EU after 12 years (13): The Sketchy Market of Turin

There are lots of refugees in Italy and generally in Europe and their life is completely different from Italians. It's almost the same in Canada but not to that extent. I went to this open market in Turin where the majority of the vendors and shoppers were non-Italian refugees from Africa and Muslim countries.

It is about 15 minutes walk from where all the high-end brands have their shops. In fact the more you walk toward north on Via Milano (Milan Street) you see less and less Italian businesses until you reach Cordo Regina Margheritta and at all four sides of this intersection you see both temporary and permanent shops.

You can by all sorts of merchandise in this market but the only good things are fresh fruit and vegetables and some other type of food. The other things are at Wal-Nasty-Toilet-Mart or Toilet-Dollar-Store quality level. Most of the vendors there don't even speak Italian. I heard mostly Arabic. 

The first time I went there one guy called me towards him and his bunch of buddies and even started walking toward me but I ignored him and nothing happened. I don't know what in me triggered him! I wore a pair of sunglasses which I always wear outdoors and it hides my identity(!), I had a pair of green pants on, which I know was a very bad choice because it looked like soldier's pants and made me like a drifter(!), and a black jacket. Is that suspicious to some refugee who just hang out in a open market with bunch of wannabes?!

The pile of trash after the market is closed

I went inside the building at the northwest corner of the intersection. The building is half empty and the other half has these sort of small bistro and cafe which sell different type of food and they, mostly, seem foreigners with Latin Americans in majority! One would think what a Latin America has to do with Turin??!! I understand the Arabs of the deserts of northern Africa or other poor Africans but coming from counties such as Columbia and Venezuela to Turin looks insane. In fact one young girl with broken English made me understand that she was from Columbia. I don't know about the history of these people and how they get themselves across the ocean to Italy but I think the language could be one factor because apparently Spanish and Italian are quite close in terms of language. Appearance-wise, even I could easily tell a Hispanic from an Italian. I bought some bread with topic and then another type of bread which she thought it was Whole Wheat after I asked her and used for my breakfast. The quality was just okay.

Two of the Kiwis I've written about them and an Orange which is from Spain and a Pear. I bought the last two from Genoa but didn't have them until I want back to Turin!

I also saw a stand for different types of olives and other fermented food but my plan was to buy those when I got to Genoa. So I didn't buy anything. I didn't buy much in Genoa and missed the stand the next time I was there. One of the guys forces a Kilogram of Kiwis to me for €2 and then I bought one of those big Avocados for a €1 from an Arab woman who didn't seem very satisfied with this transaction and I ended my interaction with this market peacefully and positively. I ate Kiwis for the next 3 days and they were actually very good except for one which was overripened and I had get rid of it.

I'm sure there's other places in Turin that one can get fresh and quality fruits and vegetables. I just didn't spend enough time in the city to find out. You do it, if you're a big fresh fruit fan like I am and Italy is a good producer of them including those fantastic Kiwis, not like Canada that imports them from Australia. In fact the Italian Kiwis were way tastier than the Australian ones. I don't know why. Bigger, juicier and tastier. A combination and sweet and tart, a unique Kiwi taste, of course, but juicier. One might think why I insist on this too much. It simply because I appreciate fresh and wholesome fruit a lot. Something that we don't get enough of it in Canada. 

(Photo, top: You can buy pairs of shoes as low as €2 in this market and all sorts of other quality items in the same price range. Did you notice the flag hanging from one of the windows? I'm against bombing innocent children and generally civilians but hanging a flag does nothing to the crime which was committed to the poor people of Gaza. You are a truly believer of the freedom of Palestine, grab a rifle, leave your vending cart and go fight the war criminals who committed those crimes. The truth is you're all nothing but pretenders. You cannot split from your fancy life in Italy, which now compared with the condition you were in, is like living in a 5-star hotel in Monaco, you freaking phonies!)

EU after 12 years (12): San Carlo Suite

I went over my head and booked an expensive hotel in Turin. It's fully paid now. I mean I paid my credits cards off and I'm happy that I owe them nothing but it was a little bit too much. Do I regret that? No! I just think that if you book a luxury hotel, you rent a vehicle to make your trip easier and then try a few fancy cafe and restaurants, then you would want to buy a few good local products as well. That makes your trip ideal but that will cost a lot. I saved for trip for a long time and I regret why I didn't spend more! Why did I not spend as much as I wanted? The answer is simple: Uncertainty. This is what we all deal with in today's world. How many of us is certain of his employment of the next year? Unless you're a government employee, you can not be sure of that. That is why I wonder what these guys who have worked for my employer, being doing?! They have worked for more than 15, 20, 25 and some even 30 years and still live like a hobo! beat up vehicles, shabby cloths, rick of cigarette, you name it! 

I understand everyone has a different lifestyle but do we not come to this world once and work hard to enjoy what we like? I don't know what these guys are up to but their lives don't impress me. 

The view of Piazza San Carlo from the window of the suite. The Piazza was designed and built in 1688! Can you imagine that. Canada didn't even exist 338 years ago! The riding knight is a guy named Emmanuel Philibert who was the ruler of parts of Italy in Middle Ages. There's a whole lot more to the Piazza (Square) and else but I think it becomes boring for you!  

With that said, I booked this hotel in Turin called San Carlo Suite. Don't ask me why it's not " Suites " because that's what they say as their name. Perhaps this is something Italian. It is located in Piazza San Carlo which is considered one of the main squares of Turin. Here is what you get if you book a room there and I did too. I only state it here because I'm trying to justify the high price that I've paid!

1) If you arrive in Turin by train, it is only 10 minutes walk to the hotel.

2) You have money and want to spend on Italian fashion, there're all sorts of shops in walking distance. I'm not!

3) If you don't have much money and still like to enjoy with minimum spending, there're many businesses around.

4) It is a quiet place. Your good nigh sleep is guaranteed. No vehicles, no nothing.

5)  The hotel provides a Lavazza coffee machine with different type of capsules. That was very helpful to me and I enjoyed it.

6) If you're into cooking, with the grocery stores around, the hotel has all sorts of cooking pots and utensils as well a good size refrigerator to keep your ingredients in there.

7) The hotel is very clean.

8) The hotel is very modern. All the furniture and everything is new and the interior design is just amazing. 

9) You have access to many channels through the TV for the nights you stay in, which for me was all! Although I don't understand a word of Italian(!) so that didn't help much until the last two night that I discovered a channel with only music and I also learnt that I can reach YouTube!

I really liked the design of this mirror. While this was the only light in the bathroom I liked it the most because it helps you to calm at night with not might bright light. You could also adjust the light with the touch button on the bottom of the mirror.

I can say that for the above reasons, staying at San Carlo Suite, despite its high price worth it. Am I going to visit Italy again? Yes. Am I going to Turn again? Very likely. Am I going to stay in San Carlo Suite? Maybe? Why not? The only reason I might not stay in this hotel is I'm a sort of guy who likes to try different things. I would rather to stay at another part of the city to be able to discover other part but this is a great hotel, if you're not too careful with money.

(Photo, top: I stayed at two different rooms of San Carlo Suite. The first one actually was a suite, a big one. The second one was not much smaller and as clean as modern of the first one with a view to Piazza San Carlo. This is the second one upon my arrival with nothing touched yet) 

EU after 12 years (11): Food Experience in Turin; Iginio Massari

Galleria Iginio Massari, is a cafe (of Caffe in Italian) near Piezza San Carlo in Turin and that was the first place I ate in Italy. It was a breakfast. You need to understand that breakfast in Italy has a completely different meaning from what people normally eat in Canada and the US and of course other countries. I don't remember whether I had found the place online or just was walking by and then decided to go in. The man at the counter asked me something in Italian (which happened a lot during my trip) and I told him I didn't speak the language. I ordered a few things and he asked me if I wanted to sit outside. I'm a person who likes quiet and calm. He told me I could go to the basement. Their baking area is in the basement but it is separated from the dining area. So I didn't mind. All those stories that if you don't speak Italian, they pay no attention to you or you have to wait, are all nonsense. It never happened to me, not even once. The food came right away as there was no preparation. The sandwich was fresh and the drizzle of real Olive Oil gave a great aroma. The fast is that all the Olive Oils I have bought in Canada has not had more than probably 30% or less Olive Oil in them because they never had that aroma and the colour. The pastry was very fresh and delicious as well but the size of Italian coffee, of any kind, never satisfied me! That's why I used most of the Lavazza coffee cups that my hotel had provided me, usually, in the mornings! I would buy a small carton of milk from a supermarket and then would add to my morning coffee, usually 2 or three Italian cup size(!), and then would go for my breakfast! 

It was only after a few tries that I realized that different colours of milk carton have different amount of fat because they were barely they were put next together in the cooler. Here is a hotel cup of Espresso with a pink milk that I had bought from a local small grocery store the night before

It is important to mention that a breakfast like this could cost up to €15, which equals to approximately $23. That is not a breakfast that the average Italian eats. It is for certain people and while I don't know the average salary in the country, I'm sure that there're many places that offer less expensive breakfast, including the Italian version of McDonald's and many other cafes but I wanted to try different places at different levels and for me who barely eats out when I'm in Canada and his daily meal is probably one of the least expensive ones in the entire country, trying places like this is not so hard. I will certainly go to this place again in my next Italian trip if I end up in Turin.

(Photo, top: My first breakfast in Italy in Iginio Massari in Turin in Piemont province or as the Italian says Regino Piemonte) 

EU after 12 years (10): The Italian Unification History Museum

I didn't know much about the history of Italy rather than the Second European War part (that some call it the Second World War!) but then I asked myself how can you fit the history of a country like Italy in one museum and how many hours would you need to review that, if you did?! That's not Canada! 

I went to Italian Unification History Museum regardless of that while I was tired. If you really like to learn in a museum visit, rather than just spending time simply because you're there, you need enough breaks in between or having enough rest the day before. I had neither.

There's another issue with history museums: Kids group are brought in by schools to do project and teach them while looking at maps, objects and old documents. I had all the above issues in a day that the museum was not actually very busy. In fact this museum was less crowded than the Egyptian, perhaps for the reasons I explained in the post for that museum. 

I didn't realized whether this was a replica of the house of the representatives or an actual one considering the museum is located in an old building

One of the names that you repeatedly see in the museum and in the cities, streets are named after him, is Garibaldi. There's also a park in British Columbia,  named after him(!) which I used to visit when I lived in that province some 20 years ago. The reason why he is so recognized in Italy is he contributed a lot to the unification of the country. He was being displayed at the latest stage of the museum. I think I need to see it the next time I'm in Turin! One of the things that I didn't know before visiting this museum was the fact that Napoleon occupied Italy and ruled it for a very long time. The museum presents many old documents about that time and how he was defeated and then sent to St. Helena Island.

Overall if you're interested in the history of Italy and Europe, you're going to enjoy this museum but there's a lot to digest and require attention and you need to be rested. I'm planning to go there again as part of my second Italian trip!

(Photo, top: There're lost of paintings, statutes, artifacts and caricatures about Napoleon in the museum including this one that shows he's thrown in a trash bin!)

EU after 12 years (9): The Gaza Supporters of Turin

Italy is synonymous with fashion, opera, dancing, art, history, great food, cinema, stars and all the glamour that a country can offer and everything pleasant that one would go to this country to see. However Europe, and Italy included, I've read, and seen to some extent, have changed a lot in the past 10 years or so. First it was the Syrian Civil War which poured millions into Europe and then the constant crossing of asylum seekers from Africa, war-torn or economically devastated countries to Europe. I will write about many refugees that I saw in Italy in a separate post but as you might have heard, the support for Gaza has been overwhelming in many European cities. 
I saw lots of graffiti and the so-called Palestine flags, if we agree that was and still is a country, in some neighbourhoods in Turin. I think it was my second day in that city when I noticed demonstrators in Piazza San Carlo and then in Via Antonio Bertola (Via in Italian means street). The funny thing is that the number of riot police squad members and the officers escorting this group was more than the marchers! 

Anti-riot police in full gear was following the small group of demonstrators. 

It's no doubt that all the Arabs who live in Italy and some Africans are supporters of Gaza but the fact is demonstrations in a country too far away from the conflict zone results in nothing. I condemn the Oct.07 attacks on civilians but then when Israeli forces started killing the civilians, particularly the innocent kids, women and elderly and their Prime Minister was charged with War Crimes, my eyes got open. However, I still do not believe chanting slogans, waving flags and writing graffiti solves any problem. If any of those people who got engaged with riot police, threw rocks at them and burnt garbage cans and car, left Europe, got a weapon and stood against Israeli occupants, the story would have been different but none of them would like to live their 5-star hotel(!) in the slums of any European city because they have reached there from absolute zero! People are free to express themselves but that does not give them to calm their anger by damaging public or private property.
As per the demonstrators of Palestine or Gaza on that specific day in Turin, I can say that they were majority teenagers who simply wanted to walk the streets, smoke and laugh instead of sitting in a classroom and listen to their teachers and that's pathetic but I think that's cultural. I remember when i was their age, more than %98 of my classmate either were planning their future in colleges or as it was the war time, thinking of going to the front to stop the enemy, not walking and blocking the streets and shouting meaningless slogans! 

Graffiti on the wall in Sep.20 street in Turin in English!

Nevertheless this short demonstration did not result in any damage. Stratta, the cafe next to my hotel, closed just for a few minutes, just in case some of this hot shits is motivated to throw a rock or something at their store and then everything went back to normal. However, demonstrations, looting and clashes occurred in the next few days in some European cities including Milan as a result of price hike. I didn't have to witness any.

(Photo, top: This small group of teenagers, mostly, I don't know who were directing them were marching in Turin, I guess on the second day of my arrival. They were not more than 35 to 40! I know bigger rallies had taken place but I'd be embarrassed to be seen among this small group on the streets. You can see their banner and flag. I took this picture from too far away because I was not sure what the reaction would be)

EU after 12 years (8): Muzeo de Egizio (The Egyptian Museum)

It is said that the Egyptian Museum in Turin is the biggest Egyptian museum outside Egypt. That was not the only reason I decided to see it though but here are a few things about this museum:

1) I realized that if you really want to see the majority of the displayed objects and read, learn and listen (as there are explanations through an App in English) and that's not what most of the visitors do, you need to have enough rest the day before and assign enough time. I spent nearly 03:30, if I'm not exaggerating and despite many things I saw and learnt, I think it was not enough.

2) I don't think the museums allow beverages or simply water but that would've help to do the visit much easier.

3) This museum despite being great and organized had a very little gift shop. There was a cafe as well. I checked both and nothing was much appealing to me. 

4) Be patient as people just take a few pictures and selfies and pass quickly. Download the app and listen, more than once and take your desired picture when everyone is left. 

Videos show locals helping the team of archeologists in their discoveries and ask for donation was shown on a screen

The museum has a lot to offer and I personally learnt a lot. It definitely worth whatever the admission is. I was dead tired after that and wasn't able to do much. I think I went somewhere with not much intent and then on my way back I got something for supper and that was the day! I remember a few years ago Egyptians asked a European museum to return their objects and I don't remember how it was settled but here as said earlier, thousands of objects are on display which were all found and analyzed by Italian archeologists decades ago and they seem not going back to Egypt. In fact one of the reasons many visit this museum is that they believe it saved them from the trip to the country, the heat and the filth that they would face there! 

(Photo, top: One of the many coffins on display in Muze de Egizio with full description which I don't have it here!)