Foreign Exchanges: July 2009

My dad came to visit for a long weekend and we had a great time…well besides the travel debacles! Upon my dad’s arrival at O’hare he was rebooked for his connecting flight as they knew the delay out of Chicago would cause him to miss his connection from Rome to Torino. He arrived about five hours later than expected and I got him in the car and off to see the first sight! We drove to Sacra San Michele which is an abbey built for Benedictine monks built in the tenth century. The drive was very nice even if I didn’t know exactly where I was going!

San Michele on the drive up

San Michele on the walk up

We drove into Torino and had a very nice dinner with some friends from the office. It was great to have Michele, Luigi, Sabino, Natalia, and Enrico meet my dad! We walked home through the city streets and my dad got a taste of all the wonderful things about this city. Friday morning we met people in the office for coffee and some advice on what to see in Rome. Gianluca, Massimo, Elena and Valentina took a break to show my dad how nice morning coffee can be (even if he had tea). When we got back to the car we had a ticket (38 euro!) which I tried to get out of by pleading ignorance but of course that didn’t work. The lady was very nice and told me that I could use that ticket as a “free pass” all day and not pay all day. At least there was an upside! First, we drove to Castle of Moncalieri. According to my book part of the castle is used by the Carabinieri but other rooms could be visited. We parked, “paying” by putting the ticket on the windshield, and walked up to what I thought was the entrance. The Carabinieri thought otherwise. Needless to say this castle was not visited! Next we drove to Stupinigi Palace just south of the city center which is one of the former House of Sovoia hunting grounds. I think my book must be out of date as the castle is closed for renovations!

Stupinigi Palace

We tried our luck with a third palace, La Venaria Reale. Open! We had a bit of a difficult time getting in (we couldn’t find the entrance and tried to enter at the Great Hall) but finally found it. The palace was built in the middle of the 17th century by Duke Carlo Emanuele II of Savoia. I guess a royal family needs more than one place to hunt! You were not allowed to take pictures in the palace but could take them in the Great Hall.

Venaria Reale

Lunch at the Palace, Venaria Reale

The Great Hall, Venaria Reale

We drove back to Torino and made a quick stop at the Di per Di to see if they had Diet Caffeine Free Coke for my dad…he got everything but the Diet part and was very happy!

It is the little things in life that make you the happiest!

We then walked up to the Consolata which is a church in the Quadrilatero district near the old gates of the city at Porte Palatine. The original church was built in the fifth century. I am so happy that I took Gianluca’s suggestion to visit this church (it really is hard to decide which ones to visit there are so many) as it is now my favorite in Torino!

Consulata, Torino

We had a bicerin outside the church at the café of the same name. The famous Torino drink is made from espresso, chocolate and cream. We walked over to view the old city gates at Porta Palatine before heading for my dad’s first pizza in Italy!

Al Bicerin, Torino

Porte Palatine, Torino

Saturday we visited the Mole which was constructed in the late 19th century. The building was originally designed to be a Jewish temple but after some disagreements between the Jewish community and the architect the city of Torino purchased the building and created what is now the Cinema Museum. The Museum was very interesting as you learned the history of film and animation. The best part is view from the top, although I will admit getting up there is a little concerning. There is no elevator shaft but instead what seemed to just be wires fueled by a counter weight taking you 548 feet to the top. In the giant hall that you can view movies in you see the elevator traveling through the middle...again not sure how it works but it does as I'm here to tell you about it!

View from the top of the Mole

We drove to the airport for flight debacle number two. We were scheduled on a 3:15 flight to Rome but when we arrived we were booked on stand by as they had overbooked the flight and so we were compensated 125 euro each to take the next flight (although we didn’t have a choice). We also received a free panini and a drink from the airport cafè! The weirdest part was that when we went back to the check in desk to get our seat assignments for the new flight (we had checked our bags and gone to the gate to determine if we were able to get on the flight) our bags were just lying on the ground. Somehow they had gotten back in front of the check out desk and for probably the last hour were just sitting there! I am so happy our "unattended luggage" was not confiscated! Especially because the two bags are a lot of my clothes from the past six months! We finally got to Rome and checked into our hotel and took the metro to the Coliseum. It is so cool at night! We had a great dinner right across the street and headed back to the hotel to get ready for our whirlwind day on Sunday.

Coliseum

My dad and I at dinner in Rome

I can’t really describe all the wonderful things that we saw so I will just tell you that it was amazing…even in the 100 degree heat! We planned to visit the Vatican Museum but at 9:15 (it is open the last Sunday of every month from 8:45 until 12:30 for free) the line was already about a ¾ of a mile long…literally. My dad “doesn’t do lines” so we visited St. Peter’s and the tombs instead.

My dad asking for forgiveness for wanting this picture in St. Peter's

Afterwards we walked across the Tiber River on the Sant’Angelo bridge to find a place for lunch. Off the beaten path, we found a great little place with amazing food.

Castel Sant'Angelo

Lunch in Rome

We then made our way to Piazza Navona where I found my much needed water colors of Rome! We walked to the Pantheon, Tempio Adriano, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps on our way back to the hotel to pack up and head to the airport.

Piazza Navona

Pantheon

Tempio Adriano

My Dad and the water color artist...he was awesome!

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

Our street...we stayed at Hotel Piave

We took our bags to the shuttle stop and explored the area around there for a bit. We couldn’t put our hand in the “mouth of truth” but still got a picture. Legend has it that the mouth will bite off the hand of a liar! It amazes me that everywhere you look there are such amazingly old and beautiful things! Columns with the Colisium in background

La Boca della Verita (Mouth of Truth)

Santa Maria in Cosmedin

After dinner, my dad walked me to the airport and I looked up at the monitor and the Torino flight said 9:20. I was positive it was 9:40 and as it was 9:17 I said a quick goodbye to my dad, hurried through security and sprinted to the gate. My ticket said my gate was A9 but the monitor said A8 and it said Torino on the monitor at the gate so I handed my ticket to the man and ‘wrong flight” came up. The man politely told me I was at gate A10…at 9:40. Of course no Alitalia flight I take can leave on time…we took off 30 minutes late but luckily I made it in time to catch the bus back to the city and didn’t have to wait another 30 minutes. For those of you wondering…my dad’s flight home was delayed 45 minutes! I hope my dad had a great trip and forgives me for making him walk around Rome all day in the heat!

Saturday morning I met my friends Gianluca and Paola for a run along the Po in Parco Valentino. Although the Torino version of Running Club is a lot more difficult than the Chicago version I enjoyed the run. I am not sure when I will be running along a river with medieval castles! I met Gianluca in the afternoon and we took a tour of Palazzo Reale. The castle was originally built for Christine Marie of France in the 17th century. The marble staircase built by Filippo Juvarra was amazing (sorry I couldn’t take pictures inside the palace). There was a written guide in English to supplement the live Italian speaking guide along the tour and I also had my own interpreter in Gianluca! The art work, furniture and views of the city were beautiful. The guide let us take a few pictures of the Mole and we even got to stand on one of the balconies!

Palazzo Reale

Cafe in Palazzo Reale (with a lot of old china and silver)

Gianlucca and I in Palazzo Reale

Mole from the Palazzo Reale

Duomo

Palazzo Reale at night

In the evening Paola, Gianluca and I went to see Harry Potter VI. I was able to follow along pretty well since I’ve read the books a couple times. I will admit I was very confused in the beginning in Italian Dumbledore is “Silente”.

Sunday I decided that I was going to see “Il Papa” in Romano Canavese. As you may have heard, the Pope is vacationing (and having minor surgery for a fall) in the Aosta Valley which is just north of Torino in the Alps. He chose Romano Canavese, a town of about 3,000 in the valley, for his weekly Sunday blessing as Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone is from the town. The train I needed to take left at 7:58. This train was vital as I needed to change trains in Chivasso to get to the town of Strambino (about 2km from Romano Canavese). The 7:58 out of Torino was the only train that would get me there in time. I arrived at the train station and the train was 25 minutes delayed. I figured it was still my best shot so I took the train to Chivasso and asked the woman working at the train station if there was a bus to Strambino or Romano Canavese. She said there was not but told me to take the train Ivrea and then she thought there might be a bus there. I took the train to Ivrea and inquired about the bus. Yes, there was a bus but it left at 11:05. The problem was that the Pope spoke at 12:00 and I wanted to get there a bit before the 11:05 bus would put me there. I wandered over to the sign with a map of the town and saw a number for a taxi…no answer. I called the tourist office hoping it would be open at 9:30 on Sunday morning and it was…and the woman spoke English! She gave me a number for another taxi company and I arranged for the taxi. Now I was not sure how the entire Pope coming to visit a small town worked. Online it said that there was a piazza where he would be speaking in. The only time I have been to see a Pope was in St. Peter’s Square when Pope John Paul II was alive. You just walked into the square and you were allowed to listen and if you had a ticket you could go sit closer. I thought…how hard can it be to just walk up to the piazza in Romano Canavese? Chapman, feel free to say it…I should have used my brain. I underestimated the fact that the leader of over a billion people might have a bit of protection! As we approached Strambino in the cab I began to notice all the streets were blocked off in the direction of the church in Romano Canavese. The taxi driver was allowed to take me to the bus drop off point where there was a shuttle bus taking people to Romano Canavese. I got off the bus fully intending to go to the piazza where the Pope would speak but the 20 polizia, 15 caribinari, and 30 various armed men had other ideas. They street was blocked and we were all funneled into another piazza (even towns with 3,000 people have multiple piazzas) where a jumbotron was set up. So at 10:00 I (along with a few hundred other people) began my wait. Since I had absolutely no idea what the program was (if the Pope was already there or where the Pope would arrive if he wasn’t) I just sat around and waited to see what other people were doing and tried to listen to all I could.

Romano Canavese (the church in front of the piazza where the Pope spoke is in the background)

A caribinari helicopter was heard overhead and people began shouting “arriva…arriva”. Well, since that was actually I word I knew I got swept up in the mob mentality and went to the road leading into the town. False alarm…I think the caribinari were just securing the field. Sure enough about 20 minutes later another helicopter arrived and the priest saying the rosary stopped between the fourth and fifth glorious mysteries to say “Il Papa arriva”…the Pope arrives. He landed in the field just out of sight and shortly after you could see the procession of protection vehicles towards the town. There was no pope mobile so the cars directly before the Pope’s (honoring his German roots with a Volkswagen) had secret service (or whatever the Swiss Guards version is called) hanging out the doors scanning the crowd.

The Pope's helicopter

The procession begins

Checking to see if everyone is ready

Clearing the way

I was in the first row and decided it was better to actually see him with my eyes (savoring the moment as my mom calls it) then to snap a picture. I did get one of his arm out the window (the healthy one). He made his way up to the church and greeted the crowd inside before stepping out into the piazza. He even made a joke about his arm! It was an amazing experience.

Il Papa!

Greeting people inside the church

Greeting the crowd

I made my way to the train station in Strambino and had some time to kill and went to the caffe near the station. I was excited to have an actual conversation in Italian that I actually understood. Sure she was talking about Al Pacino but still…I understood! Too bad I leave the country in two weeks! The funniest part was when she was explaining to her daughter (who was about five) that I was American. The girl was confused so her mother said you are Italian and she is American. She replied…no mama I am not Italian I am Sicilian!

Great company!