Perugia was the first place we went to in Italy that wasn’t Florence, and I don’t know why I expected all of Italy to look just like Florence but boy I was wrong. They all do have that authentic Italian feel obviously but every town is so unique, especially if you pay attention to the details they can be world’s apart. We took a bus early Saturday morning with our school and headed to Perugia. Thankfully the school we were attending here, the Florence University of the Arts was probably more than half full of students from my college so I was surrounded by familiar faces which certainly made traveling around new places halfway across the world from home much easier. Most of us were still jet-lagged and confused from our flight because we had only been here a few days, but the weather was cold and I remember not wanting to take my winter coat to Italy at all at the last minute (darn luggage weight limits) but I’m so glad I did because I put it to good use in January…and February…and March. Anyways, back to the trip. We showed up and they immediately took us on a tour – the town only has a population of 160,000 people so it was a short tour but then we were free to walk around and explore. My roommate Bri and I walked around Piazza IV Novembre (the main town square) for a few hours and then they bused us to the Perugina Chocolate Factory where we could tour and taste-test their chocolate (the highlight of the weekend). After that, we were bused to a hotel about 10 minutes away where we stayed the night and woke up the next morning to go to Assisi. We were only in the town for a day so this description isn’t nearly as detailed as others but Perugina was a beautiful town in the Umbria region along with Assisi and I would recommend a trip there to anyone, even if it’s just to see the chocolate factory!
Sights & Activities
PERUGINA CHOCOLATE FACTORY: If you’ve ever wanted to go to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory (minus the children, oompa loompas and the fact that it’s made up), this place is it. The smell of chocolate envelops you the second you walk in and the free chocolate in the reception area just waiting to be eaten was very inviting. Also just a side note so you don’t get confused, but the chocolate factory is Perugina with an N, and the town is Perugia without an N…this isn’t a typo and I don’t know why it’s like this but it confused me the entire time we were there so just make a note of that. Anyways, this factory is responsible for making Baci Perugina chocolate, and they are now owned by Nestle, so thankfully this chocolate is available worldwide for all of us to enjoy. Their original Perugina Baci chocolate is a piece of gianduja (chocolate, nougat and ground hazelnuts), with a whole hazelnut in the middle and then the whole thing is covered in dark chocolate. “Baci” in Italy translates to “kisses” (thanks google translate) and the chocolates are enclosed in a silver wrapper with blue stars. Once you unwrap it, you’ll find that inside the wrapper are little pieces of paper with a romantic love note on it – classic Italy. Part of this factory also belongs to the the Perugina School of Chocolate where they hold 3-4 hour classes and go over all of the parts of chocolate making from start to finish and end the class taste-testing their work. Our hour and a half tour included a demonstration inside the school classroom, a video and guided tour that goes inside the actual production factory and a taste testing at the end. We couldn’t take any photos inside of the factory but I do have a photo of the exhibit that includes a replica of the whopping 13,1583 pound chocolate they call the “Bacione,” or “big kiss” that holds the Guinness world record for largest chocolate candy ever made. After the massive structure was displayed to the public during Perugia’s annual Eurochocolate Festival in 2003, it was carved and whittled into tons of small pieces and given out to thousands of festival-goers. For all of the other chocoholics, some of the chocolate they let you taste test is unwrapped and some of it is wrapped, if you’re like me, put as many wrapped pieces as you can in your pockets – that’s what it’s there for!
*Also, they have a Perguina Chocolate Factory at Eataly in New York City if that’s a little closer for you!
SAN LORENZO CHURCH: There are few examples of cathedrals in Italy that are unfinished but this is a notable one. It was constructed in 1587 and is unique in the fact that the front facade doesn’t face the main square that it’s constructed in. The front facade remains unfinished but inside the church is completely finished and beautiful. Our tour guide also told us that one of the chapels contains the tomb of Pope Martin IV as well as a small museum that has a selection of interesting religious artifacts and relics.
Food & Drink
CHOCOLATE: I feel like this is self-explanatory but I added it in here again just to emphasize how good their chocolate is. The chocolate at their factory was 1 euro for a full size candy bar (naturally I bought five) but they sell it all over the world so you have a good chance of getting it anywhere!
