Travels of THB: Italy: Early Daze

Leaving E-ville

Uber to SFO for our night flight to Frankfurt on UA. Somehow, the flight is leaving from G11 and G12 gates. Still not enough room to handle the crowd waiting to board. The usual announcement is made except nobody in the waiting area can understand what is said as the person making the announcement has a mask on and has a strong foreign accent. It's crowded, half the people are masked (THB and DB are), and half are not (like some of the people pushed up against us).

Now to get on the flight (remember the old days when you showed a flimsy copy of a paper boarding pass) you hand the gate attendant your passport and stand in front of a face camera (mask down, please) and are handed back you passport. And, as you walk behind the desk down to the plane you are confronted with a choice: Gate G11 or Gate G12...hmmmm...

Eventually we get on and take our biz class seats. Sort of. The shades are down throughout the 777 and the house lights are not on, so THB has to turn on the flashlight app on his phone to figure things out. Even the attendants don't know how to work the lights. At one point, one of THB's hearing aids is lost, found on the floor. Chaos, and we haven't made it very far.

Eventually everyone is seated and we still haven't left the gate. We're late. Ahhhh, first we have a United Airlines overbooking auction. Attendant announces: Is anyone in the premium economy rows 21, 22 or 23 willing to give up their seat, we're giving a travel credit of $500, good for one year, and you can move from premium to coach (so you only arrive in Frankfurt just a few minutes later).

No takers (including, supposedly, one of the two vying for the overbooked seat).

... a few minutes go by

Same announcement, this time up to $1000

... a few minutes go by

Same announcement, this time up to $2500...LAST OFFER

... at this point, THB is thinking one of the overbooked guys can have his biz class seat as long as the flight takes off on time

OOOPS, not last offer, SOLD to someone for a $5000 credit!

Now we get a different announcement, from the pilot: There's a light on in the cockpit and maintenance has been called

The flight does not leave on time, so now we're worried about our connection to Turin. THB skips all 4 entrees and has the cheese plate. DB reports her dinner is inedible. For breakfast we both get pancakes and different flight attendants bring us eggs and sausages in tomato sauce. Coincidence? Pancakes are provided, not bad.

Arrive at the Z terminal in Frankfurt, check the Turin flight...not on the Board. We "know" it is supposedly in the B terminal. First we go through passport control. Then keep following the signs to B. Up and down stairs carrying our carryon bags (we packed light figuring it would be easier since we have three train trips coming up).

Make it to the B terminal, not so obscure that it doesn't have one of those fancy airport shopping malls you have to navigate to get to the next terminal. Ahhhh, there's our flight on the gate! No ceiling panels, no restrooms, and as it turns out, no airplane. There are thunderstorms in the area and these small planes are delayed.

Chaos

Finally, they call our flight, we line up, carry our bags down a flight of stairs and get us to the bus that will take us to our airplane. The bus doesn't leave, another storm is passing through the airport. Good news (at last): since we are now outside the terminal, for the first time in 17 hours THB can take off his mask and breathe real air (ignore the jet fuel floating on the the puddles). Some people get off the bus and go back inside the terminal. Not THB....breathe deep!!

The bus finally leaves the terminal and rolls up to the plane. DB sees the cleaners going up the stairs carrying vacuums. More time spent on the now very crowded bus. Schutzmaske FF2 up!

Air Dolomiti (owned by Lufthansa) is truly bargain basement: business class means you have bought two seats and so nobody sits next to you. In an age of Covid this seems a small price to pay in order to get through your trip uninfected.

Arrive in Turin. No pickup guy with a sign at the Turin airport. Pre-arrangement fails.

Chaos sets in.

DB has set up her phone: for only $10/day (only charged if you use the phone) you can make calls in Italy and/or use the data plan. Calling and texting work...and the first call we make goes to our dog groomer in Oakland. They do not have our dog nor any way to tell THB what has happened to our pre-arranged pick-up in the Turin airport.

Several more tries and THB listens to the Hotel Principi's IVR and picks the wrong number.

Decide to take a taxi to the hotel. Guy drives like there is no tonight, let alone tomorrow. 33 euros for the fare, put on a credit card, and THB gives him another 5 euros for surviving the ride.

Arrive at the hotel, and get to our home-away-from-home: the Diplomat Suite. Lovely! Art deco with two bathrooms. And a lot cheaper than anticipated! The hotels in Italy did not require pre-payment, and you could cancel up to almost the day you arrived. In the meantime the Euro has been in the dumper and is now about par to the dollar. That does not mean the room is cheap, just cheaper.

Torino:

Dinner

Dinner in the bar: two helping of amuse bouchies, club sandwiches with French fries, two glasses of wine, one local beer, a small plate of amuse bouche cookies, and one loquacious waiter/bartender who gave us lunch tips, $85. And, most importantly private dining indoors: it is just THB and DB at 9pm.

A good night's rest. In the middle of the night THB remembers where the nightlight and third adaptor are: right where he put them, in a pair of shoes that in the jetlag fog of last night he did not remember (nor try on the shoes).

Breakfast buffet: nothing special except coffee flavored yogurt.

This morning Comcast/T-mobile report that they are having trouble with Italy and, while the call plan works, the data plan does not. OUCH!! No Uber app. no real-time mapping. Great if THB wants to check with the groomer to see if Sandy is ready for pick-up.

Up today is a visit to the Castello di Rivoli - a contemporary art collection displayed inside a update/remodeled old castle - and a trip just down the ridge to the Cerruti Collection, housed in a "cottage" built by Ceruiti for for his aging parents and furnished with his eclectic collections. They are way out of town, a $40-45 cab ride each way (no Uber, no internet connectivity for the Uber app on the phone).

During the ride, DB keeps saying that if she had known it was this far out she would've reconsidered. One of the woulda-coulda-shoulda type statements we all make periodically. Hey, there are no do-overs! GOOD THING because the Castello is one of those magical places that combine form and function better than almost any art / building in THB's experience. AWESOME! Right up there with the Museum Voorlinden outside of Amsterdam, TOP 5!

How awesome? THB decides that for the sake of the blog, THB will include the Castello art in a separate post and this space here, right here, will be mostly pics to describe the buildings housing the two collections. Right here, here now, will be the Castello, then there will be a few pics of the food consumed during the day, and no pictures of the Ceruti Collection anywhere. That's because no pics are allowed inside the bungalow. And you have to wear those surgery type overshoes over your shoes because no soles of your shoes are not allowed to touch the floors (move over, Jackson).

Okay, here's the inside and the outside of the Castello di Rivoli, no art.

Now the inside, and remember the "art" you are seeing is part of the Castello, not the contemporary art collection:

Now the food from the caffe, where we dined al fresco for lunch and post-art touring for the day. Lunch: two panini, one water, one ice tea, $12

Two Aperol Spritzes (and free panini), $10

And here's the Cerruti Collection "Cottage": First up, the free shuttle to/from the Castello. Empty except for the two of us. Same-same on the tour which can take up to 12 (that's a tight fit in the small rooms, especially during Covid).

Department of Clarification: This painting by Francis Bacon is hanging in the Castello. It was purchased by Cerruti. He loaned it to the Castello. Normally, you might see if at the Cerruti, and then you wouldn't be able to take the pic of the painting (or something like that, you know what THB means - he is making it up at least half the time).

Back to the hotel, rest up and do a bit of blog work, and with all this good news Comcast/T-Mobile decides to reinstate Italy in their international data plan. What good guys, DB gives them a nudge and they get right on it.

So, that brings Uber back in play. One big exception: Uber doesn't really have a presence here and the cabs are equal in price and seemingly more numerous. Not always: the two taxis outside the hotel are driverless. Who knew that was a thing in Italy...of course, driverlessness isn't the same thing as driving without drivers.

Scannabue has a tasting menu of local specialties and you have to order at least two (per table). Definitely different than the style of food we are used to, all pretty good and an refillable bread and breadstick basket. Four glasses of local wines, two tasting menus, $95. Great bargain and reasonable quality. Like all other tourist type places, they call a cab and one arrives almost immediately.