Umbria - Italy - page 195

for the city. Nowadays, visitors can walk down the slippery steps, past dripping
walls, and cross a walkway at the bottom. Admission is included with the € 2.50
ticket for entrance to the moderately interesting Capella di San Severo (Piazza
Raffaello; summer daily 10am-1:30pm and 2:30-6:30pm, Nov-Mar closed 5pm),
which features a Raphael fresco.
A good spot for weekend visits with the kids is the POST (Perugia Officina
per la Scienza e la Tecnologia) science museum

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(Via del Melo, 34; % 075-
5736501; www.perugiapost.it; € 3; Fri-Sat 4-7:30pm, Sun 10:30am-1pm and
4-7:30pm, Nov-Mar opens 30 min. earlier). It's a hands-on museum of the button-
pushing, interactive-display type, although most of the explanations are in Italian
only. Regardless, parents and kids can figure out what's going on together, and it
makes a nice break from Duomos and Roman ruins.
THE OTHER PERUGIA
For insight into the people of Perugia, you'll want to delve more deeply into their
daily pleasures: chocolate, soccer, and leisurely strolls in the evenings.
In particular, the passeggiata

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, an evening promenade along Corso
Vanucci, is a must-do while in Perugia. Join the many locals every evening (until
past midnight on weekends) as they stroll from Piazza Italia to Piazza IV
Novembre. Along the way, do some window-shopping, stop at a bar or cafe, and
just be part of the scene. Finish up by gazing over the countryside from the
balcony at Piazza Italia, or sit with half the town at the steps in the medieval
Piazza IV Novembre. It sounds like a simple activity, but it is truly at the heart of
the life of this city.
Continue your walk underneath Piazza Italia through the refurbished exhibit
spaces and streets of Underground Perugia. In the 1530s, the Pope's forces razed
the southern part of rebellious Perugia and built the Rocca on top of it. Many of
the streets and stone houses remained forgotten under the fortress for hundreds
of years. Now, escalators lead people through the area on the way to lower town
parking garages. Get off one of the escalators and tour the hidden streets, some
with art galleries.

The Foreign University
The oldest and largest university in Italy for foreigners is the Università per
Stranieri di Perugia (Piazza Forteraccio, 4; % 075 - 57461; www.unistrapg.it/
english). Since 1921 it has been teaching the language, culture, and arts of Italy.
The school offers 3-month intensive language courses for all levels of students, as
well as monthlong cultural classes for non-Italian speakers. Fees run € 230 to
€ 300 per month, and classes are taught all year long. Also of note is the univer-
sity's free Wednesday lecture series, which sometimes features English-speaking
guest speakers on all aspects of Italian art, culture, and history. Finally, the
University hosts music, sports, and performing groups for foreigners—hang
around the lobby and you may be able to sneak into a few.