Torre Pelice

WOW was this ever a busy week.  Last week was transfer week with the new missionaries coming in and the departing missionaries leaving.  This week we had to outfit several apartments that now had 4 elders living there instead of 2.  This meant buying a bunch of stuff at Ikea taking it to the apartments and helping the Elders assemble it and get situated.  We did this for an apartment in Milano and an other one in Torino.  We also had to make a an emergency trip to Pavia with a new refrigerator because the Sisters old one died.  We had forgot several items for the apartment in Torino, so we had planned on going there on the weekend to see the people Peg knew 42 years ago one last time before we go home.  Then President Dibb asked if we would like to go to Torre Pellice on Saturday with them and the Office Elders and Assistants.  They all went in the Presidents car and we drove our car.

Torre Pellice is the location when Lorenzo Snow had some success when he came to Italy on his mission in the 1850s.  As we pulled into town we pulled off at this sign to take pictures.  Besides it was right in front of a quilt shop that Peggy and Sister Dibb had to check out. The mountain behind us in the picture was named Mount Brigham by Lorenzo Snow.  And the Rock knob that is right above my head was called the "Rock of Prophecy", which is where Lorenzo Snow dedicated the land of Italy for preaching the gospel in this dispensation.

So the plan was to go on a little hike and get up as close as we could to the rock knob and then read the dedicatory prayer.  We drove as far up the mountain as we could and then began walking up an old road.

It was very scenic.  There were several old houses and sheds along the path.  

And we even saw some sheep.  All of the sheep and cows here have large bells on them.  You could hear the bells ringing from quite a ways away.

Nice creek

The Rock of Prophecy

Peg and I walked about a kilometer until the trail became very steep and rocky.  Elder Simcox who was recovering from a knee injury came back with us to the car to wait.  The Dibbs went on for another kilometer before they turned around.  The three remaining Elders continued up to the base of the rock knob.

When the Dibbs returned we pulled out all of the picnic stuff we had brought and had a delightful lunch on the side of the tiny winding road.  Durring lunch President Dibb called the  Elders up on the mountain and had them read the dedicatory prayer over the cell phone so everyone could hear it.

This is an old wood fired outdoor oven that was near one of the old homes that was abandoned on the trail as we were walking.  

After we had lunch we left the group and drove up the main road towards France until we got to the end of the pavement on that road.  It was a very nice valley.  We then went back to Torre Pellice and checked out the town then drove to Pinarolo.  After that we decided to go to an Stupiningi near Torino.  

While driving out of Pinarolo we saw this sign.  Of course you can read the bottom two lines that say to turn right for Cuneo or the Pellice valley.  The top line says turn right for all directions or to go everywhere.  Not quite sure where you go if you turn left.

Monza

This Saturday we drove up to Muggio (a Suburb on the north end of Milano) to scout out for a new apartment.  The Elders apartment in Muggio is not very nice.  It has a tiny kitchen and there are 4 Elders in the apartment with one bathroom and it is quite cramped and run down.  We have given our 6 months notice that we are leaving in February 2015.  The goal is for Peg and I to find the new apartment and get the Elders moved in if possible before we leave the 1st of January.  So on this Saturday we spent some time just driving around town and scouting where the church was, where the stores are, and where the real estate office are.

After that we drove to the next town east which is Monza. You may know this as the site of the formula 1 race track in Italy. We parked in a lot that was underneath the main piazza.  It was quite a nice little town.  One of the main attractions is the cathedral so we wandered around a little until we found it.  It was closed so we decided to wander and find a place to eat.

We wandered everywhere with no restaurants anywhere.  After an hour we were getting tired and talking about giving up and going home when we saw a little sign down a side street.  It was a very small place operated by a mother and her daughter that offered primo and secondo piata for 11 euros.  It was great!

While wandering I saw this roll up garage door that was painted to look like a fancy carved wooden door.

We got back tot he Cathedral after lunch. We wanted to go through the church and the museum that was below the church.  If was a very nice museum with many artifacts that were very well displayed with both  Italian and English descriptions. The cathedral was 1st built in 595 and changed and added to many times through the next 1400 years.  The Cathedral contains the Iron Crown of Lombardy that was used to crown all of the kings from the 600 AD through Napoleon.  We saw the crown that is a wide gold band with many large jewels all around the outside.  Supposedly the iron band on the inside of the crown used to strengthen is was made from a nail from Christ's cross.

Also in the Museum we were looking for John the Baptists tooth, a relic they have held though the  ages.  We never saw the tooth, but here is the a purse that they used to carry the tooth around in.  The Italians love their relics!

Parma

As our time in Italy is coming to an end (we go home in 4 months!), We have assembled a "bucket list" so to speak of places that we want to visit.  Parma was on that list and this weekend was the opening of the Parma Prosciutto Festival.  It seemed like a natural.

Parma is little over an hour south of us.  We had no idea where in Parma we were going, just centro.  So every time we came to a traffic limited zone we would attempt to drive around it until we could see some big neat buildings.  We finally found a parking lot that seemed like it was kind of close to centro.  We came up from lower level 3 and had no idea where to go.  So we just began to follow where most of the people were going.  I saw this great knocker on the way.

Walking down the street we finally came to a major intersection and across the street was this civic building with two sun dials on it.  One for the morning and the lower one for the afternoon.  The sun dial said about 9:40 but it was actually 10:40.  I guess they did not have daylight savings time when the sun dial was built.

An electric bicycle

A fabulous tree inside of this private court yard.

The baptistry

Next door was the duomo.  They were working on the bell tower.

Inside the Duomo every surface was painted.  Very colorful

The organ

As we walked  back to the main town pizza I spied this knocker.  This is the largest and newest knocker I have seen in Italy.

It was the Parma ham (prosciutto) festival.  In a central portico they had a great display of thier world famous hams.  They are not smoked, just hung to dry and packed with salt and a few other seasonings.  Typically the meat is sliced very very thin and served raw - called prosciutto crudo.  We bought a very nice plate of it that came with a basket of bread, some fresh figs, grapes, and their other very famous food Parmagiano reggiano.  It was a great snack / 1st lunch.

Walking back to the car we found  a Prosciutto store.  They had everything in this place.

We then drove about 15 miles up in the hills to Langhirano - a small town that is the center of the Prosciutto industry.  They even had a ham museum here.  Here is where the real festival was going on. Three streets full of booths, vendors, and all kinds of neat stuff.  We found a small restaurant that besides selling prosciutto plates was also selling tortelli herbe.  This is a regional dish with pasta stuffed with ricotta cheese and fresh herbs served with olive oil and lots of parmigiano reggiano.  We had this for lunch and it was fabulous.  Sometimes I feel like I am eating my way through Italy

There as this castle just a couple of miles from Langhirano called Torrechiara

We drove up to the castle and went for a hike to get up and into it.

Inside was fabulous.  Every interior wall was hand painted.  Each with a different theme.

Those are tomato filed down there.  most have been harvested, but one of them still has tomatoes growing.

The view from the castle was great!

This castle was built in the early 1400's.  Before Columbus discovered America!

How about this for a kitchen

As I was walking down one of the exterior halls there was this tiny door.  I looked inside and behold! it is an ancient bathroom.  Many of the public restrooms in Italy are just a hole in the floor, just like this.  The wash room where we ate lunch was very new construction, very nice tile on the walls and floor.  But is was just this size and had a ceramic covered hole in the floor.  I am amazed that some things have not changed for centuries.