Took a 4 hour train on wednesday night after work to Milano...it was a terrible, terrible idea to bring cheese and meat and bread for dinner on the train...terrible. Got into Milan around 11 at night, stumbled around for an hour before we found the hostel. Got up the next morning and had my first real cappuccino, and it certaintly did not disappoint. Perhaps, there is not a better breakfast than a cappuccino and a warm chocolate pastry. The main goal for the day was to see the duomo or cathedral of milan, just huge and intricate and layered with stone spires. The walk through the city though, was enjoyable - italy is definitely not as clean as switzerland is though, there cars parked everywhere, it's loud and bustling, especially in milan. the cathedral was very impressive, also climbed to the top as well, and the view was certainly one to remember. of course, milan is the famous for the shopping and the fashion, so some window shopping was in order. if i had the money, i would surely have picked up some italian leather shoes, but alas, another time. the main shopping street, via buenos aires, was full of all those typical stores, all the dolce and gabbana and the like. also, there was soooo much fake stuff being sold on the streets, with the putting of the sunglasses on the cloth so that when the police come they pick up the whole thing and run. i think milan is one of those cities that sure, you'd like to visit sometime, but probably don't need more than a day there.
that evening we took the train to torino, about an hour and a half or so away for milan. supposedly the olympics were there in 2006, but in three days there in the middle of the city i found no evidence at all of them ever being there, which is weird since calgary still plays it up all the time. the train there was almost unbearable - i think i forgot to mention, every day i was in italy it was at least +30 C and incredibly humid, pretty much just too hot and i was sweating like crazy, although i guess that isn't too much to complain about. so the train ride was definitely one of the more uncomfortable sitations i've been in for a while, but nonetheless part of the experience. torino is much much more relaxed and laid back than milan, and probably more like what i had thought italy would be like. the buildings were amazing, the streets beautiful, it seemed like around every corner there was something new to look at. from the train station it was about a 2o minute walk down a main street to the hostel, which was incredibly situated on the top floor of a building on piazza san carlo, one of the bigger plazas in torino. that was definitely a good find on the internet. for dinner that night, we went out to a fairly nice restaurant and got some pizza, and it was absolutely delicious. i personally went for the buffalo mozzarella and tomato and was not disappointed. pretty hard to put into words, but i think it will be difficult to find anything similar to that outside of italy. the wine with dinner was also very good, and pretty cheap for something of similar quality at home. i could get used to this kind of dinner all the time. after dinner was a walk around torino, which at one time was the capital for the house of savoy, and so there is a massive palace there. then of course, came time for the gelato. i'm pretty sure between coffee and gelato i could survive for weeks.
the next morning was a trip to the cathedral of torino, where there is a museum that shows how the church had been originally three churches, a crypt, a graveyard, old roman houses - it's incredible to see and touch things that have been there for thousands of years. there was a very nice lady there who gave us a guided tour as well, which was appreciated. this particular church is important, because it is where the shroud of turin is kept, although you don't actually get to see it, there is a replica and such and you get to see the box that it's in. basically the king of savoy managed to acquire it through a series of events involving the crusades etc, and now it is in torino. walking on the streets after the church, there was a pretty big open air market with all sorts of great stalls, especially for someone like me who love food; olives, sun-dried tomatoes, bread, cheese, vegetables, it was just incredible. those are the kinds of places that i wish i could buy food in. for lunch we picked up some bread, cheese, proscuitto, wine and strawberries - it may have been one of the best lunches i've ever had. pretty cheap too, compared to switzerland anyways.
torino is on the Po river, so luke and i ventured down and had a beer by the river - on a +30 day, it was more appreciated than usual. later in the night there are a bunch of tents along the river that turn into bars/clubs and the whole place gets loud and busy. the rest of the time in torino, there was a really cool egyptian museum with a bunch of stuff, that again the royal family had collected and is now a museum. there were a lot of displays, and almost overwhelming because it's so hard to wrap your head around even just a few thousand years of history. also had the best kebab ever, with fresh made bread and actual doner meat.
the people are all always very well dressed, men in suits and shoes even in +30 weather, the women get dressed up and ride their bikes everywhere, i think it's true that they just love life and love living it, eating and drinking, staying out late, going for walks, cruising on motorbikes, i think that's what i remember the most of anyways. i am looking forward to travelling much more in italy, every day i was there i had coffee and gelato, and i think i miss it already. one last thing, torino is famous for something called gianduia, which is hazelnuts and chocolate.....so essentially this is the birthplace of nutella - so of course the gianduia gelato, with fresh hazelnuts in it was the greatest thing ever.
Wow, Bruce, I love reading about your experiences so far. And you said you`d have trouble writing! The pictures on fb look awesome, too. Wish you could put them together so it can be read and seen at the same time, tough. Can`t wait to hear more!
ReplyDeleteI hope you`re doing well (sounds like you`re great).
Cali was awesome. Travelling by myself for the first time was a good experience. My trip doesn`t sound as beautiful as yours, but it was definitely fun. And the seminar I attended was absolutely AMAZING. Definitely learned a great deal about myself and I`m excited, and loving life!
ttys!!
Always.