Our great friends and neighbors, Steve and Linda Service, arrived yesterday. We met them at the Torino train station and I was jumping up and down like a child when I saw them walking down the binario. After all those dinner-meetings, emails, phone calls etc. they are finally here in Italy, with us!

We stashed their luggage in our car, parked under the train station and started walking towards Piazza San Carlo. I love seeing things through their eyes. Even in the misty weather, Torino is lovely. Ken and I are both very fond of this city. We walked and walked, marveled over these lamps:

We had a nice little sit on this cool bench to figure out lunch:

Using Elizabeth Minchili’s Eat Italy app, we found Vino Banco and had a great lunch

I really loved my lunch–a glass of Franciacorta, a tiny, but absolutely scrumptious pork sandwhich and a small plate with chicken paté and perfect toast. Ken and Steve had tajarin (long, flat local pasta) with fresh porcini and Linda had roast chicken and potatoes. We all shared one incredible dessert, which was chocolate mousse with clementine sorbet and pumpkin chutney. What looked like white chocolate chips on top were actually tiny meringues. Steve kind of looked like this most of the day:

There was a bit of a fiasco getting out of the parking lot, we didn’t pay first–stupid Americans, but we got it done and made it back to Alba to deliver them to their apartment, about a block and a half away.

Linda and Steve came over to our place for “hippy veggie stew” and some foccacia I got a the bakery, and, of course, some Nebbiolo. We talked and talked and said good night.