Torino

Turin takes you in slowly, sleepily. It's still sort of the Detroit of Italy, with its car manufacturing (home of Fiat) and its roughness around the outlying areas of the city. But give it time and you will find much to enjoy. 'Turins' out, it's more than the Shroud...

At first, though, a city on the Po River and nestled close to the Italian Alps, it appears to be the slightly threadbare sister to her more contemporary sibling, Milan. Remarkably affordable a place and easy to get around, but, though sizeable and full of history, it does not draw the tourists that other Italian destinations do. Yet, it was a planned city, with boulevards and a grid system, very different from other Italian or medieval places with their crowded streets (which I sort of like--a more traditional Italian feel is in the Quadrilatero, not far from the old Roman ramparts), and many Torinese love it for that and more. Its massive royal palaces and squares reminded me of Madrid. Its formal gardens, once suitable mainly for royal strolls, are now blissfully full of families.

Our inexpensive hotel was only about two blocks from the Porta Susa train station, modern and sleek since it was built when the city hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics, but is now empty of kiosks and bathrooms (one left). We dragged our bags in the heat about two blocks to our hotel, the Torino Porta Susa. It has an ancient elevator shaft with a narrow car just steps from an outdoor, arcaded street full of fast food places with working class folks and their kids, but the neighborhood behind seemed quiet and safe.

Reception was friendly, welcoming and informative. The place was very reasonable, with breakfast included. Every morning was mild enough to eat on the pleasant second floor patio, which bridged a street below. Due to Covid, you put your order in the night before and were served your tray at the time you specified.

Foodwise, Turin is in Piedmont, home to wine, cheese, chocolate and truffles. Parmesan! Parma ham! Montepulciano d'Alba for 4 euros a glass! It is also home to Lavazza coffee and to some of the earliest chocolate purveyors. A blockade in the Mediterranean in Napoleon's time caused shortages in cocoa shipped from South America. So bakers then started cutting it with hazelnuts, plentiful in the Piedmont.. Hence, the confection gianduia (jan-DOO-ya). There would probably be no Nutella without their experimentation! Turin has been a chocolate center since the 1560s. By the 18th C, a cafe called Bicerin (Bee-tcher-EEN) (still there, with many original furnishings intact), located on a little square across from an extraordinary church, was making its specialty, a drink made from layers of coffee, cocoa/hazelnut and cream named, of course, Bicerin. The place, a bit hard to find, still makes it, and sipping one inside or out, is a decadent treat..

So is Aperitivo, basically Happy Hour, at a number of bars. Places outdo themselves offering tidbit platters that come with the price of your cocktail. You can find Aperitivo in a lot of northern Italy, even further south in parts of Florence. If you enjoy it early enough in the late afternoon, you still have room for dinner. Speaking of, our hotel recommended two restaurants in our neighborhood. We went back to one several tiimes because of the quality and value -- one night we had four courses, with wine, water and an amuse to start, all for only 25 euros each. Wow.

The fall is white truffle time. Alba (as in Duchess of), not far from Turin, is tartufo bianco central. I was tempted to try some as an appetizer or shaved on pasta, but only wanted to try something small. Truffles are strong tasting and pungent, and Jan didn't want to share! Next time.

After checking in, street map in hand, we headed to the old center, getting our bearings. A parkway between two arcades near the hotel had a large fountain and sculpture bedecked with flowers. It honors a native son who died tragically. Street construction fencing blocks visitors from getting close--the thing emits strange music so you sort of don't want to. The parkway leads to the main pedestrian street that we followed and ended up walking along far more than we planned. We actually ended up at the main piazza, an enormous square flanked by palaces and churches.

On the way were lots of inexpensive clothing stores we saw in other towns, plus pizza cafes and gelato bars, and kids in tight, torn clothes. Many of the boys sported a hairstyle that was curled or fluffed on top and cut very short on the sides and back. There seemed to be more graffiti than in other places, a bit more grime, but lots of faded glory from the 1500s to 1700s.

Turin has square after square of arcades, built, as the story goes, because the Italian king didn't want to go out into the elements. And, the Italian king was there because, for a time, Turin was the capital of Italy. That was until reunification in the 1860s and the decision to move the capital to Rome. (In fact, there is an important museum dedicated to the entire Risorgimento in Turin, in an old palace.) But, for a few centuries before that, the Savoy aristocracy (a mix of Spanish, French and Italian) built palaces, churches, even several wonderful city parks, since Turin was the capital of the region. And, all those arcades--many line the squares like the loggias in St Mark's in Venice. Beneath them are a variety of businesses, from pharmacies to clothing stores, cafes to tabacchi (STILL have to buy bus and tram tickets at these tiny cigarette/convenience stores rather than at a stop or a station). Beneath another was the entrance to the city's rebuilt opera house, closed when we were there, the entrance gates spectacular modern metal sculptures.

Some pharmacies, cafes -- and book stores -- still have original facades and interior woodwork and decor from the early 1800s. Even though it's a university town, Turin has a number of new and second-hand bookshops in many parts of the center.

Milan has its Castello Sforza, and Turin has its Borgo. Built for the Turin Olympics, this little village down from the auto museum and near a beautiful city park, is set up like a medieval community, with shops and workers plying trades from blacksmithing to candle-making with, of course, touristy stuff thrown in. We just walked through and had a light lunch at the outdoor cafe there and wished we'd had more time to wander through the park that day on our way to public transit.