My Awesomely Historical Trip to Italy
by Ian
On Saturday February 16, 2013, I went on a plane ride to Chicago. Then I almost didn’t make the plane to Germany .We were the 2nd to last group to get onto the plane. It was an overnight flight that lasted 8 hours. The plane food was good; beef with mashed potatoes, veggies and a salad. The dessert was a brownie. When I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany, it was 9:30am on Sunday. There was two hours and 50 minutes till our next plane left at 12:20.
I met a friend of my mom and dad’s, Jon Levine. He works at the UW as a scientist. We both had the same tickets so we stuck together. When we got to the gate there was no breakfast bar of any type of food so we just went to a place called the Hub. The Hub served drinks like hot chocolate, cappuccinos, coffee and espresso. (Mr. C would love the coffee in Italy and Germany, FYI). I got a hot chocolate, Jon got an espresso, and my mom and dad got cappuccinos. The hot chocolate was DELICIOUS. The Hub was a nice place: crystal beads hanging from the ceiling like a wall of crystals, a lounge area, tables, sofa, and a bar of greens. When it was 12:10 we went onto the plane. When I was trying to sleep on the plane to Torino two completely giggling girls kept waking me up talking in German and English. When we finally arrived it was 13:00 (which means 1:00pm. In Italy they use 24 hour time.) Then we got our luggage. We didn’t have any Euros to pay for a taxi to the hotel but Jon had Euros so then we got to our hotel.
Torino and Turin are the same city; in English, Turin, in Italian, Torino.
On Monday, we went to Piazza San Carlo, Torino. Piazza means plaza in “Italiano”. In Piazza San Carlo there was a statue of a man on a horse; he was Duke Emmanuel Philibert. Emmanuel Philibert was duke of Savoy (Savoy was a region that connected France and Italy) from 1553-1580. He lived from July 8, 1528- August 30, 1580. Philibert had a statue in the piazza because he was a great military hero. He took back most of the land that was occupied by France and Spain which then became a part of Italy. Emmanuel Philibert fought for his country, Savoy, and gave the land to present day Italy. Emanuel Philibert is important in Italy because he changed the capitol of Savoy from Chambery to Torino. Emanuel Philibert might have moved the capitol because it gave him a huge advantage in war because the Capitol of Savoy, Torino, was to the south east of the Alps. So his enemies only had one way across into the city. Piazza San Carlo kind of felt like home because it was on open plaza with stores and coffee shops on the outside; it was kind of like State Street!
Emmanuel Philibert ordered the construction of Vittorio Emanuelle II or Palazzo Carignano. Palazzo means palace, it is just the way they say palace in “Italiano”. The Carignano Palace is a symbolic place for the history of the house of Savoy in the Italian Risorgimento. The Palazzo Carignano was the birthplace of the princess of palace Carignano, Princess Marie Louise of Savoy. Marie Louise of Savoy, born in Torino, was big in French politics, especially for a woman at that time. The Risorgimento museum was here. The Risorgimento was a period of revival or reorganization (1815-1870). That’s what the word means. Revival was the Italian reunification a political and social movement that rejoined the single Italian states to the Italian peninsula making it an entire country.
Next, we walked to the Piazza Castello, in this piazza is the Palazzo Madama it looked like Fort McHenry in Baltimore. The Palazzo Madama, was a fortified stronghold to protect the city of Torino from Napoleon. It is now a museum of art. Near the Palazzo Madama is the Palazzo Reale Di Torino. until 1865 the Dukes of Savoy, The Kings of Sardina, and the Kings of Italy lived there. With the Sardina, I don’t know what they thinking. Don’t they know about sardines? It is now a museum. From the Pallazo Reale (Royal Palace) of Torino, (Part of an old Bishops palace), Emmanuel Philibert was able to monitor two strategic points of entry into Turin. The palace was abandoned after it was the residence of some French dudes. Emmanuel Phlibert used the palace to house his immense collections of art, animals, marbles, and furniture. How many times do you think he lost his marbles? The cool thing about being in Torino was that I was walking in places that Emanuel Philibert, a great military leader, might have walked.
Hey, heads up if you’re a kid and you like hot chocolate. Everything in Italy is what it IS. Say hot chocolate. Hot chocolate here in America is cocoa mixed with hot milk or hot water. In Italy, since everything is literally what the name is. Hot chocolate is melted chocolate. No sweetener just dark chocolate melted in a cup. It took me 3 days to find American hot chocolate and that was in one coffee shop and in a vending machine # 49 where my mom and dad’s conference was. The best hot chocolate I found was # 49 in a vending machine… AT A HOSPITAL!
Going to Italy was a great experience I WANT TO GO BACK!
by Ian
On Saturday February 16, 2013, I went on a plane ride to Chicago. Then I almost didn’t make the plane to Germany .We were the 2nd to last group to get onto the plane. It was an overnight flight that lasted 8 hours. The plane food was good; beef with mashed potatoes, veggies and a salad. The dessert was a brownie. When I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany, it was 9:30am on Sunday. There was two hours and 50 minutes till our next plane left at 12:20.
I met a friend of my mom and dad’s, Jon Levine. He works at the UW as a scientist. We both had the same tickets so we stuck together. When we got to the gate there was no breakfast bar of any type of food so we just went to a place called the Hub. The Hub served drinks like hot chocolate, cappuccinos, coffee and espresso. (Mr. C would love the coffee in Italy and Germany, FYI). I got a hot chocolate, Jon got an espresso, and my mom and dad got cappuccinos. The hot chocolate was DELICIOUS. The Hub was a nice place: crystal beads hanging from the ceiling like a wall of crystals, a lounge area, tables, sofa, and a bar of greens. When it was 12:10 we went onto the plane. When I was trying to sleep on the plane to Torino two completely giggling girls kept waking me up talking in German and English. When we finally arrived it was 13:00 (which means 1:00pm. In Italy they use 24 hour time.) Then we got our luggage. We didn’t have any Euros to pay for a taxi to the hotel but Jon had Euros so then we got to our hotel.
Torino and Turin are the same city; in English, Turin, in Italian, Torino.
On Monday, we went to Piazza San Carlo, Torino. Piazza means plaza in “Italiano”. In Piazza San Carlo there was a statue of a man on a horse; he was Duke Emmanuel Philibert. Emmanuel Philibert was duke of Savoy (Savoy was a region that connected France and Italy) from 1553-1580. He lived from July 8, 1528- August 30, 1580. Philibert had a statue in the piazza because he was a great military hero. He took back most of the land that was occupied by France and Spain which then became a part of Italy. Emmanuel Philibert fought for his country, Savoy, and gave the land to present day Italy. Emanuel Philibert is important in Italy because he changed the capitol of Savoy from Chambery to Torino. Emanuel Philibert might have moved the capitol because it gave him a huge advantage in war because the Capitol of Savoy, Torino, was to the south east of the Alps. So his enemies only had one way across into the city. Piazza San Carlo kind of felt like home because it was on open plaza with stores and coffee shops on the outside; it was kind of like State Street!
Emmanuel Philibert ordered the construction of Vittorio Emanuelle II or Palazzo Carignano. Palazzo means palace, it is just the way they say palace in “Italiano”. The Carignano Palace is a symbolic place for the history of the house of Savoy in the Italian Risorgimento. The Palazzo Carignano was the birthplace of the princess of palace Carignano, Princess Marie Louise of Savoy. Marie Louise of Savoy, born in Torino, was big in French politics, especially for a woman at that time. The Risorgimento museum was here. The Risorgimento was a period of revival or reorganization (1815-1870). That’s what the word means. Revival was the Italian reunification a political and social movement that rejoined the single Italian states to the Italian peninsula making it an entire country.
Next, we walked to the Piazza Castello, in this piazza is the Palazzo Madama it looked like Fort McHenry in Baltimore. The Palazzo Madama, was a fortified stronghold to protect the city of Torino from Napoleon. It is now a museum of art. Near the Palazzo Madama is the Palazzo Reale Di Torino. until 1865 the Dukes of Savoy, The Kings of Sardina, and the Kings of Italy lived there. With the Sardina, I don’t know what they thinking. Don’t they know about sardines? It is now a museum. From the Pallazo Reale (Royal Palace) of Torino, (Part of an old Bishops palace), Emmanuel Philibert was able to monitor two strategic points of entry into Turin. The palace was abandoned after it was the residence of some French dudes. Emmanuel Phlibert used the palace to house his immense collections of art, animals, marbles, and furniture. How many times do you think he lost his marbles? The cool thing about being in Torino was that I was walking in places that Emanuel Philibert, a great military leader, might have walked.
Hey, heads up if you’re a kid and you like hot chocolate. Everything in Italy is what it IS. Say hot chocolate. Hot chocolate here in America is cocoa mixed with hot milk or hot water. In Italy, since everything is literally what the name is. Hot chocolate is melted chocolate. No sweetener just dark chocolate melted in a cup. It took me 3 days to find American hot chocolate and that was in one coffee shop and in a vending machine # 49 where my mom and dad’s conference was. The best hot chocolate I found was # 49 in a vending machine… AT A HOSPITAL!
Going to Italy was a great experience I WANT TO GO BACK!