San Costanzo

Today was the most beautiful day I’ve had in Perugia, thus far. After many days of rain and cold, it was fitting that today would be beautiful. Today was the festival of San Costanzo. He is a patron saint of Perugia. Perugia actually has three saints that watches over the city. Today is like a holiday to the people of Perugia.  All Italian schools are closed and many markets; however, Umbra stayed open. So in between classes, friends and I wandered the streets to see all that San Costanzo had to offer us.

The big event is something like a street fair or flea market. One section of the city was dedicated to vendors. There was everything from food to light bulbs for sale. Here are a few pictures of the vendors and what they had to offer.

The other big tradition for Perugia is the tasting of the torcolo and wine. A torcolo is a fruitcake shaped as a donut. (It was awful! It tasted like liquorish!) The tasting of the torcolo is set up in a tent (like this one) 

and Italians push through the tent until finally coming out on the other side with a piece of torcolo and a small plastic glass of wine. Honestly, it felt like we were a bunch of sardines. 

Other than that, I believe there was a concert for San Costanzo. Although I’m not all for believing in these saints –I think Perugia has someone watching over them. The last two weeks have been rainy and cold even up until yesterday. Somehow today was beautiful. Take a look at the view!