niedziela, 17 kwietnia 2016

Torino postcards- Turin/ Turyn-Włochy

       When you prefer big cities, Turin won't dissapoint you. It's big enough to stay there for a week and you still don't see everything what there is to see. We visited Turin three times and it was wonderfull. So much to see. The city is beautifull. Old buildings and great old town with its streets where you simply can't lost. Best option when days are cloudy and greyish. The city has a lot to offer. I miss it already!


      Preparing to the trip. First time in a city we knew nothing about... Two girls that always follow their husbands, this time on their own- quite a big thing for them. It was high time they went through life without help. Time for self-reliance!
   
        It will be a difficult mission- they thought. They always relied on someone else. The problem started the first time they got on a train. They had to watch carefully what stations they passed in order to not to miss the right one. And be really careful with the track so that they could get on the right train. Fortunatelly the Turin stop was the last one and there was only one track going back and forth to Turin and Lanzo. They were very lucky.


     After that they were better with each step. Self-confidence raised as they managed to get to the city by bus and train. In fact they knew what to do when reached the city because they had instructions which bus and train to catch, given by their lovely hosts, nonetheless for them it was something big anyway! You have to remember- they always relied on other people while travelling. That time they were alone. If something would go wrong, they had to find solutions by themselves only.But the city was perfect for their first time alone abroad. People around them were nice, were giving them directions, maps and were helping them buying tickets and understanding the process of using tickets in Turin. They've found the right place for them!


    Happy happy happy. We longed for going abroad so much and finally we were there, in beautiful Italy.We couldn't belive it.  When you follow your dreams, life became deeper and has more sense than ever.


    Grey day- grey pictures. But despite the clouds and the weather, we were just happy and nothing could spoil our good mood. Besides, there is so much to see you silmply can't be bored. And weather like that sometimes can be suitable when you sightseeing. The sun in Italy sometimes is so strong you can't go without your sunglasses and coud be too hot to wander about the streets.


   
      USA-look :)


    Paradise for fashion lovers. Long streets dedicated to clothes shopping. You don't have to go to Milan to buy yourself a nice pair of shoes. Turin is more beutiful- according to our hosts and not so busy and crowded- according to what we saw.



  1. My little friend in the right place
  2. "The face"- it was the reason why Italian were so nice and helpful. We looked too needy and lost to walk past us indifferently. 
    Days in the city were passing by so quickly. One hour we got off the train and aimed toward the busy city centre, the next hour we were in a hurry to got to the trains station to catch the last train to Lanzo. Which were going home too early for our standards, but our self-confidence in travelling didn't extend as much as travelling by buses. We didn't want to even try just in case it was too much for us and our new self-reliance. 

    It was such a shame! The old city looked incredibly wonderful in the night... But well, we prefer not to see it all to end up there for a whole night without a place to sleep in. Maybe next time when we wold be ready to learn how to use long distance buses in Turin :)

    Is this really our train? Is it the last? When we shold get off? - we made friends with an entire staff of the train and with people working on the Turin station while answering all those questions. And with a school-girl. If you like making friends my advise is go to Italy and travel using public means of transport.

Is it a sign? My favourite polish fudges found in an italian shop! It was faith that sent me to Turin, now I know it for sure :)
    Black people selling their stuff on the street. They were everywhere carrying their portable booths.



  1. First street in the old town we visited. We fell in love with that busy centre of italian citizens' lives.
  2. Me making a movie.
  3. , 4. Monuments. So many of them and so ... monumental.
  1. Another monument.
  2. Palazzo Carignano.
  3. So invating. I could live upstairs!
   At present I rarely look good in pictures. But when I do, I love sharing them with other people so I enlarged this pics for you haha.

    Magnificent buildings. The Turin city centre is glorious. 

Even "normal" buildings look great and so European!
  1. A statue in front of Museo Egizio.
  2. A plan of Palazzo Carignano.
  3. A monument. I told you there were plenty of them.
    Magnificent city. Lots of places that you just have to see.
  1. So many churches, each one is more beautiful than the previous one we visited.
  2. Don't ask me. This picture is not mine!
  3. My new friends.
   I love those streets with mountains in the background.
   Posing against a nice background.
Yeah, loved those streets with old buildings.
   In a church.
   Love love love! Could wandering there for days!

   Another church.
   Dawn. Everything become even more magical!
   And at night is just beautiful...
   Next day- next places to be discovered.

   Parco del Valentino. Unless our host told us about it, we wouldn't see it. Would be a shame!
We just had to cross that bridge.
    Isn't it beautiful? Imagine it in the sun!
  1. Crossing the bridge. 
  2. Another bridge but not so pretty like the previous one. Not so old as well.
  3. Me risking my life for a foto.
  4. A lovely fountain. My friend threw a coin into water in order to make a wish of returning there.
I didn't have any wishes. I was happy enough.
  1. Visiting the city of Pinocchio. We just stumbled it across going back from Parco del Valentino.
  2. A church.
  3. A statue on the bridge. So many details. Bridges and buildings in Turin were just incredible.
Who would even try to resist a temptation of eating gelatti?
   Still in Parco del Valentino. It's too big to see everything. You need a bike or a horse ;)
Details.
   Great views!!
   You need to visit this city some time!


Love this view.

   I will never forget that magic trip. I'm so glad I waste all my money I saved for next year english course. Money is not important. Your life is. Remember that when you'll have to chose between your life and dreams and other, less important things. I hope I'll visit Italy one more time. Or more times than one. I left there a piece of my heart. And you have to go when your heart is, right? :)
That's how Italians say "Good bye" :)
     I'm not saying good bye to my memories about Turin trip yet because I want to make a small film. Well, I'll see if I can make that journey goes forever :)

sobota, 9 kwietnia 2016

Torino postcards- Lanzo Torinese, Balangero/ Wspomnienia z podróży do Włoch. Lanzo i Balangero

LANZO TORINESE
          There was no plan actually about what to do in Italy. We knew we wanted to travel to Turin at least two times, maybe three, to see everything worth to be seen. But we didn't really care when we exactly wanted to do it. Everything depended on our actual mood. On the third day of our arrival we went to see Turin city and the next day was Lanzo-sightseeing day. The following day we wanted to visit Turin again, but condition of my knees was so bad we ended up sitting in the balcony in the morning, catching sunlight and the feeling of complete freedom was extremely good. Alhought we didn't do what we planned to do didn't really matter. We were on holiday, we were in Italy, watching Alps, having sunbath on the sunlit balcony. That was all we cared about. We didn't rush anywhere, it was our time, me-time. What we wanted to do was only up to us. And it was the most beautiful thing of that trip- no need to hurry up or to do anything particular. Being in Italy was enough for us to feel happy.
Lanzo at night
         Maybe that was the reason why we sat in the Sun not only for the whole morning but in the afternoon too. Later in the day we ate chocolate and snacks, took some pics, talked to our kind hostess, visit street market and finally decided to go somewhere more touristic. Our hostess recommended that we go to Balangero, a neighbouring city, do some shopping, sightseeing a little bit and have fun. It was only four train stops from Lanzo, the place we lived in for the next few days, so that it was perfect for our small trip as we set up at 2 p.m.
Enjoying our sunny room. Modelling. Lots of. Having a great, relaxing time.
Some people don't need a photographer ;)       
        We spent marvellous time there, worrying we were late for our last train back to Lanzo, tired but very happy. This post is all about our beautiful Lanzo city where we lived for seven excellent days and our mini trip to Balangero city. And in that last city we saw the thing we were alerted about in Poland- a toilet without a toilet seat. Strange thing for European city. But it was still a great fun to see such a thing as long as we didn't have too use it :)
           Our neighborhood and our lovely street, Via Fontana del Monte. Great view from our balcony window. A street with a mountain view. The street that we could march through every day with great happiness.
         We though we were buying a lettuce, kind of only-in-italy lettuce. The lettuce turned out to be a cabbage. So much for fresh bread with a lettuce and a tomato :)
        On our way to Parco Comunale "Ponte del Diavolo". So beautiful and sunny! Such a lovely walk.
At the end of the road we discovered a paradise!
 
         Roofs and mountains plus nice looking buildings on our way. We saw so many great buildings there!
1. The best view that day. We went out of town straight to that fairy-tale, promising land of Parco Diavolo. 
2. Modelling part two.
3. It's impossible not to go there when there is such a nice path.
4. Sitting on a rock, enjoying the warmth of that day. We didn't use to so many degrees in February, nor to such sunny days in winter.
1. Lovely path to the Ponte del Diavolo, the most famous place in Lanzo. But not only the bridge, but also the whole park was splendid.
2, Do I look happy?
3. I was happy! :)
4. Down, down, to the river.
1. On the top of the ... uphill. But for small legs each uphill become a mountain.
2. Pretending the weather was so great we could walk without a jacket. All for the sake of our friends who stayed in Poland- just a little harmless lie :) Sunny but windy day.


        Molto, molto felice! And quite good looking in that parka jacket when a shawl hide my double chin.
         Ponte del Diavolo. Great view. Many pictures were taken here, one similar to the other. There is a story hidden behind this monumentous struckture. It seems that some power were involved in creating this bridge. Better be carefull while walking throuh it.
        Abandoned glasses. One's face looks better without them :)
1. Deciding which picture to be sent to our friends.
2. Stairs down to the river.
3. Different view of the bridge.
4. The river. It was deeper a year ago. A big drought drunk up almost all the water, killing fish.
        Looking proud and self-satisfied. I'm so proud that I decided to go to that trip to Italy all by myself (and my female friend). Courage is what I need if I want to be pleased about my life. Remember- only you can create your chances! If you really want something- go for it! What deep thoughts we have here haha.
          They look the same but every picture was precious for us. It's our documentary. Wanted to preserve our journey forever.
The same? Yeah, I know. But isn't it glorious? :)
1. My little friend at the top of the world.
2. She looks happy too.
3. Trying not to fall down like a rock.
It would be a long fall :)
Like an angel. The Sun makes miracles ;)

  1. When you step on the bridge...
  2. So inviting.
  3. Me sitting on the rock. You need a magnyfying glass to see me :) My friend took this picture standing on the bridge, I was very interested in searching what's behind me in the forrest at the time. I needed a toilet badly!
Our bridge from different point of view. It was so magnificent we took many pictures of it. I mean, a lot!
You know what I mean?
Do you really need more evidence? :)
Wanted to jump into it.
  1. Still on the bridge.
  2. Not only bridge was stunning!
  3. What a feeling standing under the bridge. You feel so small.
  4. Blue and white- best colours on holidays!
  1. Potable water from mountains. In Lanzo there were many places like that "tap", where you could drink straight from it. The same for taps in houses.
  2. Georgous. Alps around us:)
  3. The Devil's Bridge Legend in italian and english.
A paceful area. Great for walking.
1,2,3. Walking by the river.
4. Our best friend that day- The Sun.
Feeling like children again! They have a great playground in Lanzo near the train station. Don't forget to visit it while sightseeing Lanzo!
The following day. Trip to Balangero.
A lazy day. I needed to protect my sick knee. No particular plans for the day. Only Balangero, and before that- viewing Lanzo a bit more. We fell in love with that little, quiet city.
  1. No plans means relaxing on the balcony, sunbathing.
  2. Making fun of myself on a lovely little walk around our house. 
  1.  Our closest neighbourhood.
  2. A little colour in our lives :)
  3. Somewhere there is our lovely house.
  4. A little bit of history.
This building used to be a prison in a war 1918-1919.
That doesn't sound good.
Heading to Balangero. Time to see what the world has to offer for us. We were glad we took some more money with us to travel and enjoy out trip a bit more. Even if it was getting dark we wanted to make the most of that precious day. Three hours in Balangero was enough for us to make the effort and get into a train.

  1. A nice park.
  2. Ducks.
  3. A palm tree in someone's garden. Yay!
Happy me.
        Balangero greeted us with clouds. It was a two-faced city. A new part of it looked like money and moderness. Nothing original. But when you go towards the church on a hill, you will find the older part of the city. And there is the place where you really feel the originality and italian atmosphere. Even if it was quite scary walking up the streets in the dawn when nobody else was out and roofs of the old houses obscured the last minutes of the day, it was a glorious walk. We even made up a little story about hunting for people in the village residented in vampires :) It didn't help us at all to overcome a little panic that aroused in our hearts.  We were getting scared more and more. The power of imagination... ;)
Empty streets.
        But when we climbed the hill and found a church on the top of it, then looked down on the quiet city below and watched red the roofs, with birds singing around us like crazy, we felt peace and great enjoyment. It was beautifull up there. Such a loss we had to go down soon and hurry to the train  10 minutes later.
Beautiful. I could stay there forever!
       After visiting Balangero we decided we prefer Lanzo. It was more mixed than Balangero and had more beautiful sorroundings. We were very lucky that fate brought us to Lanzo, instead of Balangero or Turin, even of Venaria.

Back in Lanzo

       Visiting an old pastry-shop the same evening. Watching how they produced a hand-made pasta. We met an owner of the shop just once the previous day at the bridge. We are friends now even if we didn't understand each other ;) And probably they hoped we buy something from them haha. But it still feels great to be a part of that community.
       A lovely evening with our hosts. They make specially for us bagna cauda, a sause from the region in Piemont. So nice of them. It was delicous!
        Spending money on something that people don't do any more. But isn't it nice to receive a postcard from Italy? :) P.S. I didn't do that. Such a waste of money ;)
A friend of ours. Especially Agnieszka's. She loves cats!
        It was a nice trip. We loved Lanzo and our hosts. The view of Alps were our daily bread. We really needed that trip. To calm our souls and to see the Sun finally, after three months of bad weather in Poland. It was unforgettable trip. Some life-altering decisions were made even if we didn't realize it yet. Ok, it wasn't about me, but it sounded so great and cool that our lives has changed after visiting Italy :) But it was only Agnieszka who made up her mind about a future career, even if she didn't know it at that time. She felt that something inside her had changed but she needed some more days to finally followed her dreams. 
         That trip meant a lot for both of us. I hope my future will change too. There has to be something behind the door of life. I just need to gather my courage and open it finally without fear. I can feel it, it's growing inside me- it's time to open a new leaf. And I want to go for it. Well, I wait and see what will happen to me :)

            In the next post we will visit Turin together, so stay tune :)