What's Out My Window?

Today's picture of "What's out my window?" The evening sunset with the Alps just peeking out in the background.

Candlelight Vigil

When word of MJ's death reached Italy, the news did not go unnoticed. A small candlelight vigil was held by some fans and some of the Islamic community who live here in Torino. Michael Jackson converted to Islam in 2007.

It's (Mad) Tea Party Time!

No room! No room!

I am in love with the art set of this version of the tea party...take a peek

Thank You to A Fanciful Twist for the invitation to be mad....

San Lorenzo Dome

I can see this church with it's amazing dome from my house but I have never been inside. So last weekend when we just happened to be walking we decided to take a peek. I have heard of it's greatness but I just wasn't ready for the grander of seeing it in person and the feeling of being so small.

Summer Italian Wedding

Congratulations Chiarra and Filippo! Just one or two photos from my camera.

Another Holiday, This Time With Fire!

This is how Torino celebrates the holiday of it's patron saint, San Giovanni.

They burn stuff.

Yes, Last night was the kick off to St. John's Day which here in Italy means that they build a giant fire in the center of Piazza Castello. I learned that the superstition goes, if the pole in the center fall towards the people, its good luck, if it falls towards the castle, it's a year of bad luck. Conveniently it fell towards us. Today everybody has the day off and tonight there will be fireworks! Here is the before and after of the bon fire:

I Almost Broke My Neck Trying To Read This Sign

The thing about Italian is that some of the words are extremely long. This sign says "postetelecomunioazioni" and it must have taken the sign maker ages to make.

Other intresting finds on the walk to the post office...

Street Fashion Torino #2

This group was found walking in Piazza San Carlo. I wanted to show you this photo mostly for the guy in the middle. This guy has a typical Italian style. Purple suede driving slip-ons, lavender button up shirt, and only because it's June, shorts, otherwise he would be wearing purple pants too. Notice he also has a man bag. Most men do here.

I'm With Him

Because Pier's father is a predominate business man in Torino, he and his family were invited to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Subalpino Club, which is a club made up of important movers and shakers of Italy. The club held a fancy dinner at Palazzo Reale (the royal palace). We ate in the 400 year old ballroom which is immaculately decorated with frescoes, chandeliers, statues, and glittering gold brushed ceilings. We sat next to the CEO of the Juventus soccer club! When we arrived a paparazzo snapped our pictures and then there was a doorman checking off our invites and all I had to do was point at Pier's dad and say "I'm with him."

I'll tell you this, nobody was taking pictures, like they had all dined there a hundred times before But I managed to sneak in a few.

I Got My First Pair of Geox!

This is exciting news people! My Mother-in-Law gave them to me on a whim and I have to say it was a fantastic surprise.

If you don't, yet, know what Geox is I will spread the word. They are a revolutionary brand of shoes started by an Italian man called Mario Moretti Polegato, who was already from a wealthy wine making family. Mario was susposta take over the wine business but he had ideas of his own. He believes, and I have to agree, that feet even when wearing shoes should breathe. And so Mario invented a shoe with a ventilation system for shoes and Geox was born. The name Geox was created from a mixture between the Greek word “geo” (earth, on which we all walk), and “x”, a letter-element symbolizing technology. So not only are they comfortable and breathable but because they are Italian, they are also beautiful!

Found In My Neighborhood

Here are some random photos of fun things I have found around my neighborhood recently. Everywhere you look around the city, you can find things to inspire you. I can never go anywhere with out my camera and for this reason I always have it in my purse!

Door Series #10

Found, next to the music school on Via Mazzini.

I Did a Marathon...

...And I didn't even have to run, But I did have to eat a dozen gelatos because I walked (and ate) the Maratona dei Gelato (the marathon of ice cream)! It worked like this; Everybody meets in the city center and collects a card with the names of 12 ice cream shops. The goal was to go to every single shop and receive a free sample of their most famous flavor, eat it, get your card stamped, and move on to the next shop. Once you hit all 12 you go back to the center and collect your prize, which was more free ice cream! Because I was walking it took me 3 hours from start to finish and out of thousands of people, I came in 20th place. The best flavor of the day was ricotta and caramelized fig gelato. Other flavors were Nutella, sweet flour, dried candied fruit (like fruit cake), orange julius, and saffron. I took a picture of every stop, here are a few of them.

Last Day of School

Yesterday was the last day of high school for all Torino teenagers and I learned that on the last day they all meet (thousands of them) in the center of the city (where my house is) and have a water fight while playing in the fountains. I had go outside and capture the moment.



*Update, After reading the paper today, I found out the number of students in the piazza was 10,000. Yes ten thousand. 118 ambulences were on stand by, only 2 kids needed them.

Welcome Noah!

Cool Aunt Chelsea is excited to announce a healthy Noah arrived yesterday! Nipote I think I will call him (it means nephew in Italian). Oooh I can't wait to pinch those cheeks!

DJ Marco and Rose Wine

Last weekend Pier and I went to a wine tasting with a few of his friends. It was at a little place in Asti. They served us a cheep dinner, boiled sausages and bread, but the star was the the wine that was bottled for you when you bought it. My favorite was called Perfumo di Rosa. It was sweet and pink and fizzy and had a slight hint of roses. For entertainment we were graced with the music styling of DJ Marco with Duran Duran hair.

Azione!

Italian movie making was happening in my neighborhood last week and I hung out like a groupie to see all the action, or "azione" as the director yelled. The scene that they were filming, over and over again, was the actor, wearing one black shoe and one red shoe, was catching a bus. He had to run and catch the bus, wave to the driver, and jump in front of the girl waiting at the bus stop. And that was it. The funny thing was, they were filming in the middle of Piazza Carignano and there is no bus stop there, only pedestrians and cafes. No cars are allowed and so they had to construct and entire bus stop, get permission to have a bus there, redirect walking traffic, and deal with people like me hanging around taking pictures like the blog paparazzi. Here are the pictures.

Ikea Is Crazy

This is what Ikea does to get your attention when they open a new store in Italy. They take over like giants roaming the streets of Torino. Here are 2 examples of the fun.

Republic Day

June 2nd is Republic Day or sometimes called Constitution Day in Italy. Everybody gets the day off and the Italians celebrate with an historical parade. They re-enact many medieval and renaissance costumes and events. Luckily I was in the center of it all to take a few pictures.

6 Days Until the Arrival of Baby Noah!

There are exactly 6 days until I am an aunt. My younger sister is the first of us to have the rug rats, and so in 6 days not only is Baby Noah born but also "Cool Aunt Chelsea", (official title). As I am on the other side of the world, I didn't want to miss the baby shower so by the power of Jetson's technology, and mom and George, I was Skyped into the party live and in person. It felt like really being there, aside from not getting to eat a cupcake. I even won one of the games. I took a few snapshots from my computer.
Congrats C & G!

Here are the snapshots they took of me from the party, I felt like Max Headroom.

Before and Afters: The Office and Bedroom

This is the last before and after, as the only room left is the living room which almost looks the same and now is an empty room with no furniture... yet. But the office, uh-hum, my office, and the bedroom looks completely different.

Before Office:

After:

I don't have a picture of the floor but it is the same black tiles as in the kitchen and the window is new.

Before Bedroom:

After:That's it for now, if you want to see the rest and all the little details then you have to come visit us!

Before and Afters: The Patio

Time had forgotten the little patio at our house and I just could not picture what it was going to look like when finished. But, It turned out so nice with a great view of the yellow apartment building across from us and I can see the top of 17th century Palazzo Carignano which was the main government building for the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Before:

After: