The next morning Allison and I got up and got ready to go shopping with one of Allison's friends (who is also an Au Pair) named Anne. Allison and Anne sometimes go check out the sales at the mall and spend the afternoon together while the kids they watch are in school. I was invited to join. :) Our plan was to go get breakfast, do some sightseeing, and go shopping in Mondovi. Not only were we going to do this but Allison and I had to say "Goodbye".
Allison and I were both a bit concerned on how to get me to the airport the next day for my flight back to America. Since my flight left early in the morning while everyone would either be asleep or at work, bumming a ride off of someone that day wasn't possible. Given the circumstance the best solution was to get me there the night before which wasn't ideal but it seemed to be the only way. Anne being very sweet said that she would be willing to drop me off at the train station in Mondovi after our shopping excursion. Problem solved. This meant I had to get on a train in Mondovi to take me to Turin, and then get on a bus to the airport and wait at the airport all night, By. Myself.
Anne came and picked Allison and I up and we headed out to go get some breakfast. Anne was our official chauffeur and drove us around Mondovi all day. We first went to get breakfast, coffee and a croissant at this cute little cafe. Allison had been telling me that I should try an Italian hot chocolate, she said it was to die for. Well I was curious so I decided to try one. I hated it. UGH! It was sooo gross! I pretended that I liked or I tried to anyway but Allison probably saw right through me. It was just so thick and rich, it was like drinking chocolate flavored mud. Yuck! At least I can say I experienced it and now I know. :)
Anne then took Allison and I up to some "time courtyard" (<--- I made that up) where there was a clock tower and a bunch of other "time" devices which was pretty neat. We tried to figure out how to read some of the clocks that they had up there. There was this one clock that was like a riddle. It wasn't a sundial, this was something totally different! We kept trying to figure it out but then after 10 minutes we gave up. Haha! There was also a beautiful view looking out over Mondovi. It wasn't as pretty as looking over Venice but it was still nice. We saw where people were riding in hot air balloons and it was no wonder because it was such a beautiful day.
Anne also took us to some of the cathedrals in Mondovi which were big and beautiful but not like the ones in Venice. Venice cathedrals are in a class all their own. Mondovi was actually under a lot of construction so some of the cathedrals were being redone and we weren't allowed inside. Anne and I did sneak into one and got in trouble by a priest but not before I got the picture that I wanted. Whoopsie!
We then hit the mall. It was a cute mall that kind of reminded me of the Shortpump Mall in Richmond, Va but this one didn't have your typical stores. This mall had a bunch or unique, little botiques with cool Italian designers. One store was really cool. It had all these wallets, handbags, coats, suitcases that had maps on it. If you're curious the designer is Alviero Martini. Unique indeed. Another store I liked was the Ferrero Rocher chocolate store. Just walking into that store was wonderful. The smell of delicious chocolate filled the air. I wanted to buy something and bring it back home for my family but I was afraid security at the airport would confiscate it. . . . and eat it. Soooo no chocolate for this gill. >:(
After shopping at this mall and walking around another indoor mall we all decided we wanted some pizza for lunch. We found this little bakery/restaurant and got our fix. Here the lady at the cash register actually weighed our pizza slices. Allison said thats how Italians sell their pizza especially GOOD pizza, by the pound. I don't know if that's neccessarily a good thing. I see those pounds as pounds of lard sitting on my abs on my stomach. You only live once right?!?! Thankfully these "pounds of lard" were very yummy and well worth it! I even got a cute cupcake. I haven't had one in what seemed like YEARS! DearTaste Selects in Lynchburg, oh how I miss you!
Then I was off to face this Italian world all by myself. . .
-Jen
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