Category Archives: Living in Turin

Recent happenings

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It’s been quiet on the blogging front recently, mostly because I haven’t done much that’s blog-able (wanna hear about the stomach virus I got the week after the conference I went to? No, me neither.) To give you a flavour of what I’ve been up to:

  • Work-wise, I managed to render my laptop unboot-able, leading to much lost time and data. PSA time: DON’T BE AN IDIOT LIKE ME — DO REGULAR BACKUPS!
  • On a whim, the other week I got a haircut, from shoulder-length blah to a pixie cut which I love. I should have done this ages ago! (Question: how on earth did people get haircuts in the days before you could google image search “pixie cut square face” and show the relevant results to your hairdresser using your smartphone??)
  • I thought I’d try to boost my italian vocabulary a bit by reading a novel. In retrospect, Harry Potter wasn’t the best choice — so far, I have boosted my vocabulary to include such everyday words as “mantello” (cloak) and “gufo” (owl).
  • Today, I went to Castello di Rivoli, which is possibly my new favourite place in Piemonte. It’s on a hill, with views to Torino and the mountains, and the location is worth visiting just for that. The original building used to be a residence of the Savoys, and as you’d expect, it’s freaking massive and very grand. These days, it hosts a contemporary art gallery, and they’ve used the space really well — some rooms have been restored to their original super-decorated style (a great contrast with, say, a video installation, or (for reals) a taxidermy horse suspended from the ceiling), while others have been painted plain white and make my inner minimalist happy.

Things I learnt at the Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace)

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On the weekend, I visited the Palazzo Reale, which was first built in the 1600s, and was lived in by the kings of Sardinia and then Vittorio Emanuele II for the first few years of Italy being a nation (the early 1860s). Some things I discovered:

  • There were zero comfortable-looking chairs in the entire building. Being royalty=not so great after all?
  • I can only assume that the habit of making dogs wear vests is derived from the tradition of armour for war horses:
    This was one of the less freaky-looking horses.

    This was one of the less freaky-looking ones.

     

  • Based on statues, king Carlo Alberto had the best moustache.
  • Of course, the time to be told that photos are not allowed in the museum is just as you’re about to get a shot of a statue with a killer mo.

Turin snapshots

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As I mentioned, I’m now living in Turin (Torino). It’s not famous as a tourist destination, but (therefore?) it’s a great place to live. And (ssh! don’t tell anyone!) it’s actually pretty great from a tourist point of view, too. Some snapshots from the past 9 months:

Piazza Vittorio Veneto

Piazza Vittorio Veneto, looking much as it did in the 1800s.

Ponte Isabella

The river Po is just east of the historical centre. This is the Ponte Isabella in spring.

The #7 tram

The #7 tram. I hate to use the word ‘cute’ to describe part of a city’s transport infrastructure, but is there a better word for a tram like this?

La Mole

The Mole is Turin’s most famous building. It used to be a synagogue, but now it hosts the cinema museum.

View from the Mole

If you’re in Turin and the weather is clear, the one thing you should do that costs money is to take the lift up the Mole. Just look at the view!