Saturday, 3 November, 2018
The last week in Torino the rains started and it was hard to find a day when it felt OK to be out. It rains in London, of course, but it’s a manageable rain – with few exceptions. In Turin the rain is incessant and heavy, with only short breaks. We did wander, when we weren’t indoors keeping dry and slowly filling cases.
The streets of central Torino – Centro – can be grand but in between these wide boulevards are the quiet narrow streets. Imagine this in central London – even in the back streets and alleys!
I’m also fascinated by the inner courtyards. Just off via Garibaldi there’s a courtyard that leads into other courtyards, each with its own shops and apartments and little cafes. It was raining this day and things were very quiet. It’s like a hidden oasis from the mad shoppers, who are never stopped by rain.
The Piazza San Carlo is a very grand square. Krish was amused by the statue since his favourite crisps are the San Carlo brand. He said that every time he saw the statue he needed to thank the man (is it even San Carlo?) for this taste treat. The square is used a lot for events. In this case they are getting ready for the Chocolate Festival that was taking place the week after we left. Bad timing!
The annual festival of artists’ lights was starting to take shape. We saw a few as we left. This one had projections of lacy patterns over the paving stones. It looked so pretty. In fact, Piazza Carignano is the prettiest square in Centro. If I return, I want to explore it better.
In all I ate four lunches at Cianci Piola – this one was for the two of us. One starter of mixed antipasti, gnocchi (chicche) with cheese and broccoli sauce, and a main of roast beef and potatoes. All very Piemontese.
This caffe seems unimposing – well, it is – but its popularity is staggering. At these prices it’s not surprising. The food is above average but not exceptional. But every day if you’re not there early enough, the waiting crowds will put you off even trying. It’s usually worth it!
This year we didn’t get to Eataly at Lingotto but we did go into the central Eataly on Via Lagrange. It was quite empty. The menu promised a special autumn meal but this turned out to be a potato salad followed by a pasta – carb overload! And the fruit and vegetable area was in a corridor leading to the staircase downstairs. Cramped quarters.
Under the porticoes at Piazza San Carlo, things are grand. There’s the very fancy Caffe di Torino, for example, with a golden bull emblazoned in the pavement in front. There’s a rather magnificent bank entrance behind a not-very-kept Toret. And there is a lovely big Martini sign – typically Italian but feeling neglected. These porticoes that have seen better days. But the Caffe di Torino is on my list for places to sit and spend too much money one day.
Reminders of good vs evil in Torino are everywhere. There are as many demons, dragons and gargoyles as there are saints. For the first photo, Krish mused that the man was lifting his shirt to reveal not his body but that of a demon lurking beneath.
Right opposite this pair I found the Chiesa di San Filippo Neri, literally wedged into the narrow Via Maria Vittoria just by the Via Accademia delle Scienze (where the Egyptian museum is housed). It was commissioned in 1675 but not fully completed until 1834 because of many setbacks including a catastrophic collapse of the dome in 1714 due to very heavy rains. Thrown casually into a corner almost out of sight were some artifacts. I couldn’t see around the railings enough to know what they were but they were obviously preserved for viewing. The stonework was meticulous. I don’t typically visit churches but I think it would be many weeks of exploration to see them all – someone else’s project. But this one, I discovered, is the largest house of worship (still used) in the city. No wonder I noticed it.
There are things to see if you look up, right next to the main Chiesa in the Oratory wall! See both photos for the explanation.
The streets don’t seem threatening, although Torino is plagued with pickpockets. We heard about a lot of drug busts and traffic fatalities, usually north of the Dora. You don’t see a lot of police presence on the streets but, when you do, it feels menacing. There are two types from what I can see – regular and army. The army ones are hard to photograph – for me, anyway, because they carry automatic rifles and travel in threes and fours, at least half of their number with their fingers already on the trigger. I see this in London but much more rarely. The regular police uniform looks more like they are ready for a scrap than to be a benevolent presence.
Bridging the area between Centro, with its gallerias and the rest, sits Piazza Castello – the heart of the city. There are at least three palaces and a castle bordering and dividing the main square. At the entrance from the South, there’s a statue to fallen Italian soldiers. It sets the tone. So much of European history and architecture is shaped by its many battles.
But for us, Turin exists north of Piazza Castello. Around the Quadrilatero Romano, the Porta Palatina, the Porta Palazzo market …
Centro has its own look. North of the River Dora is where the people live. The streets are filled with low rise apartments and the main roads are lined with cafes. They look especially lovely at night in the rain.
I almost left Turin without revisiting the Church of the Consolata in the Quadrilatero. For me, it’s the most beautiful of all the churches I’ve seen. There are so many alcoves and chapels and the light is dim but I did take a few photos in there, for a memory.
And I had to make one last visit to Bazar Bonino by the church. It’s the stuff of dreams, with toys crammed into every available space. Like walking into a treasure cave…
At the Galleria Umberto,, which borders the market square, these wolves are usually inside the store. On this day, they came out to play.
Even at the Orologio market there was a sense of festivity. It could almost have been Christmas. While I’ve never spent Christmas here, I imagine that – just like with Halloween – the merchants take time to show off their displays accordingly.
I’m going to miss the market. Last year we fell out of love with it a bit. The confusion and the pressure to buy so many kilos (chili) of everything, and the sameness of the goods, got on top of us. This year we settled in – we thought about what they had and what we could do with it. We learned how to get less and we found our favourite merchants. I got used to going to the Farmers’ Market because it was smaller and quieter and, therefore, less confusing. But the spectacle of every market – Farmers, the main square, its covered market, the Orologio, the fish market, and the dry goods markets on both sides – is unique and engrossing. On the final night, though, the clearing up was going on as it has for centuries.
When we left in the taxi to come back to London the market was in full swing but all we could do is look and not touch. And say Arrivederci and Grazie.