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.

___________________________________________________________________

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.

Venice, Italy to Milan, Italy - Fashion Capitol of the World

Tuesday, September 30

Another very strange night of sleep in our bunk bed hall with curtains. We got up around 7:30 am to catch our last first class train to Milan, Italy. Charlie was in charge of giving the key back to "Christmas Eve" as we named her. She instructed him to eat breakfast before we left but we had a good excuse to skip out of it today.

Our last ride in first class treated us well. We had an entire 6 person car to ourselves complete with closed door. Heather went in search of the bathroom to find 2nd class packed with people sitting and standing in the halls... kind of sort of made us feel bad with 4 extra seats, but not too bad since we were forced to pay for 1st class!?! We snacked the train ride away with banana and nutella sandwiches, yum! The scenery was nice, very typical northern italy.

We are always surprised to see how much graffiti europe has. It's actually quite sad in some of the old beautiful cities to see it scarred this way.

We arrived in Milan around 1pm and stepped in to a huge grand train station. The ceilings in the main lobby must have been 60' feet tall and all with carvings and wonderful architecture. If this is what the train station looked like we were very impressed. And within 2 minutes of walking outside we saw a super model doing a fashion shoot. Heather rolled her eyes and said... "really they are out everywhere?!" The model looked to weigh about 80 lbs and most of that being her 2' tall hair and another 5 lbs of make up. Okay enough of that, maybe we will find her a sammich to eat so she doesn't waste away.

We had rough directions to find the hostel that included a bus ride. In our directions it stated we bought the ticket on the bus. Turns out we scammed a free ride in the end... ha ha.

Milan 0, Heather Charlie 1

The bus dropped us off right at our hostel which to our great great happy surprised turned out to be a 1 star hotel. I think a one star hotel in Italy is a bit nicer than any 1 star in the states. We had a huge private balcony that over looks fountains, landscaped yards and other buildings in the square. Our our complaint would be that they seem to stick a bid-ay in any spare space in Europe... we say ick to that.

Charlie tried to take a quick nap as he's been feeling very worn down and a bit sick the last few days while Heather read. A bit later we took off explore the area around our hostel. We usually like to stick close the first night since we don't have a great idea of the streets and getting lost would probably involve a costly taxi ride home. We ate lunch at a little cafe which we were the only customers there. Charlie had penne puntensca, and Heather had the old stand by of spaghetti carbonarra. We did our usual routine of "find free wi fi" with no luck. No Starbucks in Italy and our old reliable McDonnalds required you to have a cell phone to get a text message with the code to use the wi fi. No good to us, we haven't used a phone in over a month. It was hard to get a good feel of the city being it was a cloudy day. But it wasn't hard to tell that fashion was #1 here.

Deciding a night in might be more fun than wondering around. We went back to the hotel asked for directions to the market and headed out again. To give the report of the cost of tiramisu: 1.55 Euros for a single. (if you remember that's how we gauge the price of a city). We browsed the store, which is one of our favorite things to do, looking at funny foods we dont have in the states and marveling at their fresh fish selection that may have been swimming hours ago. Our winning menu included mini croissants, paper thin italian salami, fresh buffalo mozzarella, two bottles of italian wine (under 3.50 for both!!!!) and of course: a bar of chocolate and another jar of nutella.

We had a great night in! The owner of the hotel was nice enough to give us a few classy plastic cups to drink our fine wine out of. We spent hours drinking, eating, laughing and eventually having our own dance party with iTunes playing in the background.

Questions about traveling

In our last month of traveling, we have noticed a few things that we can't help but ask why?????

1. Why do people attempt to record on video their whole vacation? 

Do they honestly think they will go back and watch it all? Or worse, show it to everyone they know? And how about the guy we saw videotaping his gondola ride in Venice? Did he not know he missed his whole ride trying to catch it all on film?

2. Why do certain people get photographed in front of EVERY statue they come across? 

Are they that narcissistic? Do they need proof down the road they actually saw it? We have followed groups around museums and churches that stop in front of anything of importance and each take turns getting a picture of them with it.

3. Can someone come up with a standard of toilet in the world? 

We've been in 8 countries and seen probably a dozen styles of toilets, each getting weirder than the previous one. They range from a pull cord to flush hanging from the ceiling, to being a hole on the floor. Along this line, showers are just as odd.

4. Why do people take photos with a cell phone? 

Its one thing if you take a picture to send someone right away, but once again, we've followed people taking all their pictures with their phone.

5. Who is watching Australia and Asia? 

To be truthful, its really cool that their cultures are into encouraging traveling like they do, but we often wonder if there's anyone left in these areas.

6. When did they start making washing machines that require a masters degree in engineering to figure out? 

This mostly applies to the ones in England that are a combo washer/drier in one. Call us dumb, but we had better luck figuring out the ones in foreign languages.

7. When did we miss the line that was handing out free SLR cameras? 

We walk around nervous enough with our little canon point and shoots that we'll be mugged or lose them. These people are everywhere with giant lenses that cost more than our entire trip.

8. Can they pick a language in Belgium? 

French or Dutch... you can't have both!!!


9. Who is responsible for the red hair coloring in Europe? 

We've mostly noticed this on women over the age of about 45, but none of them are even close to being red. They are an ungodly color not found in nature. We even have a game going to see who can count the most bad red hair dye jobs in a day.

10. Why can Europeans make a potato chip with 3, yes 3, ingredients, and it takes US companies about 20?

Venice, Italy-Here a church, there a church, everywhere a church-church

We were awoken by the runner of the hostel who we have dubbed "christmas eve" (of avenue Q fame for those not in the know) at about 9:15 am to her basically telling us we had to go eat breakfast. We had planned on sleeping in a bit, but maybe a bit of food isn't such a bad idea. We weren't really sure where to go in this maze of rooms, last night she said something we thought was downstairs, but Heather wasn't too excited about eating with the spider-webs, but as it turns out, it was upstairs. Walking through the hostel we wondered what lotto we lost getting the "room" behind the curtain, when there were 3 very large double bed rooms on our floor, all set up nice with furniture. After a bowl of corn-flakes, we went back down to shower and get ready for the day.

We really had no particular sights to see or places to go, so we just set out in a random direction to see what we come upon. We should note that walking around Venice you begin to feel like a rat in a maze looking for the cheese. There are a million streets and back alleyways to get lost on. About every other couple we saw was stopped, looking at their map. They say locals get lost here too, which we can easily believe.

Venice 1, Heather & Charlie 0.

After walking for an hour or so and passing many churches and crossing many bridges, we found a little square in front of a church and got our first Italian gelatto. We noticed there was a man behind the counter making it, to which Heather said " I like that man." We sat on a bench in front of the church and enjoyed it, looking at the map deciding where to wander. We thought we should head towards San Marco as it is the biggest tourist draw in the city with lots to see. We must have walked over an hour, making a few wrong turns on the way and consulting the map many times, we finally found it. San Marco consists of the basilica of San Marco, the old mayors home which is now a museum, a watchtower, and many shops along the huge sea front area. We thought we'd wander a bit along the shore and find some lunch before seeing the sights. We walked along the shore for quite a while checking out all the menus of the restaurants. Many restaurants in Italy charge extra for table service, usually 10% to 15% and sometimes a cover of 1 or 2 euros per person. As you can about imagine the places on the shore of Venice were quite expensive, so we thought we'd be best finding a place off a side alleyway which are usually much cheaper and many don't charge a cover or service charge. Walking up the shore we came upon a large yacht that had to be close to 150 feet long, and a bit up the dock, a sailboat even larger. We couldn't begin to imagine what they cost. We crossed over the Bridge of Sighs, which we thought had some sort of romantic story behind its name, but it turns out it was along the path to the old prison, and the prisoners were the ones doing the sighing as they crossed it many years ago.

We wandered back off the shore a bit and found a small cafe to eat lunch at. Heather got tortolini with procuetto and Charlie got a cheese pizza. Heather had a glass of wine with hers, while Charlie found a new flavor of fanta he likes, lime. After enjoying lunch, we headed back towards the square outside San Marco's basilica. We tried getting in, but were turned away at the door because we had a backpack, so Heather decided to walk along the shops while Charlie took a peek inside. It turned out to be rather disappointing inside, but very beautiful. There were no pictures allowed to be taken inside, but they basically had a roped off path through the church you could walk on. If you wanted to go up to the 2nd level to get a view outside it was an outrageous 4 euros, and to see the treasury room it was another 2 euros. The entire church ceiling was done in a beautiful gold mosaic, and was probably one of the more beautiful churches we've been to, but the cost to go upstairs and the quick path the shuffled everyone through kind of soured the experience. We are more used to being able wander around and take our time touring churches everywhere else in Europe.

After a bit we thought we'd head back to the hostel to clean up a bit and plan out our evening. We did get lost again and ended up on the complete wrong side of one of the islands than we thought, so out came the map and we headed towards the Rialto bridge, the biggest and main bridge across the grand canal. The street was lined with shops and markets, and also many black market dealings of handbags and sunglasses. They had many high-end name bags and glasses they were trying to sell to all the tourists, and would drop from 35 to 15 euros in an instant on the price of what should be a many hundred dollar bag. We still aren't sure if they were all real or stolen or made from the scraps at the factory. Whatever the story, they would have them all spread on the ground on a sheet, with someone on lookout for the police, and when they came walking by, they would gather the bags and run down the street till the police passed, and then found a new place to set up shop. Charlie may be looking for some black market sunglasses in Milan since he lost his in London. Heather just tried to stay away from the hand bags in general.

After a 2 hour walk, we finally found the hostel. We checked email and cleaned up a bit before heading back out in search of dinner. We took a new direction in hopes of finding something new, but we settled on a small cafe again where this time Heather ordered a pizza, and Charlie got a seafood risotto. We dined over a bottle of wine enjoying our final night in beautiful Venice. Heather ordered up an after dinner drink called Lemoncello, and it came in 2 rather large shot glasses rather than small ones as she's had before. We sat for a while and ate a bowl of nuts and a plate of chips that the server thought we needed to snack on while we relaxed.

On the way back to the hostel, we came upon the place we ate last night, with the same piano player playing again tonight, so we stopped by for a glass of wine. We listened to a few songs and started making our way back. On the corner where we had to turn there was a large crowd gathered, so we stopped to see what was going on. Turns out there was a band playing, and they were really quite good, hence the crowd. They even had someone selling their cd as they played. We stayed for a few songs before heading in to call it a night, we have plans to get up early before we get shooed into the breakfast room so we can catch our 9am train to Milan.