My list of favorite things about Venice:
Straight after Verona and continuing our worlwind tour, we headed to Padua. Another Shakespeare city and the setting to my favourite of all his plays, The Taming of the Shrew.
I don't know why but everyone was rubbing her breast as some sort of good luck ritual. If only she knew how much action she'd be getten these days.
Italians take their icons very seriously. With 98% of the public Catholic icons can be seen not just inside the churches but also on the corners of many streets and buildings. They take the form of statues or paintings. Italians leave offerings like flowers or prayer beads as they pray and ask for favors. This tradition goes all the way back to Roman times. The icons and offerings may have changed but the idea stays the same. Here are a few examples I have see around Torino.
Yesterday I found myself writing on a fashion tangent. Today I continue that tangent with an Italian classic, the camicia. Italian men (and women) take their suiting very seriously and that includes their shirts, which brings me to a store in Torino called Sebastian. Sebastian just makes shirts. It works like this; you go in and choose the color and pattern you want your shirt to be made out of from the 100's of fabric and pattern samples they offer. You then have to choose the type of collar, cuffs, sleeve, and buttons. Basically designing your own personal style. They then measure you and make a shirt from scratch to fit your exact measurements. Now this is the ultimate souvenir to take home from your visit to Italy. I want a pink one, and a yellow one and maybe a light blue pinstripe with a ruffle collar and.......
Hay, I love fashion as much as the next American girl transplanted to Italy, home of Dolce and Gabanna, Armani, and Prada. I have watched women here wear pointy toe cowboy boots with shorts and colored panty hoes. I have seen men wear pinstripe pants with silver penny loafers and matching scarf and 'man bag'. But I don't know who is going to wear this. Yes It's Chanel but i
t's marked to Italians. The cherry is the ankle fanny pack but the see threw pants are up there. Chanel is my favorite designer most days but this is not the Chanel Im used to. Karl Laggerfield's mid life crisis. Fashion's equilvant to buying a fancy red sports car. Jackie O wore Chanel, Princess Grace Kelly, first ladies and royality. I think 
she is turning in her grave. Still It's not this:
Palazzo Bricherasio is a beautiful 17th century palazzo right in the middle of Torino. It's full of beautifully painted and ornate rooms, wood ceilings, sculptures and, grand chandeliers. The palazzo is still privately owned but is now open to the public for art exhibitions. This weekend we went to see the current exhibit 'Canaletto and Bellotto, Art of the Landscape'. Canaletto was a famous Venetian painter that was a favorite of the British nobles on the Grand Tour. Belotto was his nephew and apprentice. In fact Belotto painted so much like his uncle only the most subtle differences tell them apart and Belotto started signing many of his paintings Canaletto to show his association with his uncle. In actuality neither one of them was actually named Canaletto, it was a sort of nickname that became a nome de plume. 
Pier and I played a bit of a game wondering threw the rooms seeing if we could pick out who painted what before reading the plaque. Although Canaletto moved to London for a 9 years stint based on his popularity there, his most sought after paintings remained the romantic venation images of life on the Grand Canal. He moved back to his native Venice where he died in 1768. Belotto broke with his uncle and traveled all over Europe painting for kings and queens on commissions. He died in 1780 in Warsaw, Poland as court painter to King Stanislaw August. Many of the paintings in the exhibit are from private collections and are rarely seen in public. I felt lucky to have seen them and defiantly gained a new appreciation for the Canaletto(s). Of the two images I have put above, Can you tell which is which?
'I love you Marty, for ever'
'Good night my puppy'
'This love is our castle'
'Puppy, be my fiancee? I love my spouse'
Me? My choice of grafitti tool is cupcakes!
The Primavera is a painting by Botticelli from 1482 that anounced the arrival of spring in Italy. We saw the original at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. There are many stories being told in this painting. On the far right is the story of Flora who was once a nymph called Chloris. So taken by her beauty, Zephyr, the god of wind, followed her and forcibly took her as his wife. Later, feeling guilty for his violence, Zepher transforms Chloris into Flora, the goddess of flowers. She breathes out flowers and lives in a beautiful garden of eternal spring.
This is Cheri. (Key air ree). It's got a church on every corner, some good shopping, some strange public bathrooms, and some serious history. You might remember a previous post where I explained that St. Valentine is buried here. Well here is a view of the rest of the town that began as a Roman settlement in 1st century AD.
A few more modern and intresting facts about Chieri are in 1630 there was a major outbreak of the plague affecting the city so much that every year it is still commemorated in a ceremony at the Madonna Delle Grazie church, occurring on September 12. In the 18th century Cheri became a center establishment for the textile trade especially linen and today there are still many fabric shops all over the city. Also they make the best hot chocolate I've had so far. 
Over the weekend our beloved Castle Moncalieri had a fire. We were on the scene to take some photos and also here is the front page of the next days newspaper. If you remember I did a post on the castle recently called "Castle of Secrets". It's not holding many secrets now, unless you count how the fire started which is unknown....
Palazzo Madama is directly in the center of Torino in Piazza Castello. The building itself is a mix mash of 2,000 years of styles. The foundation is Roman, on top of that is a 14th century mid evil fort with towers and the facade has all the "curb appeal" and was the 18th century Savoy addition. Inside is the same where I found Roman ruins, gothic religious art, and the opulent Savoy apartments. Apartments to the Savoy's meant bright colored fabric walls, large paintings, and gold, gold, gold. One section of the Madama reviels the Roman foundation underneth by placing a glass floor above. (see photo of me walking on the glass floor looking down to the ruins) Also at the sam
e time there is always restoration going on. 
Super travel tip not in the guidebooks: The first Tuesday of every month, entrance is free! You still have to go to the front desk to collect a ticket. Also take the stairs instead of the elevator because you get to see the beautiful structure of the towers. Third tip, it's not necessary to buy the audio guide because there are written english guides in every room. 
Crossing the border here means France. We crossed the border so Pier could be in his final ski race with his students for the winter. I watched the race from a warm and cozy advantage point, inside the cafe. I ordered my coffee and the best croissant I've ever had from the cafe where the waiter called me Madame. When did I become a Madame and not mademoiselle? 
