I had a busy morning so wasn’t sure how I was going to fit all my plans in:
The area Street Festival – Festa del Balon from morning till night
Any of five museums that will be free (first Sunday of each Month) – I’d chosen the Palazzo Reale since it’s close by and actually sounds the most interesting
Krish popped down to the festival area while I was busy. He said he enjoyed the music so we headed down briefly to see what else was going on. No music and seems quietish. There was a lady selling really cute hoods so I may get onto her Facebook page and buy one. I like a hood that covers my ears and neck and these really fit the bill.
The Palazzo Reale is not very far away so we walked over there fairly quickly. Pop into the ticket office and the first Sunday of each month they’ll hand over a ticket with no fuss at all. The visitors tour is all upstairs and you enter straight up an impressive marble staircase. The walls are lined with statues and the ceiling is painted, like most of the ceilings in here. Paintings on the wall complete the scene and, as we walk through, I recognise one or two. The Children of Charles I by Anthony van Dyck is one and I wonder if this is original – I do know that Turin has a lot of Dutch collections – not entirely sure what the connection is there.
Several years ago I knew that I wanted to spend a few months – I thought a season – somewhere else. I’d seen a movie with Colin Firth that totally inspired me, A Summer in Genoa.
Something about the idea of transplanting yourself for a while somewhere completely different appealed to my nomadic self. I’d done this before after all but not for many years and usually not temporarily.
I did once go to San Francisco, pretty much on a whim, intending to stay. It was a memorable six months.
I didn’t know where this time. Over the years it has mostly been Porto but somehow it became somewhere in Italy instead. Perhaps it was the language. I’m really not sure.
And then it was Torino. Mostly it was Torino because of Krish. That’s the truth. But there’s more to it than that. I like the market, the multicultural population, the working class areas, the size of it and the people. It doesn’t feel like the rest of Italy so much for some reason. Sure there are palaces and museums (Turin was the first capital city of Italy) but I barely give those a thought.
And then it became two months instead of three. Economics and other things played into this. On my own, I would have gone to a second city for the second month. Somewhere smaller like Bologna, where I at least knew one person, Esmeralda, my teaching friend from Toronto. And I thought I was coming alone for quite some time. It all changed a couple of months ago and then the trains were booked and the apartment rented and that was that.
It was a perfect day to lay low. It wasn’t the perfect day to go market shopping. I knew this already – the Saturday before it was awful so why shouldn’t this Saturday be the same? However, I was forewarned.
I made a shopping list and stuck to it (more or less). Supermarket for Chino, Aqua Frizzante, a small cheese, and crisps! Farmers Market for lettuce and beans. Indoor Orologio market for sausages, bread and a snack or two. Remind me not to wear my regular shoes to the Orologio – I was sliding around in there!
Proud of myself for ordering in Italian for the sausages, the server stumped me by asking ‘Francia o Espana?’ (France or Italy) for the salsiccia picante. Francia, I say, more confidently than I feel.
Today is my brother, John’s, birthday. Michaelmas day. We chatted a little bit on Whatsapp. Would be nicer if he were here in person.
This morning it was so foggy that if I hadn’t known the Superga was on the hill, I’d swear it was never there. Today I’d thought about going to see it and the view from up there but it’s clearly (oops!) not the day to do that. I look through My List and do a bit of research. Then Krish suggests we go for a walk by the river so I’m thinking Valentino Park and the Borgo Medievale which is a fake medieval town built for an expo long ago. I also read an article about Alternative Turin and there’s a restaurant nearby I’ve wanted to check out. So off we go.
When the tram arrives, it’s diverted and the route doesn’t sound ideal so we’re walking again.
There’s a park area between here and the Mole. It’s quite lovely.
Park with the Mole in the background
Three men are working on a tree and that is totally fascinating. They have a vehicle with a sort of drill on it. It looks like an apple corer! And that’s what they’re doing. One is driving and one is on the ground with another close by. The corer/drill thing is dropped onto the tree stump that’s still in the ground and it’s boring downwards coring the stump out and turning the rest into wood chips. It’s so interesting and the smell…amazing. If I close my eyes it’s like I’m in the deep forest breathing in that woody smell. If only I could capture smell as well as I can capture what I see.
Removing a tree stump
After a while the university area looms and there are lots of students hanging out in different cafes along the way. Krish queued for an arancino so I people-watched. There are four Indian guys speaking English with a heavy Indian accent and I’m so so tempted to ask them where they go in town for a curry but I’m not feeling too brave today, and might that not be racist? Hmm. Probably. They’re obviously delighted with their handheld pizzas.
Suddenly we find Via Po and Piazza Vittorio Veneto. Now that’s an impressive part of the street. It’s massively wide with a very large pedestrian area in the centre. I can’t really call it a square but if it were all pedestrianised it would be the largest one I’ve ever seen. Porticoed shopping areas flank each side, vehicles go in both directions, at least two lanes, and at the North end it’s hilly. Across the river Po and dominating the scenery is the Gran Madre di Dio. The whole picture is astounding. On such a misty, cloudy day my photo won’t do it justice and I don’t even know what sort of camera or angle you’d need to capture it even on a clear day. I shall try again.
Via Po, Piazza Vittorio Veneto
Once through the porticoed road and you’re in a very classy area. There are shops and original cleaned apartment buildings and I see scaffolding so it’s obvious this neighbourhood is heavily gentrified.
The restaurant was Magazzino52 and here I hesitate since it was a big lesson learned. I’d expected an article on Alternative Turin – eating – to be about places you might never think of, small independent places for the off the beaten track visitor. But this was fancy. I was a bit shocked.
We sat down and, when the menu arrived, the prices were high. Ordinarily I’d have walked out – this was lovely but completely unexpected. Krish makes a joke about a hundred euro lunch so I think, that’s all right then. He orders more than I expected him to and more than I would have so, that’s even more all right.
We share three very lovely courses but it’s getting more and more obvious that this is all wrong. There’s a dish of quinoa topped with white fish, marinated in lime and coriander. There are small mounds of pureed sweet potato and some very sweet tomato. The flavours are really good.
Then the pasta, which has a truffle sauce and perfectly cooked sliced mushrooms – the pasta was home made and very tender. A great dish. There’s a basket of very nice bread on the table for the sauce that’s left on the plate and Krish’s plate is wiped clean. Finally a plate of cheeses, some cow’s milk, some sheep and some goat. The fresh goat cheese was fabulous. I’d have bought some to take home if I could. And the service is prompt, courteous and helpful.
Our delicious doghouse lunch
While Krish goes to the bathroom, I go to pay the bill. Woah. How did it get to be so high? I confess that the numbers swam in front of my eyes. I’d thought 32 euros for the food and 2 for the water but why is the bill 49? I just want to pay and get out.
I’m in the dog house!
I thought I’d been to Valentino Park but once inside it, I know I haven’t. It’s a beautiful park along the river. A bit wild, like I prefer it. I don’t like spending too much time in a park, though. It’s not a comfort zone for me but this is where the Borgo Medievale is. When I find it, it’s quite interesting, with a castle, some preserved houses and a lovely chapel. Maybe I’ll come back with Esmeralda, not sure since it’s a bit remote for transport.
Borgo Medievale
The streets around here are definitely shabbier than the restaurant area. I honestly just want to get onto a main road – that’s not my usual style since I prefer smaller streets, they’re more interesting – to find a way out of here. Suddenly we come across a place that was on Krish’s list of interesting places. It’s called Verde 25 (https://www.designboom.com/architecture/luciano-pia-25-verde-treehouse-torino-italy-03-13-2015/ since my photos will never do it justice). An urban tree house but it’s not a house in a tree, it’s an apartment building covered with foliage and trees and the effect is remarkable. The building is shabbier than I expected but I think on a clearer day, with sunshine, it would be even cooler to look at. An unexpected sight today since we hadn’t expected to be there.
Verde 25
This is definitely the end of our wanderings. When in the dog house, it’s actually better to stay there and do your own thing than travel with the person who’s put you there!
In the metro, my BIP card gives me trouble and there’s no station attendant or communication area. I’ve spent every penny on that meal and can’t buy another ticket either. Well, great! I feel a bit of relief when some other people come up to the turnstile and have the same problem. Some do better on their second or third try but two people go to buy single tickets from the machine. If I can’t get mine to work I’ll have to go back out and find a bus. Krish meanwhile has got through easily. Finally after about twenty tries, I’m in. Four stops by metro, onto the tram at Porta Nuova and homeward.
There’s an Arabic bakery downstairs. I’m rescued by them with a couple of buns towards leftovers for dinner tonight but they’re out of the good cakes. I buy a croissant full of cream but when I eat it later, it’s not worth the calories. Another lesson.
Tonight, Krish is going to La Stampa on a tour. It’s from 9pm so he’ll be out late and I’ll be asleep when he gets back. So I have tea, the so-so croissant, and watch something silly on Netflix. This day is over.
Goals today: Go to the new Intesa SanPaolo building and see the highline and view from the top; Go to Superga
Goals achieved: None 😊
Some days just don’t pan out the way they are supposed to but there are nice things along the way. We set out for the tram but when we got to the stop, there was a 16 minute wait, so Krish scrapped that idea in favour of a walk.
Through the Quadrilatero, which is so quiet on a week day compared to evenings and weekends. The narrow streets give way to some wider roads with not much contrast along the way. The architecture stays mainly the same with the pale yellow colour dominating the view. There are abandoned open spaces that would quickly become street art galleries in London…but not here.
Eventually we wander into the Piazza Statuto. I’ve seen this on my map a lot but this is the first time I’ve actually been there. This is a porticoed square with a park in the centre. At the far end of the park is an amazing statue, like a grey rock mounted by several white statues. It’s quite beautiful and I stop at a bench for a while to look at it and take some photos. There are some art shops too but I haven’t brought along my trusty Skechers backpack so I don’t buy a sketchbook, which I’d have to carry around all day. I must buy one when I can carry it properly.
otally inspired me, 
