Italy 2012 - A Trip in Review

It’s hard to write an interesting trip-review when I already posted daily updates while I was on the road!  You already know what I did, so this might seem a little redundant, but I’ll do my best!

---

TURIN

As always, Italy was great – but in hindsight, I am not so sure Turin was the best choice for a home base. I liked the city, don’t get me wrong! But it was not touristy enough for an extended stay. It’s great city for a day trip or a “one nighter” but after that, there is not enough to explore.

Now some people might like that because it immerses you more into the local way of life and turns you into a temporary local – I can’t deny that’s a valid point, but personally I want more when I am on vacation.

I like piazzas filled with restaurants in the mid afternoon so I can have lunch at 3PM if I want.  I want outdoor cafés near the attractions where I can sit, soak in the surroundings, admire the architecture and watch the world go by. Turin was lacking in that regard, and I missed that.

We had lots of great diners! No regrets! But on some days, waiting until 7PM for the restaurants to open was tedious. A couple of cafés here for example would have been really nice!!

---

MILAN

This was our 4th visit to Milan, so nothing was new. We knew what to expect and had a good idea of what we wanted to do but sadly, it was just too hot to enjoy properly.

Our primary goal was to explore the Cimitero Monumentale a little more than the first time we went, and we did that.

After that it just became: stay in the shade.

We settled into a nice café for a few drinks along a main pedestrian street behind the Duomo before lunch and just watched the world go by (something I was missing in Turin so I really soaked it up!)

That drink I having is a Rossini: puréed strawberries and champagne. It’s usually served in a champagne flute, but they must have run out of clean dishes since I got it a margarita glass! LOL  But it was just as delicious!

Slowly, we made our way just around the corner to a nice resto we discovered in 2010 for lunch.

In this picture, you can see them both in the same shot. The Bar on the right with while umbrellas and the resto on the left with the red umbrellas.

After, we strolled through the galleria a little, then had another drink along another pedestrian street and then headed back “home”.  I would have liked to have gone back up on the Duomo Roof, but it was just too hot for that kind of activity. Plus, there was lots of scaffolding this time so the pictures would not have been that great anyway.

---

SAN REMO

Essentially we travelled 8 hours just to have lunch because like Milan, it was just too bloody hot to do anything else!

You’ve heard me say before that we have a 2 hour travel perimeter set up around our home base for day trips and so we broke our own rule with this excursion.

We got a kick out of the train station! It’s an underground station, and the trains are about half a kilometre from the station entrance. A long looooong hallway with 4 sets of moving sidewalks moves people along. It takes over 15 minutes!

Neat, but not if you are late for your train!!!

By the time we walked from the station to the beach, we were getting cranky! We should have planned an honest-to-goodness beach day but that’s a little complicated. What do you do with your purse and money belt etc.? Take turns babysitting it while the other person takes a dip in the water?

Plus I am really not a beach person, and I hate that feeling of shaking sand out of your clothes for days afterwards! however I admit that a half day would have been ok. Given the heat, we were not up for much sight seeing anyway!

My cousin has visited San Remo on many occasions, so I asked him for a restaurant recommendation for lunch. He suggested: Dick Turpin.

From the outside, I was a little turned off because it looked kind of fast-foody whereas I prefer something nice and loungy…

… but I don’t regret it because even though it was more casual than I wanted, it was very comfortable and we got a great table in a corner by an indoor tree with beautiful views of the marina.  The food was good and the service was extremely friendly.

We ended up cancelling our planned daytrip to Asti and Alba because it was just too hot and my husband was feeling under the weather. So instead, he spent the day in bed while I spend the day trying to stay cool in a few museums around Turin.  Had I known in advance that this would have happened, I would have cancelled the daytrip to San Remo and gone to Asti and Alba instead.

It would have been too hot for us no matter where we went and what we did, but Asti and Alba would have been closer and we would have wasted fewer hours! Plus, there was no air on the train ride back from San Remo so it was an excruciatingly stifling 4 hours to Turin.  Not a very productive day!

---

AOSTA

Easily the best daytrip of the entire trip.

We just LOVED Aosta from the moment we stepped off the train. Thanks to the scenic mountain views, it was love at first sight!! Plus, it was not hot! We could concentrate on exploring and sightseeing – not just focusing on finding some shade to hide in.

Aosta has everything we love: beautiful scenery (=mountains), pedestrian streets, large piazzas, LOTS of restaurants to chose from, packed full of sights for taking great pictures.

We hit the ground running!

We stopped for a drink in the main square - my husband had a coffee as usual and since it was too early for a cocktail, I ordered some Tea. Fruit Tea. The guy gave me a can Nestea Peach Ice Tea instead! HA-HA! but you know what? It was crazy good!!! I wish I had a better picture of the can – I want to see if I can buy a sugar free version at Loblaw’s…  I must remember to check!

Aosta was a pleasure to explore! We loved every minute of it!

You can read all about our lunch at “Vecchia Aosta” here in my food blog.

It wasn’t until about 3:30 in the afternoon that the heat started impacting us and we started to slow down, but by then we were ready to slowly start making our way back to the train station anyway…  but not before another food stop for a plate of Valdostan meats and chesses!!! I wish I had a picture of the plate! It was so delicious!

Out of all the places we visited, I would recommend Aosta to anyone without hesitation. It was really a fantastic day!

---

So over all, Italy was great fun…  but WAY too hot. We decided that from now on, we won’t book our fall trips this early in September anymore.  The only reason we did it this time is because when it was time to pick our 2012 vacation weeks, we were still considering going to Monza for the Grand Prix again. I don’t regret not going this time. We went in 2008 and 2010… it’s enough for a few years!!

Italy 2012 - Day 1 / Torino part 2

I was a little lazy on the day I posted this, and just enumerated a bunch of things that I wanted to talk about at the time but was just too tired to do it.
So here are the fleshed out details, but I have to admit that you will have found the wait anti-climactic. Time has dulled the importance and interest-value of these events:
• My broken Travel Watch

I have an old watch that wear on vacation because I won’t be devastated if I lose it. I noticed on the previous vacation that it was ticking once every 5 seconds instead of 1 tick per second – the warning sign that the battery is dying.
Did I remember this before this vacation? NO. On the way to the airport I just slapped it on and left the house and it wasn’t until I checked the time a few hours later that I noticed it was completely dead.
There was nowhere in the airport where I could get the battery changed, so I had to buy a new watch. Did you know the cheapest Swatch is 55$!!! I found a cheap-o watch in a souvenir shop and I have to say I really like it! and it was only 29.99! I just have to get the strap shortened as it falls half way down my arm! LOL

 

 

• Lazy Air Canada check-in process

Essentially, the guy was an ass. He was too busy chatting with his colleague than he was focusing on HIS JOB! What especially bothered us was (if you are a frequent traveller you will know what I mean) that he didn’t peel the little sticker off the luggage tag that actually gets stuck on to the bag. In case for whatever reason the luggage tag rips off, the little bar code sticker ON the suitcase will make the bag traceable. When we asked him about it (to do it) – he kind of laughed and said: ok, if you want…  jerk.

• Missing connection signs in Rome

This was a first for us! We’ve been to over 50 airports, and NEVER EVER have we missed a sign. But we did in Rome! We saw one sign for flight connections and the next thing we knew, we were in the line for passport control. In and of itself, it’s not unusual because we expected to clear customs in Rome. But after that, we ended up in baggage claim! WTF! when we asked someone where we had to go for flight connections, they told us we missed it! WHERE!!!  We STILL can’t figure out how that happened.
We had to go passed baggage claim, out the exit, then up to departures and back in though security again to get to our gate. Next time I am in Rome (presumably October 2013) I will make a point of trying to see where we went wrong. It does not make sense.

• Pulling on seats... And my hair!!

Why do people have to PULL down on the chair in front of them when they stand up? I just don't get it. I know the seats are cramped, but don’t you push up on the armrest instead of pulling on the seat? The guy behind me not only pulled on the seat, but on my HAIR! Honestly. I don’t understand.

• Barolo wine splurge

You know I was looking forward to having some Barolo Wine while in Torino. Barolo is said to be the King of Reds…  sign me up!
So on day one, we went out for diner and did just that. It was expensive!!!  70€!!!! But we said it was a treat, we waited long enough and we were there to splurge! and so we did!

It was great, but too expensive to do again! For future diners, if we ordered Barolo we stayed under 30/40€ and it was just as good!

• 7PM diner

On day one we arrived at our hotel around 4PM. We were so tired, all we wanted to do is have diner and crash… but we learned that nothing opens ANYWHERE before 7PM! We were so tired, but stuck it out and it was so worth it! (same night as above)

• I should have known!! Pesto & Genovese

Again, during this same meal, when reading the menu I saw “Trofie Genovese”. You know I love Trofie Al Pesto, but what is Genovese sauce? I asked the waiter and was embarrassed when he told me it was Pesto sauce! DUH! LOL Genoa is the home of pesto! I should have known; in hindsight it was obvious.
In this restaurant, they served it with string beans and potatoes…

 

My husband does not care for it this way, but I like it. Admittedly, the plainer version is better, but this is not bad.

So there you have it!  Day One explained

Italy 2012 - Day 4 / Torino

We're staying out late like grown ups!!

For those of you who don't know me very well, I like to have diner around 5:30 and be in bed by 9.

In Spain, we were so incensed that that the restaurants only opened at 9PM, we never bothered and would do the tapas thing instead.

Here in Torino, nothing is open before 7 and so tonight, we ARRIVED at the resto at 9!!!

"Emporio Gastronomico" about 3 blocks from our hotel... FANTASTIC!!

It was late (for us) so we did not have too much, just pizza and a bottle of Barolo. It was awesome!!

Time for bed now, unless we change our minds tomorrow morning, it's off to Aosta.

Here are some pictures of my dinner to make you drool a little!!

Italy 2012 - Day 2 / Torino

What a wonderful day!!

It's 10PM and we are just settling in for the night. That's huge for us early birds, but we did get off to a late start today.

It's hot. Too hot for us. We did a good job of staying in the shade and avoiding the sun for most of the day, but between about 3 and 5PM it was a series of rest stops in parks and on shady benches about every 15 minutes in order to cool down and stop sweating!! Not pleasant.

Aside from heat, it was a very nice day - we really enjoyed ourselves. In my opinion, unless you enjoy doing museums (we save that for bad-weather) a full day is enough for Torino; we covered all the major sites. From tomorrow on, we'll be on day-trips.

One of the reasons we picked Torino as a vacation destination was seeing it on "Amazing Race". Specifically the Mole Antonelliana which has an amazing panoramic elevator that whisks you from the basement via the huge cavernous interior to the rooftop terrace where you can get (weather depending) sweeping views over the town.

In hindsight, I would have done this instead: the building houses the cinematic museum, which takes up the huge interior space. There is zero line-up for that, while the lift wait is about an hour. I would have skipped the lift and gone to the museum, because watching the lift waft up from the floor and disappear through the ceiling is WAY more interesting than actually riding in it. Contrary to lore, you don't feel like you are floating in space AT ALL!!! ... You just look like you are. Kind of a let down.

The food is good, but I can't recommend Torino as a destination if eating is high on your list of things to do. NOTHING IS OPEN IN THE AFTERNOON!!!! it's a pain. If you want to stop in an place for a coffee, there are plenty. Mid afternoon desert? No problem. But an early super? Unless you want self-serve, fast-food, or zero atmosphere you are out of luck. Unlike bigger cities which have plenty of places every where you look, here you have to be "in the know" to find a good place. The huge piazzas that would be PACKED with restos & cafés anywhere else are just deserted here. Perhaps we are missing out on great places "behind the scenes"?? Very possible. If you see a menu you like: pounce!! Don't shop around... We learned the hard way that it's pointless.

I leave you now with a picture of one of our café beaks in the morning, and the Palazzo Madama (in Piazza Castello) in the afternoon. ENJOY!

Italy 2012 - Day 1 / Torino part 1

I can't believe it!!! Day one is still not over at 10:15PM!!

This is a new record, but needless to say I am now ready to collapse.

I have lots to talk about, but it won't happen tonight! I am DONE FOR!

Here are the major highlights in point form, hopefully one day I'll be energetic enough to expand on them:

• My broken Travel Watch
• Lazy Air Canada check-in process
• Missing connection signs in Rome
• Pulling on seats... And my hair!!
• Barolo wine splurge
• 7PM diner
• I should have known!!: pesto & Genovese
• Sherry

I leave you now with a glimpse of my after-diner drinks. I have to go to bed!!