Italy Day 5 or 6... it's hard to keep track.

Things started off with a bang when we arrived in Torino, Italy a few nights ago. Sacha got the email detailing our train arrival time about 2 days after we settled in with her (and Galo), so needless to say, there was some confusion when our cab dropped us off at their apartment. It was raining pretty hard that evening and we were unsure if the buzzer worked or if anyone was home, so Jack decided to walk around the neighborhood to see if there was a dry place to wait. I stayed behind with the bags and was invited inside their neighbor's apartment by a real Italian hunk, an offer I declined by the way. When Jack returned, he informed me the only place still open was a bar called "The Texas Ranger"... so we kept ringing the buzzer. Long story short, Sacha woke up and answered the door, we settled in, and nothing of note happened until 2 days later when we experienced our first bit of of anti-American sentiment in a bar called "Cafe des Artes." It was so scary! However mean the woman who expressed this was, I have no regrets as I got to pet her four month old Border Collie puppies while she affected an English accent and yelled at me about Bush for a few minutes.

I was surprised to see dogs in a bar, but even more surprised to see a dog in a nightclub later that evening. It doesn't seem like this is exclusive to Tornio either, which makes me very happy and may turn me into a lush, you never know. Our days with Sacha and Galo were spent eating, eating, eating and wine tasting. Oh, and to bring things full circle, the Barilla pasta theme song has been stuck in my head since day 2 of Italy because it turns out the hunky neighbor spends the afternoons singing old Italian songs to the plants on his balcony. Galo seemed really annoyed by this guy, but in the neighbor's defense, he had the most amazing garden in their neighborhood.