta della Pieve in 1446, he adopted Perugia as his home and has left his imprint in many places here, especially in the Collegio del Cambio, considered to be his masterpiece. The versatility of the founder of the Umbrian school shines forth in these astonishing frescoes. Perugino's self portrait is in the same building.
By changing a single letter, one can shift the subject from the divine to the delicious, for Perugina chocolates, known the world over, are made in this same city. Behind this impassive factory façade the most extraordinary miracles in chocolate are achieved. We were in Perugia a few weeks before Easter this year, and the chocolate works were going all out for hollow chocolate Easter eggs. An Easter egg with a surprise inside is a part of Italian home life, and the bigger the egg the better. Perugina vies with its rivals. Talmone, Nestlé and others, in producing the fanciest gilt wrappings and the giddiest cellophane ribbons. What treasures they all contained we never did find out, but they must be considerable. The largest one was priced at 60, 000 lire, which makes a shambles of a hundred dollar hill. Not all of these chocolate eggs are for the kiddies, by the way. Our favorite model reveals a squat bottle of old brandy when the oval chocolate portals are thrown open.
In some Italian cities the most obvious hotel is not always the most satisfactory, but in Perugia there is no question about the predominance of the ALBERGO BRUFANI E PALACE, a large and long-established hostelry on the southern brink of Perugia's breathtaking promontory. It was built many years ago, supposedly on the location of a vanished temple to Minerva, and one has the impression that it hasn't suffered an instant of neglect from that moment to this, Everything is immaculate, and the large attractive lounges are about the most comfortable places in all these Umbrian hills. The bar is a bit funereal, but the large dining salon is cheerful and buzzing with activity. This is the crossroads for travelers of every nationality. There are menus in Italian, English and French, and the food is the best in Perugia, a considered statement based on a ten-day stay and many foraging expeditions.
The assured calm of the Brufani is rarely upset, but it was definitely troubled on the third day of our sojourn. when the hotel served as overnight headquarters for the annual motorcycle tour of Italy. The place swarmed with lizardlike little men in one-piece zippered black leather suits, and the attendant throng of journalists, managers and broadcasters. The management was quietly wringing its hands. This is the only day of the year we advise you to avoid the Brufani-in fact, may we suggest that you avoid all contact with motorcycle races, and the horrendous bottleneck which they cause on the Italian roads?
ASSISI
One extraordinary man still dominates this beautiful hillside town, more than seven centuries after his brief lifetime of forty-four years. St. Francis of Assisi leaves his mark on every visitor to this mystic city, and a refreshing experience it is. We don't feel qualified to say weighty things about St. Francis and the example he has set for the world, but we do feel strongly about one thing-a few hours in Assisi is not enough for the assimilative visitor. The average motor tour almost whisks you through. This wonderful town on the cypress-clad slopes of Mount Subasio merits a visit of two or three days. In addition to the Basilica of St. Francis, a remarkable two-layer Gothic Structure with the tomb of St. Francis reposing in the crypt beneath, one finds an architectural richness in Assisi which has few counterparts anywhere. Besides a notable cathedral, there is the famous buttressed church of Santa Chiara, a towering fortress, handsome fountains and the facade of a Roman temple, still intact. Some of the greatest frescoes of Giotto and Cimabue are here. Definitely, Assisi is a place to stay for a few days. Its view of the Umbrian hills, with Perugia looming in the distance, is inspiring. Its shops are filled with tempting things, and its hotels are entirely adequate, pleasant and cosmopolitan. We have tried both the ALBERGO SUBASIO and the WINDSOR, and enjoyed each. Mind you, they're both “touristy,” but they take good care of their guests. Assist does not represent the gastronomic pinnacle of Italy perhaps, but its culinary standards are far removed from the pious poverty prescribed by its patron saint.
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