a day in italy

The trip recap continues!

The day after the big party, we decided to take a little road trip to our favorite Italian border town, Susa. Originally founded by the Gauls, Susa eventually became a part of the Roman Empire, and remains of the Roman city are still found in the town’s central square. It’s small and charming, and one of our favorite places to visit in Italy. Oh, and it’s only an hour’s drive from our village!

To get to Susa, you need to drive high into the Alps, up to the Lac du Mont Cenis (where you’ll find more Roman ruins), and over into the Susa Valley. From up there, it didn’t look like we’d be having nice weather down below…

But we were mistaken! The sun slowly started to come out once we made our descent.

Once we’d figured out the parking situation (thank God for my dad’s school-taught Italian!), we couldn’t wait to start exploring.
But first? Food.

Or, beer, should I say.

And vino rosso, of course.

Thanks to an extremely patient and well-organized waitress, we sat down and ordered at one of our favorite trattoria.

Up first? A primi of inslata mista (mixed salad), spaghetti and gnocchi bolognese.

Followed by secondi: tagliatelle con funghi porcini (tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms), bistecca alla fiorentina (steak a la Florentine), alici indorate e fritte (fried fresh anchovies), cotoletta alla milanese (breaded veal cutlet), pizza, and more. I swear I meant to take more photos, but we were so hungry and everything was so delicious that I had to eat it! I hope you’ll forgive me☺.

After our dolci of espresso, cheese, and ice cream, we decided to get up and take a stroll around town (that is, before everyone collapsed into a food-induced coma!).

As we made our way to the ruins, we came across some more ‘contemporary’ but nonetheless lovely works of art…

Quite a view, eh?

The whole time we were there I couldn’t help thinking what a gorgeous location this would be for a wedding! It was just stunning.

Maybe next time??

Juuuuust kidding. Sort of.

After some ~~excellent~~ ~~awful~~ enthusiastic singing in the Roman amphitheater, we turned back towards town in search of shopping and ice cream.

Anyone looking to buy something? Just be warned, you’ll have to beat my offer (free baking to the landlord for life).

The town is full of lovely little winding streets with hidden stores and restaurants. There’s even free seating for when you need a little shopping break:

Also, there were so many cats! And not those scrawny, mange-y, un-fed ones. Italian cats are apparently all fluffy and fat and cute and wonderful. Behold, exhibit A: