Transition to Torino

Today was a travel day. We awoke before dawn in Lisbon to catch a 7:05 am flight to Milano. Not all things were under our control--such as the departure time. The hour long delay only had minor consequences for us since our next connection from Milano was a bus, and there was one every hour to Torino. 

On our last day in Lisbon, we ran across this beautiful example of Art Nouveau in Lisbon's Baixa Chiado district

And we both feel a bit more comfortable navigating the Italian language in our encounters with people here. And although we had spent a lot of time with our English speaking Portuguese friends in Lisbon,  when we were on our own, we quickly learned that our Spanish only goes so far in Portugal, especially the comprehension. Our Portuguese friends tell us that they can understand Spanish pretty well, but that Spanish folk don't understand Portuguese very well. I think we'll need to study Portuguese soon since we can imagine future visits to Portugal. 

So for the next few weeks, Italy will be our home, and for the most part, our "home" language on the street, in restaurants, museums, and of course, in the Italian language classes that we begin on Monday, July 3.

We had been tipped off by our friends from Torino that we should partake of "apericena". Apericena is derived from two words, "aperitivo" (aperitif) and "cena" (meal, dinner). And as luck would have it, there are about 20 restaurant/bars/caffés on the Piazza Vittorio (where our apartment is located) that serve apericena from 7 to 10 pm for about $13. For the $13, you get a cocktail (alpero spritz is my favorite; Virginia's are Campari and Martini & Tonic), and a wide range of Italian antipasti. It's really a complete "cena"! 

The most outstanding building in Torino, at 550 feet, is the Mole Antonelliana. Built around 1863 to 1889, it was originally a Synagogue, but is now the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. The Mole (pronounced Mo-lay), is located between our apartment and our Italian language school, so we'll see it every day.

Mole Antonelliana

A presto,

David e Sin Yi