Friday, 3 November (Day Forty-seven)
The days are winding down. I’ve decided against Milan since there is still a list of things to do in Torino. I confess that one reason is I have no one to go with. I’m not usually shy about big cities no matter how gritty but for some reason, the combination of gritty city and navigating in Italian have scared me away from this plan. Hopefully there’ll be no regrets.
I read that the Pietro Micca museum is free every day and I have a bit of time to spare today so off we set. We also visit a shop where everything is made by prisoners (some nice stuff!) and a gallery of photographs showing how Torino has grown since 1995 – answer = a lot!
We walk along Via Cernaia and see it with different eyes than in our first week. The shops are quite fancy here. We pop into a store that sells British groceries – just a few – and are astounded by the price tag of 12 Euros on a box of 120 PG Tips. And here’s a jar of Patak’s Balti Paste – at 8 Euros I might have considered it earlier in the trip. Serves me right for forgetting to bring a bit for this journey. Oh well, soon enough… There’s some cool chocolate gifts in here too but we walk out emptyhanded.
The big road closest to the Pietro Micca (via Vinzaglio) is very wide and very long. I can’t see the end of it. On the sidewalk I see a reminder of Italy’s past – I wonder how many others there are. Had I seen this earlier in my adventure I’d have gone looking for them. But perhaps it’s best that I didn’t. My mood turns sombre.
