Four weeks today since we arrived. Ouch! We’ve done a lot yet not a lot. We’ve resolved to never come to a hot country before October. But it’s spurred me to start filling in ideas on my October calendar. This week – free admission days to museums, dinner with Liat’s family, and my cooking day – on Friday.
One of the mosquito bites, on the back of my wrist, is very itchy and swollen. I’ve put a bandaid on it so I’ll stop scratching. I am now scratching the bandaid…
And it rained. And rained. And rained some more. The wind got serious. The air was chilly. The temperature dropped more than ten degrees Celsius. We hunkered down but hoped it would clear enough since Krish wanted to go to a photography exhibit of Pop Art. And 1st October was a free admission day.
We put together a lunch out of what we had. No way to venture down to the market. We didn’t want to start our day already soggy.
The gallery is near Piazza Carlina. From there you can see the Mole looming. I heard that the NH Hotel Carlina has some lovely original features and also a wonderful staircase. I just feel uncertain though. When I get inside, there are three people in the unconventional reception area. I lose my nerve and can’t take photos of the interior.
Views of the Mole from the deserted squareThe hotel courtyard – not too shabbyInteresting history for the hotel building
Again, I’m not much for museums and art galleries so have a system that gets me through quickly but allows me time to look at something that may catch my eye. I can admire a painting or an artifact if it speaks to me and this exhibit, on pop art, may have more to say than most. I cherry-pick what I look at.
But first, another culinary note. Yesterday we decided it was time to give our local enoteca (wine shop with cafe) a chance. We pass it all the time but have never gone in. I ordered russian salad (skipping the two pasta choices) and milanese. Krish had penne with ragu and also the milanese. The pranzo (lunch) deal is 12 Euros each.
It’s OK. We may go again. Simple food, friendly service, a no-brainer since it’s across the road. However, again we’re struck with how ordinary and unmemorable the food is, especially when I throw two salads together later in the day for dinner. Would the Italians think my food too complicated, too much going on? It’s also worth mentioning that there were six or seven people sitting on a larger table across from us. They seemed to be ordering everything on the menu and sharing the huge platters. Despite the overflowoing banquet, they swallow it all in record time and leave, empty plates everywhere!
My dinner. Asparagus with Chicken, Two salads – Pesto Potato salad, Beet with goat cheese and arugula
I’m not a huge fan of churches unless they are rustic and unique. I don’t typically enjoy opulence or artistic piety. But then the Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista (Cathedral of St John the Baptist, aka Torino Duomo) was supposed to be open for 3 Euros. Last year the Duomo was covered in scaffolding but this year construction is finished. It’s a beautiful and intricate dome atop an otherwise plain looking rectangle of a church. The looming campanile (bell tower) dates from 1470 and the church was built during 1491–98 . It would be unremarkable if it didn’t contain the chapel of the Holy Shroud, which was added in 1668–94.
The Campanile on the left, the domes of the Duomo to the rightSteps to the cathedralLooking towards the altarLighting my usual candle to Mum and Dad (centre fourth row down)Looking up to the smaller dome
There’s nothing to make me linger in here – the usual memorial statues and plaques, pews, banks of candles, an organ… but the altar is quite stunning, overlooked by a very large window, where I could see people looking down to where we were, and that’s where I need to head. Walking around, though, I couldn’t find a way in so supposed it was a separate entry – it was.
But this big window intrigued me, looking down on us. I need to get behind there!
Before wandering outside, I saw a small crowd of people and hoped I could get in behind the window there but, no, this was the spot for the shroud. It’s displayed only once every 25 years unless the Pope is in town so I wouldn’t get to see it, but there’s an area for it and there was lot of genuflecting and crossing and muttered prayer – and the most candles! – going on in front of that thing. I stayed for a little while to read the prayer, translated in several languages. And then I left.
The Chapel of the Holy Shroud
It seems the entrance to the cathedral museum is around the side so I went in there too. On the way in there are some pretty solid ruins, and I was told there are more inside. In the foyer, a very short and elderly lady with a badly curved spine wanted to talk to me but she couldn’t speak English so I was directed to another behind the counter. There was nothing about a 3 Euro entry but apparently I can come here any time for 3.50 so I decided that I would wait. Today it’s packed.
The last time I was here I wanted to go to the Pietro Micca museum but somehow didn’t so it was on my Must Do list for this time.
Pietro Micca is quite a hero in Torino. There’s even a street named after him and a statue. Yet, to me he seems a romantic figure with some history that’s only guessed at. Snatches of memory and conversation that were put together to make a valiant story for future generations. Yet it’s fascinating.
The romantic version of Pietro MiccaThe crazed Pietro Micca – looking somewhat Not29 (Examples of bread rations for the Sabaudian soldiers below)
I went alone. Krish doesn’t like tunnels.
After the museum visit, the literature and even reading the story in both Italian and English I remain somewhat confused about what really went on. Truth.
My garbled version, then. The French and Spanish wanted to annex Northern Italy but there was Italian resistance. The city of Turin was at the centre of it all or so it seems to me. The ‘enemy’ set up camps of tents around the periphery of the city and the attacks began. Pietro Micca was a 29 year old Sabaudian soldier and knew his way around explosives. His supposed nickname was Pass-par-tut (Passepartout) – which also seems intriguing since he did indeed pass through everything, getting into the trenches that day.
Pietro Micca and at least one companion wanted to set off explosions in the tunnels that would thwart the enemy invasion. They set one long fuse that successfully held off one contingent and then more soldiers tried to breach a deeper tunnel. This time a shorter fuse was needed, since the soldiers were close. Pietro told his companion to Go, since that soldier had no bread that day, and then he lit the fuse.
It’s assumed that he then ran down the stairs to escape the blast but the heat was so strong that he was flung forty paces and was later found dead at that spot. However, the attack was thwarted, the Sabaudians were victorious and Pietro Micca became a hero.
Tribute to a hero
Was he really a hero? All the stories say so. It’s also supposed that it was more a misjudgment in how long a fuse was needed to be able to escape.
The museum is near Porta Susa station and is a bit ramshackle. But it’s small, just how I like it. They told me that I could follow the Italian guide at 4:30 and use the English audioguide. At 4:30 the guide arrived to tell me that he was going to do the tour but I should do it on my own and then after the Italians had left, he would take me downstairs to show me the tunnels – ‘very dangerous down there.’
I tend to breeze through museums, audioguide or not. This one was better ordered than some and that speeded me through quite quickly. The numbers and facts swirled around my head, but I sort of got the gist of things. A few facts sunk in – I liked the models of the city in two different spots but taking photos of them was hard, with all the glare and reflection. The rivers Po and Dora are also good markers for where everything was and still is.
I was curious about the citadel. To make it stronger, triangular shapes were built at its edges. I’ve also seen things about Torino’s ‘Star Fort.’ But this was different. I need to do a lot more research, but is this the inspiration for the Torino’s iconic eight-pointed Star?
The muskets on display were enormous, the paintings glorious and not bloody, the artifacts well kept and signed, but all in Italian. There are two small rooms of these things, fifteen in all points along the way before you reach the barrier of the staircase leading down to the tunnels.
The lower museum room. Was amused by this PM lookalike carrying muskets
Then it was 5:30 and, since the museum closes at 6, i asked the guide if I could go down with the Italians and he nodded yes. I felt excited. Tunnels and caves scare me but I’m also enthusiastic about exploring them. These were dark, with low ceilings and not much width to pass through. There were side tunnels and alcoves, as expected and when I lost sight of the guide, I did feel a little worried – not for long. There’s a lot more down here than I expected but we keep to an uneven path. I hoped I wouldn’t stumble or turn my ankle and I was glad I wasn’t at the back!
‘Tis dark down ‘ere
The details are a little lost on me. The audioguide wasn’t so audible down here with the guide’s Italian explanations rising over the volume, I think I got enough from it. The first spot where the longer fuse was lit, a memorial to French soldiers (the staircase here was rough and deep – too bad we couldn’t go down but it did look treacherous), the Pietro Micca ‘scala’ (steps) where the short fuse was lit, and finally the spot where Pietro was found, marked with an artificial wreath.
The treacherous steps leading to yet another deeper level. Not allowed down there
The Pietro Micca Scala – the soldiers had bricked it up – It had been full of rubble and bones – and it was then uncovered and repaired in 1958.
It was odd to come back to the sunlight. One street up is Corso Vinzaglio, a wide street with a median, very grand and quite deserted.
Corso VinzaglioNoticed this last time and still wonder if there are others
I made my way to the 51 bus, stopped to buy pickles (!) and some wine. And home to make a sausage and gnocchi dinner for when Krish returned from his run.
I’m glad I went. I felt more connected to Torino after this, and then a curious discovery (and the mystical reason Pietro Micca had always resonated with me….joke?). Pietro Micca was born on March 6th.
So yes, we went back to Milan. I’d promised myself to try again if I had a better plan and a whole lot cooler day. And those criteria were filled.
My plan – start in NoLo (the immigrant area) head down to lunch with Daniele in his proposed lunch spot Mad’son, then on to Brera, down to Navigli and end up in Chinatown – if time I was going back to where Yayamoto was – which I believe is the old town. Plans!
(Now despite still not falling in love -or maybe not even like -with Milan, I did take far too many photos so I’ll try not to go overboard…bear with me.
A much better ride to Porta Susa – thanks to an earlier start (we were in a tearing hurry last time) and then arriving in Milan Central, now a familiar spot. We started walking towards the NoLo district, with my notes not really helping and, not too far along, decided again to separate and get on with our respective days.
I wanted to ride the historic tram number one and found the stop quite easily. It reminded me of riding in Lisbon or Budapest as it sped along. I don’t think I actually made it to the real NoLo. I wasn’t as prepared as I thought and the map didn’t really help. This, paired with the alarming way my phone battery was draining, so winged it.
Riding tram number 1 in Milan
I was, however, north of Loreto, and the population seemed mixed so perhaps I touched on it. The streets were not poor, though. Quite the opposite. I wandered around and needed a toilet so popped into a tabaccheria-bar. They were wonderful in there, falling over themselves to be helpful and make sure I was happy. Quite a nice experience to sit with a coffee and brioche, studying and marking the map and just generally feeling content
Streets in what I thought might be the edge of NoLoMama Orsa? (Mama bear?)My very nice snack and break! 3 eurosNow, ravioli I can understand, but gnocchi?
I’ve been wanting to go to the little cafe I enjoy. It’s called Cianci Piola and is in the prettiest square (in my opinion) in Torino. It feels like you’re in Paris but without the high prices and the attitude!
On the way over, I walked past some remains of the Roman wall.
At Cianci Piola, there’s always a choice of appetiser, first course, second course and dessert. I stayed with an appetiser and a pasta.
On the patio at Cianci PiolaA traditional Piemontese appetiser – tomini (a soft cheese) al verde ( a sauce made with parsley and anchovy (each round maybe 5cm)The primo – a small bowl of tajarin (the local pasta) with sausage and eggplantLeaving Cianci to go window shopping – the Duomo and the CampanileAffordable fashion at OVS. This Fall it’s all about see-through skirts
On the way back I finally climbed to the top of the NH Santo Stefano. I heard that it has the history of Torino on the walls as you climb. The pleasant surprise is that there aren’t stairs but little ledges along a spiraling ramp.
The gallery was made up of several posters, tracing the history of the city and saying where remnants of the past could still be found. I made note of several. What was interesting was that sometimes that old piece of history would be deliberately incorporated into something new – such as an old granite pillar that formed the cornerstone of a newer building. It’s like a treasure map.
The galleries along each floor of the NH HotelThe ledged ramp all the way up to each level. Very easy to manage
On the fourth floor there’s a lift to take you up to the very top, where there’s a panoramic view.
To the right the Campanile and the Palazzo Reale with its Roman wall, to the left the Porta PalatinaLovely view towards the Market square, with the Alps in the backgroundAnd almost home – a visit to see how Mr Fijodor’s whale is coming along
