Day 273 - Folkestone

About 4.5 miles (7 km) east of us lies the town of Folkestone. The southern edge of the North Downs escarpment falls into the sea here, with the Pent Brook cutting through the cliffs and dividing the town in half. The town was originally established as these headlands offered protection for a port at this sight. But this location is constantly being battered and broken down by the sea, with shingle beaches forming and reshaping the landscape. The Pent Brook itself continues to bring silt with it, also working to build up the coastline. The result was that break walls and piers were built in the 17th century to provide further protection. By 1820, an enclosed harbour had been built to help protect the fishing boats and encourage further trade. Unfortunately, the harbour required expensive and constant dredging and the company that owned it soon went bankrupt.

View from the pier to the east side of Folkestone.

The end of the Folkestone pier has a fabulous bar built into the lighthouse
area. Great place for a view of the white cliffs of Dover and France.

South Eastern Railway bought the harbour in 1842 at a time when it was expanding its London to Dover route. A rail line was built right down to the end of the harbour, which soon became the primary station for those heading to Boulogne. Folkestone Harbour station was even used to trans-ship whole trains.
Today, the Channel Tunnel's northern exit is located in the town of Cheriton (considered part of Folkestone). As a result, ferries no longer leave from this harbour and the trainline to the pier is long gone.

A real "house" boat.

However, the town has the appearance of a place that is on the rise. The old pier is being developed into an entertainment area, with the old rail station buildings being restored. Plans are underway for parks, restaurants and cafes, beach-front houses and modern apartments for areas around the seaside.

The author Wilkie Collins wrote the mystery The Woman in White while living here, and William Harvey and his father Thomas Harvey Mayor,, who discovered the circulation of the blood in 1600, lived here.

The White Cliffs of Dover in the distance.

After exploring the town, we had a seafood dinner at a restaurant called The Smokehouse on the still-active fishing pier. We then went to watch a film at the town's only cinema. We almost couldn't find it! It's part of the town hall, and while our Google maps said we were right in front of it, we couldn't see any signs for it. Phil's eagle eye noted a small sign on a door that indicated "if this door isn't open, tickets for the cinema can be purchased through the other door," so we figured we had found the place.

Interior of the Silver Screen Cinema in Folkestone.

As with most of the cinema's we've visited on this year's travels, the Folkestone cinema has an interesting history. The Silver Screen Cinema opened in 1990 after all of the town cinemas had closed. In 2013, Folkestone Town Council  repurchased the building wanting to convert it to their own use. The cinema's lease was about to expire and film industry was switching over to digital. A man new to Folkestone began working with the cinema's owner to try to save the town's only cinema. With huge support from the community they managed to do so, and the Council agreed to extend the lease.

And for those of you who like to hear about our views on the films we see, today's film was The Incredibles 2. Our rating: 3.5/5. The character of the baby makes the movie. Enough said.

On our travels today we also discovered from a local the reason Hythe has so many hair salons (at least 17). Lets just say a lot more than hair is being washed.

Day 272 - On track for Dungeness

I hear the train a comin'
It's rolling round the bend
And I ain't seen nothin' but sunshine since I don't know when
I'm stuck in a nuclear wasteland, and it wreaks of timelessness
But that train keeps a rollin' on down to Dungeness

Dungeness Power Plant Blues (with apologies to Johnny Cash for the adaptation)

New Romney station

Okay, okay, for those who read this post and take issue with my comments, please let me say that I concede that people either love it or hate it.  I am not referring to the train ride on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch miniature railway - that was delightful - but rather its destination of Dungeness. I will get to it in a second, but let me chat about the railroad. The RH&D is a 1/3-sized steam locomotive railway that runs from Hythe, where we are staying, through the Romney Marsh and eventually to Dungeness. It's about a 22-kilometre ride. The railroad was the brainchild of two wealthy individuals, Count Zborowski and Captain James Howey, both of whom were race car drivers in the 1920s.  

The steam engine locomotive

By 1928, the line had been completed as a 15-inch wide track (a standard North American railway track is 56.5 inches) and carried tourists back and forth until World War II when it was taken over to be used to move specially adapted cars with large guns on them. Regular service resumed in 1947. 

They now carry over 150,000 visitors a year and the line is owned and managed by a society of train enthusiasts  who volunteer their time to operate it.

At New Romney, there is a museum dedicated to the history of the line that also includes a large train set that visitors can operate remotely.  My nephew, Henry, would absolutely go bonkers over the place.  

The Romney Marsh

Most of the line traverses the Romney Marsh, a triangular-shaped section of land that runs from the edge of the Kent Downs to the English Channel. It is flatter than Prosecco left open overnight or as my mother would have said "it is so flat, you can see your dog run away for three days." It is, however, a unique habitat for flora and fauna with richer soil being used for farming, grasslands for feeding the Romney sheep (whose meat has a particular taste and whose ancestors led to the populating of New Zealand sheep), and large extents of shingle (stones thrown up from the sea) beaches and intermittent grass. You can see for yourself from the pictures here what it looks like.  

Boardwalk across the shingle
headland from the station
to the sea

Ultimately, the rail line's final destination is Dungeness. It's a headland formed of shingle and it has a lighthouse to protect shipping coming through the Channel from grounding on the shore. Fishermen's cottages have been located upon it and you can still find old equipment that were used to winch the fishing boats up onto the shingle beach and and remnants of brick fireplaces and cauldron's used to boil and cure fishing nets so they were more durable. 

Today some cottages remain, but mostly as holiday homes, with long trails of drift wood over the stony terrain to connect their doorsteps to the water line. A restaurant and a pub/restaurant are located at  Dungeness station, so one can get off the train, have lunch, and then return back to Hythe or New Romney.  

View from lighthouse to Dungeness B Nuclear Power Plant

Now why did I hate this destination? Well because the wild beauty is disrupted by the Dungeness "B" Nuclear Power Station that rises up right next to the train station, not only spoiling the view, but also providing a background humming noise no matter where you turn. To deem it an eyesore is an understatement. Heck, conjunctivitis is easier on the eyes. In any case, I was extremely disappointed, which is why for today's post I felt it was appropriate to write it as I saw it.

 Ale of the Day:  Romney Amber Ale, Romney Marsh Brewery, New Romney, Kent  

Day 271 - Get thee to a gunnery

To the southwest of Hythe, along the coast line, lies a military training range. From our cottage we can frequently hear target practice taking place. For safety reasons, the public can't walk along this part of the shoreline when red flags are being flown (which is pretty much every day), so today we decided to take a walk as far as we could along the shoreline, then around part of the range, before diverting back up to the Military canal for a walk back into Hythe.

The point of the shoreline where the coastal path moves inland.

Due to its proximity to France, this coastline is steeped in military history, as our previous post about the Military Canal describes. During the time of Napoleon, local militia practised musketry here. From the 1850s, artillery and small arms ranges were developed and have continued to be used.

The Dymchurch Redoubt.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymchurch_Redoubt

A bit farther along the coast is the Dymchurch Redoubt (although we didn't walk this far on this trip, we did pass the site on subsequent trips in the area). A redoubt is a fort (sometimes temporary) meant to protect soldiers outside the main line of defense and to act as a supply base. The Dymchurch Redoubt was built between 1804 and 1812 to support a chain of 21 Martello Towers that stretched between Hythe in Kent and Rye in Sussex.

During WW I, troops were housed in the redoubt, and during WW II guns were mounted and an observation post built. The post was later used to monitor shipping in the English Channel. Today, the site is used for urban warfare training, with the interior containing a mock-up of a street.

The sun beating down on us, we decided to head inland to the canal and the prospect of shade. The canal is quite pretty in this area, with lots of trees, shrubs and plant life. We met a few dog walkers, including one friendly gentleman with an equally friendly Staffordshire Terrier, who chatted with us for a few minutes about the area.

Hythe Light Railway Vintage
Tea Room

Once back in Hythe, we stopped in at the tea room next to the rail station (more on the railway tomorrow) where we enjoyed a few sandwiches and pots of tea (of course) ... and had the place all to ourselves.

After a rest in the afternoon, we did another walk through town and along the coast, where Phil took time to touch the sea and attempt to toss a rock or two from the shingle beach across the channel to France. You can't take the boy out of the man ... thank goodness!

View down the Military Canal at Hythe

Day 270 - Sunday, and you know what that means

Roast.

If you've been following along with our adventures, you know that Sunday afternoons mean that one thing. Okay, it's not EVERY Sunday, but that isn't for lack of trying.

On our first Sunday in Hythe we opted for a relatively quiet day, with Phil catching up on some writing, while I finished up a sketch, wrote the blog and tried to figure out which of the chairs was the most comfortable for napping.

Inside The Old Willow Restaurant. We sat at the table for
two on the right...I'm still trying to figure out how they
managed to get two roast dinners on that table.
Source: http://oldwillowhythe.co.uk

Mid afternoon, we took a much needed "break" from all this mental excess to go for Sunday Roast (and yes, my editor friends, that is a proper name and thus needs to be capitalized; it is that important) at The Old Willow Restaurant, which our research claimed offered the best roast in town. It was fabulous, with a plate piled high with vegetables that we kept discovering in hidden crevices as we ate. And to add to the vegetarian gluttony, the also provided us with a side bowl of still-bubbling cauliflower and cheese. O!M!G!

The restaurant itself is in a 16th Century building. At one time, the Hythe area was rife with smuggling activity, and legend says that this building was a haunt for smugglers, with underground tunnels linking the old buildings as a means of escape.

Sorry to cut this post short. The waitress is coming with the pudding menu, and I many have to find those tunnels.

Day 269 - The Hythe Festival

Just love this poster created by a local
Hythe artist.

You just have to love the people of Hythe. They even threw a festival for our arrival -- complete with a fireworks display!

As much as we may like to believe that, it was simply serendipity that we arrived in the midst of the town's biennial festivities (in alternating years they have a Venetian Fete). The 9-day Hythe Festival of Arts and Heritage began 30 years ago as a way to celebrate the Tour de France, which was to come through the town that year. The festival was also meant to help ease the fears of the High Street shopkeepers who thought they'd lose customers when the Town Council decided to pedestrianize the street during day hours. Today the event consists of art studio and garden strolls, several music concerts, theatre, parades, sporting events, and of course lots and lots of food. Most impressive, it's free to attend most events and all of it is put together by volunteers.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First I should be telling you a bit about our host town ...

Hythe is located in the county of Kent on England's southeast coast. Most days, you can see clear across the English Channel to the French coastline in the area around Calais.  The name tells a lot about why the place was settled in this location as it means "haven" or "landing place."

When the Romans settled nearby, the sea came right up to a series of terraces upon most of which present-day Hythe is built. As a result of its position by the sea, the town become one of what are still known as the Cinq Ports. In Anglo-Saxon times, the five coastal towns of Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich were granted certain rights to self-govern in exchange for helping defend the English coast against invasion. Each town was to supply one ship in the event of war (something they often weren't able to do when called upon). In 1293, 200 French did try to invade the town itself, but were chased back out to sea.

Over hundreds of years, the port that made Hythe such an important harbour gradually silted up. The town's High Street lies on what was once the coastline. You now have to walk another half mile to come to the coast, that is how much the area has silted up in this location.

These band mates were having fun rowing in the canal and blowing a
euphonium (Phil's public school instrument ... lol!)

When Napoleon was providing a risk for invasion, a 28-mile defensive canal was built from Seabrook, near Hythe, to Hastings along old the line of the cliffs. The idea was that it would provide a blockade of sorts against invaders providing troops an opportunity to shoot anyone who crossed it. Of course, Napoleon had already successfully crossed a few major rivers in his war efforts, so a 30-foot wide canal may not have been as big a deterrent as hoped. As it turns out, he met his Waterloo and all was good in Hythe.

The canal now has walking paths on both sides which are bordered by shady trees, and it was here that our welcome festival was being held. In the afternoon, Phil and I enjoyed a lovely walk along the seaside down to the start of the canal at Seabrook where we then took the canal route back to town.

The Hythe Military Canal in the wilder environs outside of town on the way to Seabrook.

Joining the crowds along the banks.

Never ones to turn down a fireworks display, we decided to enjoy the musical attractions on offer (including a musical Michael Buble tribute called Michael Duble). We walked to a local fish and chip shop and managed to be the last order in of the day before the shop closed. We took our dinner to a local park which was surprisingly quiet given its proximity to the canal, and enjoyed our meal before joining the locals for the fireworks. We even managed to get a prime spot on the Town Bridge over the canal to watch the spectacle.

There's lots more to Hythe, but I'll save that for future blogs as we explore this lovely town.

Day 268 - Waiting for Eurostar

Today we took the Eurostar back to the UK, where we'll be for the final few weeks of our trip. Because our train wasn't scheduled to leave until after 3 p.m., we had some time in the morning to do a bit more roaming around Montparnasse. We decided to take a walk through the historic Montparnasse cemetery. When it was created from three farms in 1824, this cemetery was on the outskirts of Paris. For health reasons, Paris had banned any new cemeteries after the collapse at the the Cimetière des Innocents which lead to the building of the catacombs, as discussed in yesterday's blog.

Many of France's intellectual and artistic elite are buried here, such as:

• Charles Baudelaire, poet
  

• Jean-Paul Sartre, philosopher (existentialism

With Peter Sellers in
"The Mouse that Roared"

• Jean Seberg, American Actress 

Perhaps the most interesting burial to Phil and me was that of Nobel prize-winning playwright Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot). Although born and educated in Ireland, Beckett lived most of his adult life in Paris. When the Germans occupied France, Beckett joined the French Resistance as a courier. He was nearly caught several times, and at one time, he had to flee to a small village called Roussillon. Some have said that it is this journey that provides the inspiration for the writing of Waiting for Godot.

But we had our own journey to complete (we need to get out of Paris before the World Cup final!). We arrived at Gare du Nord station two hours ahead of our scheduled train time, so had a nice lunch nearby at a small restaurant. However, after the arduous task of snaking through the line for ticket inspection, French customs and then UK customs, while waiting to board it was announced that someone had left a package at check-in, and so boarding couldn't commence until security sorted that out (or ate what was probably the sandwich someone left). 

Once on board, the train (for reasons left unexplained) could only go about half of its normal speed for most of the journey. Then, to complicate matters a bit more, the train could not stop at Ashford International; it had to go on to Ebbsfleet, which is just outside of London, and there Eurostar staff put us on a train back to Ashford where the train we were on could stop. Why the Eurostar itself  couldn't stop there remains a mystery.

So, we arrived in Ashford about 2 hours behind schedule, but then we had nowhere to be at any specific time, so all good. We decided to take a bus the remainder of the way to our destination for the next two weeks: a cottage in Hythe, Kent. It takes about 25 minutes to drive the distance, but we selected a bus that would take us through many of the surrounding villages. Very pretty. It felt great to be back in England and smell the fresh country air.

Day 267 - Turin through the Alps to Paris

Chocolate for breakfast anyone?

We woke up still full after last night's meal. That said, you have to see the breakfast at this hotel. When you enter, you are greeted by a table of Turin chocolate broken up in chunks, along with other chocolate delights. I did say in yesterday's post that they take chocolate seriously here and this is proof. I managed two capuccinos and a tablespoon of yoghurt. The fact that I actually did not partake in the chocolate should be all I need to say.

The very pretty breakfast room at the Turin Palace Hotel.

It was a good thing we decided to walk with our luggage the 2 kilometres to the Porta Susa train station. it got the arteries unclogged.

From here we caught the train en route through the Alps to Paris -- a beautiful 6-hour journey.

Through the Alps.

The trip was a relaxing blur of pretty scenery, me drawing on occasion and Phil reading when he wasn't sleeping.

We arrived at Paris's Gare de Lyon station at about 4:30 p.m. and made our way to the Marriott Rive Gauche hotel by Metro. After a quick bite in the exec lounge (Amanda, you would have LOVED this one ... great food), we went for a walk around the area of the hotel, which is in the Montparnasse area of Paris. A couple of blocks away is the entrance to the Catacombs, the underground ossuaries that hold the remains of some 6 million people. We knew the odds were low that we would get in at the height of the tourist season, but we walked in that direction anyway. The catacombs only permit 200 people entry at one time, and there were at least that many in line in the heat. So we passed it by. Perhaps on another visit.

The catacombs were created when Paris cemeteries quite literally began to overflow in the 1700s. Cemetery walls were collapsing. Remains from several of Paris's cemeteries were moved under cover of darkness to the catacombs. In the early 1800s, the Director of the Paris Mine Inspection Service had the caverns transformed so people could visit them. He had the skulls and femurs placed into patterns sand used used cemetery decorations within the decor.

And that is enough for one evening in Paris after a long day of travelling. Besides, I can't really visit too much without Rebecca being here with me!

Day 266 - Must-see Turin

What a delight when you come to a place and it catches you utterly and completely by surprise and leaves you enchanted. That is Turin. It feels like the architecture of Paris and Vienna, all merged along its Roman-provided grid-organized streets, and yet there is something distinctly different about how it all came together. There are touches of Art Nouveau and Neo Classical mixed in. We've only just arrived, and already we're planning our next trip here and saddened that we only gave ourselves one day to explore the city this time around.

The piazza San Carlo, with its twin churches, one of Turin's many beautiful piazzas.

The city is a mass of covered walkways, wonderful
for walking on hot, sunny days.

Turin sits along the Po River and in the Susa Valley of the Alps. Much of its beauty and wealth come from it being the capital city of the Duchy of Savoy for several centuries. When the modern state of Italy began forming in the mid 1800s, Turin was its capital. Most of the Italian peninsula was unified under the House of Savoy (Piedmont-Sardinia) into the Kingdom of Italy. By 1871, Venetia and the former Papal States (including Rome) were incorporated and Rome became the capital.

Today it is known primarily for three things:

1. The Shroud of Turin: For years, the piece of linen that is the Shroud was reputed to have imprinted on it the negative image of Jesus from its use as a burial shroud. The Shroud has been carbon dated back to the 13th century, and the Catholic Church has neither denied or endorsed it. It is housed in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud next to Turin Cathedral, and there is a museum you can visit to learn more. However, the actual Shroud is rarely exhibited.
2. Cars: Turin is the home of Italy's automotive industry, and yes, there is a museum dedicated to it: Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile. The country's industry remains dominated by Fiat (which I learned is derived from the company's original name: Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Automobile Factory of Turin). It was founded in 1899. 
3. Chocolate: Mmmmm. How can you not like chocolate? Turin is famous for it and takes great pride in its production. It is most famous for Gianduiotto which is shaped like an upturned boat and is wrapped in a gold or silver tinfoil. It's name come from gianduja, which is a mixture of sugar, cocoa and hazelnut. The idea for adding hazelnut to the mix came during Napoleon's reigh, when it become difficult to source cocoa from South America. In order to "stretch out" the mixture, two men from Turin came upon the idea of adding ground hazelnuts. This then grew into the basis for Nutella. 

Phil poses for the sculpture dedicated to the
Po River. 

As we only had the day, we decided to follow a recommended walking route through the city based on a map from the hotel, and pop into any museums that caught our eye. We started at the Porta Nuova train station, passing around the Piazza Lagrange (named after the astronomer and mathematician). From here, you come out onto Via Roma, an upscale shopping street before ending at the Baroque style Piazzo San Carlo which dates to the 16th Century. The twin churches of Santa Cristina and San Carlo Borromeo close the southern edge of the square. There is another small piazza at the back of these two churches which is known as Piazza CLN (initialism for Committee of National Liberation ). During the German occupation of WWII, this small square was noted for hosting the Gestapo command who stayed in a nearby hotel.

A side street off of
Via Guiseppe Garibaldi.

We took a sidetrip down Via Guiseppe Garibaldi (named after an Italian General who was part of the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. Another shopping street, our real reason for the detour was to look into picking up a  Juventus football jersey for our son Alex. However, our best of intentions were waylaid by the fact that the day before it had been announced that Ronaldo was to join the team. Excited Juventus fans were queuing up to order their shirts!

From here, we walked down Via Milan only to find ourselves in the area of the Fresh Food Market (Mercato di Porta Palazzo). It is massive! This open-air market is actually the largest in Europe, with hundreds of stalls. Fresh bread, seafood, meats, and fruits and vegetables of every size, colour and description. How they all survive, I have no idea, but it was a mass of colour, scents and sounds as the vendors hawked their wares. 

Meandering through the hundreds of stalls of Turin's fresh food market.

The Mole Antonelliana

The Museum of Italian Cinema intrigued us, so we headed in its direction. The museum is housed in the Mole Antonelliana (Antonelliana was the building's architect, and a mole in Italian is a building of monumental proportions). Originally, it was intended to be a synagogue, but the city of Turin bought the building when the costs escalated and the Jewish community fell out with the architect who kept trying to make it taller. At 167.5 metres, it was the tallest brick building in Europe at the time it was built in the mid- to late- 1800s. It is one of the dominate buildings on the skyline. Unfortunately, the museum was closed in the morning for a private event. Although it reopened in the afternoon, we never made it back. Next time!

We walked along the Po, back to the hotel for a bit, and then resumed our walk to the area of Valentino Park.

The Po River.

Valentino Castle. 

At the entrance to the park is Castello del Valentino, now home to the School of Architecture for Turin University. It was one of the main residences of the House of Savoy, with the name coming from Saint Valentine.

Nice spot for lunch.

The park made a lovely, shady respite on this warm day, and we enjoyed a nice lunch next to the river.

View from our rooftop table at
Les Petites Madeleines.

That evening, we enjoyed a gluttonous dinner at the restaurant on the roof of our hotel, Les Petites Madeleines. We had a prime table with a beautiful view over the rooftops of Turin toward the Mole Antonelliana. We decided to throw caution to the wind and have the Chef's Menu. I think I went into a food coma after the seventh of the 12 courses. I actually stopped eating courses. All the while, I was providing Phil with updates on the England v Croatia World Cup game from my phone on my lap. Even writing about this meal is making me food averse ... it was just so much!

Day 265 - Venice to Milan to Turin

Arrivederci Venezia. Ciao Turin!

Our water bus arriving to take us away from Isla Mazzorbo

We left today from our unique hotel on Isola Mazzorbo by water bus 12 and connected at Murano for the Ferrovia water bus 3 that took us to the Venice train station. Our departure time from Venice wasn't until 3 p.m., so we spent the morning having a long breakfast and catching up on emails. One thing that we have learned on this trip is that you must strategically select which water bus routes you take or else you are dealing with "molti turisti." The routes that go to Murano and Burano are usually quite full and can be extremely hot in the summer unless you are fortunate enough to get standing room by the loading gates (and on longer trips the standing can get quite tiring). Our choice of routes today worked out quite well. There always seems to be a problem at the Murano Ferro stop because it is there that tourists congregate having come to Murano from Venice via various routes. There is only one terminal and two areas to queue, one for tourists and one for residents, who have a priority entrance that only they can use. For the tourist entrance, most are going on to Burano and they fill the little terminal so that you cannot get in to catch the other routes until they have departed. It made sense to wait them out before we moved in to catch the number 3 boat. It first runs through the central canal on Murano (4 stops) before heading across the lagoon to Venice. This makes for a delightful 30-minute trip and quite the tour of this island, known for its glass making.

Entry hall of Milan Centrale

We had booked a train to Milan where we had hoped to spend a few hours having dinner somewhere near the station before making a connection to Turin. The Milan Centrale station is enormous!!!!  Turns out it is the largest train station in Europe by volume. It was opened in 1931 and has the most amazing entrance hall (see picture) which towers up above you when you walk in. Mussolini, who at that time was the Dictator of Italy, wanted it to represent the strength of Italian fascism. There is a lot of gothic in the station's architecture  and I was left wondering if many of the winged symbols carved into the walls and columns had been altered after the second world war to remove the fascist symbolism that may have been built into its design. I didn't find out until later when researching the station that there are rooms in it that are not open to the public, but that still have swastikas in the flooring, put there when Hitler visited Milan.

View of the interior of Milan Centrale from our restaurant

Aside from the immensity of it all, the station can be confusing when looking for something to eat or purchase. There are multiple mezzanines with sloping escalators connecting them all and elevators that don't open where you think they should. It was also very hot and busy -- the station reportedly moves over 330,000 people a day.  Outside the station there really isn't much. I had been expecting to see a park or two adjacent to the station's location with cafes and restaurants, but there was not. In fact the station is not really located near any of the historic areas of the city. Furthermore, the number of shady characters prowling the streets around the station convinced us to return back in and find a restaurant inside to have supper and relax until our train to Turin.

Turin Porta Nuovo Rail Station 

The train to Milan had been very comfortable as we were in the "Prima" class, but for the shorter run to Turin (45 minutes) we were in the "Comfort" class which is less expensive. It was also very pleasant and the line to Turin is electrified which means our train was reaching speeds of 300 km/hr.

The main Turin train station is Porta Nuovo and was the terminus of our day's journey. I have to say right away that this was more like it. The station is located adjacent to the historic centre of Turin which I have to admit is one heck of a city. Angela will expand upon the city tomorrow when we take the day to explore it. The railway station was completed in 1868, two years after the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. One piece of trivia associated with it is that Enzo Ferrari first worked at a bar in the station where he met a number of early automobile designers and racers who encouraged him to work in the industry -- the rest is history!

Our hotel at night

I can't say enough about our hotel, the Turin Palace. It is across the street from the westerly exit of the station (we had been joking on the train ride here that the hotel's proximity to a rail station may mean we would be regretting our choice) and is beautiful inside. Our room is modern, but with classic touches of marble flooring in the bathroom and art deco furnishings. The staff are amazing and after a long day of travel, we both looked forward to a shower and bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day!

Ale of the Day: Unfortunately I have suspended this segment until my return to the UK as there are no real ales available here - just lagers, which I will suffer with until then.