Day 5 - Sunday, August 4th Turin

Alarm at 6:45 am as our first soccer game is scheduled for an 8:30 am start. Put on sunscreen and out to meet Dave, Donal and Debbie. Found a taxi and it will guarantee we get there quickly and avoid the lateness of the transit system. Arrived at the Parco Pellerina complex about 7:20 am so plenty of time before the game. Even though we are early in the day, it is already getting very hot. Donal got the keys to our dressing room. We are playing the Calgary Selects. The toilet is not our usual sit down toilet, but like the Asian style where you squat over the porcelain basin in the floor. One of our guys used it and discovered the door locked and he had to climb over the wall to get out!

Referee has to examine every player's ID before the game begins. We trade a memento between the players. We have 15 players, therefore, 4 spares. The competition from Calgary are huge. Tall, strong and aggressive (dirty). This is our first game as a team and everyone is pretty psyched. Lots of adrenalin. We start the game very strong and dominate. We have quicker, more agile and more skillful players. We get a penalty shot in the first half and score to take a 1-0 lead. Calgary ties the game midway through the second half with a fantastic shot from about 30 yards out. About five minutes from the end, the Calgary defender makes a mistake with the ball and our striker pounces on it to put it by the goalie and we win 2-1! What a perfect start to the tournament. Everyone pretty excited and happy with the result. I play centre back on the back line. Great team spirit and positive with each other during the game. Team Photo below at the conclusion of the match.

As you can see #3 is quite the character

Most of us hang around at the end to enjoy the victory and get hydrated. Some hydrate with beer and others with water and gatorade. Our California player, Juan, has around 8 of his women's team cheering us on and give us high 5s as we leave the field. Eventually, four of us grab a bus to head for the subway. The bus doesn't stop until well past the subway and it happens there is a free taxi nearby. Why walk to the subway, when we can take the taxi right to our neighbourhood. 9 Euro for the trip.

I take a shower and start my first load of laundry in an Italian machine that is foreign to me. Out the door in a matter of minutes to meet up with Donal, Debbie and Dave for lunch in the neighbourhood. We eat at Kipling Restaurant & Wines located on the edge of Piazza Bodoni. Excellent caprese salad for 11 Euro. Very personable waiter Davide who lived in England for a while so had excellent english skills. As well, he was an ex-footballer. Very long and enjoyable lunch. Many locals eat here in the shade away from the sun.

Caprese salad - buffalo mozzarella cheese, ripe tomatoes, basil and minimal olive oil

We went our separate ways. Given it is Sunday and we are in Europe, basically very little is open. Thwarted in my desire to find free wifi caffe services. My attempt to use my iPhone as a personal hotspot thus creating my own wifi for my Macbook failed. Falling behind in my travel blogging. For some reason, my iPhone Safari browser is very slow.

I decide to follow a self-guided walking tour that is outlined in my Turin guidebook. This walk #2 is titled "Il Centro" and is the Baroque Heart of Turin. This older part of Turin is filled with piazzas and parks. I start at the enormous Piazza Castello. The temperature is around 37 degrees and no breeze. Given it is Sunday, not near as many people in the streets. Many are Games attendees. In one of my stops, I got into a discussion with a Friar at Church of Santa Theresa which was built in the 1600s and spared being bombed in WWII. Divine intervention?   ;-)  The Friar was from the Czech Republic. His english was decent. He used to be in a metal band about 20 years ago and showed me a photo of his long hair.

Had a 2.50 Euro gelato at Pepino. Pepino is described as the best gelato in Turin. The peach gelato was excellent as I sat in the unrelenting hot sun. It was interesting and fun to follow the book's walking directions and understand the history and background better. Turin is described as a "city of arcades" and that is correct. Their definition of arcade is nothing like North American arcades. These ancient arcades are covered walkways that are lined by shops. Some are covered in glass, but most are not.

While it was very hot to walk, it was fun. Following the book, reading the directions and background and learning more about Turin. Very close to where my apartment is located.

 Galleria dell Industria Subalpina (glass covered arcade)

 Fountain at Piazza Solferino

Galleria San Frederico -> neo-Baroque style

Returned to the apartment around 6:30 pm. Showered again as I was very sticky and sweaty and wanted to change into something cleaner. One of the outcomes to the laundry was the clothes came out super soaking wet. They will need to take a couple of days to dry in my apartment. Some of the guys are meeting at 7:30 pm outside of Donal and Debbie's apartment. As usual, waiting for guys and then one or two needing directions.

Eventually made it to Piazza Bodoni and sat outdoors under the huge parasol at Spaccanapoli Restaurant. In the end there were seven teammates and one wife. Another beautiful night under blue skies. Enjoyed the warm weather as we ate pizza, drank beer and talked. The pizzas were fantastic. Thin crusts, blackened edges and the perfect tastes of the tomato sauce and the toppings. Some confusion on round two of ordering Italian beer as 2 glasses of 4 hops beer were ordered and we received 4 glasses of two hops beer! Something lost in the translation?

We all left around 10:30 pm as some guys had a longish walk home or taking the subway. Tomorrow our next game is not until 8:15 pm. Hoping for a decent sleep tonight. Another good day in Turin and lots of goodwill from our first soccer game.