Mar 17, 2006 - Pragelato and the box

Emotions were mixed as we headed into the Paralympics, which followed the Olympics by less than two weeks. Tommy was exhausted, recovering from an endless cold and a few visits from pink eye. He also worried he might have to wrestle with Italian buses once again (during the Olympics he spent a minimum of 3 hours getting to and from work). And I, after being creative and finding things to do in a small mountain town for three weeks while being on my own during the day, didn't know what was awaiting me. Similar to the Olympics, I...

Feb 13, 2006 - Torino

So I wasn't planning on traveling this weekend until a friend called and said she had practically bought me a ticket to Torino for 35Euro roundtrip. Torino means 2006 Winter Olympics...how could I pass that up? Of course I went and not soon after did we discover why it was so cheap! (Well that was actually do to that large group we booked with) When we get on the train, at 12:15 am, we find out cabin only to find there are no locks on the doors and our door is broken at the bottom. It get's better, even though this is an overnight train, we...

Feb 11, 2006 - Torino! Winter Olympics 2006!

Mere, Kris and I wandered around Torino trying to find the Olympic Village which ended up not even exhisting, we did some damage at the offical merchansise store and then met up with Cami and her friend to go to the women's hockey game. We beat the Swiss 6 to 0. It was fun being able to chant U-S-A... my mom also was able to see me on Internation television because they did a close up on Cami and I wearing our matching fleeces with the American flag on our laps. After the game we saw Katie Curick and got our picture taken, it was a fun...

Feb 11, 2006 - Arrive Torino, Italy ....Home of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games

I catch the bus from the airport to the train station where I am meeting Stefania Pernoila who is the person that has helped me with lodging. I am renting her mothers apartment in central Torino. They pick me up and take me to the apartment, but before we go inside, her mother Catherine, who does not speak English, wants to buy me a cappuccino so we go one block to the corner Café and have a quick café and then they show me the place. It's very nice and they show me how everything works. Catherine even stocked the fridge with a few basic...

Jan 21, 2006 - A day in the life - Torino, Italy

As far as I can remember, this is the first time in my life (not including holidays and weekends, of course) where I wake up and think to myself, what would I like to do today, not taking in consideration anyone else's plans. The days are absolutely wide open for me to build as I wish. With this freedom, comes the difficulty that the majority of the people around me don't speak my language. We are traveling on budget, so I need to be creative with my activities. And transportation is not easy. Let me tell you how we have come to know the...

Sep 13, 2005 - Piemonte - Barolo

Left Torino by train at about 7:15 in order to avoid cycling in a big city. Arrived in Asti at about 8:15. It was beautiful to start riding so early in nice warm and sunny weather with vineyards as far as the eye can see! Completed about 75km cycling in hilly wine country (Piemonte) by the end of the day! We adjusted our ride from our planned itinerary to make up for the extra day required to climb the Col de Grand St Bernard. We by-passed Alba and headed south through La Morra, situated on top of a hill. The climb was tough, especially...

Sep 12, 2005 - Col de Grand St Bernard Summit to Torino

When we woke it was quiet so we were hopeful the rain had come and gone....but instead we saw about 6 inches of snow on the ground!!! It was so beautiful! We visited the St. Bernard pups (Col de Grand St. Bernard) who are responsible for the naming of this pass and learned more about the history. The temperature was just above the freezing level at the summit. We improvised with plastic bags wrapped around our feet and luckily wore the hats we had packed to make it down from the peak to the Italian side (40km). As we descended towards and...

Jun 8, 2005 - The Turin Shroud is just fiction!

Well, Turin was quite surreal! First we drove in on its main street named Corso Regina Margherita - you know the priorities of the Italians when they name their main streets after food!!! Didn't get to see the Turin Shroud as the Pope and the Bishop of Turin weren't keen to get it out! The other thing was that we saw an angel and he took us for the best cappuccino in Turin, then the best hot chocolate in Turin and finished it off with the best Gelati ice-cream in Turin! As it's worked out, the best of each in Italy so far. He was the nicest...

Mar 24, 2005 - Piemonte region of Italy - final days of our amazing journey

Ciao! This week we finish up our amazing trip to Italy as we tour Italy's second largest region, Piemonte, and its capital, Torino. We left off last week after a four-hour feast in the hills of Torino. I thought that was long meal, but as you'll soon see, that was nothin'. If you're into innovative food, some of the world's best wine, cutting-edge museums, a behind-the-scenes tour of a chocolate factory and truffle hunting, then read on. Or at least click the 100-plus pictures. What's amazing is that the meal I mentioned in last week's was...

Mar 20, 2005 - Torino, Italy (future home of the Winter Olympics in 2006)

Ciao! We left off last week here in Torino, Italy just after I checked into the plush Grand Hotel Sitea. WEATHER I had 30 minutes to chill before meeting the press group I was with in the lobby. I unpacked, showered (the water pressure was superb), lay down on the comfy bed and turned on the tube. I love checking out foreign TV. There were plenty of channels, and a few (including CNN) were in English. But I preferred the Italian ones. They're channels I don't get to see every day, as well as a way for me to start practicing my Italiano...

Mar 17, 2005 - Torino, Italy

THE DRIVE TO TORINO The other two journalists arrived, and turned out to be really cool. Fran Golden was from the Boston Herald, while Ken Kiesnoski writes for Travel Weekly. Later that day Manos and Barbara Angelakis from LuxuryWeb.com joined us, completing our small group. The drive to Torino was nothing like I expected. I thought we would take curving roads over huge, snow-capped mountains. Instead the route was easy and flat, and it did take only 90 minutes. I was relieved to find the city is only 941 feet above sea level. I thought...