Saturday, 28 October (Day Forty-one)
Today I meant to go to Bra but woke up feeling tired and lazy. So I went with that and stayed in Torino.
A quick visit to the market for some lunch items in the morning. I’ve discovered a bread stand in the market that sells a rye baguette, although the Italian version of rye is quite light in flavour. I think one of the sellers must know me by now but not sure – today she winked at me when asking if I wanted my baguette cut in half, so maybe.
I love to see ‘characters in the market. This man sat with various cold meats (salume) and a pile of breadsticks, along with a bottle of wine. It wasn’t clear if he was selling or sharing!
There’s a photography exhibit with some free showings and this was the last opportunity we had to go see it. After a quick lunch of a panzerotto (fried, of course!) we get on the tram.
The exhibit is in a small gallery and shows photos from 150 years ago. These are impressive black and white photos of well known streets and squares around Turin. The women wear long bustled dresses and hats, the men are in waistcoats and top hats – it’s all very civilised and the streets aren’t busy. I note the horse drawn carriages and trams too, and I think I spotted some early motor cars but not sure. Were they around then?
Really fascinating!
There was also a quote from Nietzsche about the Mole. Translated, it reads: “The most ingenious thing that has ever been constructed oddly does not yet have a name. I baptized her ‘behold the man’ and I mentally surrounded him with a huge free space”
This must be gallery row since next we happen upon a gallery displaying photos of rock icons. There are three Canadians!
It’s a very cool neighbourhood – near the Magazzino 52. We hadn’t had time to look around it before. There’s some very cool architecture and also a couple of large parks that are attracting a lot of young people. Things are lively today.
Two crazy things we found today too – an opticians that doesn’t display glasses but has frame types shown in the window in wooden crate shelves, and a video store! I had no idea there were any left.
There were two visits to grocery stores after this. Both were pretty pointless. We haven’t come to terms with the selection or prices of food here yet. It doesn’t seem likely to happen. As crazy as it may sound, this could be a major reason for not considering longer in Italy. I’m sure, however, that with more time we’d adapt better to this new normal. I hope I have what I need to put a decent lunch together tomorrow.
After Krish comes back from a run, we set out to have pizza from a local restaurant but arrive to find it packed. Take out? No way, they motion! We wander around Balon looking for a pizza and again come up empty. Krish remembers a place closer to us and we head there. We order our usual Capricciosa and bring it home for a very late dinner.
Bed!