A few final pictures from the flight home

A few more photos here - some of the Alps after takeoff from Torino, some plane food, and a couple birds-eye views of Paris from the plane.  Enjoy!

The full collection of photos in case you missed anything is here!

Day 18 - Torino 5/24/14 blog & pics - last day :(

Final set of pictures HERE: 

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6:30pm - back at pastis trying dolcetto, a local red wine and enjoying an outdoor apericena. Weather is much better today!

Woke up, had breakfast, and set out for the boat embark point on the Po river. The 9€ ride also included in my card. It came with an audio thing that told you what you were looking at. Pretty ride down. You get to see the big castle in parco Valentino and the medieval village that is fake and from the 1800s. On the way back I got off there and wandered through the pretty park. The palace is huge and I bet amazing inside but not open to the public. 

Wandered back all the way to the train station. On the way I happened upon a big church behind bullocks with three armed guards outside and a hummer. Then I looked up and realized that was the synagogue. Sad. I bet it is beautiful inside. Looks it. 

Day 17 Torino Pictures

All pictures and a video HERE.  They are essentially almost all of the Venaria palace and car museum.  Enjoy!

Day 17 - Torino 5/23/14

6:45pm - sitting in Pastis, with my glass of white wine and huge plate of delicious and free snacks (focaccias, bruschetta, grissini, ham, salami, cheese, and olives - no joke!!), all for 4.50€, for aperitivo hour, a huge deal in Torino that I wanted to experience. in fact some places call it "apericena" (cena means dinner in Italian).  And a great way to get out of the quick-arriving storm. You could easily go to a couple places and make a meal out of this. In fact I may just do that tomorrow for an early dinner.

Woke up around 6:30 and had breakfast closer to 8. Luckily the weather looked pretty good! At the b&b, and I still can't figure out how big it is, an older Italian lady was at my breakfast table and we had a conversation fully in Italian! Set out to find the #4 tram and took it four stops to the main station. Validated my 3-day transport pass just before a ticket guy came checking. I think that may be the first time I've ever seen someone check tickets on a bus/tram. Maybe that's why this city runs smoothly! 

Day 16 - Torino 5/22/14 including photos

all pictures and a couple videos from today HERE

also I forgot to mention in yesterday's pictures, I know you were all missing new additions to my series on Italian parking.  northern Italy had been rather disappointing thus far, but the Torinese are surely making up for it.  They are in yesterday's pictures ;)

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4:00pm - at the B&B for a rest and because it's pissing rain.  Woke up around 7, had breakfast in the common room, which was croissants, bread, coffee, etc.  Set out for the food market at Porta Palazzo.  The B&B Owner told me to watch my wallet.  First, I stopped at historic tiny adorable little caffe Al Bicerin for the traditional coffee drink Bicerin, which is a shot of espresso, hot chocolate, and whipped cream on top. It was interesting, because the cream was cold on top.  It was also expensive, at 5 euros.  But one of those things you just have to try!

While I was drinking my bicerin it started to rain so I approached the food market but went down to the Royal Palace instead.  The ticket window was closed until 9:30 (supposed to open at 8:30) and a bunch of tour operators were super annoyed.  It was a bit of a cluster.  Finally got in and around the tour groups (when are these sights going to have group-only times?).  The palace is gorgeous, with gilded room after gilded room, an armory, etc. 

Day 15 Torino 5/21/14 Pictures

Sorry, Flickr has been a bitch today. All pictures HERE 

Day 15 - Torino 5/21/14

5:40pm - at my lovely b&b in Torino for some much-needed rest. 

Woke up early, got breakfast and caught the 8:37am train from Varenna to Milan. Train was full of commuters. It arrived a little before 10 so I had some time in Milan's station til my 11am train to Torino. That was a high speed train and nearly empty. It goes 250/km most of the way! 

Caught a taxi to my b&b and the cabbie got a little lost so he would only take 10 euros (meter said a little more). Checked into my b&b which is in a palace with frescoes in the courtyard and all the rooms in the b&b have a common balcony. There are also two common rooms with kitchens. So nice. 

The b&b is righ off a stick straight pedestrianized street lined with palaces leading to the main square, lined with about five other palaces. What a pretty city!! Got a slice of focaccia for lunch followed by a dark chocolate/cinnamon gelato combo that was huge for 2€. 

Found the tourist office and waded through the myriad of combo city cards they offer. Bought the one that includes public transport because it was only 6€ more. Now I just have to figure out the transport system!

Wandered around a bit and tried to find the royal gardens but it appears closed for work. Too bad.  Started getting really tired so I went into the duomo, which is boring except it houses the Holy Shroud. Wandered back to the b&b to do the last bit of laundry and take a long rest. 

7:45pm - sitting in a lovely little square at agnolotti & friends - yes a very strange name - but I read the pasta was good. Strangely for me I want almost the entire menu. It all sounds so good. Grissini, the long thin Italian breadsticks, are from this area. But nothing out of a package here! They are light, airy, and crispy and I can't stop munching. 

 Went out after my rest around 6:30 and wandered more of the city center. Holy crap this city is pretty. Also, verrryyyy little English spoken here. Friends we're not in rick Steves land anymore!! And the difference is noticeable. In tiny Varenna, English was almost the only language spoke by people walking by. The bar in the morning at breakfast where the barista knew everyone by name was a saving grace. Here it's Italian all the way. This restaurant has an English menu but no one is speaking English and the waiter is not responding to me in English. Hurrah!!

10:30pm - back at b&b. Dinner was an interesting chickpea soup followed by artichoke agnolotti (ravioli) with crushed pistachios on top. So delicious!! After I ate I was waiting to use the restroom and the waiter asked (in English) where I was from. I hope he asked because I paid with a credit card that doesn't have a chip. Anyway he said my Italian was pretty good so yay!!!

After dinner walked around and took night photos and got a gelato at a place I had read about - Gianduja - the flavor invented here - and coffee with chocolate shavings in it. Smaller than the one from earlier today but extremely creamy and great flavor. 

I had very high hopes for Torino and so far it's living up to it! Tomorrow will be a number of museums and the (apparently) biggest food market in Europe!!

Total walking: 23,959 steps, 9.54 miles

I'm exhausted so pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. 

Day 14 - Como etc.

Photos HERE

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2:00pm - waiting on the lake for the (expensive!) fast boat from Como to Varenna. Woke up around 7 with the five minute ringing of the church bells, got breakfast, and made it t the docks for the 8:30am bus to menaggio. Made it just in time to catch the 9:05 c10 bus to Como. That bus takes the lake route, which is a tiny narrow road that circles the lake. Cute towns and pretty views. In Lenno there was a fun looking food market and in Como there was a bizarre looking flea-type market. The road is so narrow the whole way that the bus has to honk all the time and cars often have to reverse and most of the people on the bus were little old Italian ladies. Quite funny and the journey definitely part of the experience. In fact experiences like that makes feel badly for people on bus tours who get carted around and don't experience the fun of public transport.

Bus arrived a little before 10:30 and I walked to the huge duomo and in the pedestrian streets in the old town. Bought a silk scarf at A. Picci, where they guarantee ecerything is made in Como with Como silk, which used to be a huge industry here. Of course, that means like the glass in Venice that a lot of what you see is imported. 

Wandered a bit more and grabbed lunch at a cute cafe on the square by the warmer, where some huge exercise thing for kids was going on. The sandwich was 8 euros for a mountain of aged prosciutto and local buffalo mozzarella. I couldn't even finish it!! I think the waitress knew how huge it was since she laughed when she tom my plate away. 

Wandered on the walk by the lake for a while. Como is at the bottom end so the town circles around the end of the lake. Got a sorbetto combination of wild berries and lemon that was refreshing and delicious.  The busiest place on the waterfront is a little area behind a construction nice where a swan has set up a huge nest and has her babies. Even construction workers and old ladies are stopping to take pictures!!

One thing I noticed in Como that was rampant in Milan and I've never seen before is the amount of African immigrants just wandering around the streets trying to sell random books to people. I mean, roses, jewelry, ok...but random books, why? And I can't imagine anyone actually buys them. 

5:15pm - back at the b&b for a pre-dinner rest. The boat ride was in eventful but it was cool to be on the hydrofoil goin so fast up an arm of the lake where you can see both sides. A guy who works for the boat company pointed out clooneys villa so I naturally snapped a picture. Got back around 3:30, went to the produce store and got some strawberries for later. Took a walk towards the castle but only partially uphill and before the trail part started. Came back down and sat on the view terrace for a while to relax and enjoy the view until the sun started peering through and it got hot. 

8:30pm - sitting outside after a delicious dinner at vecchia Varenna. No one else is eating here. Cannot understand why. Everyone is eating at the touristy places that are almost as expensive and don't look good. It's also been much quieter the past couple days. Maybe this is a big weekend destination for people so the week is quieter this time of year. It's nice, though almost every person walking by is speaking English. Anyway, I had gnocchi with local cheese and potatoes (yes potato gnocchi with cubes of boiled potatoes) similar to, but way better than, the buckwheat pasta I had the other night. It also had snow peas in it. It was cheesy and delicious. I tarted myself to a dessert of semifreddo made of carmelized almonds with a dark chocolate sauce. It came out not as a slice or scoop of semifreddo but as three balls of frozen deliciousness on top of amazing chocolate sauce. All while looking right into the sunset for a worthy splurge indeed. 

11:00pm - sitting on the roof speaking with the lovely john and Stephanie. Enjoyed a very nice evening chatting and watching the lights come on across in Menaggio after the stunning sunset. 

Tomorrow it's off to eat and eat and lots of chocolate at my last stop in Torino :(

Total walking today (light day) 19167 steps, 27 stairs, 7.67 miles. 

Day 13 Lugano, menaggio etc. pictures

Whoops actually forgot to upload this morning but free wifi at lunch restaurant so pictures HERE

Day 13 - Lugano, Menaggio, etc. 5/19/14

5:00pm - back in b&b room after a day trip to Lugano, Switzerland. Got breakfast at a different bar this morning. The guy was funny, he basically forced me to put cocoa powder in my cappuccino. Gee tough thing. 

Caught the 8:30am boat to Menaggio, which only takes 15 minutes. Wandered around the town, which is cute, and figured out where to buy bus tickets and where to get the bus. Kept wandering a bit and found the river, which had a pretty waterfall. 

Caught the 10:40 bus without incident, and the ride was windy and pretty and took just under an hour. Customs at the Swiss border waved the bus through. No passport check. 

After many problems with day trips in the past, I paid careful attention to where to get the bus back. Walked into town and wandered a bit. 

Although there were banks everywhere, they didn't seem to have ATMs so I decided to get lunch at the upscale cafeteria in a department store. Damn Switzerland is expensive! My pasta with mascarpone, speck, and tomatoes, was delicious but that and a small salad, drink, and small dessert cost about $25. But I could charge it so no worries about getting francs. 

Walked around Lugano a bit more. It's a less pretty lake Como. Although everyone speaks Italian there, the people didn't have that charm and warmth that Italians do. 

Walked back to the bus stop and caught the 3pm bus and made it back to Menaggio in just enough time to get the 4pm boat back. Got a good old chocolate/coffee gelato at Riva on the walk back. And now for a pre-dinner rest.

10:30pm - oh well so much for an easier night to sleep tonight. Spent too much time chatting with people! Went to dinner at the highly recommended Quattro pass. They served a little free starter of polenta topped with pancetta and onions. I had homemade pasta with veggies, which was delicious, and a side of potatoes, which instead of the normal plain roasted was a gratin. Yum. Riva gelato was closed again! Maybe they only stayed open later on Saturday. 

Anyway tomorrow I will go to the actual town Como. The boats there are intermittent so I may go to Menaggio again and take the bus then the boat back. 

Walking stats: 21,983 steps, 29 flights of stairs, 8.74 miles! 

Pictures tomorrow morning. It's bedtime!