Today we were offered our cakes for breakfast and toast with a rockmelon jam yum , it was great, would never think of using rockmelon as a jam ingredient, but will do from now on and will explore other options....... Got to love a bit of jam.
Now off to the palace at Racconigi a small village 50 km south or Torino and will have a day trip before this afternoons cooking class !!!!
Today is is a beautiful 25 deg as most, that is what we have experienced around Italy, the season is a month behind and so summer still has not hit so good for us with all our walking that for sure.
Speaking of walking and interpretation of distances after we had finished our italian guided tour of the palace we asked the guide how far it was to walk to see the Orangery in the bottom of the garden. The map was out of proportion so it was a bit hard to tell. Oh it's only 1200 m thought the woodlands, well after walking for about an hour with no Orangery still in sight. A girl rides past on her push bike and had a castle rangers badge on, so I stop her to get direction, yes yes you are heading in the right direction about 1/2 and hour and you should be there. So our walk ended up being a 3 hour return so not sure where the 1200 m came into it. But I must admit that that was not the first time that a distance was mis calculated, but it was a great walk and well the Orangery was not open when we got there but a side door was ajar so I sort of broke in. Well by the time that girl re circles the walk we will be long gone.
The place was amazing and in its day as well as the Orangery it also had the stables. There stables were huge and with carpets floor in two of the area for the kings special horses hmmmm horses and carpet not sure how that one worked......
The castle was used as the country home right up till the 1950 for one of the royal lines of a famous Italian family. The main castle was in the city of Torino so this was the weekender, not bad.
But as the whole tour was only in Italian it was a bit hard to get the gist so I will google it later to see the real story " in English " . We were give a guide in English but I think the same person who thinks its 1200 m to the Orangery may have written it.... So a few details were a bit haze.
The castle was one of the best experiences we had visually seen it was as if they had just gone out for the day and still with tables set of dinner and towel on the floor in the bathrooms. Yep real well done, you feel like you are back in the 1600 right up to the 1920.
The entrance was grand 1600 century several stories tall with marble floor and hunting statues depicting the original use of the castle.
Through the main down stair state rooms where balls and function were held.
To the library and the vast corridors 100's of meter of them with over 3000 past family portrayed on the walls through out, thank goodness to the photo album I say..... Finally into the main private apartments of the past kings and queens. Now these guys knew how to spend serious money on a country house the apartments were seriously opulent. Well one with the blue regal silk walls and a king size bed that was about twice as big as the king size bed we call back home!!! It was also a 4 poster and it was about 7 m tall this guy must have had serious insecure issues with the size of things!!
Several more apartment all as opulent some with Chinese feel and silk wall depicting a oriental scene, others just all gold gilded. As each royal died the rooms were just left and the new royal would build another apartment and furnish it to there own personal taste.
The last apartment to view was the female royal from the 1920, she was the modern one that didn't want all the old stuff in her apartment. Still grand in size and height and had a bed that looks like it came from a 1950 low lines and rounded ends in a veneer, with built in wardrobe around 2 entire apartments all in white except for the timber floor. It was like we were in a huge department store but with only one bed. The 3rd room to her apartment was her bathroom again with a serious amount of builtin wardrobes. Thinking she spent her money on clothes and some were display softly over the end of the bed and one stunning fur was layer out on a lounge, yep she would have been the height of 1920's fashion.......
The last of her rooms was a reading room that looked like any ones TV room with soft lounge chairs and modern day 1950 pictures on the wall and a painting of her in the 1920's as a young lady with that dress and fur all layer out in her bedroom, a bit spooky how it has all been just left as if they have just step out for a walk, so a great view back through the centuries of a royal country home.
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