As we wound our way through the Italian countryside, the rolling hills and sunflowers brought about a different type of excitement for our trip as we continued onto Perugia. Making our way up to the city of Perugia, the views from our bus window got many “oohs” and “ahhs” from the Trip Members.
Upon arriving at our hotel, we checked in and went for a stroll around the city. We walked through an old tunnel with modern escalators taking pedestrians both up and down from the central city of Perugia, which is at the top of the hill. These old underground passageways were former streets of the historic city center, which are now open to the public. Coming up into a beautiful, quiet park was relaxing for us who were coming from the hustle and bustle of Rome. The Trip Members were given time to walk through the city to have a bite to eat as they began to appreciate the quiet charm that Perugia exudes.
After lunch, we went to the Casa del Cioccolato Perugina, which is the Perugina Chocolate factory owned by Nestle. The famous Baci chocolate is still produced here and has the sweetest legend. Created in 1922 by Luisa Spagnoli, a young chocolatier, fell in love with Giovanni Buitoni, the founder of the Perugina chocolate factory. Their love was kept a secret, with Luisa writing romantic notes around the chocolates that she sent to Giovanni for his inspection. This inspired her to create the Baci chocolate, a smooth chocolate “kiss” with a whole hazelnut at the top. We were able to explore the factory where the Baci chocolate, along with others are made. We also saw a replica of a Baci chocolate that won the 2003 award in the Guinness book of world records as the largest individual chocolate! We spent the evening at the hotel, enjoying the pool and gym, before heading out for dinner in the town square.
Our second day in Perugia, we left early to go to our Italian cooking class in the beautiful Perugian countryside. Raphaela welcomes us into her home to teach us several common Italian dishes. We made a peach and chocolate dessert and pasta from scratch. The Trip Members made the pasta noodles from scratch! In groups of 6, they mixed the flour and eggs for the dough. Then they rolled out the dough, putting it through the pasta maker to get long, fresh noodles. After eating our delicious lunch, we enjoyed some down time to relax by the pool. Once we got back to Perugia, we went into town to collect materials for our team flags. After dinner, we got into our teams and created our team flags which were then judged by an impartial team leader.
On our last day in Perugia, we headed to Aquapark di Tavernelle, a water park where we spent the day in the sun; sliding down the water slides, jumping off the splash tower, and spending time with one another playing games in the shade. Afterward, we spent some time in the old city of Perugia, where teams were able to explore parts we had not yet seen. The views from the top when you look down were breathtaking.
The next morning we made our way to the port where we boarded our ferry. Beautiful sunsets set the stage for more team games. Each team was given a random object that they had to present to the four team leaders who judged the creativity and teams pitch!
The next morning we disembarked onto Grecian soil. Make sure to check back in as we explore the picturesque towns, clear blue oceans, and continue on with our team activities. Who will win this trip? We’ll keep you posted!
The Westcoast Blogger
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