Turin, Italy

October 3-5

We awoke well rested after a night in of watching TV and drinking Italian wine. Breakfast was downstairs at the hostel, and was really quite nice. We had cereal, bread, fresh fruit, juice, coffee, and yogurt. We even smuggled a couple individual size packages of Nutella back with us. Back up to the room to shower and pack up for our journey to our first farm.

Being we were both out of clean clothes, we thought we better do some laundry before catching a train. The hostel directed us to a place called "free shop" where they had a washer and dryer. We killed time between loads surfing the internet back at the hostel. The dryer didn't quite dry completely, but we packed up our clothes and planned on air drying them at the farm. It was just a short tram ride from the hostel to the train station we needed to depart from.

The train ride to the station near the farm was short and uneventful, about 25 minutes. Once again we had some troubles using a phone in Europe trying to call the farm to pick us up as they said to do, so we went into the small cafe at the train station for help. Inside was a nice older gentleman who made the call for us, and asked us a few questions about where we were from. He was quite surprised to hear we came all the way from the USA to stay at a tiny little farm town in northern Italy. We waited for about 20 minutes, and our ride arrived. We both assumed it was the farm owner, but it turns out another girl from England doing what we were, and a girl from New Zealand who we think works for the farm on a full time basis. The drive to the farm was pretty, in the distance were the French Alps, and we passed through a couple cute little villages. They pointed out a big new church that was recently built to honor Saint Bosco. A few moments later we were entering the gate of the farm.

We were immediately greeted by the 3 farm dogs, a german shepherd and 2 wire hair hounds of some sorts. They were quite impressed when one of them jumped up on Charlie to be pet, as she has been known not to open up to new people very fast. We were shown where our room was above the kitchen or lab as they called it, where we left our bags and were given a quick tour. The big kitchen/lab was where they did lots of canning of products that were sold at markets, and next to it was a store room that looked like it was a store at one time. Inside the main house we were shown the family kitchen and living areas, the computer room, and dining area. Also attached to the house was the agrotoursimo, which was a bed and breakfast and small restaurant. After the tour we were given a while to get our beds situated and unpacked. We also took this time to hang our laundry that was still a bit damp from the morning.

We met up with the other 2 workers after getting somewhat settled and given our first task. We had to cut up peppers into about 1 inch slices, then soak them in a vinegar solution for about 20 minutes, then arrange them into jars with the skin facing outwards. Then they were topped off with olive oil, and the jars sterilized and sealed up. We did that for a bit over an hour and ran out of peppers. Before dinner, which is eaten at about 830 pm here, we were told to gather up a couple trays of walnuts and hazelnuts from the trees in the garden on the hill above the house. Finding the walnuts was easy, but the hazelnuts were a lot harder to find as many of them had been eaten by animals or birds. Afterwards, we cleaned up and went into the main house for dinner.

It was just the four of us workers eating tonight, as both the owners were not home. Our meal consisted of some leftover pasta with tomato sauce from lunch, sauteed mushrooms, bread, and some of the peppers we cut up sauteed in oil with a bit of onions and salt. The peppers were the sweetest peppers either of us had ever had, almost hard to believe we were eating a pepper. They told us that it was a type of pepper only grown in this part of Italy, and were called pepperoni peppers. The pizza topping has a different name here in Italy and is more akin to salami. It's a little strange eating so late and then going off to bed on a full stomach, but ... when in Italy.

The room we stayed in was quite cold even with the heater going.

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To be very honest with everyone the organic farming experience was not what we were hoping for. Instead of going on about what we didn't like, we'll just say that we knew this was not right for us.

We worked the next day which turned out to be almost 10 hours including harvesting all the vegetables and berries before the frost. Dinner that night was very good, we can't say we didn't eat well at the farm.

Sunday morning we had plans to tell the others we were leaving. We didn't want to make it sound like we didn't like it there so we tried to be vague on our reasons. We still ended up working with peppers all morning (not nearly as bad as the 2nd day working with chili peppers that burned through our gloves). After our mid morning cafe break we told them it was time to go. The afternoon was really not very pleasant. but really nothing to speak of. We got a ride to the train station by the husband who we thought was really nice and if he spoke a bit more english we would have had a lot of fun with.

We can sum up our feelings like this.... we were both in a place in our lives that we felt we needed to explore, change, and maybe experience a new way of life. While nearly all of our journey was special we came to know one true fact. We searched for a different way of life, what we thought would maybe even be a better way of life, but all that time we searched we only confirmed that we already had everything we needed in the world. Family and friends and a home. The memories and life experiences will last forever and we now make the decision together to return back home with full hearts and gratitude.

Milan, Italy to Turin, Italy

Thursday October, 2

Nothing novel about this rainy morning. We seem to bring rain with us at least one day in each city we stay in. We are sad to leave our very nice and very affordable hotel (that is listed as a hostel). We left our bags at the front with the friendly owner and set out in search of internet to see if the 1st farm had written us back about coming 3 days early.

It's funny how we have absolutely no concern about leaving our bags at hotels/hostels. The computer, passports, money and tickets are always with us so if someone really wants our dirty clothes... have at it. If we lost our bags we certainly could make due.

We walked about 10 blocks to a place we saw online yesterday on a "free wi fi" site. The walk seemed to take a long time in the rain. When we got there we found we still had an hour before they opened. We went across the street to a cafe to spend a bit of time before we went to the "real cafe." We ordered a total of 4 cafe machiatos, 2 cream filled croissants and then noticed a free little snack buffet. We were all over that!! Chips and salsa, guac, olives, italian pretzels, pickles and cake to name a few things. When the other cafe opened up we ordered two mini italian sandwiches and two sodas. The farm did email back saying they could not take us till Friday. So we decided to go to Turin a day early. We found a hotel there cheaper than a hostel that had wi fi. Finally we don't have to spend time searching for wifi to confirm this and that.

After booking the hotel we went back to retrieve our bags and walk to the underground. This underground subway was also very easy to use like London. A one way ticket is only 1 euro and an all day unlimited only 3 euros.

Finding tickets turned out to be a bit of a hassle but in the end we got two second (boo) class tickets to Turin leaving at 2:15 pm. Ciao Milan. A beautiful city that we felt severely underdressed for.

Turin well.... they hosted they Olympics once, but I think most cities in Europe could almost claim that.

Our hostel was really an other hotel in disguise! Complete with robes, towels and slippers.... and our OWN private bathroom–we may never leave. The hotel also had wifi but only in the common area. We pulled our classic trick of shopping at the market and staying in. I have to admit we watched tv for hours. Well not really watched tv but it was on in the background and since it was in all Italian we made up our own story line to Survivor Italy. We met a few "kids" from Canada in the common area that were heading out clubbing later. Heather wonders who really goes clubbing anymore??

Milan, Italy to Turin, Italy

Thursday October, 2

Nothing novel about this rainy morning. We seem to bring rain with us at least one day in each city we stay in. We are sad to leave our very nice and very affordable hotel (that is listed as a hostel). We left our bags at the front with the friendly owner and set out in search of internet to see if the 1st farm had written us back about coming 3 days early.

It's funny how we have absolutely no concern about leaving our bags at hotels/hostels. The computer, passports, money and tickets are always with us so if someone really wants our dirty clothes... have at it. If we lost our bags we certainly could make due.

We walked about 10 blocks to a place we saw online yesterday on a "free wi fi" site. The walk seemed to take a long time in the rain. When we got there we found we still had an hour before they opened. We went across the street to a cafe to spend a bit of time before we went to the "real cafe." We ordered a total of 4 cafe machiatos, 2 cream filled croissants and then noticed a free little snack buffet. We were all over that!! Chips and salsa, guac, olives, italian pretzels, pickles and cake to name a few things. When the other cafe opened up we ordered two mini italian sandwiches and two sodas. The farm did email back saying they could not take us till Friday. So we decided to go to Turin a day early. We found a hotel there cheaper than a hostel that had wi fi. Finally we don't have to spend time searching for wifi to confirm this and that.

After booking the hotel we went back to retrieve our bags and walk to the underground. This underground subway was also very easy to use like London. A one way ticket is only 1 euro and an all day unlimited only 3 euros.

Finding tickets turned out to be a bit of a hassle but in the end we got two second (boo) class tickets to Turin leaving at 2:15 pm. Ciao Milan. A beautiful city that we felt severely underdressed for.

Turin well.... they hosted they Olympics once, but I think most cities in Europe could almost claim that.

Our hostel was really an other hotel in disguise! Complete with robes, towels and slippers.... and our OWN private bathroom–we may never leave. The hotel also had wifi but only in the common area. We pulled our classic trick of shopping at the market and staying in. I have to admit we watched tv for hours. Well not really watched tv but it was on in the background and since it was in all Italian we made up our own story line to Survivor Italy. We met a few "kids" from Canada in the common area that were heading out clubbing later. Heather wonders who really goes clubbing anymore??

Milan Italy-Duomo, Aquariums, and Bracelets

Wednesday, October 1

After our fun filled night in, we were happy to sleep in until almost 10am. On our agenda for the day was see the famous cathedral or duomo as it's called in Italian, find internet, and possibly see the fashion district. A real normal shower was a welcome treat. Our wonderful hotel host gave us a map of the city showing all the sites along with the subway routes. We walked about 3 blocks to the nearest subway station, paid 3 euros for a barging priced 24 hour pass, and hopped aboard towards the cathedral.

Immediately after walking up the stairs to the street level, we were hit up by a mob of people selling things. Heather escaped, but Charlie was not so lucky as he had a bracelet tied to his wrist faster than he could walk away. The man said it was free and for good luck and even complimented being with someone as beautiful as Heather. The stairs came up right next door to the cathedral on street level. We knew it was going to be big and impressive, but it was hard to take it all in at once. Its the 3rd largest church in the world after St. Peters in Vatican City and one in Spain, and the 2nd largest gothic style church in the world after the one in Seville Spain. Work began on it in the late 1300's and it wasn't fully finished until the early 1800s when Napoleon ordered it finished when he had conquered Milan.

We walked around the side of it to the entrance and after a brief search of our backpack, we were inside. The first thing we noticed was how dark it was inside. Even with the HUGE stained glass windows and recently added flood lights, its quite dark for a while until your eyes adjust. Once we were in a few feet, we got an idea just how big this cathedral is. Its a big like the Louvre in Paris, you can tell someone how big it is all day long, but it will still be bigger than your expecting. Its also one of the few churches we've been in where you get such a overwhelming good feeling inside. We talked afterwards about how those who tour it for the architectural reason, just how much they miss out on the spiritual feeling in there.

Walking in and looking up towards the ceiling can really make you feel small. It was probably close to 100 feet, with massive stone pillars supporting the structure. We made our way to the back of the church, admiring all of the stained glass windows. Looking towards the altar, it appears to be miles away. We walked along the side of the pews towards the front of the church, stopping to admire all the stone carvings along the way. There was a line for confession, and also a list of all the cardinals that have run the church dating back to when it was built. Above the altar are many paintings, some of which had to be 20 feet by 20 feet, along with 2 huge organs. Also on the side of it is a newer modern organ that appears to be used more frequently. We've heard some of the huge old organs literally have miles of piping and can take over 5 years to restore. This cathedral was under a bit of restoration as we'll get into later. They had the very front of the church roped off so only groups could tour it for about the next half hour, so we decided to come back to that, instead we went downstairs. They had a room full of artifacts that was 1 euro to get into, which we skipped, and instead saw the remains of one of the cardinals dating from sometime in the 1500s. It almost looked fake, as he was still in some sort of suit.

Back upstairs, we decided to leave the church for a bit and come back after trying to find internet. We had no luck at the usual places like coffee shops and McDonalds, and in fact have started to get strange looks asking if there is wi-fi to be had. Its defiantly harder to find internet the further south we've some, Italy in particular. With no luck, we headed back to the cathedral to see what we missed earlier.

Back inside, we did a quick walk through of the front part that was roped off before, and found we really didn't miss much. There was a cardinal robe behind a glass case, and a few statues. Back outside we went to check out the roof.

Charlie decided to walk up the stairs thinking he'd get some good pictures along the way, while Heather opted for the elevator. To his disappointment all he got was a walk up about 300 some stairs, although he did beat the elevator to the top Heather was in as it only holds about 4 people at a time. Up on the roof is where the true amazement of just how much went into making this amazing church really hit us. There are countless statues of saints all along the roof, endless intricate little details carved into the pillars, the incredible walkway designed into the roof, not to mention the view up there. We find it impossible to imagine a person designing and building this mighty cathedral, we were sure only God himself were capable of something this grand. In a day and age where using a computer to design all the symmetry and molds necessary to make all the details, and to get all the measurements right so everything comes out right in the end, we couldn't imagine how it didn't take 100 years just to draw out the plans for this. There was restoration work going on on the roof of some of the statues and arches, which we figured is pretty much a full time deal with a building of this size and age.

After the church we decided to go wander in search of internet and lunch. Along our way Heather spotted a water fountain with a hippo face for a spout, so she had to get a picture of it. Much to our suprise after poking her head in the building attached to it, she found a free aquarium we could tour! We were both happy that not only was it free, but something fun and different to see. It was set up in a large circle, with many different stations with different types of aquatic life and fish. Everything from a mountain stream to a coral reef was in there. It put a smile on our faces to see it all. We made one more pass through and noticed an outdoor area so we stepped out and found some cute turtles we took pictures of.

Onto our mission of finding internet. We stopped in a few cafes and asked around and they all pointed us to the subway station, as there are pay internet sites in most of the stations. We gave in and went in one to pay for 15 minutes worth to find free wi-fi on a site that shows places that have it. It was basically 3 computers and some payphones in a large closet, and Charlie about passed out towards the end from the stuffy air and smell of people who haven't showered in a while. It smelled a bit like bad Indian food in there. We found some a couple subway stops up the line at a cafe, so off we went.

We came upon Roca's cafe, happy to see a free wi-fi sticker in the window. It was a cozy place with a bar area and half a dozen tables. We took a table and ordered some much missed chips and salsa, and a couple drinks. After surfing the net for a while, we got hungry and ordered a pizza with cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce, and also a grilled ham and tomato panini with plans to stay a while as we quite enjoyed the atmosphere. We ate and got caught up on emails, and also found a cafe up the road from our hotel with wi-fi for us to use the next day. As it got dark, we called it a night, and took the subway back to our hotel where we sat up and talked for a bit before falling asleep.