Gita de un giorno (Gee-ta / day / un / jo-no) – Day Trips

          …today was the first of, what I hope to be, many day trips J….my best friend here, Natalie form Tulsa, OK, and one of her roommates went with me…we took the train about 30 minutes west to a smaller mountain town called Avigliana (a-vee-g-lee-on-a)…and oh my goodness, it was so freaking cool…

            …the trip didn’t even start until about 1 or so because we took the time to sleep in a bit today…and then the other girls ended up waking up sick, and even didn’t think they wanted to go today….but I brought them over some meds, honey, and lemons…and after the meds kicked in and some tea for their throats, they decided they would be able to rally and go after all…we went and got on the 1:15 train and a half hour later we were there…..

       

 …after my first train ride (which was pretty freaking awesome) we were in the cutest little town, right up against the alps…

and as we started to walk around and explore, we looked up on one of the hills and saw the ruins of a castle…so naturally that was where we wanted to go…we just kept walking up, higher and higher, winding our way through tiny cobblestone streets,…

it was truly breathtaking…. and the views of the town just got better and better….finally we actually got to the trail and about 15 more minutes later we were there….literally it was one of the coolest things that I have ever seen….the views were spectacular of the city and the alps around us…
...there was a wall of the castle that was still really tall on the city side of the structure that had stairs leading up to it..there were a couple places to sit and just take in the views….ahh I wish I could describe all of this so much better but honestly its like trying to photograph the alps…there is just no way to even kind of do it justice!....so ill just post a few of the pictures just to give you an idea….

           

…after we walked back down from the ruins, we were off to find the lake (which apparently is what makes the city an actual tourist attraction)  it was back down the mountain for this….and boy was the whole town out walking did it seem! We even saw two people riding horses around the streets….after about 20-30 minutes we made it all the way down to the lake and just sat around for a bit, enjoying the ducks and the view….we then took a little time to walk around, even saw what I think was a heron for you mum!....then it was back up the mountain to hopefully find our way back towards the train station and to find some food!....

            ….when we got our way back up from the lake to the road, it was still about at least a half hour walk back to the part of town that held the train station….all the ways looking for a restaurant, and I am not sure if it was because the town is so small in comparison to others around it, or because it was a Saturday…but no matter, we could NOT find a restaurant open anywhere! So our tired feet, and hunger taking over we stopped in a kebab shop for Rebecca’s first kebab and well it was a little scary (not so much scary but we did walk in and the lights were off) but it was all we could find and surprisingly delicious!....

            ….after dinner we found a gorgeous chocolateria! Literally one of the most beautiful shops I have seen this whole time!...even the way they wrapped our plates of chocolates was beautiful!....we were still so full so we grabbed some desserts and took them home J….we caught a beautiful train ride in the dusk back to turin….then a metro ride to my house…the girls came over here for a couple movies and our delish treats! (seriously I wish I had taken a pic of them because they were so pretty, but needless to say they didn’t last long)….we made some dinner here together….it was a fantastic end to a truly amazing day….

            ….I loved everything about today….my first train ride, great travelers off to a wonderful town in the Italian countryside, a castle, gorgeous views, good food, and amazing friends….it was a great day J….tomorrow is a day to sleep in! and then to the FC Torino soccer game in the afternoon J….I am totally excited to go watch my new “team” and really my first truly Italian soccer game….and a pretty amazing part of that is they play in the Olympic stadium, which is pretty awesome too J…..

            ….As always, thank you for reading my blog, I love being able to keep you all up with my experiences living here in Italy….I really am missing the people at home and my gang at Boise, but totally thankful for Skype and iMessage for keeping me connected….I love you guys so so much J thank you for all of the support in this awfully big adventure!....until tomorrow, buona notte amici! (goodnight friends)