National Gallery

 Our days have been filled with wonderful moments. Naturally, we have our favorite places, people and experiences from our past that we revisit and enjoy.  We  are determined to hold those in place and at the same time, add to the list while we are still able. Time is a thief. There’s still time. We don’t take that for granted. 

The city of Perugia is not far from Assisi. It’s a few stops on the train and then a fun ride up the hill from the station on the mini metro, the tiny train that feels very much like a ride in Disney World. The center of the city is alive and pedestrian friendly. The main street, Via Corso Vannucci, is home to the Palazzo dei Priori, the seat of the City Council since the Middle Ages. And the Palazzo houses one of the richest collections of art in the country, the Galleria Nationale dell’Umbria.

In fact, the Palazzo is the only municipal building in the country to host a collection of art.

For us, this was a first. On previous occasions, we had not found the Galleria open so before we set out, we checked the schedule lest we be disappointed. Yes, it indeed was open. No, the elevator was not. We’re beginning to think that every elevator and many escalators in Umbria are “non aperto” at the moment (this country has labor shortages too). The nice young women who sold us our tickets apologized for the inconvenience but did point out the way to the staircase…..es. Staircases. “The entrance to the gallery is on the third floor”. Now, if you know anything about Italy then you do probably know that buildings start on the zero floor, making the second floor the first. This adds a floor. Up,up,up. And finally, the entrance which, for such a formal place, was staffed by two very informal people who for some reason, assumed we were senior citizens and led us to a “special” entrance and handed over two canes which opened to become little chairs. We accepted the assessment and appreciated the chairs as we set out on our journey through forty rooms of 800 years of Italian art curated in 3500 meters of collection space. 

So, another new and magnificent memory was born and after what seemed like a very long time, we descended, needless to say, looking very much forward to the restrooms.

Which were on the third damned floor. So, no.