Welcome to Perugia

Are we friends on Insta yet?!

Benvenuti! We made it to Perugia! 

As soon as I chose to study abroad for the semester, I knew it'd be in Italy. I've been studying the language for a while now and I've spent the past year mapping my family's roots to both Ireland and Italy. (The big Catholic families just always seem to find each other) I'm excited to reintroduce Italian traditions into my family and my own daily life and I'm so excited to be able to call Perugia my home for this semester (along with those 3 wonderful ragazze above: Annie, Gaby, and Em!) 

A lot of people asked me in the weeks leading up to my trip if I was nervous. I really felt more nervous about getting my visa documents and everything sorted before I left the US than actually getting on the plane and coming here. Once I was on the plane a strange sense of ease came over me and I felt nothing but pure excitement.

I think living abroad for as long as I did in high school really set me up to find an unusual level of ease in this transition, and for that I'm so very grateful. Last year was a lot to handle personally and finally getting on that plane to Rome made me feel like I could take a breath I didn't know I was holding. I wrote in my journal after just a few days that my soul feels complete here and now, only a little over 10 days in, that still feels true.

Those first nights were a blur of getting to know the other American students on the program, settling into our new flats, and getting out to explore this beautiful city on our own! I could not be more grateful for my flatmates and the building that we live in. & not only do I love the girls I get to live with, but some of the best friends I've made on the program so far live in our building! 

Above is Curtis, who lives directly above us along with his flatmate & our friend named Fish. Yes, Fish. Curtis and I were actually on the same flight to Rome and have been nearly inseparable ever since. Finding myself surrounded by such wonderful people has added an incredible layer of comfort to this entire change. It's been a veritable rush of running up and down the stairs, group grocery trips, and walking up the significant hills to class together.

If you peek, you can spot a mini-Curtis in the very back, just behind the wall! Sunsets in Perugia are some of the most astounding I've seen -- slowly sinking through the mountains and painting everything the slightest tinge of pink. 

My flatmate Emily makes some of the best, spiciest food I've ever eaten. One night she delighted us all with her couscous with pomegranate seeds, spicy chickpea curry, and spiced chicken for the meat-eaters of the apartment. We absolutely devoured this dinner.

Of course I couldn't talk about my first week in Italy without talking about Italian food! My flatmates and I have made several wonderful family meals at home (including the boys upstairs of course) but we've also absolutely immersed ourselves in the local Italian cuisine. Perugia is known for chocolate and truffles and I've definitely not hesitated to try the best this region has to offer! Our very first night out on our own, I devoured ravioli con tartufo nero - ravioli with black truffles - and I've had the best cioccolato caldo I've ever had in my entire life (and that includes the Angelica hot chocolate I lapped up in Paris)

Besides the food, we've already made sure to explore some of the most beautiful places in the city. Definitely one of the most breathtaking places we've been so far is a small museum located at the very top of an ancient church in one of the main town piazzas. 

Okay so we ended up taking more photos of ourselves than the actual art but we wandered the halls for hours gawking at the walls that were covered in ancient Catholic artifacts. Some of the frescos were painted in the 14th century but preservation efforts made them look freshly dried. The museum is a gorgeous, sun-filled series of apartments above the ancient cathedral that is so calm and quiet I definitely will pay the 4 euros to return whenever I need a complete break from the world.

That's been my introduction to Perugia! Classes at the university officially start this week and I'm just as ready to settle into a fresh routine here in my new home as I am to get out and explore Europe on the weekends! If you have any suggestions for me in Italy, France, Austria, Sicily, Greece, or Europe in general please let me know! I want to see everything haha. 

xx