I knew in advance that this day would be my longest travel day. In order to get to Saluzzo by train, you need to take 3 trains. The first takes about 3 hours but luckily it is on a more comfortable train. I decided to take a taxi to La Spezia instead of the bus in order to make sure I would catch the train on time.
There were 2 train times that would work to get to Saluzzo in a reasonable amount of time -the 9:54 train and the 11:54 train. I made a seat reservation for the first train and ended up arriving in Saluzzo at the arrival time of the second train (which if you do the math would be 2 hours later).
My day started ok with the hotel having someone carry my bag up all the stairs to the parking lot. There, the taxi driver was waiting. After an incredibly expensive taxi...about 10 euros more than the hotel quoted, I arrived at the train station with time to spare.
I was pleasantly surprised to find new seating on this IC train. I had a nice seat and the ride to Torino was very pleasant. We did stop along the way for a while and then were told over the intercom that there was an "incident" in Levanto and the train would be 10 minutes "in ritardo"...those words I never want to hear when taking a train. In the end we arrived 25 minutes late meaning that I missed my next train by 5 minutes to Savigliano. I waited another 30 minutes to take another train to Savigliano. So far, things were still ok. I then remembered that I needed to call the hotel as the woman I corresponded with told me she would be happy to pick my up at the train station in Saluzzo.
This was when things started to go wrong. My phone did not work. Nothing... I tried and tried to turn it on but nothing happened. I was sure I charged it the night before, but perhaps it was 2 nights ago?? I hoped that she would not be waiting for me at the train station as I was definitely not going to be there at my original time. I did write that I would call her that morning to confirm the time and hoped she would wait for my call.
When I got to Savigliano, I found out that the next train to Saluzzo did not leave until 4:03 pm (I was supposed to originally take the 2:03 train). And so...there I was with all my bags at a tiny train station with not much to do. I had heard that the center of the town was quite charming and so off I headed down a street, hoping to find the center. After a little while, I saw a sign pointing to a store with the words centro on the sign.
Because it was the afternoon, everything was closed except for the bars and some pastry shops. The one thing that I did notice was that there seemed to be a place to buy a gelato at almost every corner, sometimes even 2! I only had a piece of focaccia and a couple of nectarines on the train since breakfast and so I was pretty hungry. Also, it was VERY HOT outside. I eating gelato twice during my wait in Savigliano. The town was cute but it is difficult to judge when most everything was closed. A woman at the pastry shop where I purchased my second gelato told me where to find the most picturesque places to see.
(Savigliano)
After taking a couple of pictures, I headed back to the train station and waited for the next train. This train was one of those tiny trains with only 2 cars. The ride only took about 15 minutes to reach Saluzzo. Once there, I took out my map that I printed off the internet and headed towards my hotel. The hotel is actually an old farm redone with beautiful rooms located about 15 minutes by foot from the center and about 25 or 30 minutes on foot when lugging baggage from the train station.
I finally arrived with sweat pouring down me. Everyone was so kind to me when I arrived. The woman at the desk immediately got me some water and had me sit and rest. The hotel is owned and run by a very nice family (a woman, Jean, from England and her husband, Tony, from Saluzzo). Once I got to my room, Jean called me to apologize that she did not arrive at the train station to pick me up and I told her that it was my fault as my phone did not work. The one day I really needed that phone and it did not work!! Luckily it was just the battery and so I immediately charged it and have charged it every night since!
The rooms here at the hotel are so beautiful and comforable. The hotel just opened last fall and so everything is new. I usually am not a fan of baths and prefer showers, but this hotel has a combo and so I took a long luxurious bubble bath to pamper my sore feet.
(view from my window)
(the building which is part of complex across from our rooms)
After my long soak in the tub, I finished upacking and then headed out to explore the town. Tony, one of the owners, volunteered to drive me into town and he also gave me a quick tour and also pointed out everything to see on the map. Saluzzo is a very charming town!
I had dinner at a pizzeria/restaurant called Quattro Stagione, which was recommended to me by the hotel. The food was WONDERFUL!! I was happy that they started serving at 7:30 as I was really hungry. I also wanted to get back to the hotel in time to watch the Italy-Ukraine match. I headed back just as the game began. In town, there were bars crowded with locals with reserved seats sitting in front of TVs waiting for the game to begin. I was near my hotel when Italy scored as all the cars started honking wildly.
Italy won!! A great game and now they play Germany...
A long day in which a car would have been nice to have but I arrived safely and survived. Both the hotel and town are lovely...
more later.
ciao!
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