Hotel Artu & Solferino Turin

... I want to go where everybody knows my name. Carlo is greeted by staff and patrons alike; drinks are poured, food is served, and introductions are made. Carlo tirelessly assumes the role of translator, but as the evening progresses enough English is spoken, that I can get by without him, or perhaps we just got better at charades. By the end of evening, flaming shots are being poured; a sure sign that its time to call it a night. Tomorrow I go to Rome. I would rather not do that too hungover.

... the young Albanian man who likes to practice his slang "what's up dude?", and I get my olives from the old man who doesn't speak a word of English, but always slips me a few extras after I pay. I limit myself to five Euros a day, and eat as simply as I can bear. I've survived off a potato and leek soup for a few days now. I would like to say I've turned into some sort of 'mega dirt-bag' but that would suggest that some sort of transformation has occurred.

... weren't working in the garden. Here's a top tip: if you are a carpenter, and you want to volunteer your time doing something that isn't carpentry related, then don't tell people that you can swing a hammer.

An unexpected sudden rainfall has us running for the station, where we meet another couple from Victoria. We have a brief national reunion of sorts, then board the train. We pass through a tunnel under Monaco, and look back to catch a ...

... christened 'Santa Coq'
Gaz didnt notice anything unusual. The towels procured from Ikea were Red White and Blue!
First stop Le Spar to re stock with supplies for the jouney ahead - destination Annecy and
then onto Chamonix. The drive towards Annecy was fairly uneventful, until we again decided
to ignore Dashboard Doris when Charlie 'had a good idea lads' and promptly got us lost!
Some time later ...

... br>
In this main square was set up, a basketball court sized, how do I say this. Simply put a giant box of sand. Which apparently was built to house some amatuer championships for a sand soccer league. Needing to kill dubious amounts of time (it was 10 a.m. and we couldn't check into the hostel until 4 p.m. so we had lots and lots of time). Due to my decreasing existence in reality, due to the lack of sleep and slight hangover I had to experience while awake ...

Nothing much to report today. We left Naples, never to return. It wasn't absolutely horrid, but definitely not worth coming back by any means. Got some more pizza for lunch along with a tasty rum lemonade drink near the port, 100 yards away from the Mediterranean Sea. I’m on the train traveling through Tuscany right now, which is just as beautiful as I’ve imagined it to ...

... different chocolate shops?  I will only talk about two of them: 1) Guido e GobinoI heard of this place about a year ago, and it was on my short list of things to taste in all of Europe.  It definitely lived up to expectations, and then some.  It has the finest chocolate I think I've ever tasted.  The cremini al sale are smoooooth little bits of hazelnut chocolate with olive oil and sea salt... yum.  The ganache squares are beautiful (similar in ...

Aujourd'hui était un jour amusant. J'ai pris un train de Fossano à Torino, toute seule! Lena m'a pris à la gare, s'est assurée que j'étais sur la train correct, et m'a donné un grand déjeuner avec quatre sandwichs. Quand je suis partie la train à Torino, j'ai vagabondé autour de la gare jusqu'à j'ai trouvé la groupe des personnes qui me cherchait. Nous avons marché au musée ...

... t care coz I still
had some cash with me. I was so tired by 9pm. We went back to a
famous cafe and I bought a cross bread. Lorenzo bought a gift for my mom
at the same shop. I later gave the bread as a gift to Prof Cheung
and he shared the bread with us. I think this Easter bread has
some orange in it. I don't understand the ingredients ...

... have made here. Thank you to everyone who keeps emailing me. Some friends and i were saying how funny we act when we get emails from home. Everyone is always so giddy when they hear from friends. I have learned that it is easy to take communication for granted. So i just want you to know that hearing from you always brightens my day. Alright, well i have babbled enough. i am off to reseach modern architecture and modern structures. (sounds like fun, right?) ciao!