Today was another of those days with all the best elements.
I’ll be honest, I want a day off. Going out every day is not usual for me. In Hackney I do have days, sometimes two or three in a row, where I don’t go out but do other things. I might go the shop but it’s a quiet at home day for the most part. I think I need one of these soon – Sunday? No, wait – that’s free museum day. Oh well.
In the morning we have a brief market visit looking for eggs and tomatoes and rapini so we can eat at home again. The egg man is as friendly as ever. We find a great Arabic seller with tomatoes. She asks, English? We say yes! Then Krish answers her accidentally in French and we switch to French. Lovely experience! Today the market is just so much better than on Saturday.
Then we go for a walk. Somehow all brief walks turn into longer walks but at least there are some interesting things along the way.
Today after walking for a bit, we find ourselves at the back of the Lavazza office building. I suddenly spot some rubble inside the building and look more closely. Peering through the window the entire bottom of the building is an excavated ruin. There’s even a bridge and some concrete areas that have been added for viewing. It’s like London where when digging, there are always archaeological finds that must be unearthed and preserved properly and here they have kept them intact creating a steel framework above that supports the upper floors. It’s astounding. I researched this when I got home and – nothing!
It was a quietish day. I’ve been looking for cooking classes while in Torino – original goal! I found a place that does classes with English if needed and have been emailing and messaging the owner of CookinFactory, Claudia Fraschini. I haven’t booked any classes yet but the schedule for Sept-Nov came out just before I left London. Today Claudia was holding an Open Day at the school and we decided to go there early, at 3pm when the doors were opening. It seemed a good chance to see the school, meet Claudia and sample some of the food that I would learn to prepare.
We decided to walk there – looking at the map, it was one straight road all the way there! Can’t go wrong. It actually did work out that way. We walked from the Porta Palatina straight down through the centre and past Porta Nuova station. Going south from there was a bit of an unknown – we have been in San Salvario but this part of the road runs along the railway tracks and isn’t very picturesque. There were factories and offices either side of the long, straight street and hardly any pedestrians. It was like we had left the city.
The walk was projected to be about 45 minutes so I suppose it took about that, perhaps an hour with a couple of bench breaks. With nothing much to report or photograph along the way we finally reached the closest main road, Sommeiller (which I am still unsure how to pronounce in Italian). On the final stretch we found a large Carrefour and popped inside to see what was on offer. This is the largest Carrefour we’ve come across just about anywhere – we always seem to be shopping in the Express version. It’s a nice bright layout with a take out counter too. However, we’re thinking we’re so close now and there will be samples so best not to eat.
This part of San Salvario is clean and tidy – the part we’re familiar with is a shabby immigrant area – so this is a contrast. Very residential with mostly newer buildings lining the streets in all directions. Then we find the side street for the CookinFactory. There’s an iron gate and an entry through a front garden area, quite posh. A woman lets us in and she’s not Claudia so Claudia must be found! English.
Today was a great day! There was a good mix of all the things I love.
I was busy until about noon, then had a quick lunch with leftover pasta and meatballs. I did some research, still trying to find out about the bipparevale (monthly card). So far it’s just not clear so I tweeted to the GTT.
First we walked to Raspino, a bakery Krish had loved the last time we were here. It wasn’t open (expected) but it was the first step in exploring the Vanchiglia neighbourhood. I had three addresses that would act as markers along the way. I figured out that north of the river was Vanchiglietta, a pretty neighbourhood filled with trendy cafes and workshops. Very peaceful here. It definitely has all the earmarks of the sort of villagey feel such areas need to have to work well. Nothing much was open but I think another visit will work really well. There are plenty of places to sit quietly or have a coffee. There are also some art spaces and finally some interesting wall art.
Vanchiglietta StreetVanchigliettaVanchiglietta Wall Art
Today was the quietest day yet! I made a big pot full of meatballs and simmered them in some pasata for later. Then I could easily have relaxed all day and done nothing
Inside the Flat
But we went for a walk across the river to Lidl, walking along some of the streets of the Aurora District. We passed many cafes and abandoned factories and imagined them renovated and becoming fancy in the next few years.
This flat across the Doro was fascinating
At Lidl I managed to find orange juice, something that had evaded me, and also cooking oil and more milk. And there’s chocolate for later!
All day today, the churches all around us were ringing bells. We wondered if they coordinated somehow so that they weren’t all ringing at the same time.
Meatballs with tagliatelle and some rapini for lunch, then a lazy afternoon which ran into the evening. I finally started to make a new doll – I’m imagining blue and silver clothing. For dinner some risotto with pumpkin – needed more cheese! Another episode of The Expanse and bed time!
Saturday is market day! Well, every day is market day to be honest. However, on Saturday there’s an antique/flea market in the adjacent streets of Balon. I’ve not usually bothered with that market but it’s *right there* and it was wild. Dozens of stalls and blankets stretched on the cobblestones, ranging from real antiques to garage sale goods and bits and pieces of this and that. The streets of Balon are rough and the walls covered with streetart and graffiti, sadly much of the latter scrawling and political statements. The area is multi-ethnic but looks predominantly Arabic and North African. It’s hard to take photos here, like in many flea markets I’ve visited elsewhere in Europe. You can get anything from dirty looks to shouts of No Photo! To threats. I try to imagine why this is but think about stolen goods or illegals. It adds to the feeling of chaos and adventure.
But there are some nice things here and Krish spots a coffee book table about Torino but we don’t have much change and I teach him the art of haggling. I wonder if he’ll use it again later. There’s a few people selling toiletries and jewellery but much of what’s on offer is heaps of discarded toys and clothing and household goods. Still very interesting. Some people have whole table cloths and blankets spread out while others have smaller tea towel sized plots. Each is guarded by their owner, expecting sales. I am drawn to a large blanket covered with very colourful toys – dolls, toy cars, action figures. I want to come back and look at this again. There’s a restaurant at the first junction – the smell is tantalising and the menu looks good and cheap but I’ve promised myself meals at home today. I leave, promising myself that I’ll come armed with small bills and change another day.
Out of the market we amble into the Quadrilatero that runs into the Porta Palazzo food market. We rediscover a toy store from our last visits and I know I want to come back and buy things here. The window is fantastic and I’ve never gone inside. I check out some of the Chinese stores – find fish sauce for another day, and strike it with finding tiger balm. Then we go in search of lentils to make dhal – I’ve read I can find them in a store close to the market. They’re there! As are many peas, beans, spices and seeds and the like – in packages and in bulk. They cost more than expected but now we know where to find them.
The market is heaving today and thank goodness we have a short list. Tables are groaning under huge cauliflowers, bushels of tomatoes, onions, garlic, tangerines, grapes, fantastic looking mushrooms…it’s overwhelming. I duck into the covered market (one of four here in the square) and buy a square of pizza to fortify myself against the crazy shopping ahead, even for the few items I know I need. Today I know I want to make risotto, and some meat balls for pasta at the very least so the various ingredients get hunted down. Even more so today, the merchants aren’t pleased with small orders but we love the egg stall, where nothing is too little and nothing is too much trouble.
Very happy to leave the market today and we know we will avoid Saturdays in the future.
Another nice rest in the afternoon after a lunch of arancini and salad.
Arincini for lunch
Then after 6 we leave for the museum. There are a lot of people in line but we hang in there and it’s not long before we head down to the starting point. I’m very pleased that the small entry fee tonight includes an audio guide. I’ve never been very good at following these but I feel determined today.
Leaving the ticket hall, escalators take you up a few flights to begin the tour. All together there are three permanent exhibitions and two temporary. There’s just too much to tell you about the museum itself.  Its one of the largest collections of Egyptian artifacts with more than 30,000 items on display.
Turin has been collecting artifacts since 1630. There are paintings, parchments, statues, sarcophagi, mummies, tombs, and more. It’s very impressive. The most impressive room is on the ground floor and in q dark hall, statues of various kings are spotlighted – it’s pretty stunning. We aren’t really museum people but we arrived at about 6:45 and didn’t leave until almost 11pm as the doors were closing, and we left knowing that we hadn’t seen it all.
We walked back through the dark, then illuminated streets, through some wonderful arcades and courtyards and then finally through the Quadrilatero where there were crowds of people in party mode. Near the end of the road a great band was playing and we want to go back and find them when we’re not quite so weary and ready for bed.
Inside the Flat
This flat across the Doro was fascinating
