Hotel Fortuna, Perugia

On the sugar packets placed in a small box at the centre of our breakfast table, the name of Hotel Fortuna dances in gothic script -- plus the information that the building dates back to the 1300s ... I can believe it! If I thought my 17th-century house in Amsterdam was full of nooks and crannies, unexpected changes of floor level and winding staircases -- this hotel beats it into a cocked hat. (Hm, is that really the right expression? So many years out of England and I start to lose the idioms...).
Today I climbed the staircases up to the fifth floor and out onto the sun-stroked balcony, to admire the view. Heat haze in the distance, but close up honeysuckle twisting and scenting the air. It has the beautiful name camperfoelie in Dutch and similar sounds in French and Italian. Happy plant!
There is a Sunday serenity about the city at present (or is it caused by the noonday sun?) Or is everyone sleeping still, after the revelries of Saturday night -- the Corso Vannucci was packed at eleven p.m...

Here some pix of the Hotel Fortuna, recommended not least for its wonderful personnel -- the reception desk was peopled with charming and extremely helpful (I assume) students. Many thanks to Nicola, Neomi, Daniele and the two Federicas.

True to Italian sense of interior design, the rooms inside were also a delight to behold.

The ceiling in the dining room has similar painted plaster traces. The chairs are both elegant and comfortable (unlike Rietveld's -- in-joke for Dutch designers).