Crossed over to Italy on an overnight train that, like a 13 come 26 train ride I once did in India, took a lot longer than it should have--going real slow and stopping for no apparent reason. To my favor, though, I met a bloke from Venezuela about my age who I got to talking with in Spanish and we set off to kill some time before we caught up with our respective hosts. We did a good 6-7 hours walking about, talking in both English and Spanish--practice for both of us.
Come nightfall I met up with my couchsurfing host and we went off to dinner with another couchsurfing guest/host pair. Twas nice, I got a good lesson on Italian food and costum, and for my part, they were keen to hear about Chinese medicine and my experiences with it so far.
The next day I met the others living in the flat and had a blast walking over to the local market, the Porto Palazzo--what i am told is one of the largest markets in Europe.
Here, a vendor of only the stinkiet of cheese.
My hosts were most amicable and, with no shortage of knowledge of Italian/European history/culture, gave me some insight into where I was: The strong and rigid fascist makeover Mussolini gave the Center of Torino in the 20s, the influence of Moroccans on Italy, the shroud of Torin (which covered Jesus on his death bed and is said to hold an impression of him) held in a church we stepped in (only a copy is on display)....
Many thanks to Simona, Alvise and Paola for a great stay in Torino.
9/23/2007
Torino, Italy
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Hey Hud
ReplyDeleteI just started reading "Eat, Pray, Love" you should really read it. She travels from Italy to Inidia to Indonesia. I just finished the Italy part when I saw you were there! Have a blast and make sure to be polite to your hosts and do something nice for them like give them a treatment or make them dinner.
Love,
Ness
that cheese looks um.. delicious? i heard once, actually from an advertising guru, that the difference between european cheese and american cheese is the perception of it being dead here. whereas in europe it is considered alive. we seal it and keep refridgerated. they let it breathe.
ReplyDeletekeep up the great exploring :)