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!