more about my first days

Feb. 2, 2006
Ciao Italy!
Arrived safely in Torino around 6 p.m. Italy time and was greeted by Giusi, her sign with the big letters CIAO RYAN!, her video camera capturing my first steps in Italy and I returned the favor with a peck on both cheeks. Nice lady. Very happy to see me and even grabbing my suitcase wanting to pull it for me (I told her that wasn’t necessary). We got in her small Fiat (somehow I fit in the front seat with the seat all the way back) and drove the 15 minutes or so to the place I’m writing this post from -- Albergo Martin in Volpiano -- a place with a nice-sized bed, a standard bathroom but with a shower that closes into one tall rectangle and, by the way, I’m just about as tall as the shower. I’ll be here for a few days before I move to an apartment.
Giusi and I then left to arrive at her home -- her mother lives downstairs and Giusi has a bigger place upstairs. Nevertheless, we ate a great dinner at her mother’s home. Bell peppers with anchovies (definitely a first for me!), two kinds of salami, fresh cheese, good bread, breadsticks, Barbera wine (a dark red), a bit of natural sparkling water (yes, with gas, I had to try it once) and finally, a bowl of spaghetti al dente. I even tried a slice of a “Christmas” cake and took a few sips of coffee that, unfortunately isn’t my drink of choice (but it’s early).

Feb. 3, 2006
Sleeping in … Settling in
My first full night sleep in Italy finally happened at about 1:45 a.m. local time. It was really still about 7 p.m. (California time) when I first tried to go to sleep at midnight here. I turned on the TV and found everything from a “That 70s Show” in Italian to WWE “Smackdown” to a lot of those late-night sex ads, only here there was nothing left to the imagination and even a sitcom of some kind that had Cheech Marin and Don Cheadle talking in Italian. I finally settled in and fell asleep. I slept well, except for the sound of screeching brakes and lots of broken glass from the trash trucks who were stopping on my street. They break down their trash here into many different days and a truck picks up various trash several days of the week. Odd, but I’ve noticed Volpiano has superior, clean walkways. Anyway, I finally woke up around 10:30 or so and, since Giusi wasn’t meeting me until 1 p.m. (she had to work today), I had time to shower and look around this small area.
First stop was the corner market after keeping myself away from the very tempting bakery across the street. I went to the market, complete with the 30 euro I was given as leftover money from my father’s recent travels overseas. I looked around, saw a lot of unfamiliar items, but for you Americans they do have some very familiar things, most notably, Coca-Cola (in 500 ml cans!), Fanta and Sprite. They also have Twix candy bars. I decided to buy a 1.5 liter bottle of Coke that I keep on hand for the occasional swig of something American.
I walked back to meet Giusi along with two of her acquaintances, Paolo and Roberta. The three of them immediately carried on a vibrate conversation in Italian and I, being the American and knowing only a few words of Italian, waited patiently for Giusi to explain a little of the conversation in English.
I explained that I had not eaten breakfast, opting instead to sleep in. Giusi went back to work and I followed Roberta back to her workplace and Paolo was to meet me later to take me to a few areas outside of Volpiano which I’ll get to later. In the meantime I walked Roberta to her workplace (she designs beautifully hand-crafted signs that are used by restaurants, children’s stores and even some local hotels). I then told her I’d go get something to eat at the restaurant adjacent to Albergo Martin which is called Il Manuale ("open book" in Italian). Inside, I had just enough time to order a plate of ravioli (small pasta with some kind of meat and in a brownish sauce, likely juice from the meat), a mixed salad with tomatoes, mozzarella, purple cabbage, greens and some onions too. To drink, I’m still easing into my wine drinking so I just went with a Coke. It was a good meal and I even asked for the check by speaking it to the waiter in Italian.

I finished my meal and went back to see Roberta at her workplace. She works alone in her upstairs shop and had a sign she was finishing up. She and I immediately hit it off … or as well as an Italian who knows little English (she said she knew more at one time but was simply out of practice) and me, who continued to flip through a book for Americans like me to find at least a few words to praise her work in Italian. Roberta, who is 27, and I shared many laughs over our conversationally challenged time but do plan to see each other again real soon (I’ll brush up on my Italian so I can at least impress her a bit).
It was time for me to leave -- too soon -- as I promised to meet Paolo at 3:15 back at the Il Manuale. We met and he drove us in his small Fiat. We went to the town of Orio (pronounced Oreo and yes, I told him Oreo was a wonderful cookie in the USA). He took me to one of the town’s higher points so that I could get a good look at the small city and hopefully, a good view of the nearby mountains. Unfortunately the fog made it difficult. We then walked around some of the neighborhood and saw a few young men playing tennis next to a soccer field. On our way back to the car, I noticed a sign that indicated that the Olympic torch would be coming through this very small town on Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. I immediately made plans to see it as it will be very close to Torino. I should also add another good reason for coming to Orio. This might actually be the town where my great grandfather on my mother’s side may have been born (it’s possible, but I’m still checking, Mom). From Orio, we went a few more miles and came across a large castle in Aglie (Castello de Aglie) which is of a medieval origin. It was first built in 1646. I wished have had more time but a tour of the huge castle is an hour by tour guide only and we just didn’t have enough time. It was great to at least take a few steps inside of the castle before we departed for a return to Volpiano and to see Giusi again and go to dinner in Torino.