Memories of Italy -- Words for Wednesday 29 January.

Splurge

Perugia - Railway station.

Bonking
Veterans
Windows
Lasagna
Inconceivable!
       
And/Or

Ruling
Extinguished
Ebonics
Dresser
Marley
Yikes

"Today is the day of St. Constantius of Perugia," MotherOwl told the Owlets as they returned home from school.
"Perugia, where's that?" The Pirate asked.
"Oh I forgot you're not all veterans of many travels." MotherOwl said. "When we were younger, and had no Owlets yet or just one or two, we traveled a lot. We went by train traveling Europe for a month each summer. Mostly we went to Italy. And Perugia is the town where you change train from the main line Florence - Rome, to the smaller branch leading to Assisi. We arrived there one day long ago with BigSis and BigBro, then just a baby. We stranded in Perugia that day. We arrived at noon and the next train was not leaving until five o'clock. We then decided to go shopping, and maybe even splurge on something to eat, lasagna or something like it. And you know what?" MotherOwl asked.
"No!" all the Owlets answered.
"Well every shop, restaurant and inn was closed from 11am to 6pm for siesta."
"Inconceivable!" the Owlets shouted.
"Yes," MotherOwl nodded. "And on a Tuesday even. We just filled our water bottles at a fountain, walked through the pretty city, enjoying the views, and then we sat in the waiting room until the train finally arrived and rescued us from that sleeping town."
 "Please tell us more, MotherOwl," the Owlets said.
"Assisi was lovely. Absolutely lovely. We all loved the city. Your dad and I because of the churches, St. Francis and all that. Big Sis liked the churches too, but the very best was the ice parlour in the main square. They had 30 different tastes in ice cream, and it was not the same 30 each day!"
"Ohh!" and "Ahh!" was heard from the Owlets. "Was everything always nice on your travels?" Marsupilami asked.
"Oh, no it wasn't" Mother Owl continued. "Remember, we did not have much money. We stayed at cheap inns, convents or campsites. Once we stayed in an old tower, a really old one. The couple running that place were old, almost blind and deaf. The sheets smelled of stale cigar smoke, the dresser was full of last year's dust bunnies, and we even saw a cockroach or two in the bathroom.
"Yikes!  What did you do?"  The Pirate asked.
"We did not eat anything there, and we opened the windows wide whenever we were in the room. But the town was fantastic. A medieval town with fortifications, walls and towers. You could almost imagine knights in shiny armour and ladies in wonderful dresses and mendicant monks still walking the streets. It was a wonderful time."