Food, food and more food in Perugia

A view of Perugia and the countryside from town
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We spent 2 days in Perugia, in the Umbria region, staying in an old farmhouse in the countryside - complete with geese, a horse, goats and 2 cats! The farmhouse had 360 degree views of the surrounding countryside, as far as Assisi and the old town of Perugia, which is built onto a mountain in the distance. Even better, we pretty much had the entire farmhouse to ourselves, as the owners didn't live there and we didn't see the 2 other people staying there for the entire time.

Once we had settled in, we went back into town for a wander around the city. Perugia is a pretty medieval town which wraps around the side of a mountain, so there are a lot of stairs! As well as seeing some interesting old buildings and churches, we found a patisserie called Sandri, which I was very excited to discover had been voted one of the best 10 patisseries in Italy and has been around for about 150 years. We each bought a slice of cake each to take home for dessert. I love it how in Italy and France, patisseries beautifully wrap up your purchase with pretty paper, ribbons and stickers... it makes it fun to unwap and eat!

All we did was eat Italian food and chocolate... a great way to spend 2 days, if you ask me!

Perugia
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On our next day, we attended a 3 hour cooking class in the morning, entitled 'World Famous Italian Dishes'. Again, we were the only people in the class, so had the Italian chef Andrea, plus an interpreter and assistant, all to ourselves! We learnt how to make pizza margherita, osso busso, penne al arabbiata, risotto, and tiramasu. We got to eat it all too (well, not all of it, but we tried everything!), freshly cooked, and it was DELICIOUS. The instructors were really friendly and we learnt lots of helpful tips and tricks. We each received a book of recipes for everything we had cooked that day, plus about 10 more traditional Italian recipes. It was so much fun and Richard hasn't stopped talking about how he can't wait to make the pizza for himself once we arrive in London.

The view from our accommodation
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That afternoon, we continued our cuisine quest by visiting the Perugina factory... the company that makes Baci chocolate (now owned by Nestle). We got to help ourselves to free samples, and went on a free tour of the factory, where we saw thousands and thousands of Baci and other chocolates on the production line. The smell of chocolate was so strong! We also saw the world's largest chocolate according to Guinness World Records... it is over 5 tonnes in weight and taller than me!

So pretty much all we did in Perugia was eat Italian food and chocolate... a great way to spend 2 days, if you ask me!