Sunday, July 30, 2006

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!

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