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April 11th 2012

Published: April 11th 2012

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Vultic

Biella

beautiful old streets

Well it's been a while. I'll try to catch you all up.

Sorry about that but we got tied up in visiting the good old USA over the Christmas holiday and I just let it all slip through the cracks. BTW we had a wonderful time back home visiting my Mom and brothers on Long Island as well as Debra's Mom and Dad in Orlando along with seeing all the family members we love in both places. We were with our two great sons, Jason and Joseph, most of the time so that was spectacular. And they were with us in NYC as well so that was just icing on the proverbial cake.

We got back to Torino on the 9th of January. Deb started right back into work and doing a fair amount of travelling to Rome. I officially retired just after the new year so I have decided to travel pretty much all the time she does and that works out just fine. I am trying to get myself back into an exercise routine because I have been very bad and the belt is staring to get tight again. Also, I haven't been riding as much as

Cog Railway

This finicular takes you to the old section of Biella

I should either and that has to change. Torino does have ample trails and most of the roads aren't all that bad, so with 'la primavera' in full swing I will get back in the saddle soon.

We have been settling in well. We are taking lessons sometimes twice a week, although travel does put a serious damper on that schedule. However, the language skills are improving but slowly (siamo imparando l'italiano ma lentamente). Driving has also become almost second nature now although the fuel prices are pretty scary. We pay 1.80 € ($2.36) per liter here for benzine (Senza piombo = lead free - petrol is diesel). With the exchange rate and knowing that there are 3.8 liters/gallon that's $8.96/gallon. So, even though the US prices are rising fast it seems equalibrium is a long way off. Now I know why the FIAT Punto and Panda are so popular here. The austerity measures Mr. Monti is establishing are raising hackles with the labor force but because Italy has some industrial base, its eurozone status is not like Greece's very dire picture or even that of Portugal and maybe Ireland. Bottom line is that many folks in southern Europe

Map of Oropa site

This site is meant for Roman Catholic pilgrims but we saw mostly tourists

feel as though Germany (and to a lesser degree France) are staging an "economic occupation" of sorts and they're not very happy about it.

Living in an apartment in the middle of the city has pros and cons. One con is that I can't just hook up a hose and wash the winter dirt and grime off our great little Ford Focus. I could take it to a manned car wash but choose instead to use the Auto lavaggio (manual car wash) near our favorite supermercato (Carrefour) in Collegno - it's about 15 minutes from home. Ends up costing about 5€ in tokens to get it really clean, not bad I say.

I'm cooking a lot when we are home. I started our 2012 giardino di erbe aromatiche (herb garden). Tyme, dill, Rosemary,tons of Basil and Ugly Tomatos. Basil is still growing and the tomatos will be a while still but the other herbs are already in use for chicken and potato dishes. You will have to come over here to try some. I am pretty proud of my stuff 😊

Anyway, on to some places we have been since last we corresponded. Roma of course and

The Basilica

First portico heading to the Basilica

we are going again next week. This time we do have tickets for the Galleria Borgese which we love. We are going to plan trips to local villages more often as we start to consider a move closer to Milano maybe this fall. We have already taken a day trip to Biella which is Northeast of Torino and closer to the alps. Biella is about 1200 meters above sea level. There we travelled to Oropa which hosts a papal basilica and several chapels and cloisters because it is meant as a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site. A small chapel was initially built in the 16th century. Much of that original structure is gone but what is there is still 18th century and most is still in good repair. One chapel houses a somewhat famous wooden sculpture called 'The Black Maddona' black because of the dark wood used not for any other reason. It was a very cool day trip. The day was a bit foggy (nebbioso) so the pictures don't show the hills very well but it was beautiful nonetheless.

We just returned yeaterday (ieri) from a 10 day jaunt to Dublin, Ireland and Edinburgh (Scottland), UK. We had a

Wider view

blast there. Partially, I think, because our brains were given a translation vacation as well. In Italy we are often trying to understand or to fomulate things to say or ways to reply in the Italian language. It sounds lame but that is a taxing thing. So, spending a few days in two nations where english is native was a welcome respite. Now, having said that there is English and there is English spoken in Scottland. The Irish folk were a wee bit easier to understand whilst some Scottish conversations seemed pretty unintelligable but over all it was easier to get along while in either place.

Dublin was great. Our taxi driver from Dublin Airport was named Paddy McGing. He was a man of few words but he knew just where to take us. We had an apartment on Grafton Street almost directly across the street from the main gate of Trinity College. I hope the pictures will show it well. Grafton street is in the Temple Bar district so it can get noisy in the evenings but the bedrooms were in the rear so that was not an issue. The city is a pub crawlers dream. Seriously, there

Madonna Nero

The Black Madonna

are 3 or 4 pubs on every block EVERYWHERE. Deb is not a drinker and I am pretty much a light weight but I did sample the Guinness on draft and it was killer. Never a bad pull and I did have a few. Tried some Bulmers cider, nah not again, stick with the Guinness 😊. Being so close to Trinity College we spent some time there. Lovely, old campus full of students and a fare share of tourists. One major attraction is The Book of Kells. It is a well preserved hand scribed 8th Century biblical text known for its beautiful caligraphy and awe inspiring drawings. It is housed in the Old Library building. At 13€ per it's a pretty expensive exhibit but to see something this old and sacred it was worth the cost. Hard to imagine all the labour that went into this work. Hope it was out of devotion and not trying to work ones way into God's good graces. I have to assume the former. Its a short tour but well done. I wasn't supposed to take pictures (I really didn't know until Deb told me) but I got a few shots although not of

Papal Basilica

the actual book - sigh.

We ate at Patrick Guilbaud's which was a pretty nice place only a few blocks from the apartment - food was fabulous - recommended if you go there. We walked along the Quay's (pronounced keys) on the river and caught up on our english cinema here (and in Edinburgh). The only movie we didn't see was Wrath of the Titans 3D- I'm saving all my 3D excitment up for The Hobbit coming out this December. While there I caught some sort of stomach alement and Deb wrenched her ankle (while walking back from Patrick Guilbaud in fact - it was sleeting - poor babe). So, we didn't do all we intended in Dublin and decided to try and save ourselves for the next destination.

We arrived in Edinburgh on Thursday the 5th in the afternoon. Our driver, Ken, was talkative and had opinions on pretty much everything. Construction in the city, tourists, drivers everywhere, welfare, economics, you name it we heard it on the ride to No.9 Weymss (pronounced weems) Place. Ken was unable to drive right up to the apartment at that time of day but he let us off just around

Grafton St Apartment

Trinity College is just across the street - Grafton St is below

the corner. While we were walking away he continued to call to me telling me that we were only a block away from the birthplaces of Robert Louis Stevenson and Alexander Graham Bell (later to be verified that indeed we were). The short walk down Weymss Place to No.9 was downhill and we could see that the neighborhood was going to be quiet, we were correct. After struggling a bit with the skeleten key to the apartment we entered and were pretty much blown away. It was stately to say the least. I mean this place was not cheap but it was worth every penny (or pence - did I mention we were now in the UK so we paid ( and started transacting) in £ not €).

Edinburgh was more hilly but I have to say it was a bit more inviting than Dublin. Now this observation may have been made because I was no longer sick to my stomach and Debra's ankle was healing nicely but it is how I felt. The city has a regal feel - we stayed in what is termed 'Newtown' even though it is dated from the early 1700's and there is

Book of Kells

The cronology for Kells and Armaugh

an Oldtown as well which is much older - the city dates to the 600's when it was a Pict settlement. There weren't as many pubs (more likely called Taverns here) although you didn't have to look very far and there seemed to be many more restaurants and actually we had some of the best food we can remember in Edinburgh. We walked alot. Visited the Scottish National Gallery and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery as well as Edinburgh Castle, Waverly Bridge, St Andrews Place, St Giles and St Mary's. And yes we saw movies.

One of the highlights of the visit was eating at Mark Greenaway's at No.12 Picardy Place (near the east end of Queen Street). It was so good that I wrote a 5 star review on Yelp (you can read that here). We also ate at Oloroso which was really close to the apartment but although not bad it was no where near as good. Coming in second for us in Edinburgh was Fishers in the City on Thistle Street. That food was also very good and consistant we know since we dined there twice for lunch.

One of the things we missed this

Outside the old Library

visit was the Underground. Several folks told us about it. Apparently remenants of the very old city were covered up during the black plague as a sort of forced quarentine. It was only recently excavated and made available for public tours. Well we were looking for a reason to go back and now we have one. Really, Edinburgh was a great place and we both fell in love with it.

We got back last night via train from Milano. We flew EasyJet from Edinburgh which is like what Southwest used to be. First come first serve. Low fares and everything costs extra. Needless to say I was in a middle seat but the two hour full flight went by quickly. It was good to be back home. Now its back to trying to think in italian 😊

Wish me luck....

We head out to Budapest in a couple of weeks so you should expect a report not long after we get back. For now, we wish all our friends (and all who might stumble on my musings) good health and we wish you all the best life has to offer.

Arrivederci,

Gary & Debra

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