Italia, prima parte...

We took the train from Lyon to Torino early in the morning and were treated to an amazing ride through the Alps. For two and a half hours I neglected the book in my lap and let my eyes instead look at snow-capped peaks in succession, often with sleepy towns built into the countryside. It was beautiful, and I made note that next time I'm in this part of the world to check out Switzerland and Austria, or anywhere for that matter where these mountains are in their backyard. We spent two days in Torino, and to be honest, it didn't blow us away too much. I had wanted to go because they had recently had the Winter Olympics, but as I later learned, most of those events were held outside the city where buildings were erected or where the natural mountains were. Nonetheless, the city did have some gorgeous spots, namely along the Po River. Like parts of coastal Italy, they were experiencing much heavier rainfall than usual for this time of year, as reflected in some of the photos below.

On a bridge with the Po River beneath.

The heavy rainfall of late caused the river to overflow its usual banks. These places are usually lively cafes and restaurants along the water's edge, but due to powers outside their control, they were shut down for business.

Emelie in front of the river, proud of her braid she put in that day. When you've been traveling for weeks on end and living out of a backpack with the same rotation of clothes, it's these little things that add spice to what's usually a common outfit.

On the other side of a river, a church (forget its name) perched atop a hill.

Aerial view of Torino from said church.

Torino at night. We had the most amazing pizzas this evening. They are so large, so varied, so cheap, and so delicious in this country.

Once the rain cleared on the day we were leaving, it was possible to see the Alps in the distance. We took a train this morning to Milan, the business and fashion capital of Italy. It is Italy's second largest city (behind Rome) and there is a great rivalry between the two, very much like the Boston/NY thing we have back home. Romans think that Milanos work too much and can't relax, and Milanos think that Romans are lazy and don't do anything for the country. 

Picnic dinner one night in our hotel. One thing we've found is that we kind of do miss cooking back at our own place. Don't get me wrong, eating meals out is nice, but when it's happening day in and day out it can almost lose its novelty. It makes you appreciate more the one night a week in Portland we'd go out, but also made us appreciate our own kitchen. Thus, it's nice to mix things up with an occasional meal like this one on our fancy table (bed).

The Duomo of Milan. The fourth largest church in all of Europe. It looks so different from others we've seen because of how Gothic the design is. Hard to tell from these photos, but there are so many statues around the building's exterior, all different and showing different things. Again, we're not religious us two, but buildings like this are hard to overlook for their beauty and grandeur. Also, this piazza here is one of the best places to get pickpocketed in all of Italy!

There was a random movement the day we were here where a group of hundreds of young people showed up and just randomly started making art on the streets. These girls were nice enough to explain what was going on and let me take their picture.

Free heat inside the church.

This may not look like much, but will bring me lots of luck in the next year. It is said that if you go to this bull, place your heel on his testicles and spin in a complete circle you will have good luck for the next year. For real. I couldn't make this stuff up...

When seeing cities all the time, you often don't get to get into nature too often, so stumbling upon this garden behind the Szfaro Castle was a real treat. An old garden that used to hold the elite's wild animals is now open to the public and just gorgeous. We lazed away the afternoon here, soaking up the sun and enjoying the fall colors on the trees.

This was pretty neat, and something I wouldn't have learned without a guide book. The arch in the background is from the days of Napoleon, who had conquered this part of Italy during his time of taking all possible lands he could find to compensate for being so short. On top of the arch are a bunch of horses that symbolized his coming to town when he took the city. However, after Napoleon fell the Italians got on top of the monument and physically turned the horses around--effectively sending them on their way back to France.

Next, and in the most illogical order possible, it's back north again. We're off to Finland to see Emelie's family who will be visiting the cold north for a week. Ciao!