Torino Redux

Greetings. The trip from Chatillon to Tortino was fairly uneventful. Even though we had just 5 minutes to change trains in Ivrea we were fortunate that as we exited our train the connection was waiting right next to us on the next binario.

Porta Nuova (one of the two major train stations in Torino) was its usual bustling self. Chris soon figured out that they would need biglietti urbano (tickets to travel within the city and not train tickets to another city) in order to get to our B and B. Va bene. However there was a little confusion following Christiana’s directions upon disembarking the tram. Glad once again to have inserted an Italian SIM card in the iPhone we were able to rendezvous with Christiana.

Piazza Emanuele Filiberto was right next to the rendezvous point. This was where our apartment for the next two nights would be. Our entry door was tucked under the awnings of the street restaurants:

Somehow our romantic memory of making plans for our trip excluded the fact that this apartment was on the fourth floor. That would be fourth floor Italian style meaning the fifth floor for lugging suitcases and bags. Non va bene.

The apartment was another good find. It had a balcony with a laundry room (washer, no dryer); a good sized living/dining room; a small but well equipped kitchen replete with juice, milk, fruit, cookies, pasta and cooking ingredients; very good size bathroom complete with bidet; and a bedroom overlooking the piazza:

The view from the bedroom:

And at times the view got a little more interesting:

This was a tourist attraction for those who wanted an “overview” of Torino.

The highlight of the Torino trip happened on the first night. From our previous trip to Torino we associated the city with meeting friends (last time it was Giovanni and Vincenzo). This time it would be JoJo.

JoJo and Chris go all the way back to when Chris first started working at Newfound. She was the special ed person for grades 7-12 but renowned for her ability to direct and produce musicals and plays for the school and community. Tom Wolfson’s Arthur in Camelot was a fine product of collaboration with her.

The last time we had met with her it was in Key West where she had started her own clothing store and adopted the lifestyle of the Conch Republic. This was quite the change from the international school career she had embarked upon leaving Newfound. She and Cyndy had taken on Brazil and JoJo also took a turn in Guatemala. This time she had come back to the system in Chieri, a small town outside of Torino. She looked fabulous. This despite a hip replacement (Italian style – to match her American one on the other side).

She had just finished her school year but couldn’t quite get away from it all as she encountered some of her fellow staff members who had also come to the big city to Piazza Vittorio Veneto.

We were sitting at the Café Elena shown to us by Giovanni and Vincenzo because of its history and association with Nietzsche’s frequenting. JoJo excellently recommended spritzes and it was a fine idea.

Christiana, our host, had recommended a wine bar/restaurant around the corner from the piazza and it proved a good choice for dinner and wine. This was followed by the mandatory pursuit of gelato back in the Piazza Vittorio.

We said arrivaderci to JoJo and made our way back to Piazza Emanuele Filiberto to our apartment.

The next day we took advantage of the open air market in the big piazza (Porta Palazzo) next to us. It is arguably the largest open air market in Europe. Once again, thanks to our amici from the previous visit we were familiar with its offerings.

A leisurely stroll provided fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella for the night’s caprese and fresh sandwiches for lunch (with a beer). A light moment was had at the vegetable stand when Chris (in a career role) played dumb and innocent to buy just two tomatoes and a small bundle of basil when the signs said items were being sold by the kilo. The vendor indulgently smiled and announced “fifty cents!” for the major purchase.

Nearby was a baroque church of which we had taken a picture but not visited last time. It was the Santuario Basilica de Consolata.

Baroque was truly its style as 5 chapels, a main altar, a crypt, a huge oval sanctuary, and walls covered with presents of thankful supplicants were compressed all together.

Next to the basilica was a quiet piazza.

History struck again as we relaxed there at Al Bicerin a caffe’ famous for Torino’s signature drink the bicerin. This is a wonderful layering of espresso, chocolate and foamed cream:

Here we have a very satisfied customer:

Torino is what one might call an Italian city. It is teeming with culture but not a top tourist city. The arcades here are spectacular and the neighborhoods are  rich with stores and services. There are nice touches as to when they take a side street, cover it and make it a pedonale (pedestrian walkway):

A brief stay but quite enjoyable. Today we are heading for Roma on the fancy FrecciaRossa (high speed train Red class) in business class. How we were able to do this is still a mystery to Chris and he booked the tickets. There is free coffee and juice along with wifi and electrical outlets for recharging electronic devices. Well, well, well!

Looking forward to meeting up with Geoff and Linda tomorrow for one day in Rome and then on to Pompeii, Positano and Capri. Andiamo!

Dove si trova Chatillon?

Greetings. There will be wonderful photos forthcoming but let us first acquaint one and all with the reason for why we spent five nights in Chatillon, Italy in Val d’Aoste (Aosta Valley). On the left is Mary Te Landry, partner of Charlie Landry before he left us. She is a member of the Family Duc who have maintained an apartment in Chatillon for over four hundred years. Mary would kill me if I even attempted a joke about her not living there the whole time.

On her left is her cousin Paula and on Gini’s left is her husband Maurizio. They are the Bergaminis, related to the Ducs and current residents of the top two floors of this vertical domicile. The kindness and generosity of these players cannot be overstated. Because of many visits we are proud and pleased to call Maurizio and Paula our friends and hope to continue to enjoy their company for many years.

 

From the outside the apartment looks quiet and antico. Stone is everywhere (this is Italy and the Alps, what do you expect?). Here is Mary in Duc Square. The apartment is the second from right. The door is just to the left of the white car. There is a long stone hallway as you enter and you can tell that you are in a place where the walls are literally two feet thick. And then you come to the stairs:

There are still two floors below this. Mary’s bedroom and balcony are on what Americans would call the second floor. Here it is the first floor. A gorgeous museum-like dining room is across from her bedroom. Sorry about the lack of a picture.

Our en suite bedroom/balcony is on the next floor which is across from the lower floor of Maurizio and Paula’s apartment. The kitchen is the first floor below and has a newly converted room which we will refer to as The Disco. Paula and Maurizio have been ardent students of the tango for several years and enjoy dancing immensely. So they have converted part of the stable to afford incredible acoustics and ambiance for their dance parties.

So voila! clean out the old stuff, put in a beautiful parquet floor and convert the old barrels and ammunition boxes to help stock the bar. they also provide the proper ambiance.

One must not ever truly lose the sense of the history so the original door with mega-keys was carefully maintained:

Oh yes. There is a most interesting feature of the Val d’Aoste and that is the view is quite spectacular from almost anyplace in the towns:

These views are never boring and one can get lost in them easily as the day goes by. However there is the night and the full moon proffered itself upon our arrival (clicking on pictures recommended)

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Though Hannibal’s stomping has long faded there are still reminders of the Roman threads in Chatillon. A modern bridge provides for a town thoroughfare but also provides a view upon the Roman footbridge still spanning the rapids:

Every small town in the world has its appealing niceties. Whether it be a wood carving in the local playground celebrating alpine craftsmanship:

Or the entrance to a local cemetery vigilantly sequestering the remains of Duc and Bergamini alike:

Some of our family and friends have oriented their travels this way and have accommodated themselves locally. The family favorite is Le Verger. For 20 years we have been fortunate to be able to sit and enjoy some coffee, grappa or lemoncello with the couple who run the hotel. Once again Mary, Gini and Chris hiked up the hill to see them. This time it was discovered that solar panels now bedecked the roof. Right on!

As we were walking we encountered a sign that summarizes some of the Italian attitude about enjoying life and let the worrying be damned. Exhibit A:

“tutte le direzioni”….All directions. Let’s not sweat it…look…wherever you are going you can get there this way since all directions lead from here. Va bene.

Another ritual is to visit Mary’s Aunt/Maurizio’s mother Marie in Aosta. It has become mandatory to polish off a bottle of Prosecco along with selected pastry as we look out the back yard at a low Roman wall at the foot of the great Alps. Chris was able to provide some entertainment by bringing along his computer and iPhone and displaying pictures taken over the years. Some were of visits to Aosta both winter and summer, others were of Chip, Landry family members and a few incriminating depictions. The coup de grace was when Chris was able to fetch Marie’s son Maurizio’s photo of him as a young child from Facebook and present it to her as if conjured on the spot from the ether. The look of wonder on her 92 year young face was priceless along with the enjoyment of her niece Mary:

A new experience was provided by our chauffeur and guide, Maurizio. He packed us in his car with a bag of sweaters, coats and hats and headed for Switzerland. This entrance was a first for Chris and Gini had not been there for over 40 years. Mary, herself, was 20 years absent from the quintessentially neutral country. We made our way to Gran St Bernard where a thousand years ago Bernard of Aosta dedicated himself to helping travelers and pilgrims braving the pass now know as Col du Petit St Bernard. Many died in their attempt to make their way to Rome but over the centuries monks and trained dogs alleviated the danger with shelter, food and spirituality.

Their numbers are now diminished from when up to 600 visitors a day would be accommodated. The dogs are still trained.

Maurizio had found a new friend.

The purity of the centuries long effort was reflected in the abbey’s chapel:

Why not when inspired by such a venue:

Here is some data and a token of the visit:

Again to prove the world is a small place we had decided to drive a few hundred meters down the road and have some lunch on the Italian side of the border at Hotel Italia. Of course the woman hosting the restaurant was a school classmate of Maurizio’s who had not seen each other in decades. C’est la vie, mais no?