I'm slowly getting to experience more and more of the life and culture of Italy. My friends and family here have graciously been trying to ease me into it. I was able to meet my first American friend for pizza on Friday night, and the pizzeria was definitely in a castle on the top of a hillside. Apparently, according to Luca, this region just has too many castles that they don't know what to do with them all. So why not turn them into pizzerias?!

Saturday night I went out on the town (here in Alba) to watch the USA v England match with some new friends. I love how the World Cup brings so many people together. The party was hosted by a few English people at their apartment. There were also several other Americans there, one Russian guy, and a girl from Bulgaria. I must admit, it was quite nice to get to spend some time with people that can understand me. I think I've taken that for granted all these years...

Sunday night, I took my first trip out of Alba with some Italian friends to Turin. We only went for the evening, but I would like to spend more time there later on. It seems to be a very interesting city with a lot of history and 'legends' if you will. Also, it is a world renowned center for occult, black magic, and satanism. My friends called it the Detroit of Italy because it has a lot of car manufacturers, however, I do not think that is a fair comparison. I found the city to be beautiful and full of character.

At dinner, we took aperitifs (a trend that has apparently swept across Italy), then had antipasta, our main course, dessert, and caffe (digestifs). The Piemonte region is famous for their meat and wine, so of course I've partaken plenty. I've tasted just about every kind of raw meat that you can eat...veal, beef, ham, fish/anchovies, buffalo tongue, salami, etc. We also had pigs ankle and octopus at this particular dinner. Yes, some of it has been strange to me, but overall the food is exceptionally delicious and fresh. Living in this new place has truly opened my eyes to how processed everything we eat in America is. But that's a whole other topic for another day.  For now, buona notte...