torino

In all the time I've spent in Italy, before this week I had never been to Torino.  Honestly I didn't even know very much about the city.  I remember the Winter Olympics being held there in 2006 and I knew it was very near the Alps, but that was all I knew of Torino.  Now I wish I had visited much sooner.  I loved Torino; honestly, it is now one of my very favorite Italian cities.  And I hope to go back very soon.

approach into Torino Lingotto from the train

I had done a little research before going so that I would know what I wanted to see and all the things I thought Holden would enjoy best.  We took an early train from Genova into the Torino Lingotto Station, where the Olympic Park was and which is a little outside of the centro of the city.  This was the only bad part of what I saw of Torino, the desolate unused shell of the Olympic Park.

abandoned Olympic Park

Olympic pedestrian bridge

Then we took a short walk to the FIAT production building, designed by Matte-Trucco with an addition by Renzo Piano.  Inside was, among other things, a shopping mall and a small art museum which Holden liked and outside on the roof was the test track, which he loved.

scultpture in FIAT building

running on the test track

at the top of the incline

trying to balance

running down the steep incline

When we left the FIAT in Lingotto, we were headed to Parco del Valentino, but spotted Eataly (it was an enormous Eataly, in fact I found out later that it was the original) and decided to get a quick lunch and gelato there. Then we went to the park.  Parco del Valentino is a huge beautiful park, the nicest I've found in Italy.  It reminded me so much of walking through Central Park in the autumn.  The Po River follows parallel to the park on the East side.  People were canoeing along the river and there were also bikers and runners in the park.  This is something you don't see much in Italy, at least not in Genova.  Seeing the boats rowing along the river actually reminded me a little of Boston too.  The park also has a castle and a wonderful playground full of children. We spent much of the afternoon in the park and then went to Via Roma in the centro of Torino for some shopping.

Parco del Valentino

Parco del Valentino

view of the Po River from Parco del Valentino

castle in Parco del Valentino

playground in Parco del Valentino

Holden and I looked in a few stores for some shoes and then found an Apple store (we needed a new computer charger) and then we to the chocolate store for cioccalata calda, hot chocolate.  Torino is know for their hot chocolate and for a drink called bicerin, sort of a mix of cappucino and hot chocolate.  We found a very nice chocolate shop on a small street just east of Piazza San Carlo.  It was absolutely delicious.  The hot chocolate is very different than in the United States.  It literally is just melted warm chocolate.  It comes in a bowl with a spoon and you don't drink it; you eat it.  We were also offered chocolates to taste.  Holden and I spent a long time eating our hot chocolate and trying to figure out how to recreate this wonderful concoction again at home.

grand porticoes of Via Roma

chocolate cafe

chocolate shop sign

cioccalata calda and bicerin

Then we had to meet Giudi and the students and get back on the train to head home.  We had a wonderful day in the beautiful city of Torino!

walking with the students at dusk through Piazza San Carlo back to the station

liguria

Holden, Dave, and I hopped on a train (after pancakes of course) bound for Spotorno, determined to go to the beach on this brilliant beautiful Saturday.  We instead stayed on the train for one more stop after Spotorno after doing some research and found ourselves in Finale Liguria.  It was beautiful, it was perfect.  We had intended on doing some hiking too and going up to some of the castles but the beach was just too inticing today and we couldn't leave.  We swam, built rock sculptures and bamboo houses  and a few sand castles and collected tons more sea glass and picnicked by the sea and relaxed until it was time for a gelato and a train back to Genova.  It was the most perfect beach, sand warm water, sun and shade and it was just a nearly perfect day.  The town of Finale Liguria was very nice too.  It was a great decision to stay on the train for one more stop.

great spot for a picnic

playing on the beach

view of the castles and rock faces from the beach

view of Noli from the beach

snorkeling

making rock sculptures

town of Finale Liguria, where we stopped for a gelato

como

Today in Genova it was supposed to rain, so we went on the bus with Giudi and the students to Como.  It seemed a little crazy to get back in a vehicle for more driving, after only a few days since our arrival back to Genova from our European tour, but it actually felt like a short ride of only two and a half hours to Como.  I was hoping to take Holden on a boat tour of Lago di Como while the students visited all of the Giuseppe Terragni architecture, but October is no longer tourist season in Como and there was a lack of boats.  So we walked around the city of Como, did some shopping, ate some gelato, drank some coffee, played on some playgrounds, walked along the Lago di Como, and even saw some of the architecture with the students.  The highlight of the tour was definitely a preschool that Holden really enjoyed visiting, designed by Giuseppe Terragni a short distance out of town.  The students had already gone home, but Holden was able to see everything in the school and play with some of the toys and even play on the playground a little while the students were touring.  So, all in all, we spent a nice day in Como.  

Holden and Dave looking at the lake

Holden walking around the lake

view of Lago di Como

view of Lago di Como

view of Lago di Como

Casa del Fascio - Giuseppe Terragni

crawling through a tunnel

playground

Giuseppe Terragni preschool

playing at the preschool

playing at the preschool

students sitting in the tiny chairs at the preschool

preschool courtyard

interior of the preschool

ginnastica

There is a gymnastics class that we pass every time we are in San Nicola, the area of Genova neighboring our neighborhood of Castelleto.  It is called Società Ginnastica Rubattino and every time we pass, Holden asks me about taking a gymnastics class.  So one day we decided to walk inside and inquire about classes.  Through a mix of broken English and broken Italian and a lot of hand gestures and charades, we finally had signed Holden up for his first class.  He was super excited! 

So when we arrived at the gym the next Thursday and they gave Holden his very own outfit, he couldn't wait to go into the locker room and change.  This was during all of the flooding we experienced in Genova and I was tempted to just stay in the villa, but he was determined to go no matter how heavy it was raining.  He was the only boy in his class and was by far the youngest (this seems to be a common thread for Holden - ending up with older girls).  He still enjoyed it very much.  He climbed, jumped, rolled, tumbled, and even tried out the parallel bars.  The entire class was in Italian, but one of the teachers spoke a few words of English and with her help and watching the other students, Holden was able to figure out what to do.  This was a fun way to burn off some energy during the flooding.

lining up at the beginning of class

flipping over the bars

hanging from the bars

getting ready to drop down

getting there and back in the rain