More Millos and a visit to the supermarket

Monday, 30 October (Day Forty-three)

Now the clocks have changed, I’m waking up at 5am. Nothing new there but hopefully I’ll get used to it. I have another time change to grapple with when we get back to London so we’ll see!

Today we decided to go to see some more Millo and then pick up some groceries. We have a map that shows where all the Millos are so we pick off four to the west of us and set off to the bus.

They are all in the Barriera di Milano, a mostly deprived area to the north west of us. The map shows them really clearly and in the end  the four we’ve chosen are all within very close distance of each other. Excellent! I’m feeling lazy.

Milano is interesting. There are several ethnic communities. We find a market with many Africans selling. I buy some bits of lace and some white thread as it closes. I also find a Latin American store and come close to buying tamales but they are frozen and I don’t feel like carrying the large frozen package around.

I feel somewhat uncomfortable photographing neighbourhoods that are busy with people. Sometimes the camera is unwelcome, sometimes someone will get hostile and often I feel awkward and ugly photographing something that’s obviously downtrodden. Like a rich, disinterested voyeur/anthropologist.

Barriera di Milano market
Barriera di Milano market
Barriera di Milano neighbourhood
Barriera di Milano neighbourhood

Continue reading “More Millos and a visit to the supermarket”

Laziness, Photo exhibits, and Foiled plans

Saturday, 28 October (Day Forty-one)

Today I meant to go to Bra but woke up feeling tired and lazy. So I went with that and stayed in Torino.

A quick visit to the market for some lunch items in the morning. I’ve discovered a bread stand in the market that sells a rye baguette, although the Italian version of rye is quite light in flavour.  I think one of the sellers must know me by now but not sure – today she winked at me when asking if I wanted my baguette cut in half, so maybe.

I love to see ‘characters in the market. This man sat with various cold meats (salume) and a pile of breadsticks, along with a bottle of wine. It wasn’t clear if he was selling or sharing!

Market character
Market character

Continue reading “Laziness, Photo exhibits, and Foiled plans”

Park Dora – a modern Pompeii

Tuesday 24 October (Day Thirty-seven)

Today Krish wanted to show me Skatepark Dora. This land until the nineties housed the great production plants of Fiat and Michelin. The steel pylons of the structure remain. Sitting in the centre, looking around, I can’t help but think of Pompeii – another ruin. This one isn’t historic or fascinating in quite the same way so the city gave it to the people. It’s now a Skatepark, recreation area, and has a lot of wall art.

We take the number 3 tram, one of the historical lines, almost to the door. The effect of this park is eerie and stark. And it’s huge. In fact, the area the factories covered went all the way across to the other side of the major road and continued for some time.

Skatepark Dora Underpass
Skatepark Dora Underpass

On the other side are apartment buildings, new ones. And more wall art and concrete remains of the factories. There are also steel pedestrian bridges that cross all over this area.
Continue reading “Park Dora – a modern Pompeii”

Lunch at home, the Mole and another bunch of oops

Sunday, 22 October (Day Thirty-five)

The fog is still on the hills so it’s a perfect day for my planned lunch. Liat arrives at noon and we tuck in. It’s been a struggle to make things that I’m very used to having. Things taste different but we eat – matzo ball soup again, then some veg and hummus, mango salad, and burrata with some fresh bread. It’s a success. Phew!

Oops. Esmeralda gets a text that her card has just been used. Suddenly she no longer has any hope that it’s been found. The bad news is that she has to call the bank and sort this out during our lunch. The good news is that now the rest of the day is cleared. No more hunting.

Liat, Esmeralda and I head out for the Mole. Sadly, when we get there there’s a really long queue and we decide not to join it but carry on walking.

Fall in Parco Reale
Fall in Parco Reale

Continue reading “Lunch at home, the Mole and another bunch of oops”

San Salvario and a lot of fruit

Wednesday, 18 October (Day Thirty-one)

This morning I went to get a new transit pass. The clerk was pretty surly today. At first she said she couldn’t help me without my receipt, then proceeded to ‘do things’ after I said I didn’t have it and what could I do? When I thanked her, her curt response was BYE. All right, then.

I looked at stalls to find stuffing for my next dolls. No luck. But on the way there, and after feeling somewhat down after my GTT experience, I had a good morning smile. In front of me, near the market, were two elderly men both pulling along shopping carts. Not in London, nor in Toronto have I seen men pulling carts for some serious shopping. I hope the reason here wasn’t a sad one.

Shopping carts
Shopping carts

Continue reading “San Salvario and a lot of fruit”