Hotel Ristorante Salera Centro Asti

... 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.

There are plenty of surprises waiting the first time visitor to Torino. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the strong occult influence in the city. Followers believe that Torino forms a 'black magic triangle' with London and San Francisco, and forms a 'white magic triangle' with Lyon and Prague. That is as far as my research into that subject extended. I'm more interested in the tangible or, more accurately, the drinkable and edible surprises on offer here ...

... 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 ...

... persistent one) she was to inform us of our fateful error.
Once Gary has turned the pooper around we were stuck behind a Lexus hampering our progress. So following the Lexus into Chamonix, it stopped, reversed into us, ramming us of the road!
Crushing poop Mini poopers front wing and giving her a squint.
The Lexi Peni swine tried to say that he hadn't inflicted the damage to poor pooper, upon challenging him to look at the red pooper shaped mark on his rear ...

... 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 ...

... hostel in Amsterdam, technically called a B&B, but hostel like atmosphere. To get there you have to cross a canal on one of the free boats that the city graciously provides to go back and forth over the water. After walking around a bland brick builing, which turned out to be an MTV studio, followed by an ugly shed which turns out to be a skate park, and finally walking past a delipidated green house, which was turned into a cafe, one arrives at the Lum D'Abner ...

... and broken Italian and lack of knowledge of the area.

What puzzles me is their Americanization. Why do they wear clothes from Hollister, Abercrombie, American Eagle? Why do they wear pre-worn baggy jeans? Why do they chug coca-cola, use dirty English slang, obsess over obscure American actors and fill their radio station songlists with contemporary American rock, pop and rap? They have so much to be proud of. I realize we have only been ...

... 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.

... 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 ...

... like a tunnel. Next time I go, I'll take a camera. I am still a little scared because there are wild dogs everywhere. For instance as I was walking home, this giant white dog and little brown dog came growling and chasing after me. I thought they were going to attack me, but I just kept walking slowly and they stopped following me after a while. Well, without pictures this entry is a little lacking, but I just wanted to share how beautiful it is here. I'll write soon!