Two Days in Turin

Turin (called Torino by the locals) is a city in the Piedmont region of Italy that sits near the French border and the Alps. Back in November when my dad was visiting me in Grenoble (France), we decided to take the short trip over the Italian border to visit this great city. We took a short three and a half hour bus ride early Tuesday morning. Since we left at 5:45 AM, we fell asleep while leaving France and woke up in Italy! We spent two whirlwind days in Turin before catching the bus back to Grenoble the next evening. Here are some of the highlights.

Torino Specialties

Turin celebrates a rich history with various delicious specialties. They are known especially for coffee and chocolate. Roll up to the local café to try an espresso, but beware that sitting down costs extra. If you don't want to pay extra, do like the locals and drink your coffee at the counter.

Their famous chocolate called Gianduiotto is smooth chocolate and hazelnut in the shape of a golden brick or possibly an upturned boat. It is said that at the time when cocoa was very expensive, local producers mixed it with roasted hazelnuts to make a more affordable product. Today, this is one of the favorite souvenirs that tourists can take home but also a treat that locals like to buy for themselves.

Turin also boasts some delicious alcoholic drinks and is credited with starting the aperitif (before dinner cocktail) trend. One of my favorite aperitifs that I tried in Turin was the Aperol Spritz. You should also try the local wine and why not some bubbly Prosecco? Just a word to the wise, look up your quantities in the metric system before going, or you may very well end up with an entire carafe of wine for what you'd imagine is the price of one glass. The prices of wine and food are very affordable.

Of course, pasta is another "must try" item when in Turin (or anywhere in Italy)! It comes in all shapes and sizes. You can have your pasta with tomato and meat sauce, clams and cream, or veggies. In any case, the pasta is always the highlight of the dish. My advice, ask your server what they recommend. My dad got the best pasta of the trip from our server's recommendation. 

City Exploring

Besides eating your way through the city, I also recommend taking a moment to look at your surroundings. There is a variety of plazas, streets and walkways. We lucked out and happened to arrive at the perfect moment for a free walking tour departing from the tourism office at 10:30 am. Our guide, Angelo, was incredibly knowledgeable of the history and uniqueness of Turin. Our walking tour lasted a few hours and covered good ground. I really feel like I learned a lot from our guide. 

Photo Opportunity

Our walking tour was all in the city center, but I wanted a view from the city from above. For this, we climbed up the hill to the Museo Nazionale della Montagna. At the museum, there was an area outside that was a great stop to take some pictures of the city from above. Even in November, the sun was shining bright! On the way down, we also visited a church that was established in 1831.

There are so many more spots to visit in Turin that what I have to tell you, but that'll give you a good idea of what to expect and a couple things to do. Just wandering around the streets and finding the old, winding alleys or the large avenues is an experience in itself. Don't worry about getting lost. We found our way easily around town, and if ever we were feeling a bit tired or needed a break, there was a café around almost every corner. Enjoy!

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Some extra advice:

To stay: Best Western Plus Hotel Genova (by the train station, the best Best Western you'll ever stay in, complete with fresco ceilings and faux Roman pillars)

To eat: Ristorante Marcello at Corso Stati Uniti, 4, 10128 Torino (so good we ate there twice!)

Free Walking Tour: http://www.freetourturin.com/

Visite en Champagne

A few weeks ago I took a short trip to Champagne country to taste some delicious bubbly and enjoy the sunshine.

I picked up my covoiturage (carpool) from Grenoble and in five hours arrived in the city of Reims (pronounced more like "ranse").  I lucked out with a few days of sunshine, which allowed me plenty of time for strolling the streets and discovering this small town.  I did a little shopping, sat on a terrace for a tea and dessert, and visited some of the local landmarks such as their beautiful cathedral. 

The highlight, however, was all about the champagne.  I tasted my first champagne with dinner the first night, but I was most excited about touring one of their famous champagne houses or caves on the second day in Reims.  Among all the local options including Taittinger, Lanson, Ruinart, Veuve Clicquot, and so many more, I decided to tour the Pommery estate. 

A short 20 minute walk from the very center of town,  we arrived at the gates of the Pommery estate.  After walking up the long driveway, we checked in for our tour.  Our tour quickly began and we descended into a labyrinth of tunnels devoted to the perfection and storage of champagne.  In all, we were told that there were 18 kilometers of tunnels devoted to Pommery.  We could see an old pully system on the ceiling used many years ago for transportation of their sought-after bottles, stacks of champagne bottles, and different types of storage areas.  A particular characteristic of this region is in fact that below ground, there are old dug out chalk pits.  That is where most of the champagne is stored and properly aged because it maintains a consistently cool temperature, perfect for creating a consistent product.  

Our tour completed, we had to taste some delicious bubbly.  While I may not know all about the different varieties of champagne and so forth, I do have to say that the one I tried at Pommery was pretty delicious!  It was a pretty perfect moment.

xo
Danielle

Eat: San Sebastian and Barcelona

I've been on vacation the last couple of weeks traveling through Europe with my mom.  We decided to theme our trip "Eat," meaning that we were taking a culinary adventure! Our main destinations were Perpignan, San Sebastian and Barcelona.

Both San Sebastian and Barcelona are among the top food capitals in Europe and Spain.

San Sebastian

San Sebastian - Donostia, Spain

This lively city caught between the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean in northern Spain is known as Donostia in the local Basque language.  Their role in food culture is influenced by their pintxos (peen-chos), the local version of tapas.  Yet pintxos are a whole new thing.  Traditionally, you would spend your night out pintxo bar hopping, such that you get a drink and one or two pintxos before moving on to the next stop.  Either you help yourself to the pintxos displayed on the counter, or you point at what you'd like while the bartender serves you depending on the establishment.

Pintxo Bar

A pintxo very often involves a slice of delicious baguette-style bread with a topping.  My favorite toppings were the local cured ham, a salmon and cream cheese combination, and goat cheese with a balsamic glaze and caramelized onions.  Beyond the pintxos on bread, there are also various seafood on skewers such as octopus or shrimp, and warm dishes served on request such as peppers or fried foods.

Pintxos on top, tapas below, and a mug of sangria on the side

Cured Iberic ham

Of course with the pintxo, you order a drink.  I was enjoying the red wine.  At the first place we went, the house wine was 1.80 euros per glass! Isn't that shocking!

Barcelona
From San Sebastian, we road-tripped to Barcelona via the city of Huesca for one night.   Once in Barcelona, we feasted on tapas and paella.  Tapas are small dishes.  You order multiple small dishes to make one very delicious meal.  Some traditional tapas are patatas bravas (potatoes with a garlic sauce), small sausages, fried fishes, mussels, and many, many more.  I found there to be more variety in tapas.

Tapas and Sangria

Then there was the paella... a delicious rice dish with seafood or chicken and veggies.  The key with paella is the large pan in which it's cooked evenly, the small-grain toasted rice, and a pinch of saffron threads.  It's a mouth-watering plate of yumminess, that when made with love, is quickly becoming one of my favorite foods.

Seafood Paella

In discussing Barcelona, we can't leave out the drinks to go with our tapas and paella!  There are varied options.  The local rioja wine can be the perfect touch, or a large mug of sangria, or a more dainty cava (Spanish sparkling wine).  Yum yum.

Cava

Rioja

Needless to say, it was a filling week.  I ate very well, and was able to try new dishes, most of which I liked very much!  I had some much needed mommy-time, as we traveled across France and Spain, in search of delicious dishes, castles, and sunshine.  I can't wait for the next installment in our series of "Eat, Stretch, Dance"!