wednesday in torino

After having a wonderful breakfast at my hotel, I ventured out to explore more of Torino. My first stop was to an electronics store recommended by my hotel to try to get a new battery for my phone. After my phone died again a second time in the piazza during the world cup game and then yet again in the middle of my trying to send an sms (text message), I decided that I needed to find out what was wrong with my phone. The girl at the phone counter looked at my phone and told me it was too old. I might be able to find a battery across town but the chances were slim. She was extremely kind, complimenting my italian which is not very good when using cell phone vocabulary/verbs. She asked where I was from and then called everyone over to see me...a girl from Hawaii! It was pretty funny. I guess I was the first person she had ever met that lived in Hawaii.

She recommended a phone similar to mine which was one of the cheapest phones and used the same car charger as my previous phone so that I could charge it when I returned home. It also is a tri-band phone and so it should work in the US which may come in handy. She helped me change my tim card so that my new phone would work and showed me a few of the new features of the phone.

After leaving the phone store, I went back to my hotel to put the cell phone box, the new charger, and my old phone in my room and then headed back out to do a little window shopping, including going to the mac store. I then decided to go to Al Bicerin to try the famous bicerin drink. After a few wrong turns, I found the place but it was closed for the day. Plan B, I decided to check out the Piazza Solferino. There I found an amazing fountain, 2 atriums, and various figures in the shape of different winter sports surrounding the piazza. The first atrium contained images, films and other information about the recent winter olympic games which were held in Torino.

After spending about an hour in the atrium, I grabbed some lunch at this cool fresh food self service place called Exki, natural fresh & ready, restaurant - bar, and then decided to go tour the Palazzo Reale (royal palace). When I arrived at the Palazzo Reale at the ticket area, I took out my torino card expecting to easily get a ticket and tour the palace. A not so friendly woman told me matter of factly that there was a big group that already booked the next tour and I would have to come back much later in the day if I wanted to see the palace. I did not quite understand what she was saying at first, expressed to her that I did not understand, and so she just spoke even faster again in italian telling me that I could not purchase a ticket for the next tour. I asked if the tour was in italian or also other languages. She said italian. I told her I did not need to take the tour as I just wanted to look around the palace. I did not realize that it was mandatory to go on the tour and finally understood when this nice man sitting near her doing some other job explained to me that the tour was mandatory and then told me that I could return later in the day an try to book one of the next tours. I thanked him and decided to instead go to the egyptian museum which was nearby.

Thankfully, it was quite easy to get into the egyptian museum - museo egizio. However, here I met the second crabby person in Torino. The reason I kept count was that earlier when talking to Katia on the phone, I told her how much I loved Torino and she was surprised that the people were all so friendly. She asked me if it was because I told them that I was from Hawaii. I told her that everyone was friendly and only a few people had asked where I was from.
After getting my ticket, it took me a few minutes to find the entrance to the museum as there were 2 different displays in the building. I found the first room and wandered around. It was ok. Lots of ancient rocks, dishes, pottery, jewelry, much of things similar to what I have seen in many museums in the past while in Italy. BUT then after asking "crabby man" where the next room was and having him yell "sotto, sotto" at me, which meant downstairs, I found the stairway and entered an amazing room.

I think the photos will be self explanatory:

Next, I went into this room where there were actual mummies and tombs (think that was what they were called:

By now, I was exhausted from walking all day. I went back to my hotel to rest for a while and then decided to go to ristorante/pizzeria called Urbani which was recommended by my hotel for dinner. My experience there was strange from the moment I arrived. When I walked in the door, the woman at the entrance who I assumed was seating people looked at me strangely when I said "one for dinner". I then told her I wanted to order a pizza. She must have misunderstood me as she brought me to the back where there was a man behind a counter making pizzas.

I saw a waiter and explained that I wanted to eat at the restaurant for dinner. He then sat me and asked what I wanted to drink. I ordered water and he left. A different waiter came back with a small caraf of water and asked me what kind of pizza I wanted. I asked him if there was a menu. He said just to tell him what kind of pizza I wanted. I have heard of places without menus before but never a big restaurant/pizzeria. I told him I wanted a pizza margherita with pepperoni on top (pepperoni in Italy is peppers not the meat pepperoni). He asked me if I wanted the meat or the vegetable pepperoni. I confirmed that I wanted the vegetable peppers pepperoni. He left and about 10 minutes later when walking by I asked him again to make sure that I was getting the peppers and not the meat for the topping. He said yes and left again. About 5 mins later, he arrived putting a plate of roasted peppers on a dish on my table. I told him that I wanted the peppers cooked on the pizza, not on the side. He said he was bringing them to the pizza maker but wanted to make sure that this was what I ordered. The pizza man then began to make my pizza. Luckily there was a world cup match on the tv as it was a long wait.

Finally my pizza was delivered to my table. It was good, but nothing to rave about. While eating my pizza, a couple from England was seated next to me. The waiter asked them what they wanted to eat without bringing a menu. They were given some suggestions and then they ordered. They also thought it was strange that there was no menu. This was not just a tourist restaurant and unfortunately I did not see if the tables filled with italians recieved menus.

After I finished my pizza, I was asked if I wanted dessert or coffee. I said I was full and asked for the bill. The waiter disappeared and after about 15 minutes I saw the man who originally seated me. He asked me if I wanted dessert. I told him I was waiting for the bill. He asked me what I had to eat and disappeared. A few minutes later, he brought a plain piece of paper with € 15.00 written on it. I should have said something as I knew right then I was being ripped off, but the restaurant was not in a great area and it was getting dark and I wanted to head back to my hotel. I didn't remember that it is against the law to not be given a bill on an official restaurant slip and pizzas do not cost that much, even with water and the cost of sitting at the table, but I was not thinking at the moment except that I knew I was being ripped off. I paid the bill and walked back to my hotel.

Later when I saw the woman who recommended the pizzeria, she said that was very strange and not normal first to not be given a menu, to be charged that much for a pizza, and to be given the bill on a plain piece of paper. Not much I can do at this point but I will write a bad review about this pizzeria on the slow travel board in hopes that the word spreads.

All in all besides the 2 crabby people and then the rip off at the pizzeria, a great day in Torino!

first day in Torino

I returned to Hawaii Monday night and am still having Italy withdrawals. I did not get the chance to write about Torino while in Italy and will try to recap the last few days now.

I arrived in Torino on Tuesday, July 4th, around 11 am. I knew in advance that there was a huge taxi strike lasting almost a week all over Italy and so I figured out the route to my hotel from the train station the night before while still in Saluzzo. Luckily, my hotel was not more than a 15 minute walk from the train station. Torino is a great city for those that get lost easily (like me). Almost all streets run in straight lines and so my hotel was very easy to find. When I arrived at my hotel, I was told that it would be another hour before my room would be ready. Not a problem since I no longer had to lug my bags! Torino is filled with stores...it is a shopper's dream city. I wandered around the main shopping street - Via Roma and also tried to orient myself to the city. I also went to Piazza Castello, which was where the medals were given out during the winter olympics. I also stopped at one of the tourist booths. There are little booths set up all over the city with 2 very friendly people waiting inside to give you information about the city of Torino. I already had a map (from Katia) and wanted to get a Torino card which gives you free access to most museums as well as many other benefits (one being free transportation on all the buses and rail cars).

(one of many stores on Via Roma)

(Piazza Castello)

After returning to my hotel and unpacking my things, I ventured back out to look for a place to have some lunch. I found this great little bookstore that also had a little bar inside serving great food for lunch. I had some quiche and tomatoes with olive oil. After lunch, I walked around the city some more and then went to the Mole Antonelliana which is the tallest building in Torino and at one time it was the tallest building in the world. There is a lift that takes you to the top in 59 seconds for a view of the city. It was a wild ride up to the top! Only 7 people fit in the elevator along with the elevator operator. At one point it feels like you are going to crash into the top of the ceiling but then you go through this little hole and voila, you are at the top!

(2 views of La Mole Antonelliana)

(the elevator going up to the top)

The Mole also houses the Museo Nazionale del Cinema (Cinema Museum). I have a link to this museum in the May archives on this blog. The Mole turned out to be one of my favorite places to spent time in while in Torino.

(pictures from the cinema museum - check out the toilet seats!)

world cup mania

Tuesday, July 4th, was also the day of the Italy-Germany semi-final game. You could feel the energy increasing after each Italy win and so I was pretty excited to be in Torino for the semi-final game. In Italy world cup is called i Mondiali and the 2 ways to cheer on Italy's team are Forza Italia or Forza Azzurri (azzurri meaning blue as their uniforms are blue). I asked around and found out that the match would be broadcast on a huge outdoor screen in Piazza San Carlo. After I left the Mole, I started to see little stands of flags sprouting up all over. You could feel the energy and anticipation of the game. I stopped back at my hotel and then grabbed some focaccia for dinner and headed to the piazza.

It was CRAZY!! There were so many flags waving and the horns blasting constantly!! When Italy came out before the match began, fireworks started going off and then there was colored smoke everywhere and also something that looked like a fire by the statue in the middle of the piazza but since all the police, which were positioned all around the edge of the piazza, did not budge, I figured it could not be a fire but for a minute it looked like the statue was going to burn up. The singing and the cheering and just being in the crowd with everyone. It was amazing! This was one of the highlights of my trip. I was so fortunate to be in Italy during the world cup and have now learned to enjoy soccer. The minute the first half ended everyone evacuated the piazza! My guess was everyone was going somewhere to use the bathroom?? I spent the 2nd half and the end of the game back at my hotel as I was not brave enough to be there with the crazy crowd when they won just in case a riot broke out since this was my first day in Torino and I did not know what the city was like at night. The game went into overtime and ended at 11:30. Italy scored 2 goals back to back right at the end of the game. The town went wild when they scored! The celebrating went on for over an hour after the game ended.

FORZA AZZURRI!!

more later...off to paint my bathroom!

ciao!

mondovì

Monday, my last day in Saluzzo, I decided to go to Mondovì. When planning my trip, I assumed that there was transportation from Saluzzo all day long but as I mentioned in my previous post, there are limited trains that take you to Savigliano, where you need to be to get anywhere. There are only trains at 7 and 8 am and then again at 1:30 and later. I decided to check out some of the shops in Saluzzo in the morning and then take the 1:30 train to Saluzzo. BUT...of course it was Monday and so all of the shops were closed. The shops close on Sundays, Mondays, and every day around 12:30 or 1:00 in the afternoon until somewhere between 3:30 and 5pm.

And so, I bought a paper to read and did a sudoko puzzle while waiting for the train. The connection to Mondovì was fine and I arrived in less than an hour. Again, thankfully I had a map from Katia's work place and for once did my homework and read up on the town while waiting for the train. Two books both said that there was a funicular from the lower town to the upper historic section of the town. It was about a 10-15 minute walk to the lower town from the train station. I then found the funicular and saw some workers working right in front of the open door. When I asked if the funicular was running or if it was closed for lunchtime, one of the men told me it would be open in 3 months! In October!!

(the not yet working funicular)

So, the only way up was to go back down to the center to find a bus or to walk. I decided to walk...a long long way up up up - about 40 minutes later, I arrived at the top. I guess all those nights walking up the steps to Hotel Doria in Lerici paid off as although I was huffing and puffing, I survived the walk uphill.

Once I arrived, I realized that everything was closed because it was Monday! There was a cool tower which was closed, and a couple of churches which were closed due to restoration work.

(clock tower in upper town of Mondovì)

(main piazza in upper town of Mondovì)

The main piazza was quite lovely. I took some pictures and walked around a little and then inquired about the bus for the ride back down. I met a lady waiting at the bus stop that was quite amazed that I walked up hill. She was very nice and even gave me her phone number in case I ran into any problems while in Torino as she lived right outside Torino.

Back down in the lower town, I wandered around a little more, took some pictures, had a gelato, and then realized that I only had 10 minutes til my train left. I walked as fast as I could and also ran a little up hill again (but only a little hill) and arrived with 2 minutes to spare to then find out that the train would be 10 minutes late.

(2 pics of the lower town)

(another picture of the lower town of Mondovì - up at the
top of the picture is the upper town...a long walk up up up!)

Once back in Saluzzo, I stopped in a little shop to get some food for dinner and then headed back to the hotel to pack.

Tuesday morning, the owners' son drove me to the train station in Savigliano so that I would not have to leave so early. While waiting for the train, an announcement was made about the train being late. I panicked as I heard Torino to Savona and thought for a minute that the train that arrived a few minutes earlier was my train and I was waiting for the train from Torino to Savona instead of the train to Torino. All the people waiting with me assured me that I did not miss my train and although my train was also late, I did not miss it. My train finally arrived and it was packed. I ended up standing in one of the areas where you get on/off the train which is between 2 of the cars for the 50 minute ride. My nano ipod has come in handy for occasions like this!

I will write more later on Torino where I am now....

ciao!

cuneo & saluzzo

After looking at all the bus and train options (which there are not many of), I decided that Saturday would be the best day to go to Cuneo. The owner of the hotel drove me into the bus station which is not very far from the hotel. He is very nice and insists on driving me every morning into town which is nice. Of course when arriving at the bus station, there is little information available. I found the bus schedule and saw that there was a bus going to Cuneo (which takes an hour) pretty soon. There is no ticket window at this station but there is an automatic ticket machine which I could not figure out how to use. Luckily, a nice woman told me that I could buy a ticket at the bar. The bus ride (a pullman bus - the blue bus) was ok. I am not a fan of bus rides...crowded, not much room between seats, and sometimes pretty smelly as all the windows are shut and not everyone showers before getting on the bus. There seemed to be a problem with the little yellow machine in the front of the bus that validates the tickets (stamps the time) and so we sat waiting for the bus to leave for an extra 10 minutes while the woman fixed the machine.

I got off at the train station in Cuneo to check to see what train options there were for the ride back. For some reason, there are more trains going to Saluzzo in the afternoon and only a couple early in the morning. After writing down the times, I headed into town. Luckily, I had a map of Cuneo which I got when visiting Katia. The town is pretty easy to navigaate. I stopped in a bread shop and had to fight my way to be called on. At times, people are pretty aggressive when waiting to order. I watched carefully to make sure that I did not ask for what I wanted before others who were already here. I was next in line and a woman started to ask the same time as I did. When I looked her way, she admitted that I was next and waited while I ordered. I bought some very delicious little slices of bread covered in cheese, tomatoes, and rucola. I headed on to the big piazza. I had wanted to go to Cuneo after seeing a beautiful picture of this piazza.

(the main piazza in Cuneo)

Unfortunately when I arrived there was a big volleyball match going on as well as other tables set up with cars and signs everywhere. The volleyball match was beach volleyball with 4 high school girls on each side playing some type of championship match. I continued my walk to the end of the town. There is a beautiful clock tower in the town which was not open on Saturday to climb.

(cool clock tower in Cuneo)

I wandered the city a little more. Most everything closed up about an hour after I arrived. The city was very pretty with interesting architecture. It seemed to me to have a "french touch".

(porticoes in Cuneo)

I was still very tired from the long day of traveling the day before and also a little sore from carrying the backpack for so long and so I decided to cut my visit short and return to Saluzzo on an earlier train instead of waiting for everything to open back up. The ride was fine with a short wait to connect to a second train at Savigliano. When I returned to Saluzzo, I wandered though a few shops on my way back to the hotel and then took a long hot shower. The England/France game was playing. It was only on the german station on my tv and so I watched the end of the game which ended up being very exciting. The hotel was making dinner that night and so I decided to eat here at the hotel instead of walking back into town.

On Sunday, I decided to spend the day in Saluzzo. After spending some time on the internet catching up on all the news, the owner again drove me into town. Everything was closed and it was like a ghost town. Even on the main street, the streets were empty with only a car passing every 5 or 10 minutes.

(center in the lower town of Saluzzo)

Usually, you need to dodge the cars when crossing the main street. It was actually sort of nice to walk around and take pictures. I went back to Quattro Stagione for lunch and had a salad and some risotto.

At 2, the museum - Casa Cavassa opened up. This was such a wonderful place to visit.  It is the home of a family from Saluzzo that has tons of room with interesting paintings and furniture in each room and also wonderful views. I was the only one there and had the entire museum to myself. A rare sight in Italy. After taking lots of pictures and chatting with the girl at the desk, I went on to climb the bell tower. This was my first tower to climb this year. There were only a little over 100 steps and do it was a very easy tower to climb. The inside was very interesting. I tried to take some pictures and hope they came out. the views from the top were wonderful. I stayed up there for quite a while and then decided to head back into town. (the tower and museum are located at the top of the town in the old part of town and the main part of town is below).

(Casa Cavassa and 3 views of Saluzzo from the top of the tower)

It was amazing!! When I went back down to the main part of town, there were TONS of people! A couple of hours it was completely empty and now it was so lively. Most of the stores were still closed, but the bars were all full and the streets were also very busy. I walked around for a while and then headed back to the hotel. The Palio (from Siena) was on tv and I wanted to get back in time to watch the parade before it started. I saw some people walking near my hotel with a bag of groceries and found a great little supermarket located about a block past the hotel. I decided to get some food for dinner and just hang out for the night instead of heading back into town again after the Palio finished. I had a nice relaxing night and it was fun seeing Siena again with the crowds and all the action. It ended up being a very close race and Pantera won.

(view of the upper town of Saluzzo from my hotel)

Today (Monday) it is pretty overcast. I am hoping this does not mean rain. I plan to go to Mondovì in the afternoon (first available train). Tomorrow, I head to Torino...my last place to stay.

ciao!