September 2018 – Page 2 – slightly weird

19th September 201827th September 2018

Milan, why can’t we get along?

Wednesday, 19 September, 2018 32C

We have gone through Milan on the train a few times. Each time we’ve looked out the window and thought, no. However, for this trip we wanted to not be so biased but make a visit or two. So two visits were booked.

This was the first one. It’s hard to know what to say but I will say that it was very hot. We had changed our first train journey to a week later because of the heat but it was barely one degree cooler than the cancelled date – forecasts had been promising a bigger drop. No matter, we went ahead.

It’s only a fast (300kmh) journey to Milan from Turin. When we arrived at the station, my first reaction was wow. It’s an immense and extremely grand and elegant station, definitely the most glamorous I’ve ever seen. Before I’d even left the station I was impressed. It’s large, grand, bustling and impressive in every way. I had no idea what I was going to do but I’d done some research and hoped to cover a couple of areas and eat a little along the way and get a taste of Milan.

**The very grand Milan Centrale station, a bit of it anyway**

We decided to head off towards a modern area. It was called Samsung District – Porta Nuova Smart Community (apparently a prize winning area). The heat was building and I was very tired already. The modern area was wide open with no shade. I soldiered on.

From quite a distance we’d noticed a building covered with trees, as we’ve seen in Turin, so we kept going.

By now I was flagging so left Krish to take photos, while I sat on a park bench near a fountain – no bull heads here! Looks like a little demon.

Also in the park was a wall with darker bricks that formed a picture.

So here’s my confession. I lingered over no photos, I lingered over nothing. I wasn’t impressed enough by anything. By the time I reached this park I already knew I was done! Tired, hot, and in pain. I told Krish that I couldn’t wander and that he should walk by himself at his own pace and I’d use the day in any way I could that would keep me comfortable. We talked about it a bit and then agreed.

I asked him to try to meet me at Yamaoto, a restaurant he’d wanted to eat, a few hours from then. So he sent off on foot to explore and I set off for the closest metro station, no mean feat!

**Quiet street not so far from the centre, on my way to Zara metro**

I’d heard about a gourmet food store, Peck. It sounded wonderful and maybe somewhere I could sit with a cold drink before going to the restaurant. This meant travelling to Duomo metro, luckily on the same (yellow) metro line. When I came out of the station, again I was completely blown away by what it was like. The pictures don’t show it as well as I’d hoped but it’s an enormous open square with the duomo on one side and on the other three sides, shopping. It was overwhelming and not in a good way. Tourists were milling everywhere, the noise and confusion were high. I really just wanted to leave so I set off to find Peck.

**Vain attempt to show the Duomo and the square**

**By the Duomo, porticoes leading to more shopping**

I couldn’t find it and I was still very hot and unhappy. I wandered about trying to follow my map app’s instructions and found a nice little back area where people were miling a bit to get lunch, but again I was too hot to snap a proper photo or investigate. The name of the game was Find Cool Shelter!

Piazza Mercanti (I think)
Continue reading “Milan, why can’t we get along?”

18th September 201825th September 2018

San Salvario

Tuesday, 18 September, 2018 32C

Stupid heat. But we did go out. No goal and with our transport passes.

**Waiting for a bus near Porta Nuova Station**

The first time I came to Torino, I didn’t get to San Salvario. I usually avoid areas around big train stations. They’re typically rough. The second time, I went with Adrianna and I really liked it. Last year I felt turned off by it somewhat. This year I felt like I didn’t care if I ever returned to the area. It’s supposed to be lively but it’s been dead. The dereliction is the dusty, neglected type. It has a general air of apathy.

Shuttered store in San Stefano — **Shuttered store in San Salvario**

This park, like much of San Stefano, is vaguely Parisian — **This park, like much of San Salvario, is vaguely Parisian**

So we left and headed towards the distant dome of The Mole. And then eventually we were there. We both said the same – we’ve photographed it so often, there are probably no more photos to take. Somehow, though, I doubt it.

Mr Fijordor's whale is progressing nicely! — **Mr Fijordor’s whale is progressing nicely!**

**Outside the Chinese store near us some fish planned their escape. Sadly I didn’t capture the commotion or the mad flipping about**

17th September 201817th September 2018

Graffiti groupie in Torino and what I had for lunch

Sunday, 16 September, 2018 30C

Today we went to the Balon flea market but it wasn’t there! I’m puzzled since I thought it was every Sunday! Never mind. So we headed back up to the main road, Regina Margherita.

**On the side of the mosque near our flat**

Haven't noticed this flat before - nicely done! — **Haven’t noticed this flat before – nicely done!**

At the top of the street, we saw a roughly painted whale shape on the wall and, looking a bit more, there was a guy sitting on a wooden crate – the artist? Yes! So I went to chat with him. He said his name was Fijodor. He was from somewhere else but now in Turin. Where he comes from, it’s on the French border and in that part of the Mediterranean there are whales. His theme for the wall art will be plastics and the plight of the earth. The other interesting thing was he was from the place where plastic was invented.

He gave me his card.

Continue reading “Graffiti groupie in Torino and what I had for lunch”

16th September 2018

Shopping in Torino

Saturday, 15 September, 2018 32 and very humid

I went out!

I decided over breakfast that I wanted to go shopping, something I rarely do while on holiday. There are two stores I’ve heard about that might do the trick. One is OVS, which is a clothing department store, and the other is Rinascente, a national department store. There are several shopping areas in Turin but these stores are on Via Lagrange and Via Roma – both somewhat upscale.

The tram wasn’t as crowded as expected this morning, particularly since a lot of people get off at the first stop, Porta Palazzo market, in full swing for a Saturday. We both score a seat!

When we get to our final stop there’s more to see than we expected – a real mix of buildings. Some quite baroque, and one looked medieval. We wandered along the street looking at the architectural details. This isn’t like Paris, where all the buildings conform in colour and design, and this makes everything seem more interesting so we’re curious.

**Some of the architectural detail is stunning**

Ahead of us on the main road, we spotted an impressive building with one of those really tall doors. We headed towards it to start our journey to shop but were a bit delayed by swarms of birds.

**A couple of times birds came swooping down the road**

The birds perched everywhere and we noticed there's no deterring spikes here — **The birds perched everywhere and we noticed there’s no deterring spikes here**

**Looking towards our targeted building, the contrast with the medieval building on the right**

Someone opened the front door of this magnificent building — **Someone opened the front door of the magnificent building we were heading towards**

There were some great details on that building. First, it must have originally been something to do with electricity ( I can’t find the details so far) since along above some windows there were some engraved names – GRAMME THOMSON EDISON AMPERE FARADAY OHM.

And another great detail – wish I were taller – these rather demonic figures!

Turin has links to the occult - can see why — **Turin has links to the occult – can see why**

Then we turned towards – shopping! Continue reading “Shopping in Torino”

15th September 201815th September 2018

The heat keeps me indoors – most of the time

Friday, 14 September, 2018 30C or so and humid

I say I’m happy to stay home but it would be nice to go out too, so that’s becoming a big issue for me right now. The heat continues and it’s humid, with no end in sight. Earlier forecasts had shown this coming week to be in the mid twenties but instead 29 is more the figure. Nothing I can do about the weather but I’m gathering ideas for hot weather and shut-in ideas.

Ideas? Here’s what I’ve done so far.

First hot weather idea. I made a doll! She's called Ciao so far — First hot weather idea. I made a doll! She’s called Ciao so far

Second idea - eat leftovers! Agnoletti and burata — Second idea – eat leftovers! Agnoletti and burata

Third idea - watch really cheesy (and unPC) Italian television — Third idea – watch really cheesy (and un-PC) Italian television

There’s also watching Amazon Prime and Netflix. I am following the new Better Call Saul series. I finished watching series 3 of Poldark and very ready for series 4 – that might have to wait till London since BBC probably won’t play for me here – we shall see. I’m also working my way through the quirky Halt and Catch Fire series 2. Very annoyed that I can’t see This is Us series 2 without purchasing a TV subscription – that is not going to happen!

We also spent time watching a rather spectacular lightning storm, which started in the clouds over the Alps and eventually reached us with some high winds and drenching rain. It sadly did nothing to abate the heat more than just for that evening.

Friday I planned to get out but again the heat stopped me. But I thought maybe we could go out later, for dinner. We were out of food. I booked a place that sells plates of local meats and cheeses but eventually Krish opted out and so we thought about what to do instead.

Krish suggested walking around Borgo Dora and see where we could eat, with a fallback for pizza nearby. Done!

I made a deal to look at restaurants and pick one for each week and actually go! Also I still plan to go alone when I can – for lunch.

First we did a big loop around the Galleria Umberto. Nothing to interest His Fussiness there. Then we headed into Borgo Dora ro see what we could see.

From Via Milano looking across Piazza della Repubblica to Borgo Dora

Borgo Dora was quiet at first and then it got livelier

But we ended up with local pizza anyway. It was as hot as the pizza oven in here so we took it home

Our pizzas - 4 Staggione an a gorgonzola and pear — Our pizzas – 4 Staggione an a gorgonzola and pear

A diversion. Pizza in Italy. So I always imagined I would come to Italy and think, well, this is what a pizza is supposed to taste like! But that has never happened. A good pizza anywhere is as good as a pizza in Italy. Yes! Disappointed? However, it’s hard to find a bad pizza in Italy. This pizza, from a local place called Saraceno, has a chewy and salty crust. It’s not bad.

Last year when we came here, we arrived on the night the neighbourhood was having a street party. Everyone was sitting at a long table on the street eating together. This year it’s happening again but seems to be somewhere else. I will investigate. Krish has suggested we could go and I’d make my pesto potato salad. We had some fun talking about how a curry might not go over so well. I wonder how the potato salad would be received?