GP (front) and friends at park

Me and Alle. in front of winged victory

view of Torino

Yesterday, Sunday, GP and I started the day with a long walk with friends in the Parco di Rimembranza, a huge park at the top of one of the hills.  It's about a 15 minute drive from here, straight up.  The park is dedicated to the fallen soldiers from the first world war and it is a little disturbing to walk for miles along all the paths lined with stakes topped with the names of all those killed.  You start at the bottom of the park and wind around and around until you reach the top and a huge monument, a winged woman who is the "Light of Victory".  433,000 people were killed.  That is a lot of miles of walking.  After that walk we came home, picked up Grace (who had slept in) and headed out again to the Sagra di San Michele or the Shrine of Saint Michael.  It was an ancient monastery built into the rocks of a mountain top with a huge abbey built over it.  The original parts were built in the late 900's and the "new" part was added on in the 12th century.  It was dedicated to Archangel Michael, the slayer of demons, and there is a gigantic bronze statue of him/her (they said angels don't have genders) at the entrance.  The complex (as it is) is in the Valley of Susa about a half an hour from Torino in the lower Alps.  Our tour guide spoke like he had stones in his mouth and that, plus the echos in the huge chambers, made it impossible to understand a word he said.  Otherwise I'm sure I'd have oh so much more to recount.  After the early walk and the climb up to the abbey my calves were killing me.  I'll have more pictures when I can download them as the camera is in Rome with GP.  xxoo me