slightly weird, always sweet, and definitely imperfect. my life as an urban explorer
Saturday, 22 September, 2018 Staying around 30C
The last day of summer. The thermometer doesn’t know about that, though. I feel lazy, like the sun is siphoning off my energy instead of energising me. So I’ll make this a pictorial … for now. Will have to say more about Terra Madre etc.
Tuesday, 18 September, 2018 32C
Stupid heat. But we did go out. No goal and with our transport passes.
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.
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.
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.
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”
Monday, 10 September, 2018 30C
It’s just too hot, but today Krish persuaded me to come out for a walk. We walked along the river for quite a while and checked out the engineering that’s been done on the Dora to divert the water and create a weir.
Along the river, there’s some older and newer development. Then there’s this large, not yet tagged, Roa piece.
We headed back to Via Regina Margherita, which is the main street that runs a very long and straight way parallel to the river and directly to the south of the flat. The tram ride along it is quite wonderful, lined as it is with trees on both sides, for miles.
We headed into Vanchiglia for a little while. Most things were closed but we checked out some supermarkets for vegetables. Seems it’s the wrong time of year. Everywhere had plenty of zucchini and that’s about it.
By now I was too hot and didn’t care about taking photos. It was also hazy so everything around us seemed shadowy. And we had the closest view yet of The Mole Antonelliana. Another, cooler, day for that! Back home before I melted!
Dim sum tonight. I miss my pans and my bamboo steamers!
Thursday, 8 September, 2018
This morning Krish went to fill our BIP cards for the month and brought home some impressive shrimp from Gallina. No rain today, just a hot sun. We were going to take a bus somewhere but instead we went for a walk.
At the west corners of Piazza Repubblica there’s a sort of Chinatown. It’s not signposted as such but there are several small Chinese grocery stores and last year we even found a Chinese bakery on the north side. We also had a quite awful Chinese lunch in one place too – this time I will avoid anything of the kind without a serious recommendation, and I’ll be skeptical even then. But we do know that they sell all the dim selection we love in London!
At the southwest corner, in front of a row of Chinese stores, whole gangs of people hang out. They appear to be African, Asian, and South American and I’m not quite sure what they do there. I’ve not noticed any selling, something i’m used to on the corners of Toronto Chinatown. To be honest, it feels a bit menacing and that makes me uneasy about myself but there it is. I’ll try to think of it as a Meeting Place! I took a photo really quickly, mindful of the times such photos have been followed by threats!
We wandered through the Quadrilatero. I suppose this is Torino’s version of Old Town. Unlike many European cities, Turin has a lot of straight streets intersecting each other – gridded. I’d actually say that’s one of the least attractive things about this city for me, since I’m really fond of something more maze-like.
This was a Roman area, which explains the grid. Wikipedia tells me ‘This area is still recognizable by the road structure characterized by the network of orthogonal streets, and by some important remains of the walls preserved until today. ‘ And it has that Latin quarter thing going on – clubs, restaurants, interesting little boutiques and workshops. There are some truly beautiful buildings and inner courtyards too. I’ll see it all in time.
There are lots of shop windows to look in. For the most part, as I already said, these Torinese aren’t masters of window display, with a few exceptions. They are pretty good at displaying food – can’t go wrong there really – but otherwise it’s a bit of a mess. The exception is with toys. The really incredible Bazar Bonino comes to mind, as well as the doll store on Via Barbaroux. This year I will buy something expensive and no hesitation.
So much to see in the Quadrilatero. At night it’s a different place, full of music and people milling about. There’s also the Museum of Oriental Art, which I may try to see this year on a free day.
We had no real goals. We kept walking and checking out our surroundings until I saw Via Cernaia – on that street there are a few outlet stores and we are looking for a frying pan and a spatula. I walked out with a small pillow I can pick apart for the filling to make some dolls – it’s been a while – but nothing else. All the pans are the ceramic surface ones that Krish doesn’t like.
We bought four kinds of dim sum and resolved to get some vegetables from the Chinese couple who set up in the farmers’ market only on Saturdays. I hope they are still there. Tonight Krish made the aperitivo and I made a shrimp curry with the massaman curry paste we brought from London. An hour of cooking and three minutes of eating – well, of course!
