Touring in Turin!

Monday, August 5, 2013.  After licking our wounds from the drubbing given by the "The Great Russian Bear" we began serious (not!) preparations for our upcoming tilt against the Blues Brothers.  The team branched off into family units to continue our infiltration of the old city of Turin.  The Belots and Stephens attempted a hop on hop off bus tour of the city, unfortunately the bus was full and they had to keep to the walking tours (self guided).  Trev and Phil were MIA pretty much the whole day and the term anti-social was heard whispered at the fringes of conversations.  Their seemingly slight of the group was totally forgiven however as they had slaved away doing the team's laundry.  Which was nicely folded and organized!  
Geoff & Kerry and their two boys (Johnny and Dave!) went for a stroll down to the river.  They happened upon a superior vantage point to watch a ten K bike race for the 55 to 100 age group.  At plus 35C and 3000% humidity those cyclists earned major kudos from the an appreciative crowd.  Especially the portly gray beard who refused to quit even after being lapped almost twice and continued on to cross the finish line (the course volunteers had left by the time he completed his last lap!)  After cheering PGB (portly gray beard) on to his personal victory, Geoff, Karry, Dave and Johnny ended up at Imberto's again.  Had a morsel under the grape vines again.  The Stephens showed up at Imberto's and told us of their bus tour that didn't happen.  Geoff decided to do a lone wolf and vanished into the shadows.  Kerry, Dave and Johnny walked the river paths and came upon the "Midevil Town".  It was quite interesting and Dave was able to sate his urge to photograph the old architecture.
The crew met up at the usual muster point and this was when we learned of Trevor & Phil's completion of the domestic chores for the team!  We all set off for the #1 bus at the Marconi stop and once there discovered that the #1 was not running this day!  The navigator became a bit worried when no buses came by at either of the times "Saint Google" had predicted and he had to go to plan "B", which was a mad rush over to the Umberto stop to catch the #14!  After a few tense moments the steady #14 arrived and we were able to make the venue with 35 minutes to spare!  It should be noted that although some suspected that plan "B" was just a "fly by the seat of your pants" bit of good luck, the navigator does actually always have one in the ready just in case!
The battle ground was again close and sultry, and as both sides prepared for the clash, the effects of the elements could be seen immediately!  At the opening tip it already looked like the players had been competing for hours!  
From the outset it was clear, the die was cast for the poor Blues Brothers, and they could not overcome the "powers of the towers" on the inside.  At the final buzzer, the gallant Hopp2Hoop squad reigned victorious (by a fairly large margin!)!  And being the consummate gentlemen that we are, only rubbed the Brothers noses in it for a short time!

Both sides retired to the La Ferrazza Cafe, where we were treated to the most spectacular gastronomic event so far of our time in Turin!  Our hosts, Marco and Christiana, put on an exclusive feast worthy of royalty!  By nights end, we had ate, drank, lounged and laughed our way beyond the last  #14!  A fleet of cabs were arranged by our hosts and after a much shorter journey by cab than bus, we were back "home", groaning a bit from what some may call the gluttony of the evening!  No one went away hungry and that is a certainty! 

The outdoor patio of the cafe:

Our Hosts!