Today I had meant to meet Liat to see the Sabauda (Savoy family) museum. I already knew that I was unlikely to meet her but I was happy to try. Overnight, though, there had been heavy rain and thunder and this continued throughout the morning. I’d slept fairly well despite my foot but everything I felt and read said that I needed to rest and continue to ice and elevate for at least a day. I bowed to it.
Liat came by with the bandage and ended up staying for a couple of hours. It was a nice way to spend a painful and very wet day.
I walked through the market today to pick up some food. I ended up with my arms full of bags. It was crazy. Today I got ‘eggs from happy chickens’ and was a bit shocked to pay three euros for six of them. Tired, I handed it over and left. So encumbered by bags as I was, one got broken before I reached home!
The farmers marketMarket seller
I decided to treat myself to a coffee and squeezed into a tiny coffee bar that had one table. People came in while I was there and there was barely room for me, my packages and them too.
A cappuccino and a pistachio cream croissant
When I got home, I had a message from someone I knew online saying they wanted to meet for a coffee. So after a rest I set off again through the market and down the street to Via Garibaldi. I met Giovanna and her boyfriend, Marco, and had a cup of hot chocolate. We talked about her long years in London and my thoughts on Torino. Too bad we met so late in my trip since she would have been a great resource for me. Continue reading “The market and Calamity”
The days are winding down. I’ve decided against Milan since there is still a list of things to do in Torino. I confess that one reason is I have no one to go with. I’m not usually shy about big cities no matter how gritty but for some reason, the combination of gritty city and navigating in Italian have scared me away from this plan. Hopefully there’ll be no regrets.
I read that the Pietro Micca museum is free every day and I have a bit of time to spare today so off we set. We also visit a shop where everything is made by prisoners (some nice stuff!) and a gallery of photographs showing how Torino has grown since 1995 – answer = a lot!
We walk along Via Cernaia and see it with different eyes than in our first week. The shops are quite fancy here. We pop into a store that sells British groceries – just a few – and are astounded by the price tag of 12 Euros on a box of 120 PG Tips. And here’s a jar of Patak’s Balti Paste – at 8 Euros I might have considered it earlier in the trip. Serves me right for forgetting to bring a bit for this journey. Oh well, soon enough… There’s some cool chocolate gifts in here too but we walk out emptyhanded.
The big road closest to the Pietro Micca (via Vinzaglio) is very wide and very long. I can’t see the end of it. On the sidewalk I see a reminder of Italy’s past – I wonder how many others there are. Had I seen this earlier in my adventure I’d have gone looking for them. But perhaps it’s best that I didn’t. My mood turns sombre.
Today, if we want to complete our Millo tour, we need to renew our BIP card so we walk over to the Tabaccheria where the man speaks English and we order a week’s travel. Simple!
On the tram, our cards don’t go BIP. They make a hesitant warbling sound and a notice flashes up that might have read Not Valid. Not again! We carry on regardless but as we travel I read the receipt. It starts Monday! Apparently the settimanale is from Monday to Sunday and we weren’t aware. We make the decision to play dumb and work out the solutions but it does put a bit of a crimp in our plans to have unlimited travel for the remaining two weeks. Hmm.
Onward.
There are five Millos left and I’m pretty sure two of them were ones we have seen on our last visit. I even mentally locate them – on residential streets, with nothing much around them. Let’s see if I’m right.
In fact, I am. A bit of back and forth while we get our bearings on the map and find the Millos sometimes not quite where we imagined, but there they all are in the end. One is in a small children’s school playground. That’s the hardest to photograph. The last one is in a narrow street opposite some construction that makes it a little hard to photograph too.
The rest of the Millos
However, I find a nice cafe selling a slice of plain pizza and there behind the counter is Krish’s favourite Naples pastry -frolla. He’s been looking for one for quite a while and has even talked of making his own…some day. The frolla is made with sweet short pastry dough that surrounds a ricotta and dried fruit filling. (And no, it’s actually not too sweet!)
Today is All Saints Day. The market and many stores are closed. And today we have no more days on our BIP card so the first order of the day is to get it filled up again. Then we plan to go see the rest of the Millo pieces in Barriera di Milano.
When we go out, we can’t find a tobacconist that’s open so we readjust our plans. We’ll stay local and visit a church we’ve seen from the tram.
It’s just a short walk away to the west of us. Along the way there are a few Chinese restaurants that we take note of. I’m feeling a bit ‘off’ today and a bowl of noodle soup sounds perfect. We even find a Chinese bakery. No 2 for a dollar bun here, though – Two euros a piece.
This area of Regina Marguerita is scruffy. People beg along here, they sell goods from shopping carts and carrier bags, and we’ve seen small gangs and individuals selling drugs. Not pretty but all part of city life.
Also to the west is Rondò della Forca (Gallows Corner). It’s a very large intersection with five roads meeting at the roundabout. Between 1835 to 1853 public hangings took place here. It’s also said to the birthplace of the square loaf – “Pancarrè” is a type of sliced bread, whose name is synonymous with “Square Bread”. Born in Turin, its origin is really special. Back in the old times, when an executioner went into a bakery to buy bread he was usually met with the resistance of the baker that was not happy to serve those who dealt in such a trade and, as a sign of contempt, would hand him the loaf upside down. Later on, this practice was banned by an ordinance, however, it was soon overtaken by bakers, who started to produce a new type of square bread, equal on each side, in order to continue undetected with their little “benevolent” custom as an inside joke (from “Alla scoperta del cibo” by Fabrizio Diolaiuti, Sperling & Kupfer). That’s some history!
The church we’re looking for is called Maria Ausiliatrice – it’s a beauty!
Maria AusiliatriceMaria Ausiliatrice domeFountain for Three
