Hotel President Turin

... otherwise."
I'm happy to play along.

"Did you eat any good food in France?" I'm asked
My time in France was short, but to be honest, I didn't really eat anything spectacular. "No, not really" I say half joking.
"Of course you didn't. All the best food is in Italy and within Italy, the best food is here, in this home. I feel sorry for the rest of the world."

Our lunch was of the sort that I would hope to serve if I had visiting royalty; not dirt-bag, layabout ...

... 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.

... it is perfection in every bite. Our meal is finished with a dense cake made with ricotta and lemon. A shot of a local liquor 'Mistra' is the cherry on top.

"So this is your first time in Italy?" Tanya asks "and therefore, that was your first dinner in Italy" she continues. "Well you just ate pizza in the North, so you're doing it all wrong" she laughs.
She is correct, it is wrong, you should eat pizza in Naples. But it tastes so right.

... in Italy for six days and I've already had two 'bests': the best chocolate ever and the best ice cream ever (well it was technically gelato). Isabella and Massimo took me to what they claimed was the best gelato store in Torino; called Grom. I definitely believe them. I ordered chestnut flavor, and I was blown away by the amazing texture of the ice cream coupled with the delicate flavor of chestnut. Then they directed me towards what they claimed was the greatest chocolates in ...

... I went to two bars at night. I met Ricca's friends who were a bunch of college students. They tried to talk to me in English. They were singing and I recorded that. I had fun. We went to the Red Lion but it was boring. The place was quite characteristic. At 12ish we returned home. Ricca was a little sick. We went straight to bed.

... The cup is small but that was enough.
I could still fall asleep that night at about 1 o'clock. So this
little quantity isn't strong. Coffee or cappuccino is usually
about 1 euros, with cappuccino being a little higher. If you don't
sit at a tavola, you pay that price. If you sit down, you pay
double. Coffee is just so tiny ...

... never know how much new snow there is unless youre actually on a mountain somewhere... which so many times this winter ended up being a pleasant surprise. On the Schilthorn (about 10,000 feet at the top) I had a good 4 or 5 days this season where at the bottom of the mountain there was maybe 10 inches of snow but at the top there was 3 or 4 feet of snow, enough to call it bottomless...



Add to that the fact that the Swiss do not like to ski Off-Piste which means off ...

... and action going on. They also had cheerleaders that stood in the aisles and danced around every time there was a break in the action. Curling needs this much excitement. The Finnish team was very talented and their puck movement was very precise. The Italians played very hard, but it was not very polished hockey. They constantly tried to take the puck all the way themselves, a lot like watching 6-year-old play soccer. But the Italians held tough for ...

... experience was mind boggling to me...what science had to say about the marks of the Shroud and it's controversy. Afterwards, we stopped for some coffee and a squat on their pot. .... And then headed back to France.