The train ride from Munich to Verona went through the Austrian Alps, and it was beautiful. The ride was about five and a half hours long, but most of it was going by mountains and rivers and snow-capped Alps, so there was plenty to look at and it went by fast. We also got first-class tickets, since when we bought them they were virtually the same price as second class (which is always exciting when that happens). The first-class cabin was roomy and nice, and a lady across the aisle had a biggish dog on her lap that amused me for a big chunk of the ride. The towns near the Italian border were indistinguishable from Austrian towns, but as we started to get farther from the border, the hills began being covered in vineyards, and the towns started taking on a more Italian feel.

 

Slight backtrack: we had to meet up with our housesitting host at the Munich train station at noon, and I was really nervous about this. Driving in bigger cities is always a bit scary, and figuring out parking can be difficult. I knew there were parking lots at the train station, but we didn’t know if finding them would be hard. Turns out it wasn’t that bad, but when we pulled into the parking lot, there was a big door covering the entrance. We figured that lot was closed, so we moved onto the next one, which had the same door. I decided we should risk it and drive up to it and take a ticket to see what would happen. The door opened, revealing a small room, completely enclosed, that we were obviously supposed to drive into. It didn’t even look big enough to hold our massive Volvo station wagon, and we had no idea where it was going to take us. We drove into the car elevator, the doors closed, and it’s a good thing neither of us are super claustrophobic, because it was a tight fit. The elevator eventually started moving, and we were brought to the sixth floor of the parking deck. Thankfully everything worked out and we didn’t get stuck in a weird car elevator, but it was kind of scary.

Anyway, our final destination was Turin to meet up with my parents, but since our train was at 1:30pm from Munich, we couldn’t catch a late train from Verona to Turin, so we decided to spend the night in Verona. As soon as we got there (and after lugging our suitcases and heavy backpacks 20 minutes longer than we should have because we got lost), we immediately headed to dinner. We had pizza and wine on our minds, and we were on a mission. We found a place recommended online, and didn’t have to wait that long to get a table. We ordered a liter of red wine, and for some reason we didn’t think it was going to be that much. It ended up being a big pitcher (bigger than a bottle), and got many strange looks from our dining neighbors. As we looked around more, we noticed that people were mostly drinking Cokes, with a small glass of beer or wine occasionally in the mix. We thought it was strange that nobody was really drinking wine, but tried to discreetly gulp it down quickly so we would stop getting attention from it (didn’t work). I don’t have any pictures of our dinner, but I did take this one of the mural that took up the entire wall of the bathroom.

After dinner, we wandered around Verona in search of gelato. It wasn’t hard to find. There was a really nice piazza near Juliet’s house (we got there too late to visit the house and balcony), and the weather was nice and pleasant. Here are some bad quality pictures that I took with my phone around Verona.

The next morning, we took the train from Verona to Turin, which only took a couple hours. After talking to my dad and hearing how difficult it was to find the house we rented on Airbnb in the hills above Turin, we decided to take a cab there. Our cab driver got kind of lost, but nowhere near as bad as the one that my parents hired to lead them to the house in the rain the night before. The road leading to the house went through tiny villages that could only fit one car, so cars were constantly trying to get out of the way of others, and honking to let them know they were coming around blind turns. It was pretty harrowing, and my dad had to drive our rental car through many roads like this in our time in Italy, and it never got easier. Once we reached the house though, it was so nice and spacious, and the view was incredible.

We spent our six days in Turin visiting the National Museum of Cinema, I ran a few times, we took day trips to the countryside, and we ate really good food (including all the meals my mom cooked).

Not sure if anyone has been to any of the Eataly locations, but the one in Turin is the original. It is a haven for upscale Italian groceries and food. The one Jeremy and I visited in NYC was so crowded with tourists it was kind of impossible to actually look at anything. This one seemed like it was just a grocery store where local people were buying their bread, meats, cheeses, fish, fresh pasta, or pretty much anything else you can think of. I highly recommend visiting one if you are ever near a location.

The first day we were in Turin, we made sure to get a bicerin, a drink that originated there. It’s a layer of espresso, then drinking chocolate, then whole milk. We went to the café that claims to have first created it, and it was heavenly.

The National Museum of Cinema was really fun, and not at all what we were expecting. There were many interactive exhibits, and I had to put aside my fear of heights to take a glass elevator to the top of the building to look at the view.

Next up: our adventures into the Italian countryside and my runs in Turin.