Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Chance Encounter in Perugia

While in Perugia, I had a view of the city and something else.

An encounter I will never forget. My travel friends and I have arrived in Perugia, Italy, a small hill top town, known for its massive cathedral and wide, stone streets, with colorful yellow, orange and brown three story Italian apartments that line the streets. We have decided to stay overnight because the Perugia jazz festival has started and we have tickets to a jazz performance. People are walking around in large numbers. We squeeze our way through the crowds after the jazz performance, and walk up the stony steps toward our lodging place, a hostel.
After checking in, I walked out onto the balcony of the room. It was sunset. The balcony had a red brick patio with old curvy iron railings. I could see the entire town below and in the distance I could see across the rolling hills grapevines, hay fields and olive trees, surrounded by purple mountains in the distance.
That night I heard the distant jazz music coming from an open stage and the cathedral’s tower clock chiming on the hour.

In the morning, the air was cool and slightly breezy. The sun barely showed above the horizon. I escaped to the patio to feel the cool breeze and admire the city from my high perch. I looked around to see what buildings were around me and who may be up at this early hour. Looking down, I saw a man moving toward a window across from me about two stories below.
As he moved toward the window to look out, I noticed he was naked. He was a slim man, mid-30’s, tanned, slightly muscular, dark brown hair and very naked. He looked up at me, and I looked away, pretending I was interested in the tomato plant that was sitting on my balcony. I looked back at him, and he was leaning out the window, looking below at the slow movement of pedestrians that passed by. I thought he looked like a naked statue that I viewed in a museum the prior day. I did not make eye contact with him again, and breezed inside the apartment for a shower. Later, I informed my roommates what they missed while they slumbered.

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