EU after 12 years (7): Food Experience in Turin; Stratta

One thing you need to know when you're in Italy is that food, or perhaps I should say good food, is expensive. This is a general fact that good food is expensive but Italy has a higher level. You can go to Wal-Nasty-Mart and get all sorts of packaged food and cheap, nearly rotten fruits for less money or spend a little more and get a better quality. It's a bit different in Italy now that the economy is bad everywhere and people are demonstrating in Italy and France and setting fire on trash cans and everything! There was a time that I was struggling a bit as well and that was back in 2008 when I had a very low-paid job but I survived but I never understood how breaking the windows or throwing rocks at riot police could help! Nevertheless here are a few food examples of Torino's food sources:

1) Stratta: This is a small pastry and chocolate shop in the famous Piezza San Carlo area, next to the hotel I was staying. The term Piezza in Italian (should not be confused with Pizza!) means a public square that is very common in Turin and I assume other Italian cities. There's where the locals and the tourists hang out. They drink, eat, socialize, enjoy the weather or a cigarette(!) or listening to live music, etc. The hotel I was staying at had a sample chocolate for me and it tasted amazing but considering the general public, it is considered an expensive place. I had breakfast, and when I say breakfast you need to understand that Italian breakfast is completely different from North American breakfast, twice there and I think it cost something like €12! What was the breakfast you might ask: A cup of coffee, a small piece of pasty and a small Ham sandwich. This, compare to the breakfast served in Canada (or the US) is a very small portion for the price but that's how Italians eat and I think that's why there's no obesity there! 

A shot of different chocolates and candies inside the store

Stratta has a little space in front of the shop that you can sit to enjoy your coffee but nothing indoor. I didn't buy any candy or chocolate because it would have been ruined on the way back but should have tried as much as I could. You do. I'm sure you won't regret. 

(Photo, top: My first meal or breakfast in Turin consisted of a small cup of Cappuccino, the size that is usually served in Italy, give or take, a very fresh and delicious Pistachio pastry which I don't know what its called and an Italian style Ham and Cheese Sandwich. A small shot of water usually accompanies the coffee. The funny thing I thought that number 17 written on the bottom left corner of the receipt was the total cost while in fact it is the table number! The receipts, as you can see do not reflect the individual item's cost when it is printed but I think it was some €12 or even more!)

EU after 12 years (6): Returning to Malpensa (Italy)

I had my breakfast for the last time in Hotel De Gruyeres in the morning of Wed. the14th. I had already packed. I paid my bill, said good bye and went for the vehicle. The three-night stay with breakfast cost me CHF 540 equal to $322.54 per night (Canadian dollars). Now if you look at some luxury hotels in the country, you will have something to compare but I'm not here for that! 

My destination was a tourist office in Montreux with the hope that I can find the former Iranian diplomat and prominent politician Ardeshir Zahedi's residence named Villa Les Roses but when I reached the address, without paying attention to the fact that whether it was the correct address or not or were they open, I drove by because there was absolutely no spot to park. I didn't want to be late for the car return and I knew I had about 3 hours drive ahead of me and being daylight and a sunny beautiful day didn't give me much confidence. The only thing I did was stopping at the side of Lake Geneva for a few minutes. Montreux, despite its beauty, has attracted many tourists and that is what I dislike. If I go back for the hike that I've already written about it or any other hike and finding the villa, I will make sure I get he hell out of the place that now is one of the targets for the damn, and loud Oriental tourists! 

I encountered a group of Swiss soldiers before leaving the country and took this picture from the two of them. It's interesting that Switzerland has always considered neutral yet they always practice getting involved! 

My journey was continued until Google Maps directed me to a station that the drivers who did not want to go through Simplon Pass, would load their cars and by paying a fee, would skip the drive. The lady who was the attendant there told me that I had the option of just simply take the pass and encouraged me to do so since it was a nice a sunny day and I did. I just had to be very careful not to be misdirected by the damn Google Maps and when I got on the road and started driving up, I realized why nobody wanted to drive the road and I already had driven it in late night and pitch dark! It was very steep and very narrow. I only saw a couple of bikers on the road. One was carrying some groceries(!) and the other one whom I asked about the road was just enjoying his bike ride. I once stopped at a sort of cafe (or as it's said in Italian caffe!) to make sure whether I was on the right path. I didn't stop for coffee or lunch. I was stopped at what used to be a border control by a police officer. It was the same spot that I had passed without seeing a single soul three nights earlier. The officer checked my passport, the truck and after asking a few questions let me go. My next stop, rather a few times that I pulled over to take pictures was at a tool booth and I don't know whether it was the same one that I had passed that night or not but it seems this time I did not have to pay! I guess the attendant on the intercom asked me something and I told them that I was driving a rental. 

This sign which says that speed is controlled electronically in Italian was seen repeatedly on the roads in Italy!

Finding Parking #2 to return the rental to Enterprise in Malpensa was not very difficult but I went the wrong way once and everything went as planned. I got a train ticket for Turin (or Torino in Italian) or I thought it was a ticket for that destination and got in. It was only after 2 stops that I realized I was going to Milan instead! I asked the conductor, if he really was the conductor what I had done, while we were stopping at the third stop and he said I would have no other choice by going to Milan to by a ticket for Turin! That's what I did! This, again, resulted in reaching the destination, Turin's Porta Nuova station at dark! Fortunately the distance between the hotel and the station is only 10 minutes and by the instructions I had received I was able to check into my hotel, San Carlo Suite. 

(Photo, top: I took this picture from Ganter Bridge in Simplon Pass before driving over it. The construction of the 150 meters height bridge started in 1970 and finished in 1980! Remember that I still was in Switzerland)

EU after 12 years (5): Le Moleson

One of my goals during my trip to Switzerland was hiking Rochers de Naye near Montreux where you can see the entire town and look over Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) and part of France. It didn't materialize! Why? The answer is simple: The hotel I was staying at in Gruyeres is nearly 40 minutes from the trailhead but breakfast was part of the deal! So considering that was my main or perhaps I can say the only meal of the day since there was not many businesses around and I was too lazy to go anywhere, I decided to switch to a closer hike named Le Moleson. 

Le Moleson is approached, at least from two different sides. The side that you get the cabin and go up and the side that you can hike up. It is a little shorter than Rochers De Naye but it still is a good exercise and the views are really nice from the top. In fact you can get 360° from summit and also the observation deck of the cabin. There's a good restaurant with good food on the top as well but I only go a 1.5, if I remember correctly, bottle of water for nearly €8.5! 

I went down for the breakfasts as usual, I think around 08:00 and breakfast was very good at Hotel De Gruyeres. The staff were great and the variety was considerable but don't think of the sort of breakfast that you see in American and Canadian hotels. Small portions but tasty and quite interesting. I tried not eat too much to attract attention! I already stuck out like a sore thumb, despite the fact that there were not many guests. The staff did not speak a word of English but I made them understand although there was not much to talk about! 

Part of the breakfast buffet at Hotel Des Gruyeres. So colourful and so delicious! 

I didn't want to make the hike miserable by hauling too much up, besides it was a very short one, So dressed, went down to the car, set up the map and drove to the trailhead. The road was so narrow, after I left the village (or town, if you like to call it!) that if a car came from the opposite direction you would have to pull to the shoulder to the right as much as you could to let the other car by and in fact this happened one. That is why big cars are not seen in rural Swiss area. In one case I tried to ask the driver of an old car about the trailhead to make sure Google Maps was not misdirecting me by saying Le Moleson, repeatedly! He seemed to understand but he pointed at the opposite direction! I think he thought I was going up the gondola. I ignored the French speaking Swiss(!) and continued until I saw a few cars parked! There I was! 

The area looked is incredibly beautiful and despite being a cloudy day, the hike was not bad. In fact it prevent sunburnt. I tried not to get lost and after a while I reached what looked like a restaurant. I always try to be seem to be interested. The guy said something about making soap and pointed at a menu while cutting something like vegetables! I realized I wouldn't get anything regarding the route from him, so said goodbye and told him I'd be back. Then there was this cabin station. There was a crew lady who showed me the path and gave me a map which was not very helpful because the route numbers on the map were not found on the ground. I then simply followed my route finding skills and went the wrong way twice which wasted a total of perhaps half an hour at the most. I then checked a couple of people including a pretty young Swiss girl named Geraldine (she's not going to read this!) who wanted me to join her in her community sort of festival on Sun. but I told her that I was heading back to Italy. 

The view from the summit, or to be correct the view from one side. I think this is looking southeast

The entire hike takes nearly 2 hours to the top and probably 1 hour of a little longer on the way back down and there you have nice views as I said earlier. I first went to the restaurant and the observation desk and then to the actual summit. There's nothing special about going down but multiple stops to take pictures. I also met a Swiss old lady with her little dog who told me with her thick French accent that she was 73 and was trying to reach the top and then going back down using the cabin but I never saw her on the top. I hope she's okay wherever she is. I admire someone at that age. Short hike but worth the effort and time.

(Photo, top: Le Moleson from the last cabin station before reaching the top. The route that hikers should take is seen on the bottom of the picture going right)

EU after 12 years (4): H. R. Giger in Gruyeres

I had three goals in mind when I was planning for Switzerland. Driving at night, the way I explained in a post earlier, was certainly not one of them! Here are (or to be correct, were!) the three:

First, going to the H. R. Giger Museum and possibly pay my respect to him by visiting his grave, in Gruyeres. Secondly doing a hike near the town of Montreux, or specifically hiking Rochers de Naye and finally seeing Villa Les Roses in that town. The hike of the little mountain near the town of Montreux was changed to the hike of Le Moleson in Gruyeres but I was not able to see the Villa of the Roses. 

Giger's simple yet greatly designed tombstone in the nearby church cemetery. The museum has placed a small card in French and English asking not to put anything on the stone.

Hans Ruedi Giger was a Swiss artist behind the design of the most terrifying monster of the science-fiction world, the Alien. I wanted to go to the museum for the past 2 years when I accidentally realized the museum located in this small village of Switzerland. The question that I could not have found the answer for is why he ended up in Gruyeres while he was from the town of Chur which is 300 km away and he passed in Zurich which is 185 Km always! 

The museum is great and unique and definitely worth watching. It's small and located in an old building in the village. It doesn't require much time to see all of the objects on display, perhaps a little more than 1 hour. I saw families with little kids in the museum, perhaps because they felt obligated to do something and since this is one of a very few limited things that the families can do in the village, they were doing it. The museum has a store but I didn't buy anything or perhaps I should say I didn't find anything to purchase that fits a guy like me! I don't wear caps and hoodies and I certainly don't were short sleeve T-shirts! Rings and jewelries are out of question but a nice jacket would have been considered but I'm happy that I had the excuse to avoid spending Swiss Franks on some merchandise! 

I took a stroll down the village after that. This is the place that you don't see visitors and tourists. A very nice a clean village with big houses and grassland with cows and also deer! I went down to a main road and came back up. There's a castle or fort on the top of the village which you need to pay admission to get and that's how it's supposed to be but having paid for the museum, I skipped that and instead went to nearby church with a small and very clean and beautiful cemetery attached to it. That is where H. R. Giger is rested. I asked the museum guy and he told me with his strong accent where I would find the grave. I first didn't want to enter the cemetery because it is fenced but then I said what's the worst that could happen? I will tell whoever questions me what I'm looking for. I started looking at the tombstone and here he was, away from everyone, at the corner with a small shrub of Tomatoes grown on his grave: H. R. Giger! No photo, nothing else. Just his name and the days he was born and passed. It was much easier than how I found the two Japanese artists two years earlier. I, first wanted to take a couple of tomatoes and taste them but I thought I should leave them there! 

A Xenomorph model hanging from the museum's ceiling

The next day I tried the bar. It's actually a very small bar with not more than, I would say, maybe, a total of 10 tables and a counter, of course. The design is amazing. I ordered a couple of very simple things because I'm generally, not all the times, afraid of spending money! I was just there to be there and be able to take a couple of pictures. I asked one of the girls about the ownership of the bar and she said that his wife owned it which means his second wife but the girl, herself looked like Giger! Here's a picture of here tell a couple of kids the get away from the counter. 

My bill was about CHF 18 or something, I can't remember but she agreed to get €18 which was in my favour, I told her. She grabbed the money and put them in a sort of wallet or purse! I now regret that I didn't buy anything from the museum just for the sake of buying something and didn't order more in the bar but that's how I am. I don't do things and then later regret them! The thing is I would like to visit Switzerland again so perhaps I will stop by and do what I wanted to do next time! 

(Photo, top: One of many portraits of Giger on display in the museum)

EU after 12 years (3): The Irony of Simplon Pass

I had planned to go to the town of Gruyeres since I purchased my air fare for Malpensa and despite the fact that I reached the airport in the last afternoon and spent nearly one hour or perhaps even longer, I went with the rental car and headed north by simply following Google Maps. I, in fact, should have spent a little time with the vehicle, a Puma Ford, to know its features and get familiar with them but I wanted to hit the highway to use the most of the remaining daylight! I was in such a hurry that I didn't think of Android Auto and was simply looking at the small screen of the mobile phone, first, until something happened and the map popped up on the vehicle's screen. It was easier to follow but driving 290 km after a whole day without sleep, in a road that I had never driven, at night is not much fun. I called myself stupid several times one the road! 

It became dark soon and the only good thing was the fact that the road was not very busy and there were no semi-truck but it was pitch dark. I was trying to focus on the road and not fall asleep. There were many towns and communities that I could simply use an exit to get to them for a little rest and probably some beverages and food but I kept driving. The other thing I realized was the small parking spots at the side of the highway which were all had been shown by using a sign like a deep plate putting vertically, upwards! I stopped at one or two to stretch and get sleep out of my system.

Then another challenge was encountered: A automatic toll booth! I stopped at the bar and I couldn't figure out how to work it because every damn instruction was in Italian. Then I ran to the next line, luckily there was not any vehicle behind me, and tried to ask the guy. They, of course, were surprised and didn't even want to roll the window down but they were told me that he rental place should have given me a card! I ran back to the vehicle and pushed the " Assist " button and someone said something in Italian! I think I got them to speak English but what happened next was that I put my credit card in and without entering the pin, the machine spat it out after a few second, printed me a receipt and the arm went up! I sighed and got myself back to the road.

The beauty of the Simplon Pass area when I drove up almost to the highest point, still in Switzerland and before going down to reach Italian border 

There were multiple spots on the road which all have been marked with signs and cones indicating construction was taking place and there were a lot of tunnels and at least, if I remember correctly, a couple of lights which one direction had to wait for the other to pass and then they could continue. Then the map directed me to a very steep road which looked like it was blocked. There was a guy nearby where it seemed to be a business of some sort. I tried to ask him how I can go to Lausanne, although i was not going there but I thought naming Gruyeres might not be such a good idea since the small village might not be known to all Italians. The guy didn't speak any English but he pointed at the direction and later I realized what that blocked road meant! It was the train (and that was what he was saying, I understood his Italian but couldn't figure out what does a train have to do with my trip) which you could use to avoid Simplon Pass's all dangerous, up and down, snake-like road! 

I continued the road and then encounter a spot which from what I had seen in the map looked like border control but there was no guard, stop sign or even a car. I asked a person, who was sitting in his car, where the border crossing was and he said that was it and added that Switzerland's was 5 minutes drive from there, meaning that there was a sort of no-man zone in between! 

No activity was seen at the other border control and I continued without having to stop but it was then when the damn telephone and consequently the man started playing a game: It lost the connection! I was in a way lucky that I found myself near a Shell gas station. I pulled into the parking. It was shortly past 22:00. I noticed a bunch of people and the store seemed open. It appeared that there were a group of Filipina ladies who travelled with a guide and the store was closed. They somehow just had accessed to the facilities. I don't know if it was open or they had somebody opened it for them. I asked one of them how long it was to Switzerland one of them who spoke English very well said that we were already in Switzerland! I explained to her the problem I had with my phone and handed it to her to see if she could figure the problem out. She realized the Roaming feature was not on and that saved my life! I thanked the group and I wish I had gotten some sort of contact from her because she seems a very nice girl. If anyone reading this happen to be at that Shell gas station in Switzerland on Kantonsstrasse, 30, Steg, please send me a message. I really would like to thank the Filipina girl group for their kindness. 

I still had more than an hour too go and I was dead tired. Then there was a McDonald's on the way which I stopped for but they were close as well. I think it was around 12:25 which I reached the hotel. It was, again, pitch dark and I couldn't even read the hotel sign clearly. The sign says Hotel De Gruyeres but I was so dead tired that it was so dark that I read it Hotel Christmas! Then I walked around a little bit and I realized there was nothing else there but a number of cars. I then took a set of stairs and went up toward the sign where I was able to see it clearly and closely. I found the entrance and went through the unlocked door. I then went to the reception desk and found an envelope with my name on it as it had been promised to me when I told them I would be late due to my flight's change. I got back to the car, grabbed my gear and went into my room or as they call it in French speaking part of Switzerland where Gruyeres is a part of it, chamber!

This is how I drove through Simplon Pass, which unlike its name it was not simple at all. I read that Simplon is a German term and since other languages, French and Italian, are also spoken in the region, everyone has a different but somehow similar name for it! This pass would definitely unpassable during winter months or at least part of it would be. That is why the train service is available but I don't know about the details as I have no freaking plan to drive it even in a nice and sunny day because I already did that and that was on my way back! 

(Photo: I stopped at this resting spot near the exit to the town of Villadossola in Italy for a few minutes. there were still more than 3 hours of drive)

EU after 12 years (2): Arrival at MXP, Forget about the Travel Advisory

I was a little shocked to know that Malpensa Airport is actually named after the former Italian Prime Minister, when I just came back from the trip and no one ever, even once, referred to that! Silvio Berlusconi (Perhaps one of a few Italian names that could be easily, quickly and correctly pronounced by foreigners!) was a controversial figure in modern Italy, perhaps after Benito Mussolini. There was even a movie made about him a few years ago but I haven't seen it. He died in 2023 in Milan at the age of 86. 
Nevertheless, let's talk about Malpensa Airport (MXP) and how you can easily manage your trip's first steps. Stage one: Ignore everything that you have read in the Government of Canada Travel Advisory website!
I regularly check the Government of Canada Travel Advisory website to see what the situation looks like before I plan for my trips. This time ignoring that resulted in a huge amount of time and money saving! I planned to drive to Gruyeres in Switzerland from Malpensa, a nearly 290 Km (180 m.) drive, (which you will see how crazy it went in another post!), the website tells you to have an IDP which stands for International Driving Permit, as well as a notarized or official translation of your Operator's License. Here's how I handled them: I was quite tired, frustrated with all the damn cost(!) and exhausted from work. So I said to myself: I'm going to take the train and make it to Gruyeres in 05:30 hours instead of 03:30. I'm not going to spend any more money on photographs (for the IDP), the IDP processing fee itself, the translation and of course going to all these places! 
Here's what happened instead: I reached MXP around 17:30, you can easily find out by looking at the Timeline in Google Maps on your phone, if you have a Pixel or any other Android based mobile phone and I don't know about Apple but I do know that law enforcement agencies use the devise to catch the lying criminal and I love that(!), and I went to Passport Control. It took nearly 3 minutes. No line, no questions. Only looking at the passport and obtaining the finger prints of the right hand, electronically and I guess taking a photo. I then went to a SIM Card booth and bought one with 2 GB data available which would work in Switzerland (which will be the subject of a topic later!). I think it was €38, if I'm not mistaken. Then I headed toward Enterprise which is located on the lower floor. The people happily considered my reservation despite the fact that more than 7 hours, I think, had passed the original time that I was supposed to get the vehicle. The young girl, who was very nice and polite and helpful did not ask anything about IDP or the translation of the freaking O. License! She probably didn't even know what it was! Finding the parking was a challenge at first but I asked one of the guides and he directed me there. There, in the lot, I was given a standard, hybrid, hatchback, Puma Ford! What an unusual combination of featured but it worked. I think by the time I left the airport it was almost 18:45, not too far from sunset, in a country that I had never driven in, toward the destination that I would have to cross a border and I solely depend on Google Maps! I didn't get any food or beverages, considering I had eaten both at YYC and the plane. I just followed the map and tried to get myself familiar with the features of the Puma! 

(Photo: The Puma is seen here which was parked at the first hotel's spot. I think this is specifically designed for Europe as I have not seen any in Canada or the US)