Moving to Europe – Things To Consider

Introduction

After finally moving to Turin, Italy and being here since March 2019, I thought it was a good time to reflect and write about some of the process we went through in the planning and implementation of our move. Of course for an individual or student, such a move is much easier and although we do not want to trivialize that process, older couples looking to retire or make a very large change in their life’s journey, have much more to consider. So with that it is vitally important to understand that everything you have done in the years prior to your move will directly impact whether or not you are successful or not. Planning and research are key! Without either you may not fail but you will find the problems you encounter, especially from the States, all the more daunting.

Please note: since this is to document the steps we have taken for our move, this article may be updated from time to time as I recollect additional things we may have done in preparation. So if you are at all interested you may want to check back from time to time.

Some Background

My wife, Patricia and I, had been thinking about moving and living in Europe for some time. Not to digress, but this had been a dream of ours for some time and we finally agreed some fifteen or so years ago to make it a goal. Upon doing so we have both been doing our parts, her on the citizenship side and dealing with the Italian government, and I on the financial and logistical side. Both are essential and just knowing what the process thoroughly by reading the government websites and asking questions on forums will greatly reduce your initial stress. We actually made a timeline or calendar for the first 30-60 days we were here and what we needed to get done, including a place to live. You should think of doing something similar if you are also contemplating such a move.

Preparation – The Year Before

Your House

Sometime within a year of your move you have to make decisions regarding the disposition of your home. If you are keeping it you still have some work either preparing it for rental or closing it up. In any case, some of the things we had done to sell our house may still be of consideration.

If you have decided sell your house you probably have already spent months, or years (like we did), getting rid of stuff. There are some things to consider.

First, items that you no longer need. Anything that is broken, too old to use, clutter in your attic or basement, etc. Throw it out! Don’t get sentimental about it, its junk.

Second, items that are in pretty good condition still, sell. We found that an initial purge using the yard sale to be somewhat effective for this purpose. But, yard sales are a lot of work and you rarely get enough money back for it to be worthwhile. Only use them initially for getting rid of good stuff that is bordering on junk and keep the price low, otherwise no one will buy it.

Third, use both Craigslist and eBay for high ticket items. I prefer Craigslist over the latter since there are no charges involved. Make sure you pick a good public place that is well lit and safe for deliveries, you don’t want to spend a lot of time in your car. Bring some cash for change, but not too much and don’t go back in the car for it. Use your common sense.

Fourth, for those things you are going to keep you must consider storage. Frankly, if you are selling do not expect to bring anything with you, this will complicate your move and is very costly (unless of course you can afford it and money is of no matter to you). We ended up with only a dozen or so boxes of our own for storage and the rest we stored but we gave to our children (e.g. furniture, tools and other useful items that are expensive to replace but in excellent condition). Storage for us ran around $100/mo with insurance. Since we paid for two full years we were able to secure a fairly good discount too, so look into that.

Fifth, there will always be those items you must bring with you. For us we decided we were only going to travel with one large suitcase and one carry-on item. That meant anything else had to be shipped. So any additional clothes or other items you want enclosed in a sturdy packing box. We found the small and medium storage boxes from Lowes Home Improvement to be just fine, but any double-walled packing boxes from U-Haul or other vendors would be fine. See the following section on how-to ship this stuff prior to leaving for more details.

Lastly, selling. If you are selling you may want to consider this when timing your move. For us that meant moving in early Spring. Spring and early Summer are the hottest times for house sales. Regardless of how you sell your house the chances are it will not stay on the market as long during this time period than other times during the year. Again, consider this when timing your move. The other advantage to this is weather. We moved from the southeast United States and it does get hot during the Summer, so you may want to take weather into account too. Again, this is where a timeline will help you greatly, even if its been drawn on a napkin.

In short what we actually did was from five to one year(s) prior, we got rid of items we didn’t want. Then we one year prior we sold our house in Spring, moved last items into storage and moved into a small apartment. This forced us to downsize. From there the international move was a lot easier since our lease was written to take into account all of our travel plans. It also gave us the flexibility to do other necessary things without the worry of a house or other unnecessary American luxuries.

Important Documents and Cards

Depending on what your plans are, it would be a good idea to recheck all of your important documents. Do this well in advance, you do not want to worry about this just before leaving. The list is long but it should include your Wills (including Living Wills), financial instruments (stock accounts, IRAs etc.) and other government issued cards or documents. If you have any assets at all, it’s probably a good time to talk an accountant and/or lawyer, just to make sure everything there is in order. Make sure all Passports are up to date. If you are a dual citizen this may require you to travel within the U.S. to obtain a renewal, it did for us.

To apply for residency you will probably need a long list of documents, including Birth Certificates (w/ Apostille), Marriage Certificates (w/ Apostille), and any other supporting documentation for all parties. You must research this and make sure you understand all the requirements can be met with the documentation you will be bringing. Here, you have to bring hard-copy since documents with Apostilles on them cannot be tampered with. We used a hard plastic case file folder to keep all of our documents in order, including travel insurance, etc., so you may consider purchasing one of those.

Additionally, consider getting your credit cards re-issued. This is just to make sure the expiration date is out at least a few years. This is not such a big item to worry about, but if you have time you may want to consider it. Also make sure your spouse has a card as well, especially Debit Cards, just in case one is lost or stolen.

Electronic Documents and Devices

Even if you plan on bringing a laptop, which by the way is a very good idea, I would suggest backing up any electronic data using cloud storage with encryption. You may either purchase a complete service, there are many and some are better than others, or perform your own encryption and store things on Google cloud or some other public cloud service. Just make sure what ever you do your data is encrypted using very strong encryption technology. Even if you carry this data on your cell phone, its best to back that data up in the event you lose your phone or laptop.

It is also a great idea to encrypt your phone as well as well as lock it. I use Android and they offer complete phone encryption on their later models. So, your phone should be encrypted, your SIM card locked with a pin code, and your phone locked with a pin code as well. It will make it annoying booting the phone up from time to time but this is the safest thing to do. You may also want to turn on any phone tracking, in the event you forget your phone or its taken. It will help you recover it.

The last thing I will commend is a password locker. I have used them on and off over the years, but if you plan on traveling a lot, they are indispensable. I would suggest purchasing a good one, you don’t want advertisements cluttering your life here! I use Acebit’s Password Depot, latest version. The nice thing about this application is you can install it anywhere, phone, laptop or PC. Additionally, you can store more than just passwords and use the auto-fill capabilities. You can also use it to store your SSI, foreign social security number, insurance information and other important data and numbers you want to keep secure. Also the application automatically encrypts all the data it stores, so you do not have to worry about it getting stolen on your phone, even if you phone is. I would suggest not leaving home without one. One word of caution though, once you have created your password locker and installed it on all your devices, back the file up on the cloud (you’ve been warned). Yes, this is all a big pain in the ass, but it may save you from having a very bad experience.

Survey Trip

Sometime within 90 to 120 days of your move you are going to want to take a survey trip. This will not be a vacation and you should consider it a job with real costs and daily tasks that must be accomplished. The whole point of this trip is to get a firm idea where exactly it is you want to live. In our case we were unsure whether we wanted to live in the country, the Tuscan area or a city. We had an added twist in that our son was going to travel with us for the first year, so we had to make sure there was plenty to do.

Once you have decided the variety of places you want to see its best to plot them on a map. Then determine what mode of transportation you will be using. A car of course gives you the greatest flexibility but it has drawbacks like anything else. I would suggest choosing the mode of transportation that you intend on using once you have moved. This will give you a good idea as to its capabilities, flexibility, cost and usefulness. We decided our central location for this trip had to have excellent rail service since we were not going to own a car here. That proved to be a very good decision since we had a pretty good idea within a week what we could do, the direct costs and within a month more or less rail and metro experts.

Your central base for day trips should be just that, more or less central to your points of interest. We made ours in a town we were not necessarily interested in living in. But since it had an excellent train station (access to fast rail) it turned out to be a great choice. We even toured it as well quite rigorously to make sure we had no interest really in living there.

There is the question of travel cost. Though figures here would be quite useless since it depends greatly on what you plan to use, etc., planning can be difficult. It’s probably essential to pick your mode of transport prior to trying. However, once you have done this, do not switch, since it will be difficult later to try an estimate your travel budget later (though not impossible). Also keep in mind rural locations have fewer options than cities. We picked a city and are able to choose between metro, street car, bus, local rail and fast rail, though again not all cities may have all of these options available. Again, research is key.

Shipping Items Prior To Your Leaving

For those important items you have identified that must come with you must either travel with you or be shipped. Again, we decided to simplify our travel by just bringing what we could reasonably carry to two items each. Everything else was shipped. There are several carriers to choose from that offer these services. Of course, there are FedEx and DHL, but we found them too expensive for our needs. However, a few internet searches provided a few services from which we selected after reading forums and asking some questions. We ended up going with SendMyBags. It is important to engage them months before if only to get their special shipping tags (large zip-lock plastic clear envelops) for the outside of your boxes. You can also ship luggage, so these will come in very handy with zip-ties. They will be used for the manifest (list of contents) of each box or bag. Be detailed in your description and number of items. Also adhere to any restrictions, if they say you cannot ship something, DON’T! It will save you tons of grief with customs.

In the interest of brevity that is all I will say about shipping items. If you thoroughly read the website for the service you are using you should have no problems. The carrier that is ultimately used presents your bags on behalf of you to custom officials. The bags in most cases are scanned. If they see anything that does not fit the description on the manifest or if it looks suspicious, your bag or box WILL BE OPENED. You may also be asked to pick your item up at the customs office. You want to avoid this so AGAIN, do NOT ship anything that is on their list of restricted items.

For us, we used SendMyBags, and we never had any problem. The biggest fear we had were that the bags might make it to our destination quicker than we would. However, that was not to be the case, even though it was close. Our bags and boxes arrived in two shipments within days after our arrival. No bags were opened and only one of the manifest envelopes were opened and taken. We assumed that perhaps they did something else for the other shipment or just placed it back neatly so we couldn’t notice. In any case we had a very good experience with them and would recommend their service.

The First 30 Days

Temporary Housing

You will no doubt have to find housing for the first 30 days. There are many options, none better than any other. We procured a place online for four weeks with the option of extending that period weekly for an additional three weeks if we needed. Not all landlords are willing to do this and it is best to check with them directly if they are able to offer you this option. Fortunately we did not need to use it.

The cost for housing the first 30 to 60 days will be somewhat expensive, probably higher than you would normally pay for a normal rental. Additionally depending where you planned to stay may make your apartment search easier or more difficult. Again, it is best to do some research prior to leaving just to see what’s available.

Residency

I am not going to go into depth on this subject, since it would fill a book of its own. Rather, I am going to acknowledge that before you even leave the States, you have to realize you will have to apply for residency, wherever you have chosen to live. This will require documentation and you MUST bring all the important ones with you, Birth and Marriage certificates, etc. The chances are they will all have to have an Apostille on them and in some cases the Apostille issued within the last six to nine months. In the case where you are moving to a country that has a different language, you may also have to have a translated copy of the document in question and get an Apostille for that as well.

Phones

Before you move to the continent you have to make some hard choices about your phone service. Make no mistake, if you delay this decision until you arrive and continue your state-side service it could cost you dearly. I would also suggest purchasing a new phone, or at least a reasonable upgrade. This will give you three of four years of piece of mind. If you are purchasing a new one, DO NOT do it through your current carrier. Buy one on the internet. It is very easy to find an ‘unlocked’ phone and you want it UNLOCKED. I will not go into here but its important if you are to install a foreign carrier SIM card into it that it be unlocked.

Domestic Phone Plan

If you are truly ‘cutting the cord’ so to speak, you will no longer need a domestic number. You should plan on terminating your plan so that your last month of service is STILL IN AFFECT while you are traveling. This will ensure, hopefully, that you have continued service while in airports state-side. Once you are airborne this will no longer be an issue of course. You may want to adjust your travel plans such that you don’t get ripped off too much on the last month’s bill. I would also suggest actually going into a local store to make sure there are no hidden last-minute charges, etc. This is the option we selected.

For those less willing to totally divorce themselves from domestic service, you have a few alternatives. You can continue your service and pay exorbitant rates by the likes of AT&T and Verizon, or choose a more friendly domestic carrier like T-Mobile (German based and provide much better rates than domestic only carriers). You can also choose to suspend your service. I imagine there are still other options, but since we chose the former option we will not go into them here.

International Phone Plan

Needless to say you have many options once you get here, just like in the States. However, the first thing you want to do is get a pay-as-you-go SIM card as soon as you arrive. Though they can be somewhat restrictive you should be able to find at least a 20-30GB data plan for about 30€. This is a very attractive option for the first month or two until you are able to shop around and compare all of your local plans. This is exactly what we did until we settled on our carrier, ILIAD, which provides a very good data and voice plan for just 9.99€/m introductory and 14.99€/m after one year. This rate has probably changed since we purchased it so the above rates should just be used to compare against any existing plan you have. This carrier is able to reduce rates by offering SIM cards via a kiosk, although they do have other kiosk like stores with representatives in them that can help you.

The Next 60 Days

Housing

Finding a house or an apartment to live in will depend on the country. I can only speak for Italy, and specifically Turin. To sum it up succinctly, it’s a mess. Not only finding a specific area you would like to live in, but an apartment that is reasonably laid out, has the features you are looking for and in the price range that is acceptable to you.

We made a repeated attempts to perform this difficult task ourselves, contacting several RE/MAX agencies and other local ones. All I can say is for an American based company, RE/MAX is a waste, especially in Italy. The two establishments we visited just yes’ed us to death and never did anything. They are only interested in selling homes, not their rentals. This is probably due to several factors, none of which I will get into here. We finally contacted a private company who worked for us, that is, we paid them as well as the owner. This is a bit expensive and probably not a solution for most people. But in a large city market where location is key, for services, etc., it is key to have someone represent you. We were actually lucky to find them since it was through several people we got to know that we discovered them.

Residency

At least in Italy, you have to make sure your documents are less than six (6) months old. This means, if you have something apostilled, or from an Italian government agency, it cannot be older than six months. We are actually still waiting for residency because of some documentation that must be sent from another commune. Needless to say, Italian bureaucracy is SLOW. You are thinking snails, tortoises? These are quick compared to them! We are of the opinion that before we get our residency we will be re-applying for a permission to stay again at the police department.

Utilities

In Italy at least there are some utility advocates that work for the consumer. That is not to say that they will help you after they make a utility! Eventually after they have fulfilled their duty to get you signed up at a new utility, they slowly stop responding to your requests for help with anything. For example, bill payment or meter readings.

We are attempting to ply the Italian business waters without a Postal or Bank account. The reason is there are better EU based solutions on the internet that provide better and cheaper service. This can cause issues, so if you plan on using something exclusively like TransferWise, or something similar, you may struggle until you have figured out how to pay your utility company. Especially if you do not speak the language yet.

Again, I will be updating this, so please check back later...!

21 June, 201921 June, 2019

Turin – Annual Motor Show 2019

A quick post about the 5th Annual Motor Show going on in Turin now. We visited it yesterday and they have quite an assembly of cars, boats and other technology to look at. Even the university here had a few entries to demonstrate what they work on and learn, and apparently race!

Our entrance to Valentino Park and the Motor Show 2019

The palace and its entrance to see some special vehicles on display

The Cars

Aston Martin
Automobili
Bentley
Mercedes-Benz
BMW
DR
Chevrolet Corvette
Bugatti
Fiat
Ferrari
Ferrari
Formula 1 Racecar
Italdesign
Lexus
Mazda
McLaren
Tesla Model 3
Porsche
University Racing Car
Pagani
XEV

The Food

There is also an extensive food pavilion which is definitely worth the visit. There are foods from all over Italy and other parts of the world including Brazil.

And then there is the food, from fish to meat to vegan if you so desire.

The Carne Mista, or mixed meat plate, bread and a Barbera
The Fritto Napoletano plate, fried anchovies, squid, shrimp and seaweed balls

Of course, there is plenty of dolci or sweets which we got to go, since we had already eaten too much…

So that’s that, the 2019 Turin Motor Show. If you are a car enthusiast you probably have already attended or booked your trip. If not and you are in the area it is definitely worth a stop. We enjoyed it and we no longer own an automobile nor particularly like them! 🙂

18 June, 201918 June, 2019

Rivoli – Simple Pleasures

After reading several reviews and actually knowing someone in the states that has the last name Rivoli, my wife and I decided on a road trip today to that namesake.

From Turin‘s Porta Nuova (Turin‘s main train station) we traveled using Trenitalia‘s service to Susa (not to be confused with Porta Susa in Turin), getting off at Alpignano. Then after going under the railroad tracks using the tunnel, since we were disembarked on track 2, we took the GTT 1432 bus from Piazza Tulio Robotti for eight to ten minutes to Rivoli at Fermata 13264 on via Don Murialdo.

BemahltesHäuser_Rivoli_2019 — The narrow streets of Rivoli

Once you step off the bus and find your bearings you begin to realize that you need to ascend a hill, your ultimate destination being the old Savoia Castel and new Museum of Contemporary Art. Passing many shops and colorful buildings, some needing ownerships, others busy with activity, you slowing ascend the via Fratelli Piol, or main street.

The city itself is actually very well-kept, like other Piedmontese, they obviously have some pride in keeping their community clean. I admit it must be a struggle for them as well as other communities, from what we’ve seen, but this seems not to deter them. The Europeans as a whole still seem to feel they have a right to just pollute and it will not affect them (I will write another article, specific to Turin, on this later), even though they vote and their government seems to do otherwise.

ChiesaSantaCroce_Rivoli_2019 — Chiese Santa Croce

After some walking, browsing and curious on looking into shop windows, one will arrive at a fork in the road and clearly see the Church of Santa Croce. A cinnamon and stout marvel of Christianity. With a mural of Christ with his cross above the large wooden doors, but no longer owned by the Catholic Church, but rather the Res Publica – Galleria d’Arte Democratica for art exhibitions and shows.

GrandeRistoranteDelCastello_Rivoli_2019 — The Old Grande Ristorante del Castello

Upon reaching the top of the hill you arrive at the old castle, or the Castello di Rivoli. Built by the Savoia and houses the Museum of Contemporary Art it is well worth the travel and the climb.

It commands an amazing view of the surrounding area as well as Turin and other parts of Rivoli itself.

bersichtTorinoVonDerCastello_Rivoli_2019 — A view of Turin afar, as viewed on a smoggy day from the Castle

When one faces the East North East one also enjoys an amazing view of the Alps too!

bersichtDenAlpen_Rivoli_2019 — A semi-clear view of the Alps, yes they are close here

I will admit the day was somewhat warm and humid.

bersichtKircheUndTorino_Rivoli_2019 — Another view with Chiesa Collegiata di Santa Maria della Stella

However, compared to North Carolina standards, at fifty percent humidity, it was not totally intolerable. We would therefore call this a warm day, though uncomfortable. Some other sites on our descent included the following.

It was time to eat, being both hungry and a bit dehydrated from the climb, we searched for a place that served both simple but filling fare. We found the Caffé Roxy where we were able to order what we call in the States, flat breads with salami, drinks (both wine and water) as well as dessert, caffe and aperitif, all for 24€. Not a bad deal and the service was excellent as well!

RoxyCafe_Rivoli_2019 — Caffé Roxy on the way up to the castle

After a full stomach and enough shopping we had had our fill of Rivoli and it was time to leave. This is where we caution everyone about the deplorable state of some of the fermatas or bus stops in Italy, you just cannot read some of them or they are CLEARLY WRONG. Pay attention to the numbers that are marked on them. The information that your internet application has is probably correct. Also, do NOT have an expectation of bus color or that you will see a bus number when it approaches, ALWAYS ASK THE DRIVER, especially when you are in an out-of-the-way place. It will make your life so much easier, though a bit uncomfortable (since you will have to use your limited Italian.)

TicketsForTwo_Rivoli_2019_skaliert — Tickets for Two

After crossing Corso Francia multiple times between Fermata 2794 and 2823 and feeling like fools, we finally caught the bus we wanted for Alpignano, albeit on the wrong side of that street.

We finally arrived at the station with plenty of time to spare, stamped our tickets, and waited for our train, which of course was five minutes late – but, it did arrive! Buona giornata!

13 June, 201923 August, 2020

Turin – Piolas – Caffe Vini Emilio Ranzini

CaffeViniEmilioRanzini_6_tiny — The Menu

Occasionally, you come across a restaurant, caffe or bar which just hits all the buttons correctly. For us this occurred last evening at Caffe Vini Emilio Ranzini.

I don’t want to call this place a hole in the wall, but that is the first impression a foreigner, an American, will have. All in all it might measure twenty by thirty feet inside, sixty or seventy square feet maximum, including the bar. But, the food is unmatched by other restaurants much larger in size. So, either there is a huge kitchen somewhere we could not see, or the chef is a magician.

To be honest, there is an outdoor patio in the back where they are able to seat perhaps another forty or so guests. We were fortunate this evening to get our own table inside next to the door and near the bar, to watch all the comings and goings (people watching is an acceptable hobby in Italy.)

A Piola Menu

As can be seen by the rather large display above, the menu is displayed on the wall. This is typical for a Piola, a Torinese-style restaurant that has daily offers of food at reasonable prices (or in Italian, a termine piemontese dal significato di osteria, bar).

CaffeViniEmilioRanzini_4 — Tagliere of Salumi and Formaggi, along with other great stuff to eat

For our dinner we selected the Salami and Cheese plate for two. To accompany this, we also ordered the vinegar roasted zucchini squash, roasted peppers and Polpette di Carni (or hot meatballs).

The meat tasted as one would expect, a nice selection of salami and prosciutto. The cheese selection was very good, especially the blue cheese which reminded us of a Stilton and the other whiter cheese above which reminded us of a sharp white cheddar.

CaffeViniEmilioRanzini_5 — Nizza, San Luigi, 2015 – DOCG

The meatballs and zucchini were to die for. It was actually difficult to tell what kind of meat, were in the meatballs (and frankly we were afraid to ask since horsemeat is an acceptable meat in Italy.) But, the spices and the particular way in which they were cooked (it looked like deep-frying but not sure it was), was very tasty. The squash on the other hand was served cold, but the vinegar gave it such a pop in your mouth, you wanted to order more.

The Wine

This specific place also sports a rather nice wine list. Since we were looking for something red to pair with the meatballs, salami and cheese, we went with a nice Barbera. The Nizza from San Luigi, 2015 was an excellent choice. Dry and aromatic with fruity overtones of cherry, it combined very nicely with our meal. A wine which is sure on my short list of choices when I visit my local wine store in the future!

In Conclusion

Though it was our evening out to celebrate our 37th anniversary, we had expected to spend a bit more. So, when the bill came and it came to a total of 37€, we were delightfully surprised. Not only because we thought it so inexpensive, but that we got such good food and atmosphere at such an affordable and reasonable price.

CaffeViniEmilioRanzini_1 — The bar at Caffe Vivi Emilio Ranzini

We are sure the menu changes often, weekly at least, perhaps even daily. Our plans are to go back for lunch. One word of caution. They do have Summer hours (9:30-2:30, 5:30-8:30) starting in June, which are reduced from the hours posted on Google. However, we would recommend this place for either lunch or dinner and it’s just two blocks off of via Garibaldi!

5.0 stars!

12 June, 201923 August, 2020

Turin – Museum Reali – Da Vinci Exhibit

MuseumFront — Museum Reali – Main Entrance

For the next few months, the Museum Reali here in Turin is sponsoring an exhibit of some of Leonardo da Vinci’s works. TicketsForTwo So my wife and I thought it would be a great opportunity to see the originals of his work for which up to now we have only been fortunate enough to see in books.

The tickets are actually purchased at the ticket office, for which there are plenty of signs to point you in the correct direction (you shouldn’t get lost.) The entrance fee is a bit high, 15€/person, but we thought it is Leonardo and his works usually do not disappoint. So we purchased our tickets and headed to the museum.

One word of caution, though it is advertised that there are some fifty plus works in the collection, they are not all produced by Leonardo. Some are only attributed to him through his working with colleagues and apprentices. So one must pay attention to the note cards for each piece or, if you have paid for it, the audio headset (we no longer get these since we have always found them not to work very well.)

Dioramas and Models

The collection boasts of a few models and dioramas which the visitor can enjoy. Though not directly built by Leonardo, they are from designs that he had put forth in his many notebooks and journals.

ScythedChariot — Allesandro Siriati’s – Scythed Chariot, 1956

Anatomical Studies and Drawings

Most the of original Leonardo works have to do with his studies of human and animal forms. He was particularly adept at musculature and studies of the face.

C_HerculesAndNemeanLion — Hercules with the Nemean Lion, 1505-08

According to the museum, the above drawing was probably an initial sketch for a proposed statue that never was made. It was apparently destined to stand next to his statue of David in Florence once it was completed.

D_MaleHeadLaurelWreath — da Vinci – Male head in profile with a Laurel, 1506-11

There are several sketches and drawings of the human head. Some, like the above, just to capture the heroic nature of some of his models. Others for more exact studies into the human proportions of the face and all of its parts.

E_StudiesOfAHead — da Vinci – Studies of the Proportions of the Face and of the Eye, 1489-90

The one on the left above was a study in the proportions of the eye. This was subsequently glued onto another sheet to join it to his study of the proportions of the overall face. Both show Leonardo‘s interest in the mathematical proportions of his subjects and how they were involved with one’s ability to see, providing us evidence of his overall curiosity of the human condition.

G_DaVinciSelfPortrait — da Vinci – Self Portrait, 1517-18

The portrait to the left is described by the museum as being a self-portrait of the master himself. Though an obviously brilliant work with its economy of lines, etc., it does evoke a sense of wonder as to whether he could have achieved such details from himself, given the deplorable state of mirror technology at that time. It is also very possible that it is either his idealistic image of himself or perhaps more likely of a philosopher of old. In either case it has become our accepted representation of the master who has earned the right to be so represented by his enormous collection of works and detailed analysis of everything he had undertaken.

Poetry and Literary Works

Though actually not known for it, Leonardo did some writing. The museum has several examples of his poetry on display.

F_LeonardoPainting — Autographed Sonnet with Self Portrait while Frescoing the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1508-12

The most notable of which is the self-portrait above. The sonnet describes Leonardo‘s “Beard in the Sky” position while painting the Sistine Chapel.

Flight and More Familiar Works

Mechanics seemed to have been one of Leonardo‘s passions. Most of use are somewhat acquainted with his works on the subjects. Even the Wright Brothers read his works on the subjects as an introduction to flight mechanics.

H_CodexOnBirdFlight_2 — da Vinci – Codex Atlanticus, 1493-94

In the above codex Leonardo explored the mechanics and structure of the bird wing. He was very interested in how this could be expressed mechanically with the use of wood and rope. The above design is also articulated in a model which hangs very near the above sketch.

H_CodexOnBirdFlight — da Vinci – Codex on the Flight of Birds, 1505

Finally his Codex on the Flight of Birds goes into great detail. There are some eighteen or so pages of documentation around this subject for which he had hope to pull together into a book on the subject, but never completed it.

Conclusion

An excellent primer on Leonardo‘s studies, as well as his excellent ability for detailing with pen and ink. There is also a short video on how the writing instruments and inks were developed in that time period which we found very informative.

Though a bit expensive, if you are at all curious and can afford it we think it worth the time and expense.

6 June, 201923 August, 2020

Turin – Food Shopping Adventures

Since Turin is a city, there are no shortage of grocery stores. We’ve been here for several months now and have discovered stores that satisfy all of our needs and wants. When we first moved here, we just frequented the regular grocery stores, as we had too many other important issues to handle. But, now that we have more time, we have set out to discover all the ‘Mom & Pop’ shops.

Our nearest large grocery store is Lidl – a 10 minute walk. It is a German grocery chain, however, here it has mostly Italian products. (We had a Lidl in North Raleigh that had both American and German products). Here, as in the States, it carries mostly off-brand products with only a few brand-name ones. We found their produce to be very good, as most are grown locally or within other regions of Italy. Here in Italy, unlike the States, vegetables are seasonal. Certain produce are not year-round, with the exception of imported red peppers from Spain. Prices are quite low, even on brand-name items. We usually buy our paper products, olive oil (our favorite is Molini brand), milk, butter, and eggs at Lidl. We have also purchased chicken and sausage and found it to be very good.

Animal products, in general, are all raised in Italy. No matter if you shop in a grocery store or at the Farmer’s Market, everything is weighed, including iceberg lettuce and celery. Items are typically not sold as ‘a head’. You also have to wear plastic gloves to handle the produce. You weigh the produce, and place the price tag label on it, not the cashier. Though there are still exceptions where the cashier weighs it.

There is a HUGE grocery chain store called IperCoop that we had discovered while staying in the AirBnb. Now that we have moved to our long-term apartment, it is quite a distance away. We now have to walk and take a tram to get there, which takes approx. 50 minutes roundtrip. We do go once in a while, as we find their prices to be competitive. When I say HUGE, it is big, even by US standards. It is like a Super Walmart or Super Target. It has a pharmacy, electronics, and gardening section, besides the usual bakery and butcher. Their produce is great – Farmer’s Market fresh. I wish it were closer, as it would be our go-to grocery store. I am going to digress here a little bit – the IperCoop reminds me a lot of when I was growing up and I would go shopping with my Mom to Shop-Rite in Hudson. Hudson had a large Italian-American population, so we were able to buy items in-store, that we were never able to find once we moved to North Carolina. Of course, in Italy, we see these very same items that aren’t in your average American grocery store. Yes, we’ve eaten them all!

20190402_164334 — Calf’s Tongue and Pig’s Feet in IperCoop – With a Glimpse of Tripe to the Right 🙂

There are also numerous mini-markets throughout the city, equipped with meat, produce, etc. – just on a smaller scale than a regular grocery store. We don’t purposely go to them, but when we are out and happen to see one, we stop in to see if there is anything we may need or what they are offering.

Our all-time favorite is the outdoor Farmer’s Market. Our closest one is about a 15 minute walk in the San Salvario area of Turin on Via Madama Cristina. It is open every day, except Sunday. (Stores are closed on Sunday, except for Lidl). There are many Farmer’s Markets throughout the city. This happens to be our closest one and it is big enough to have everything we need. Besides produce vendors, there are cheese, meat, bakery, fish and flower vendors. Everything is grown locally in the countryside outside of Turin. The vendors bring their produce of the day and it is all so fresh! My favorite so far are Piccadilly Tomatoes. They have the most intense fresh-from-the-garden taste! It is more of an effort to shop at the Farmer’s Market, due to having to speak (a bit in) Italian! Remember, no pounds here! Everything is in kilograms, (2.2 pounds= 1 kilogram). You are not allowed to touch the items. You have to tell the vendor which one you want, or how much. If you touch produce, you will get yelled at. Ask me how I know 🙂

20190522_114236 — Farmer’s Market on Via Madama Cristina

20190526_165519 — Piccadilly Tomatoes – YUM!!

20190525_121818 — Squash with Flower Blossoms, Onions, Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella, Fresh Pasta, Celery and Radishes

Squash flower blossoms are one of my favorites. Again, my Mom used to make them. Of course these are seasonal, as the squash are picked very early. The squash are so tender and the blossoms are delicious. Erick had them for the first time and enjoyed them too. We also purchased fresh Agnolotti pasta – a Piemontese specialty. They can be stuffed with a variety of fillings, including horsemeat, beef, rabbit, pork or veal with spinach. I didn’t ask the vendor what filling was in the ones I purchased; maybe I should have, but it was delicious anyway!

20190525_113436 — Patti shopping for fresh Agnolotti – The lady to my right told me that I needed to pick a number. Hey, I’m only trying to look right now! LOL I guess she thought I might cut in front of her. Erick joked about how we all must be related, due to how short we all are. Wise guy!

squash_blossoms — Fried Squash Flower Blossoms – SOOO delicious!

20190525_122358 — Just a common bunch of broccoli and garlic

After we leave the Farmer’s Market, we usually head to the bakery nearby. Who doesn’t love the smell of freshly baked bread? We go to Panificio Ficini Valter on Via Claudio Luigi Berthollet. Everything is weighed in Italy and I mean EVERYTHING. You don’t pay for one loaf of bread – instead it is weighed. I don’t have pictures of bread. I guess it gets eaten up too quickly. For a large ciabatta, you will only pay about €1.20 (approx $1.34). Even in Lidl, they bake bread and it is super cheap and delicious. For a baguette, you will get charged €.39 (approx $.44). Bread shops here also make slices of pizza and panini. It is all so delicious. Another bakery we go to, which is a 10 minute walk from home is Perino Vesco on Via Cavour. They are all amazing!

Next stop is the butcher. Erick and I are not huge meat-eaters, however the meat is so lean and fresh here, that we always want to buy something. Chicken breasts are truly a deep yellow color. All the beef is so lean and tender. Of course, they will cut everything to order. We go to the one closest to the Farmer’s Market – it doesn’t have a name. It literally just says “Macelleria” on the outside sign. Right now, I can’t even think what street it is on. There are butcher shops closer to our apartment, so I’m sure we will visit some others soon. They are all so crowded (including the bread shops) that it is difficult to take photos and I don’t want to get yelled at 🙂

20190602_151747 — Beef Flank Stuffed with Seasoned Ground Beef – It was delicious! Meat is the most expensive item here. But, 5.35 euros is still a deal!

Now to talk about foods that we are used to buying in the US – I cook a lot of Italian-American food, but there comes a time we want something different. We were in Conad (another grocery store that we really like) one day when Erick spotted some fixins to make Tacos! That is one thing I like about living in a city in Italy – better access to other ethnic foods that you wouldn’t ordinarily find in smaller towns. Lidl from time to time will do an “American” week or “Mexican” week, but since we’ve been here, have not seen it. Well, we didn’t have to wait for “American” week! Conad has taco soft shells, and salsa ALL the time! No brand-name items but they tasted just as good. There was no taco seasoning, but we substituted chili seasoning instead – it worked!

TortillaNight_2 — Taco fixin’ – all was pretty inexpensive. Imported from Sweden!

Another food item that is difficult to find here are pierogies. They are a great alternative to potatoes, rice and noodles. Thankfully for Google, I found a grocery store called Mix Markt. This time a 20 minute walk took us to this (Eastern)European/Middle Eastern/Russian market. It had items of course that we had never seen before nor could identify! 🙂 We found potato pierogies from Austria – Bingo! The highlight of this grocery store were these cans of fish or should I say cans of crap! 🙂

Crapola — Cans of Crap in Tomato Sauce or Spicy Hot! For 10 Euro Cents More You Can Get Filet of Crap! Take Your Pick!

We believe this is Carp (misspelled) in a can – goldfish? Who knows? Imported from Portugal. Either way, Crap or Carp, no thank you!

30 May, 201930 May, 2019

Asti – A Relaxing Little Town

AstiKarte_29052019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — A Map of Asti

Upon arrival and leaving the local train station a map of Asti, strategically located for those visiting the tiny city, greets all. It is actually quite informative and gives anyone a good overview of the local points of interest. However in order to have seen the map above one probably also missed the pedestrian tunnel to cross the busy intersection to town from the train station, we did!

Asti_PiazzaStatuto_29052019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Piazza Statuto

If you bear to the left after the traffic circle and upon entering the town one of the first sites and piazzas, like any other typical Italian town, is the Piazza Statuto. A quaint little piazza in what I would call a lazy and relaxing little town.

Asti_PiazzaSanSecundo_29052019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Piazza San Secondo – left view

Piazza San Secondo by contrast is a much larger piazza and is ringed with some shopping, if you are inclined to do any shopping while here. In the background popping up over the rooftops one can also see the top of the Torre Troyana.

Asti_PiazzaSanSecundo_2_29052019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Piazza San Secondo – right view

Of course the dominant building in this piazza is a catholic church for which the piazza is named after, the church San Secondo. A short walk down the small street directly across from the piazza takes you to the Torre Troyana.

Asti_TorreTroyana_29052019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Piazza Medici and the Troyan Clock Tower

The Piazza Medici Asti has the historical Torre Troyana o dell’Orologio. Originally started in the 12th century it was eventually bought by the Troya family and finished. Later the municipality of Asti purchased the tower and annexed it to the neighboring government building. As some point a clock was added, probably inside since I saw no evidence of one on the exterior of the building.

Asti_viaPellettaTowardsPiazzaSanSecundo_29052019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — via Pelletta, looking toward the San Secondo church

If you are ever traveling in Italy and are tired of all the crowds of tourists, Asti should be one of your stops. Not that I like to encourage tourism, but if you are looking for a lazy day of strolling around unaffected by the hordes of international travelers this could be a good one day stop for you too. As can be seen by the photograph above the town’s side streets offer a relaxing substitute from some of the busier places around Italy.

Restaurant Le Teste di Rapa

Lunch in Asti offers many possibilities, from regional pizza and focaccia to enoteca and restaurant fusions offering great wines and food. After reading several menus on the street and walking around a bit, we decided on Le Teste di Rapa.

This restaurant offers no outside seating but is rather large inside and has both a downstairs and an upstairs. It also draws a very large local lunch crowd, so it is probably best to get there a bit early, between 12 to 12:30, especially if you have a train to catch or other time constraint. The locals seem to show up around one o’clock and for what we saw pack the place in pretty well.

Asti_BarberaDAsti_29052019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Bertolino – a great Barbera d’Asti Superiore

The regional wines are the best to try and there is a wide selection. Though Asti is known for Asti Spumante, there are also other great varietals if you are not up for something bubbly. One of which are the Barberas. They go very well with rich food, in my case a dish of Italian meatballs and in Patti’s the daily special of eggplant parmesan. Both dishes were excellent and served with a fresh local white bread.

Asti_TesteDiRapa_Patti_29052019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Patti outside the restaurant

The Palio di Asti

Once we left the restaurant we had another fifty minutes or so to spend and decided we had time to stroll over to see if there was anything interesting around Asti’s Palio (the less well-known cousin of the one in Siena.)

Asti_PiazzaCampoDelPalio_29052019_skaliert_abgeschnitten

The Palio here is of course a ringed street, that is it goes around in a complete loop, an essential requirement if you are having any kind of race. Though less well-known, Asti’s horse race also goes way back to the thirteen century. A main difference one can see between this venue and the one in Siena is the Asti version has a central piazza encircled by a walkway and a double row of trees. During most of the year this piazza apparently supports a small outside market. Nowhere as busy or large as the one in Turin, but offering the same kind of goods one expects to find at such a market with very reasonable prices as well.

Asti Train Station – Back to Turin

We finally made it back at the train station, taking the pedestrian tunnel this time, around twenty minutes to three.

AstiHauptBahnhof_29052019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Asti train station and platforms

The trip between Asti and Turin P.N. (Porta Nuova) is just over thirty minutes with only one stop in between just outside of Turin. Otherwise the trip is totally second class at €5.25 one way per person, so do not expect to be able to purchase a first class ticket. But seats are comfortable and plentiful in both directions. The views outside the train are a bit better than traveling toward Milan and points East.

AstiToTurin_Returning_29052019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Poppies and the bucolic Italian countryside

In any case a very relaxing and lazy day for an excursion to Asti and one destination worth the visit if you have the time, if only for the food and wine! ???? Ciao for now.

28 May, 201923 August, 2020

Turin – Monte Dei Capuccini Overlook

Tired of waiting for the rain to come, Patti and I on Sunday decided to take a walk anyway, our umbrellas in tow just in case. Initially we thought we would just walk across the river Po again, in the opposite direction this time, to enjoy the Spring weather. It’s been raining here so often one has to get out when one can and enjoy it.

GriffinPatti_OnOurWayUp_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Patti starting our ascent to the Monte dei Capuccini

Our first thoughts were just a short walk to the Piazza Vittorio Veneto, across the Vittorio Emanuele bridge, stroll along the other bank for a bit and then cross again using the Umberto bridge below our street and back to our apartment. However, upon reaching the other side, we noticed the entrance to what we thought was a park at first just across the street from where we were walking. We quickly realized it was the entrance to the church that sat on top of the hill and decided a detour was in order.

MariaImmaculata_SupergaBackground_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Monument of Maria Immacolata

The climb is at first rather gradual but then steepens towards the end, especially the last few hundred meters. Before you reach the top there is the entrance to the museum and the hilltop bar where you can buy refreshments and enjoy the overlook. Finally, when you reach the top, the monument of the Maria Immacolata greets you. She faces Turin, which allows you to take a photograph of her with the Superga juxtaposed in the back.

Turin_OverlookFromChiesaDeiCapuccini_2_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Turin from Monte dei Capuccini, looking West-Southwest

The overlook once you get to the top is well worth the twenty minute climb.

Turin_OverlookFromChiesaDeiCapuccini_1_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Turin from Monte dei Capuccini, looking West-Northwest, with the prominent Mole to the right

From this vantage point you can see most of Turin and even our street and apartment.

Turin_OverlookWithText_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Our Turin

As you can see by the above photograph we are but a five minute walk from the beautiful Piazza Vittorio Veneto which is reminiscent of other more famous Italian piazzas with all of the typical restaurants, cafes and bars.

Turin_FromTheUmbertoBridge_skaliert_abgeschnitten — View from the Umberto bridge

We concluded our Sunday walk with crossing the Umberto bridge, which on any other day is very busy with traffic, since it feeds into very busy main street Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. For a Sunday a very uneventful, relaxing and serendipitous walk.

23 May, 201929 August, 2020

Turin – Sassi Tramway And Superga Basilica

Today, after contemplating the weather for tomorrow and whether or not it would be any better in the next few days, Patti and I decided to take a bus and the tramway to Basilica Superga. She astutely determined we had to take the 61 Bus from Vittorio Veneto over to Sassi. So around ten after eleven in the morning we made tracks for the local fermata.

TicketsForTwo_RackRailcar_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Two Tickets from Sassi-Superga to Basilica Superga

The Sassi-Superga Tramway

In Sassi we purchased tickets for the cogged railway (a.k.a. rack railroad or tramway) Superga Tramway to the Basilica Superga. The tramway runs every hour on the hour from Sassi to Superga and subsequently on the half-hour on return. Tickets are purchased at the base of the railway from a vending machine, and yes the machine has an english option and roundtrip tickets cost 6 euros.

CoggedTramway_RackRailcar_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Car D12 on the Sassi-Superga Rack railway

The ride is awesome and the gradient is pretty steep even though they use regular rail cars, unlike the ones that are built at an angle, like on funicular railcars we have been on.

GriffinPattiAndErick_Selfie_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — My attempt at taking a selfie together (not sure what they call that) and failing…

We enjoyed the ride up and the beautiful Spring weather, temperature in the mid 60’s and the cool mountain air, yummm.

GriffinErick_ILikeRetirement_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Erick enjoying his Campari Spritz after that difficult tramway ride

After disembarking the tramway it was time for a quick break right at the station. A quick salami and cheese panini and Campari Spritz to get re-energized. After the customary 15 minute wait after ordering at the bar we were able to eat. One has to remind oneself to slow down when traveling in Italy, time is not a constant on all parts of the Earth.

Basilica Superga

The basilica it situated on top of the Superga hill which is some 2200 feet above the city and therefore makes it a very prominent point of interest when looking to the north from the city.

Basilica_2_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — The Basilica’s Cupola as seen from the tramway and the start of our small hike to the Basilica

After a short ten minute walk up a fairly steep hill you climb a short set of stairs and then see the Basilica all of a sudden. On a fairly clear day its structure makes it stick out of the sky.

Basilica_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Basilica Superga

Unfortunately, this May the Basilica was closed for renovations, so we were not able to see the actual interior. Even without a close inspection of the structure one can easily see that no one can argue with this, since there are clearly cracks and other obvious things that need repair. That required us to contribute somehow, so we decided we must visit the cupola since it was still open, regardless of cost.

TicketsForTwo_Basilica_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Two tickets to the Basilica Superga’s Cupola, no baggage!

After the purchase of our tickets, we had to climb the 131 steps to the cupola and see the oversight of Turin.

GriffinErick_Basilica_2_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Erick climbing the first 100 steps, the final 30 would prove to have much less room

The oversight is pretty breathtaking, unfortunately in between rainy days, we were only able to get a semi-clear view of the mountains surrounding Turin.

OverlookFromBasilica_1_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Looking West Northwest from the Basilica over North Turin

The River Po can be seen above at the foot of the photograph. This is the river that cuts through Turin and has its origins in the Italian Alps.

OverlookFromBasilica_5_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Looking West Southwest from the Basilica over Turin; one can see the Mole to the right of the River Po on the left

One can actually get an almost 360 degree view of the surrounding area from the Basilica’s vantage point.

OverlookFromBasilica_2_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Looking to the East Northeast over the Basilica’s Palazzo

And finally a bit to the South.

OverlookFromBasilica_3_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Looking to the East Southeast over the roof of the Basilica

The rooftop fully surveyed we also enjoyed our cramped but slow descent down the staircase to our exit.

GriffinPatti_Basilica_1_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Patti on her way down

After our little climb we were still a bit hungry, the panini having been made with a tortilla and not the traditional focaccia left our stomachs a bit wanting; we therefore decided to visit the Artis Opera at Superga Basilica and eat something else.

GriffinPatti_Restaurant_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Patti at the restaurant, a very small room but comfortable

Though the room we had lunch in was very small with four tables in all; there were of course other rooms. It was very comfortable and the waiter was very attentive. I had a Insalata Mista and Patti had the Risotto Piemontese.

GriffinErick_ILikeRetirement_2_Sassi–Superga_May2019_skaliert_abgeschnitten — Erick – the railroad is in our blood. Damn can’t escape it!

Our return trip and ride down was just as enjoyable as the ride up. Springtime in Piemonte I must say is just GREAT!

17 May, 201923 August, 2020

Milan – Tristan’s Last Vacation Stop

With Tristan departing for the States again on May 18th we all decided a short visit to Milan was in order.

After leaving Turin midday we arrived and checked in at the Just Hotel in Milan, very close to the train station so it would be easy on Saturday to get to the airport at Malpensa.

The Duomo

Early today we awoke, had a quick breakfast and headed to the Duomo.

The Rooftop

Patti purchased tickets for us to see all that can been seen at the Duomo, including an elevator express trip to the roof.

Though there was construction, even here there was plenty to see. It is amazing how much detail and sculpture the architects, builders and clergy put into parts of this dome that would not normally be seen by anyone.

Some forgotten cardinal or bishop hoisted by cherubs before a rarely used rooftop doorway

The architecture here, dictated by the physics of the day, is indeed impressive.

A forest of buttresses, piers and finials supporting Duomo’s massive inside

And another perspective.

The roof of the Duomo is for sure decorative. Probably in an attempt to add some counterweight to the expansive and beautiful interior.

The Duomo’s Interior

Duomo’s huge nave, looking toward the choir and apse

The windows are traditional, depicting scenes from the Bible as a pedagical device for those who could neither read nor write.

The amazing stained glass windows in Duomo’s apse

And…

The amazing stained glass windows in Duomo’s apse from a distance

Duomo’s Archeological Museum

There is also an archeological museum below the dome. It is an on-going dig, after supporting the massive cathedral above using modern technology, which can be seen in some of the photographs.

There were some impressive mosaic tile floors uncover from former churches that stood here once.

There are also the obligatory tombs of former bishops, priests or rich benefactors littering the grounds.

Milan surrounding the Duomo

There are a few things to experience and see around the Duomo, including the old, simple yet very functional street cars or trams. I never get tired of their usefulness and simplicity as a convenience; sad there are not more of them in the States as they bring life to a city.

Of course there are always the overly expensive and necessary stores to see in the Galleria; the original glass enclosed mall.

Having exhausted ourselves and in need of some refreshment, Tristan recommended visiting Starbuck’s very large roastery.

And finally a departing shot of the Milanese Underground and back to our hotel for a rest before dinner.