February 28, 2026

Saturday

Torino, Italia

Good morning. Beginning to think about leaving and heading back to California to get ready for the Japan Cruise in April. This morning we went with Pietro, Serra and the girls to Torteria 40 for cappuccino and cornetto (brioche and croissant are not necessarily the samething, and cornetto is something different, here in Torino the proper term is cornetto not brioche, although everyone seems to understand it and no one has ever corrected me). Torteria 40 does make all their own cornetti and they are very good. They are now open on Sunday!

After enjoying our Italian breakfast, we headed to the park to play on the swings. Giardino Aiuola Balbo has been described in previous posts, but it is a nice park with a few swings for children, a rope pyramid for climbing, a rope bridge for testing your skills, and lots of room to run. In the summer months there is also a fountain. We played with the girls while Pietro went and got the car.

Serra, Pietro and the girls are going to drive to Milano today for a birthday party. Apparently, the restaurant where it was taking place was nowhere near a train station in Milano, so they decided to take the car. Pietro showed up with the car, and opened the back and realized he didn’t take out the empty fertilizer bags. He was in Loro Ciuffenna yesterday seeing that the olive trees get get trimmed and putting down fertilizer.

I took the bags and put them in the public trash bins. Good thing I didn’t get caught. It is a crime here to put private garbage in a public trash bin. It probably is everywhere actually. Serra loaded up the car. Pietro went and got bottles of water for the ride. Then they were off.

Now it was my turn to go shopping. I really need some more casual pants/slacks. When were in the Ireland last summer I bought a pair of Brühl pants at Blarney Woolen Mills. They are made by a German company. It is unclear if they are made in Germany or elsewhere. The website says “our products are developed” in German. The pants themselves do not offer any place of origin. Dosen’t matter, I like the pants and they fit well.

I spend a hour or so looking on the internet for Brühl pants. AI kept directing me to places that sell pants, not necessarily Brühl. After redefining the parameters several times I finally found a place that supposedly carried the brand. I can’t order them online because there are several different styles of Brühl pants and although the current pair I have says “Montana” in it, which may or may not be be style, I couldn’t match the current pair to one online. I needed to see them, feel them and try them on.

Well I found two places. One really far from our apartment and another, Sinclair Menswear, on via Madama Cristina (107/E) about 2.5 km (1.5 miles) away. It was only 1.9 km (1.2 miles) from Giardino Aiuola Balbo. It is an easy walk down Via Accademia Albertina, which is the street on the west side of the giardino. Via Accademia Albertina changes its name when it crosses Corso Vittorio Emanuele II to Via Madama Cristina. Piazza Madama Cristina is on the way. This is where Serra buys her vegetables, cheese and bread.

Sinclair is a bit beyond, in fact it is 1.2 km (.75 miles) beyond the piazza. It seemed like a long walk, and we almost gave up then we found it. It is a small shop, 30 m2, about the same as our apartment. The good news there is a large sign in the windows offering 60% discount. The owner was helping a gentlemen when we walked in. During a break, I inquired if he had Brühl pants. His answer was an encouraging Yes. Did he have 42R (58 Italian)? Again the answer was yes. He then proceeded to pull all eight pairs in my size off the rack.

He went back to helping the other customer while Mary and I looked over the selection. We chose five pair we liked. When he finished with the other customer, we asked to try them on. They all fit very well. The good news is that they were all on sale! 60% off.

So five pair of pants is €530, 60% off means they cost me €220. That is €44, or about $50 a pair. Less than I would have paid for similar pants in California. We also got a scarf for me that Mary liked. It was only 30% off. The whole thing cane to $328. A steal.

After making our purchase we headed back to the apartment. Taking a trolly part of the way. We got back and relaxed. Play a game of cards. Went over to Serra’s when they got home and picked up the other two suitcases. Took all the labels off the pants.

I did a little more research into out possible trip to Vietnam. Looked at changing Regent Bangkok to Tokyo Regent cruise in March 2027 with a New Zealand cruise in February 2028. I also found a new luxury train in Vietnam which runs between Hanoi and Ho Chi Min City. It stops along the way at many of the places we would like to see. This is probably replacing the March 2027 cruise. I wrote Derek about making the change.

At 18:00 we headed over to Serra’s to get the remaining two suitcases. While there isn’t much space here it will be easier to pack things up for the trip back to California in the apartment rather than trying to manage packing between two places. Besides, Dario, will pick us up Monday morning from the apartment not Serra’s.

We played with the girls for a little while. I got the suitcases from the cantina. Then we headed back to our apartment. We played a few hands of canasta and called it a night.

Buonanotte e ciao,

Enrico e Maria