Last post before Grace and I head back to the states for Christmas, as when there I will not be a broad abroad but just a broad.  A getting progressively broader broad.  MUST STOP...... 

Well today was the last day of school for the year 2012.  The kids have been putting on productions all week.  Today the older classes had their concert.  The girls were all primped and heeled and the boys looked rightfully uncomfortable in their ties and collared shirts.  After all was over everyone headed out to fly off to their various homelands.  We will be among them tomorrow.  I feel like Santa, checking my list and packing my packs.  Don't anyone get their hopes up.  It's mostly socks and underwear we'll need for two weeks of cold!

the girl half of Grace's class, she's far right

four of the gang of five.

Grace and I have been playing a little game on our way to and from school each day.  We see how many pi- diddles we can count.  I'm not sure about the spelling but as anyone who has ever driven kids around probably knows, a pi-diddle is a car with just one headlight working.  According to our research Italy has a ton.  GP thinks it has to do with speed bumps or low-cost bulbs being used in autos these days.  I don't know what the cause is but in one short trip to school (10 minutes) we have counted up to 10.  Hmmmm.  One of those strange Italian things. 

I'll be seeing many of you soon and to those I miss, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!   xxoo me

Ok, that's it.  I am officially, really and truly, sick of food and wine.  Today we celebrated Christmas with the Grandparents which means an afternoon meal lasting a couple of hours.  Four appetizers (salami, frittata, roast peppers with anchovies, chicken and pistachio salad) stuffed pasta with meat sauce,veal roast, vegetables (spinach and artichokes) and Christmas cake and fruit and chocolates with white wine to start, red in the middle and white bubbly at the end.  I slept for a while on the sofa afterwards while grace played cards with her Grandparents.  Now I am declaring that I will be on a strictly "what I don't eat here and miss" diet when we are home for the holidays.  No wine.  Beer yes, but no wine.  I am now going to bed but first may drink an alka seltzer.  xxoo me

our little yard with the first snowfall

We had our first snowfall.  Minor though it may have been, it was lovely and Christmas-like.  Unfortunately GP was away with our car so I had my father-in-law's auto.  Driving his car is always stressful because he is such a worrywart.  God forbid something happen to it while I was driving.  I'd never recover from the guilt.  Grace's school is over the hill and over very narrow, twisting roads.  Though snow tires or chains are mandatory above a certain altitude (our hills are above that altitude) the city doesn't concern itself with plowing (no plows), salting (no salt) or sanding (some sand but not enough) the roads.  The grandparents live in the "lowlands" so don't have snow tires.  The drive was a little treacherous.  There was the added problem of Italians not really knowing how to drive in snow and not following the rules of the road in any case.  So lots of cars off the road, people late to school, slipping and sliding up the sleep slope to the teacher's parking lot.  But we arrived safe and sound and I immediately called my father-in-law to tell him his car was intact.  By the time school was over it had warmed up sufficiently to melt most of the snow and the drive home was fine.  Today there is barely a trace of it left.  xxoo me

Two posts today.  This first I've been pondering whether or not to write.  As I really need to vent, here I go.  I am not proud to be an American today.  In fact I am downright sickened.  As much as I complain about Italy, with it's disorganization, the break-ins that have us living in a safe, the fact that there is a 90% chance that my car, bag, phone will be stolen, I know that there is a 0% chance of my child being shot in her school.  Italians ask what the Hell is wrong with us.  Good question.  It's not a complicated matter of changing society, dealing with the mentally ill, stopping bullying.  It's a simple matter of changing the law and NOT ALLOWING PEOPLE TO BUY WEAPONS.  If the government used half the effort they have put into anti terrorism, and put it into gun laws in our own country these things wouldn't happen.  A man in China walked into a school the other day with a machete and attacked the students.  It took a while for him to be subdued.  20 kids injured but not one dead.  Crazies are everywhere and that we can't control, but the amount of damage they can inflict we can control.  What I want to know is where is all that outrage that fueled the marches for civil rights, for the Vietnam war.  Where is a Moms Against Guns group?  Can't we stand up against the NRA and everyone in the government who is in the pocket of the arms makers?  Did you hear what the NRA's comment was?  The shooter could have been stopped if the teachers had been armed.  Are we flipping kidding?  In the school in the States we had "lock down" practice.  Every time there is another of these horrible crimes we toughen the security in our schools.  Wouldn't it make more sense to make the crimes impossible to commit.  We can't fly with a bottle of shampoo in our carry-on but we can go to Walmart and buy an automatic weapon.  The government reads our e-mails and traces our overseas travels but does nothing about the fact that someone collects an armory full of weapons.  These incongruities beat Italy's anytime.  I'm horrified and sadly ashamed.  me

I do believe Italy is trying to kill me.  First, I've had a terrible cough, red itchy eyes and a stuffy nose for weeks.  I'm convinced it's city air but may well just be some bug.  Then, I've had a few incidents of what I think may be gallbladder attacks.  I have been sort of over doing it in the cheese department.  I love cheese.  Every region in Italy has their own artisanal cheeses.  There are soft, creamy, almost sweet cheeses and hard, crumbly, sharp cheeses and cheeses for melting and cheeses for grating....I could go on.  Anyhow, I have been having uncomfortable nights after too much rich food so I have to cool it for a while.  Of course tonight we are going to dinner at the home of friends from Germany and we're having Raclette.  That's a big ole chunk of yummy melted cheese that you eat with vegetable and bread.  Sort of a more solid and less elaborated fondue.  Argh. 

We're preparing for our trip home next Thursday.  Grace and I are very excited.  On Sunday we'll be doing an early Christmas with the Grandparents which will be an all day groany affair.  I'll be asleep on their sofa by 4pm.  The school is revving up for it's holiday concerts that start with the little ones on Monday morning.  There will also be a production of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  I love hearing all the kids with their diverse accents up on stage.  The school is decorated and Christmas music plays in the background every morning and afternoon but it is never referred to as Christmas holiday because being and international school means non denominational.  Our concerts are holiday concerts, our fair was a winter fair, the break coming up is the winter break etc.  All that aside, probably 90% of the students are from Christian backgrounds as most are Europeans or North Americans. 

Off to the doctor, (taking a book for the probable wait),  to check to see if this stupid cough is bronchitis.  xxoo me

keeping warm

look how tall!

Snow!  Not here.  In the mountains.  Grace and I were missing the white stuff in this holiday season so we nagged GP into going up, up, up high enough to touch it for the day.  We went to Pragelato, a small town that grew thanks to the Olympics.  It's where they held the ski jumping events.  Those are some seriously steep slopes.  Just looking at them from ground level made me a little queasy.  The jumps are right in town, or at least in full view from town.  A little farther up from the center is a lovely ski area that caters mostly to cross country and snow shoeing.  There is one lift for downhill as well.  We didn't really go prepared but next time I'll find someone to go snowshoeing with me.  It's gorgeous and only about an hour and a half drive from the city.  Of course all the fresh air made us hungry so we had to stop and buy some fresh bread and cheese and have a little snack.  When we came home I took a nap.  All in all a good day.  xxoo me

 In Lugano for a few hours today.  One word: WOW.  This is the center, tucked under the Alps and on a large, clear lake.  The air is wonderful.  With the beautiful weather we've had here, I had forgotten how polluted Torino and surround actually are.  The area is land locked and surrounded by mountains and hills, so there's no where for the smog to go.  Driving back we noticed the mountains were a little "yellowed" (as GP says).

 I don't know who this guy is but I love the pruned trees along the walkway.  Lugano is the best of both worlds.  It is pristine and orderly with modern conveniences like Switzerland.  And it is fashionable and lush with gorgeous architecture like Italy.  The people are all beautifully coiffed and dressed (Italy).  All the dog walkers pick up their dog's poop (Switzerland).  Unfortunately it is outrageously expensive.

 This promontory sticks far out into the water.  They use boats as taxis and buses to the various towns surrounding the lake.  One of the villages, or possibly part of the city of Lugano, is called Paradise.  See below.

 The entrance to Paradise.

 Talk about views.  Of course the only people who can afford to live here are the folks who have their bank accounts here.

I love these Dr. Seuss trees in the park.  Did I mention the lake is populated by huge snow white swans?  Of course.






As I said, WOW.  xxoo me

Tidbits.

A couple weeks ago the Prime Minister of Germany was in Naples for a meeting of some sort. While there the head of his security team had his Rolex stolen right off his wrist.  Naples is a cesspool.

The towns and cities have all put up their Christmas decorations.  GP and I took a walk in Torino to see the lights.  They have a giant Advent Calender set up in the largest square in the center which they open at 6:30 every evening.  The fire department arrives with a ladder truck and kids are recruited from the crowd.  Then with the aid of the children, a fireman on the ladder pulls a rope and opens the daily window.  It's all very cute and festive.

It would be even more festive if it felt vaguely like winter.  Temperatures continue to be up near 50 and though the mountains are white, down here the grass is still green.  They keep saying a blast of wintery air is coming but these people have no concept of wintery air blasts.  A slight breeze here is seen as a blustery day and actual wind is dangerous and worrisome.  This time of year is usually very damp and gray and foggy.  It has been lovely and dry and sunny which has everyone on pins and needles.  Anything out of the ordinary tends to send them over the edge.

There is something wrong with our oven.  Every time I use it in conjunction with either the washing machine or the iron, I short circuit something or another and the power goes out.  We are left in utter darkness, stumbling around looking for the front door so as to get light from the hallway.  It's happened three times now.  I then have to go down into the garage under the apartment, go into the "basement" of the next stairwell where all the fuse-boxes are, and flip our power on again.  As Grace and I are planning on making Christmas cookies next week I think I'll just leave the flashlight out.

Tomorrow GP has a business meeting in Lugano, a beautiful lakeside town on the border between Italy and Switzerland.  As I don't work on Thursdays I'm going to trail along.  I have a package to mail to Germany and I think the likelihood of it arriving before Christmas is exponentially higher if it is mailed from Switzerland than if mailed from Italy.  Our local post office here has 5 women who work there.  Two are usually seated and waiting on customers while the other three mull around moving papers back and forth between tables.  I also want to try to buy a flu shot in Lugano.  GP and I have already had ours (one buys the vaccine in the syringe at the pharmacy and goes to the family member or neighbor who knows how to give injections.  In our case my mother-in-law.)  But Grace hasn't had her shot yet and Italy seems to have run out.  Up until last week the news was all about Italy having a surplus ordered to guarantee the vaccine to all who wanted it.  Well today we couldn't find any anywhere.  All the pharmacies are out.  Grace is pleased.

ooxx me

It was the second time in as many weeks that we took a new family to the wine region for a day of tasting and buying.  This is how it goes.  First we warm them up with a drive around Le Langhe.  Le Langhe is the wine producing area about a half hour from the city.  The name means "the tongues" because of all the rolling hills and deep valleys.  I personally don't see what rolling hills and deep valleys have to do with tongues but as I wasn't around when the name was given who am I to say so?  Anywho.  We drive around the narrow roads going up the rolling hills and down into the steep valleys appreciating the lovely scenery.  If the weather is clear one has great views of the Alps as well, but alas yesterday was grey.  We walk around in some of the hilltop villages to get everyone good and thirsty and then we head for one of our favorite vintners.  Yesterday we started with Stra, who own a small inn as well as their winery.  They welcome us into their tasting room, with an arched ceiling, a fireplace and a long wooden table.  We all take a seat around the table and the owner and his wife start popping open one of each of the wines they produce (quite an array).  Glasses are set in front of everyone.  Bread sticks, cookies and nuts are placed on the table.  The dogs barking at the door are let in to sleep by the fire and the tasting begins.  They introduce each wine, telling us about the vintage:  the year, the aging process, the location of the vines, the type of soil.  All elements that can influence the flavor.  They start from the "lightest" wines, whites, and work their way up to their "heaviest".  After each tasting, about three horizontal fingers depth in a glass, the glasses are changed or rinsed (with wine).  By the time we leave, after a couple of hours, the table is covered with glasses.  We conduct a little business, buying a few of these and a few of those and then move on to the next place.  Yesterday we visited two wineries and spent easily 5 hours tasting.  We stopped for dinner at a place in one of the villages and had roasted peppers with garlic sauce, home made stuffed pasta with butter and sage, and pears cooked in, what else?, wine.  We came home with the trunk full of cases and the veins full of grape juice.  Surprisingly, the wine is so pure and unaltered by artificial preservatives or flavoring, I feel fine today if a little tired from the late hour.  Tonight going to go into the city to see the Christmas displays.  Not exactly NYC but the lights are pretty.  xxoo me

Well another week at school has gone.  They interviewed a fellow today for the position of "official" or certified Librarian.  If he comes, which I think he will, it probably wouldn't be till next fall.  I wonder if I'll be needed?!  I hope so, for apart from the money, I love being around kids and I like to know what's going on in the school and there is no way better than being in it all day.  Plus the lunches are very good.  Tomorrow we have another wine-tasting tour to do.  A German couple, parents of one of Grace's classmates, are new to the area and we are showing them the wine buying ropes.  She's very nice in that hippy/German way.  She has a rat-tail haircut, big baggy all natural fibers clothing and Burks.  He seems much more conservative as is an executive with one of the car companies.  But if you look closely he does have a pierced ear.  He comes across as very stiff but hopefully after we get a couple of glasses in him he'll relax.  Grace is going to their house where she and their daughter will make German Christmas cookies and babysit their younger son.  Poor kid
It has finally gotten cold enough to start thinking about warm clothing.  I pulled out our bag of gloves and hats the other day and it is still sitting where I dropped it.  This apartment living means serious organizational and storage skills.  I have been looking for storage options but haven't found what I want yet.  Every inch of space has to be utilized to the max, every piece of furniture has to be necessary and preferably have drawers.  Is this what New Yorkers feel like?  Oh what I wouldn't give for a nice big hall closet.  But I digress so back to the weather.  Yesterday after a couple days of rain here, the clouds faded and the mountains popped out covered in white.  They are quite spectacular.  We still haven't gone into the higher Alps and I would love to do so before Christmas.  We have our snowshoes here so we need to use them!  Well no snowshoeing tomorrow, but hopefully a good day amongst the vineyards!  xxoo me

Ralphie, wasn't it?  From A Christmas Story?  Well imagine Ralphie but erase the cuteness and add an element of pigginess.  There you have our Federico, the boy upstairs.  He's the one whose dad sings at the top of his lungs all day.  Supposedly he teaches but I don't know when.  And whose mom lives in  heels.  She vacuums in heels.  For an hour.  Every day.  These are small apartments people, how much vacuuming can you possibly need? And who vacuums in heels?  She's like a Stepford Wife except she also works 10 hours a day because her wacky husband is home singing!  So back to Ralphie/Federico.  Last month he thought he was a super hero so he banged around upstairs jumping from burning buildings and defeating villains.  Now he's a dog.  Every time he goes in or out he woofs loudly.  He also loves to play with something, (a marble?), on the tile floor right over the head of my bed.  Clunk, rattle, rattle, rattle, stop.  Clunk, rattle, rattle, rattle, stop.  When he's not saving a life or driving me to drink with his marble, he's sneaking food.  His mother screams at him because he got into the cookies or jam or something.  She can tell because he leaves telltale signs all over his face.  He evidently hasn't figured out how to use a napkin yet.  This kid is 8.  And how do I know all this?  The family lives life with the volume turned up.  They don't speak, they yell.  They don't walk, they stomp.  They don't close the door, they slam it.  And they don't seem to like each other very much.  Weekends when they are all home is one loud bitch session after another.  That's when it's best for us to leave.  Ah, apartment life.  xxoo me

Looking down on the River Corsaglio

Taking a breather

A woodcutters hut

Another damned hill my mother's making me walk up.

There was some fog but mostly wood smoke in the air.

Check out the website for the caves.  www.grottadibossea.com

Stalactite the length of 3 men

That's a walking bridge over the falls

My, oh my, what a day yesterday.  We went to see the Grotta di Bossea, a huge cave complex in the lower mountains in the province of Cuneo, towards France.  The photos we took don't do it justice so I have included it's website.  The place is enormous.  From top to bottom the height is over 100 meters.  That's 328+  feet (no I did not convert that in my head) or a 30 story building?  The main chamber could fit 3 cathedrals.  It was formed 200 million years ago by a the river Corsaglia which runs through the caves roaring and tumbling.  There is a small lake and a waterfall.  Of course there are tons of stairs cause this darn country is all made up of steep hills and stairs!  My calves are again killing me.  The tour lasted over an hour.  Very cool.  The area around the caves is another story.  I'd never really seen hillbilly Italy.  It's in an part of the mountains without ski resorts or lakes or much of anything so there is little to no tourism.  The mountains are very close in and the slopes are vertical.  (There seem to be quite a few quarries in the area.)  Consequently I think the folks there don't see much sun.  The people seem to be "woodsmen", cutting and stacking logs all over every hillside.  There are a lot of goats wandering around and not much else.  The few villages we saw are very poor with half the ancient buildings abandoned and falling down. Sadly some of the ruins are inhabited.   I think we saw 3 people before we went to the caves where we found a couple Italian families and some French guys.  It was a grey day and the air was filled with smoke from all of the fires these woodcutters were burning.  The whole atmosphere was very dueling banjo-y.  Sort of creepy.  We did however take a walk up one of the steep hills to get a better view of the valley.  Not the place to go if you suffer from fear of heights. 

After that excitement we came home, changed, and went out for dinner with friends in the city.  As we were leaving the restaurant Gian Piero saw a car being lifted onto a tow truck down the street and joked that it was our friend"s.  It was.  An hour and 300 bucks later (I'll write about the ticketing process later) we headed home.   xxoo me

Things this broad abroad missed on Thanksgiving day.  Family.  Even though they usually all crowd around in my little galley kitchen gabbing until I very ungraciously kick them out.  I'm cooking here!  Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  It's tradition, what can I say?  Cheddar baked onions!  Can't find the ingredients here.  It's a Wonderful Life.  I love Jimmy Stewart.  All that aside, last night was very nice.  The old villa and the grounds of the school were all lit up beautifully. About 170 people gathered at tables in the cafeteria set with linens, candles and wine.  The food was good, though apart from turkey and mashed potatoes, nontraditional.  The high schoolers were served wine if they wanted and only Grace and one other declined.  Hmm.  We met some interesting people and Grace had fun running around the school in off hours with her friends.  A good time was had by all.  Sunday evening we are having the grandparents over for our own little dinner.  I need the house to smell like turkey to really get into the season.  It's still in the 50's and higher most days though so just doesn't seem like the Holidays are coming up.  Tomorrow we are hoping to go to a huge underground cave system near the Alps called the Grotte di Bossea.  The tour last an hour and a half.  Scary!  xxoo me

If you bundled together a player for the Red Sox, one from the Patriots, one from the Celtics and maybe throw in one from the Bruins, you'd get the celebrity of a Juventus player here in Torino.  Juventus is one of the 2 local professional football, (soccer), teams.  As soccer is the only sport that is really followed it is huge.  HUGE!  The rivalry between Juventus and Toro, the 2nd local team, is monumental.  Juventus is supported by the middle upper classes and Toro is the team of "the people".  For some reason, six or so players from Juventus have kids at Grace's school.  I have a few of them in my library classes. (Not that I knew that but Grace has informed me of such).  Most of these guys are Italian but there are some South Americans thrown in.  Today a couple of the players came to pick up their children and there was a near riot.  The kids swarmed over them getting autographs and having pictures taken with them.  Grace got a couple shots on her phone from a distance.  Handsome!  I would love to get to a game just once to experience it.  Gian Piero will be of no help on that front as he is one of the very few Italians who doesn't follow sports.  I'm going to have to get in good with some of their kids in my classes.........of course Grace will have to tell me again which ones they are.  xxoo me

Ok, listen to this one.  Tonight there's a march in the center against "transphobia".  That's the fear of transgender people.  Really.  Look it up.  There are so many questions here.  First, how many transgender people can there possibly be to make this an issue.  In order to have a fear of something, don't you need to have been exposed to it?  I can't believe most people would know a transgender if they saw one.  If I didn't know any better, I'd think Chaz Bono was just a chubby man with a rather sweet, child-like face!  Second, this is Italy, where in general, people are very tolerant. Not because of a great deal of openness but because Italians tend to be a very egotistical population. Most couldn't care less what the next person is doing unless it interferes with their own lives.  So I really doubt transgenders have been persecuted here.  And third, Transphobia?  They actually made up a word for people afraid of someone who's changed sexes?  Weird.
 
 The Vatican has to be involved with this.  The church no longer holds much sway with the common folk, but as they fund their favorite politicians, they do have influence in the government.  So the church must be pushing for some law against Transgender rights or something.  The biggest deterrent for me would be all the red tape you'd have to go through to get your sex changed on all of your Italian documents.  Legally you can't even change your name here. They don't care if mom named you Prudence Picklebutt.  If it's been documented on your birth certificate, your name is there to stay.  I can't imagine how long it would take to get all the paperwork settled if you had to change your sex on your license, passport, ID card, healthcare card.... . 

Thursday is Thanksgiving and we are attending a dinner at the school put on by the Alumni Association.  I'll report in on Friday.  xxoo me

A quiet weekend!  Grace had a sleepover Friday night with 5 girls, followed by a day of shopping and wandering around the city center Saturday.  Gian Piero and one of our neighbors spent the day painting the stairway of our apartment block.  Here's the story.  The staircase (3 floors) hadn't been painted in some years and really needed a sprucing up.  The occupants all met and decided that this year was the year to do it but then all began hemming and hawing about having to cough up the funds to pay someone to do the work.  Typical.  So after months of procrastinating and making excuses, in a moment of frustration,  Gian Piero and our across the hall neighbor Renzo said that if they could all at least come up with the funds to pay for the paint, the two of them would do the damned work.  So last week GP put a sign on the front door of the building hoping that someone else would volunteer to help but alas no real takers.  One guy, the singer from upstairs, showed for a couple of hours then disappeared and another came out at the end of the day and helped with the cleaning up.  My husband, (and undoubtedly my neighbor), is now sprawled on the sofa with a sore back.  The stairway looks terrific though.  I spent the day cleaning and reorganizing the kitchen cabinets and studying (always half-heartedly) for my driving exam.  Last night GP and I went out for dinner with old friends.  Beppe and GP have known each other since they were teens and Beppe's wife Alessandra is a kick.  She spent the evening telling us stories about her weird aging parents.  Her mom once threw a side of frozen mountain goat off her balcony, hitting a guy in the head and almost knocking him out.  Tomorrow no plans aside from a long walk and dinner with the grandparents which has become the Sunday thing to do.  They too are doing some odd aging stuff.  Yesterday my mother-in-law was convinced the reason a representative from a phone company kept calling her was to tell her that the battery in my phone had died.  Hmmm.  xxoo me

It's still warm here.  Winter is a long time in coming.  Days are still up in the high 50's, lower 60's and no freeze in sight.  I don't remember it ever being as warm or sunny as it has been this fall.  One reason is that I am now living a life above the fray.  I only go up into the hills, to grace's school, her tennis lessons, her friends.  In my past life I headed down into the city.  There in the mornings when we drive out of the gate we can look down the hill and see the fog settled in.  Farther into the center that fog mixes with smog and there is that gray that I remember so well.  Up high, where the privileged live and play, they are above the mist and gray.  Sort of symbolic ain't it?  But even with this late season warmth, I miss autumn at home.  I miss that cold fresh ocean air.  The air here is too verdant, too closed.  Dear sisters do you remember that musty, ripe smell the gardens had in England?  That's what nature smells like here.  It's the smell of European soil.  It smells damp and full and really old.  Even my little condo garden smells like that, with it's weed-like ivy, and mold growing over everything.  Maine smells clean and new.  Can you tell I'm homesick?  We've been here 2 1/2 months and are settling in.  We have a routine going for the week days and have been pretty busy weekends.  But we still have that pull from home happening.  Oh well.  this too shall pass.  xxoo me

Cavour "hill"

 This is the hill below which the town of Cavour is built.  It lies about 15 miles from the mountains, smack in the middle of the plains, as though someone had dropped it by mistake while building the Alps.  It is so steep and rocky the only building on it is, of course, some church named for some dead saint or another.  Cavour is a charming little agricultural town that hosts Applefest every year.  A fair obviously dedicated to apples and other local products; cheeses, salamis etc.  We went yesterday after the rain stopped and had beautiful weather with great views of the mountains.

In Cavour

You can see the hill at the end of the main thoroughfare in town.  We tasted our way from one end to the other and then continued on to the Grandparent's house for dinner.  I took another nap.  xxoo me

It's been so long!  Last week flew by with school, soccer, zumba, and tennis (all Grace apart from my pathetic try at zumba).  Friday night we went to dinner at some old friend's place.  I worked with her about a hundred years ago when I lived here and taught at a language academy.  She and her husband and son live in an apartment in a renovated complex of outer buildings attached to a gorgeous villa in the hills.  Their place is rather damp and chilly but has an amazing view out over the city.  The road up is treacherous.  First a very steep, curving, but paved city street.  Then a turn onto a short, vertical entrance that leads to huge iron gates.  After the gates, a long, curving, steep and so narrow the plants touch on both sides, unpaved, private road up, up, up till you come out to a clearing at the top.  The property is jungle-like with acres of Palms and Dates and other exotic plants and they have 3 resident boars.  Mamma boar, Papa boar and Baby boar.  If you come upon one of these boars on your way up you have to honk your horn insistently to move them because they are big enough to make passing them impossible.  Woe is he who comes upon them on a motorbike as they have no fear and won't budge.  They might even charge.  This place is right above the center of Torino, a city of over a million people.  Dinner was marvelous but GP had to mind what he drank as we had to navigate the road back down in the rain.  Yesterday we went wine tasting and shopping in Le Langhe, a wonderful wine region nearby.  We took a couple we've met through the school who are here for the year and wanted to see the area.  It was rainy and cold but that made the strong reds and wonderful lunch all the more appreciated.  Unfortunately we couldn't show them much in the way of scenery as all the hills were shrouded in clouds.  We came home with a trunk full of wine and I took a two hour nap.  Today we are waiting for it to clear up then off to an Applefest in Cavour about 45 minutes from here.  We've never been so it will be an adventure for all.  xxoo me

again view from pecetto market square

another shot

ditto

yellow building in middle school

fields with baby trees

dry soil looks like snow

Election day and this broad abroad feels very far from home.  There is a meeting of Americans in Torino to watch the election results tonight but it's a little late for me.  They are meeting at 10pm and staying up all night.  I'll stay up as late as I can, (probably not past 11) and get up early.  Today was a beautiful day and after work I took a walk in the hills behind the school till Zumba time.  Here are a few pics.  xxoo me

View of Prague Castle from Petrin Hill

  www.hrad.cz/en/   Check out castle's website.

Walking up

Rooftops

Mini Eiffel Tower

 

Bakery where I left Grace

Weird street performer doing Indian Powwow dance

Day 3.  Sun at last!  And good thing too as we spent much of the day wandering up stone paths through the autumn woods trying to get to the top of Petrin Hill.  Petrin Hill has a replica Eiffel Tower and a gigantic park with churches, a monastery and some miles-long-ancient-turret-topped wall twisting and turning all over the place.  We kept wandering through arches to see gardens and views and then ended up stuck on the wrong side of this endless wall and had to back track to get where we needed to be.  This was all uphill again, with lots of stairs.  I have built up some serious calf muscles.  When we went back down we wandered along the riverside, more shops, restaurants, lovely old buildings.  We stopped in a bakery for cheesecake cause it comes from this area and we HAD to try it.  Most places take credit cards and as this cafe was across the road from an American university/study program, I assumed that using my debit card would not be an issue.  Well it was.  So I had to leave Grace as hostage and find an ATM to get some cash.  I thought about taking a little walk to scare Grace but then decided against it.  She holds a grudge.  After that we went to Wenceslas Square which separates old Prague from new Prague.  One end of the square (which is actually a long rectangle) spreads out into multiple little cobble stoned alleys that lead into the old center.  At the other end stands the National History Museum which is massive and dark and scary.  It would have been the perfect place to spend Halloween evening but was, alas, closed for renovations.  On the square is an open air market with stands selling roasted sausages, pretzels, grilled smoked sheep cheese (really good) and beer and oh so much more!  We tried it all, then waddled back to the Astronomical clock for one last look before saying goodbye to Prague.  We got back yesterday and I am now on a diet.  xxoo me

At the start of the Charles Bridge

Newer part of the Prague Castle

On Golden Lane

Puppet shop

Another view of Castle

Looking down on some of the gardens

Day 2.  We headed out into another cold, damp day but warmed up quickly as decided to cross the river via the famous Charles Bridge to the part of the old city around and up to Prague Castle.  Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world.  It once contained a town and still has squares and streets and a huge cathedral and acres of gardens within it's walls.  The streets up to the castle are VERY steep and in fact many are not passable by car but are actually stairs.  We stopped and took a lot of photos as an excuse to rest while all these old Czech ladies passed us with their shopping bags.  All this cardio exercise is probably what keeps them from dropping dead from their "all fat-all the time" diet.  There is an area in the castle that's called Golden Lane.  It's a small street of tiny houses that once housed some of the people who worked in there like seamstresses and jewelers.  It was actually still inhabited up through the 1950's when the city bought all the houses up to make the entire castle complex a state treasure.  Now the little places are set up as a museum showing how the occupants lived or as shops with some of their local crafts.  It looks like something from the Hobbit.  Franz Kafka lived in one of the house for a few years.  Maybe that's where his idea about the cockroach came from as only way to live comfortably in one of these places is to be the size of a bug.  After hours of trudging up and down to the castle we went back to explore the Charles Bridge which is lined with giant statues of saints. It is pedestrian only and filled with stands of people selling art and jewelry and goodies.  There are also street performers (some very good), and beggars (all surprisingly well fed), and tourists, tourists and more tourists.  After all that walking we had to go back to the hotel for a nap.

For those of you who never thought of going to Prague, think again!  It is a gorgeous city with tons to see but 3 days worked just fine for us.  It's pretty small for a capital city with a little over a million people.  The older architecture is beautiful.  The buildings look like they're frosted and decorated like cakes.  We walked and ate so much I feel rather spider-like; round in the middle with skinny limbs sticking out.  Here's my rundown.

Old Jewish Cemetery

Old Town Square w/ Gothic church

Cold Grace

Astronomical Clock

Did I mention the wax museum?

Side street

Church of Our Lady Before Tyn

 

 

The square at night

Day one we left Italy at 7 am which meant getting up and leaving home by 5:30.  In this city of one million there are fewer people on the streets at 5:30 am than at that time in Boothbay Harbor.  We made it to the airport in record time.  When we flew into Prague (only 1.5 hr flight) it was gray and cold.  We checked into the hotel, bundled up and headed out.  Our hotel was right out of the 70's boom era with mirrored walls and huge western themed chandeliers, but clean and convenient and only 3 stops from the old center.  Getting off the tram and walking into the center is like entering Disneyland.  The city is extremely clean as they have huge fines for littering.  The cake-like buildings are pink and blue and yellow and there were still flowers everywhere even though they had already had their first snowfall.  The Czech Republic is part of Bohemia which is famous for all sorts of well known hand-crafted products.  They make crystal (Swarovski), and enameled nesting dolls and eggs, wonderful puppets and other wooden toys, amber and other semi precious stones, plus glass Christmas ornaments and all sorts of shiny pretty things filling every shop window.  The old center has churches dating back to 900, and it's street are mostly pedestrian because they are too narrow for cars.  There is an astronomical clock tower in the main square that announces every hour with moving characters who ring bells and wave their hands.  Then from the top of the tower a trumpeter plays a tune from each of the four sides.  Five minutes have past before the hour has been tolled.  There were tons of tourists even though the "high season" is over.  All of the shops and bars and restaurants were open and bustling.  There are even more restaurants per block than Italy, and everywhere you walk it smells like roasting meat and spiced wine and toasted sweet bread (sold on every corner, all tasted and enjoyed).  We toured the old Jewish cemetery and surrounding Jewish quarter with many historic synagogs and museums.  For dinner we went to a traditional pub for cabbage and potato pancakes topped with a garlic sour cream, goulash with dumplings, and beer (me only - good).  Yes it was as heavy as it sounds.  Then we stumbled back to the hotel.  On the tram a lovely young gal was doing her make-up.  She had red toothbrushes stuck through her earring holes.  Day 1 complete.

neighbor kitty in front of apartments

view from front balcony

toward front gate

This innocent looking shop is the hub of riots and noontime terror.  This is one of the best bakeries around and people line up for ages to buy their daily bread, grissini (bread sticks), cookies and cakes.  We only go on special occasions as the lines make us crazy.  They must have more than 20 different types of bread and rolls, and if one is Italian you must get your bread fresh every morning, so each person takes flippin' forever to choose.  "Maybe that one there today.   No, no, one with the crust a little softer, darker, longer, shorter...."  But yesterday we caved and stopped by as today we have the Grandparents coming for Sunday lunch.  They had better like the damned bread!  It's actually the perfect day to be inside eating and drinking as autumn has come with a bang.  Fall has fallen.  Just a couple days ago it was still in the high 60's and low 70's in the daytime.  Today it is rainy and in the low 40's.  The sky is very dark and threatening and they say it may snow tonight!  I'm sure it's snowing in the mountains.  Here are some autumn pics. Off to eat!  xxoo me

It's the incongruities in Italy that get you.  How can a country have such high-tech, modern, well maintained highways and have parking lots where none of the automation works and they have to pay 2 people to help parkers insert tickets and figure out what cards are accepted.  God forbid these same workers actually stand in a booth and accept cash.  Today we literally got stuck in a parking lot.   Another example?  The government has a great recycling program.  You can recycle everything.  We have containers outside the gates of our apartments for glass, plastic (any), metal, paper, organic, garden refuse (different from organic), and standard trash (very little remains).  There are specific places to drop off meds (the pharmacies), batteries (the supermarkets), clothes and linens (also the supermarkets).  You just need to call and they will come haul away old furniture and appliances.  And yet the alleys and side roads are strewn with trash.  It is not as though people are saving money by throwing trash in the streets.  Every resident in this country pays a tax which covers the cost of all this trash collecting and recycling.  Then there are of course those strange bureaucratic quirks so prevalent here.  When you shop, in a market or a store, the cashier always rounds off the change in the customer's favor.  Small change is virtually useless.  But today GP had to buy a type of stamp that is used on official documents, the money for said stamp goes directly into government coffers.  The cost?  40 euro and 39 cents.  39 cents, not 40 or 35 but 39 cents.  Okie dokie.  And let's not forget their obsessive parenting that keeps kids at home til they're 40 but when it comes to education they throw up their hands and say "That's the teacher's job."  Italian parents adore and spoil their children.  They are carted everywhere, no sitters, and enormous quantities of money are spent on clothes, toys, holidays for offspring up til and well after attaining adulthood.  But as soon as those same kids are dropped off at the doors of their school it's all hands off.  Italian parents have zero involvement in their children's education.  Our school is about 60% local and 40% international but 99% of the parents who are involved with the PTA or volunteer as"Room Parents" or have any sort of interaction inside the school are international.  Italians are there for drop off and pick up.  According to the locals I know, this is typical.  Go figure.  xxoo me

The destination

Along the walk

Little rest

Look how tall she is!

Some of the rat bastard stairs( as Vicki would say)

More stairs.

The view is worth it.

                                            Just a few photos from the Sagra di San Michele.  Check out the Arch Angel Michael statue.  You can see the wings if the demon he is sending back to the underworld.