This is Antonella (right) and her friend Guizy (left). We are on a mountain overlooking Torino.
I met with Antonella and two of her friends. Guys, if you have ever been in a small crowd of Relief Society women, you should try it when they are speaking another language… you don’t stand a chance! ;-) All joking aside, they have been great and I have been loving every minute with them and only wish I could speak Italian. It is so funny to see them using the same animated gestures and spatting with other drivers on the road, as is depicted in the American TV show. Antonella was going to make my favourite meal ever (Lasagne) but her friends told her it was too hot for Lasagne so they made something similar to salsa as a salad starter, that was very good and then roast chicken with potatoes and cappers. I’ve never liked cappers before but this whole meal was great. I must have prepared the cappers wrong in the past. For breakfast she made crapes and they too were wonderful. She then took me on a tour of the city and up a mountain to see how vast it was and it is very big. Tonight we will be going to a welcome home parting for a missionary returning from Japan so I’m looking forward to it.
I met with Antonella and two of her friends. Guys, if you have ever been in a small crowd of Relief Society women, you should try it when they are speaking another language… you don’t stand a chance! ;-) All joking aside, they have been great and I have been loving every minute with them and only wish I could speak Italian. It is so funny to see them using the same animated gestures and spatting with other drivers on the road, as is depicted in the American TV show. Antonella was going to make my favourite meal ever (Lasagne) but her friends told her it was too hot for Lasagne so they made something similar to salsa as a salad starter, that was very good and then roast chicken with potatoes and cappers. I’ve never liked cappers before but this whole meal was great. I must have prepared the cappers wrong in the past. For breakfast she made crapes and they too were wonderful. She then took me on a tour of the city and up a mountain to see how vast it was and it is very big. Tonight we will be going to a welcome home parting for a missionary returning from Japan so I’m looking forward to it.
The is a large statue on the mountain top overlooking Torino. It is also used as a lighthouse at night.
I also found out that Antonella makes much less than Sara does yet she is willing to house me and spend money on petrol and food to help make my journey a memorable one. What wonderful people. America… wake up and start giving. You think you are poor but you’re not. You just won’t live within your means and you can’t help people because you bind yourselves with debt because you want more and more. I see many happy people here in Europe living on crumbs compared to you but they are happy and still give what little they have. I’m making a list of people I would like to help whenever I get back to making money. Like the widows mite, I of my abundance have given little but they of their penury have given all they have or all they can. How humbling this trip has been to me and what an eye opener!
I also found out that Antonella makes much less than Sara does yet she is willing to house me and spend money on petrol and food to help make my journey a memorable one. What wonderful people. America… wake up and start giving. You think you are poor but you’re not. You just won’t live within your means and you can’t help people because you bind yourselves with debt because you want more and more. I see many happy people here in Europe living on crumbs compared to you but they are happy and still give what little they have. I’m making a list of people I would like to help whenever I get back to making money. Like the widows mite, I of my abundance have given little but they of their penury have given all they have or all they can. How humbling this trip has been to me and what an eye opener!
An open square in Torino.
I went walking for a few miles through the city center looking for WIFI but it was the first time a city required their own country code to register for WIFI so they wouldn’t send a code to my British phone. I tried other networks but none would allow me to connect. I finally found McD’s and thought I was saved but again, the first McD’s to not have WIFI. I started back for the house then saw a woman approaching me with her dressed hiked up a bit revealing her slip so I stopped her saying, “Pardon, your slip is showing” as I reached down and grabbed my pant leg about where her slip was revealed. She looked at me then I realized there was a mix up in the translation because I think he figured me be asking if she would show me her slip. She grabbed her skirt and lifted it above her head revealing her entire slip then dropped it and shrugged her shoulders. I just smiled, shrugged my shoulders, said, “grazie (thank you)” then kept walking along.
I went walking for a few miles through the city center looking for WIFI but it was the first time a city required their own country code to register for WIFI so they wouldn’t send a code to my British phone. I tried other networks but none would allow me to connect. I finally found McD’s and thought I was saved but again, the first McD’s to not have WIFI. I started back for the house then saw a woman approaching me with her dressed hiked up a bit revealing her slip so I stopped her saying, “Pardon, your slip is showing” as I reached down and grabbed my pant leg about where her slip was revealed. She looked at me then I realized there was a mix up in the translation because I think he figured me be asking if she would show me her slip. She grabbed her skirt and lifted it above her head revealing her entire slip then dropped it and shrugged her shoulders. I just smiled, shrugged my shoulders, said, “grazie (thank you)” then kept walking along.
Antonella and Roberto in Cheiri
Antonella and all her friends have been truly wonderful to me. At church they welcomed me like a brother and so many of them treated me as though we had been friends forever. Another family invited me to stay at their house for a night so I could meet their sons and the father, Roberto, received a degree as an architect so he loved the designs of buildings and he showed me around his city Cheiri and explained several of the structures and the adaptations the city has had over the years. It was the most interesting tour I have had so far on my pilgrimage. His family was great too. Even though it is wearing to try to speak English and translate everything in their heads constantly, they kept trying to communicate with me. They were all very talented as well. The first son I met, Timothy, hand makes wall paper and it is very high quality, not actually paper but a paper/fabric mix. The other son I met, Xevier, designs the soles of sport shoes for Armani. He is also very creative.
Antonella and all her friends have been truly wonderful to me. At church they welcomed me like a brother and so many of them treated me as though we had been friends forever. Another family invited me to stay at their house for a night so I could meet their sons and the father, Roberto, received a degree as an architect so he loved the designs of buildings and he showed me around his city Cheiri and explained several of the structures and the adaptations the city has had over the years. It was the most interesting tour I have had so far on my pilgrimage. His family was great too. Even though it is wearing to try to speak English and translate everything in their heads constantly, they kept trying to communicate with me. They were all very talented as well. The first son I met, Timothy, hand makes wall paper and it is very high quality, not actually paper but a paper/fabric mix. The other son I met, Xevier, designs the soles of sport shoes for Armani. He is also very creative.
This is in Cheiri. The window looks like it has a wood surround but it is actually all made of brick.
The city center of Cheiri
This is a gate way into Cheiri
Interesting because the red brick is from the original building and the rest is what they did to modernize it.
This is another old building in Cheiri that has been modernized.
This is a very cool old church in Cheiri. I love all the columns and statuary.
Here is an original door from a building in the 15th or 16th century.
What a great tour of the city Roberto gave me. I have been so blessed to meet such good people on this pilgrimage and I hope to meet many more.
What a great tour of the city Roberto gave me. I have been so blessed to meet such good people on this pilgrimage and I hope to meet many more.
Back in Torino. This is a gateway to Torino built by the Romans in the first year AD.
24th of July 2012- Last night just before dinner I had some slight gas cramps, or so it felt. I didn’t think much of it but they became more intense, waking me in the middle of the night. By morning I couldn’t walk. Antonella called an ambulance and the man who checked me out said they would have to take me in for surgery. I wasn’t sure if the hospital was close or far because I’m sure we caught air at least three times on the way so I couldn’t tell if we were driving or flying. I was told by others I could expect an 8 hour wait from this hospital but I was looked at immediately by the doctor then taken to the MRI then rushed into surgery. It ended up being that they had to cut 40cm of intestine out of me due to the hernia operation I had a few years ago. The netting they used for the hernia had got twisted up in my intestines and obstructing them.
24th of July 2012- Last night just before dinner I had some slight gas cramps, or so it felt. I didn’t think much of it but they became more intense, waking me in the middle of the night. By morning I couldn’t walk. Antonella called an ambulance and the man who checked me out said they would have to take me in for surgery. I wasn’t sure if the hospital was close or far because I’m sure we caught air at least three times on the way so I couldn’t tell if we were driving or flying. I was told by others I could expect an 8 hour wait from this hospital but I was looked at immediately by the doctor then taken to the MRI then rushed into surgery. It ended up being that they had to cut 40cm of intestine out of me due to the hernia operation I had a few years ago. The netting they used for the hernia had got twisted up in my intestines and obstructing them.
This is the remains of an old Roman theatre from the first century AD.
I spent the next 12 days recovering in the hospital and told I would have to wait another month before I could lift my back pack to continue my pilgrimage.
The hospital workers were about the most pleasant I have ever come across. The doctors were very attentive and full of smiles and laughing. The nurses and care givers were always smiling and very pleasant as well. They made me about as comfortable as one could be under such circumstances. I really wish I could speak the language because they seemed to be having so much fun but it all went over my head.
I spent the next 12 days recovering in the hospital and told I would have to wait another month before I could lift my back pack to continue my pilgrimage.
The hospital workers were about the most pleasant I have ever come across. The doctors were very attentive and full of smiles and laughing. The nurses and care givers were always smiling and very pleasant as well. They made me about as comfortable as one could be under such circumstances. I really wish I could speak the language because they seemed to be having so much fun but it all went over my head.
This caption goes with the Roman Theatre remains in the pic
Now then, let me tell you about this wonderful lady Antonella, who agreed to have me stay for a night or two as a short refuge on my pilgrimage. Not only has Antonella agreed to let me stay at her house during my recovery, she is also a very strict adherent to propriety and would not stay or sleep in a house with a man while unmarried. The first two nights I was here she had a friend stay over as well. However, when she first allowed me to stay longer because I was awaiting my solar battery to arrive, she would let me stay in her house while she would sleep at neighbours and friends houses. Now if that were not magnanimous enough, my first two nights in the hospital she secured a lawn chair from the church and stayed the night with me in the hospital in case I needed help and just to be a good friend. She faithfully came to visit for several hours every day of my stay. She is a lot of fun to speak with and I just can’t believe a person who was nothing more than a friend of a friend, would go to such lengths to assist someone she doesn’t even know or knows if she could trust. The Lord has truly blessed me with wonderful people during my trip.
Now then, let me tell you about this wonderful lady Antonella, who agreed to have me stay for a night or two as a short refuge on my pilgrimage. Not only has Antonella agreed to let me stay at her house during my recovery, she is also a very strict adherent to propriety and would not stay or sleep in a house with a man while unmarried. The first two nights I was here she had a friend stay over as well. However, when she first allowed me to stay longer because I was awaiting my solar battery to arrive, she would let me stay in her house while she would sleep at neighbours and friends houses. Now if that were not magnanimous enough, my first two nights in the hospital she secured a lawn chair from the church and stayed the night with me in the hospital in case I needed help and just to be a good friend. She faithfully came to visit for several hours every day of my stay. She is a lot of fun to speak with and I just can’t believe a person who was nothing more than a friend of a friend, would go to such lengths to assist someone she doesn’t even know or knows if she could trust. The Lord has truly blessed me with wonderful people during my trip.
This is one of Antonella's many talents. This may look like wall paper but Antonella actually painted all of this around her living room.
Incidentally, were my solar battery received on time, I would have most likely been hiking in the alps and my plan was to go off trail to spend a few days alone while in the majesty of those beautiful mountains. Had I been there when this attack on my body happened, it is almost certain I could not have received help in time to save me. I can’t help but be grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who I am sure is watching over me.
Incidentally, were my solar battery received on time, I would have most likely been hiking in the alps and my plan was to go off trail to spend a few days alone while in the majesty of those beautiful mountains. Had I been there when this attack on my body happened, it is almost certain I could not have received help in time to save me. I can’t help but be grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who I am sure is watching over me.
This is a bakery near Antonella's house in Torino. Many creative people here.
I have discovered that after the 5 day fast in the hospital and the light eating for 12 days, I have lost a bit too much weight. I am now only 178 lbs or 81 kg or 12.75 stone, and for the first time, yesterday, I was making fun of a man for having a little too much weight and he said, what about you, you’re too skinny. My heaviest in high school was 170 lbs and I weighed 165 lbs when I returned from my mission in Ireland so I am too close to that weight. I think 185 lbs is a good weight for me (though I have been about 195 lbs for the last 25 years) so I will try getting back to that weight and hold it there.
I have discovered that after the 5 day fast in the hospital and the light eating for 12 days, I have lost a bit too much weight. I am now only 178 lbs or 81 kg or 12.75 stone, and for the first time, yesterday, I was making fun of a man for having a little too much weight and he said, what about you, you’re too skinny. My heaviest in high school was 170 lbs and I weighed 165 lbs when I returned from my mission in Ireland so I am too close to that weight. I think 185 lbs is a good weight for me (though I have been about 195 lbs for the last 25 years) so I will try getting back to that weight and hold it there.
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