Perugia, Italy

Perugia is the capital city of Umbria and the city centre sits on top of a hill. These pictures were taken at dusk as we set out hunting for a meal. Like many other Italian cities, there are many churches, palaces and museums to visit. But at this stage of the trip, I was having a visual overload and every church looks almost the same. The only sensation intact was probably my taste buds! I could not wait to taste the famed Norcian black truffles... Plus, Perugia is also well known for chocolate. The Perugina Chocolate company produces the famous Baci chocolate and this is exported all over the world. For all you chocolate lovers, make sure you come to Perugia in October for the chocolate festival.

The Basilica di San Domenico is the largest chuch in Perugia built in the 13th Century.

Walking down the main street- Corso Vanucci

The city centre- Piazza IV Novembre. This photo was taken from the steps of Cathedral di San Lorenzo and seen in this picture are Fontana Maggiore and Palazzo dei Priori.

Roads in Perugia are really narrow- make sure your rental car is small. Bern accidentally ran over my big toe while I was trying to guide him through a narrow street. Ouch! Luckily no broken bones, just a bruised nail bed.

This was where we had dinner, a restaurant called Il Cantinone tucked in a corner along an alleyway. This meal was the BEST meal of the trip. Even the ambience was perfect. There was a gentle breeze flowing through as we dined along the corridors of this medieval town.

Fettucine with black Norcian truffle

At last, I've tried truffles! It was as I expected and much much more. It is hard to describe the taste, except that it is very earthy and rich. Nothing else taste like truffles. It also is worth more in weight than gold.

We had a double dose of truffle by having a steak covered in black truffle sauce. This dish was SERIOUSLY good.

As if we did not have enough of mushrooms, we also had a pork cutlet with porcini mushroom sauce and a pizza wih meat and wild mushrooms.

Yummy yum yum.