garcias reunited...

As we write this entry, we are both sat in front of the TV, Kanootz busy flicking the remote control for any decent channel, and Joia commenting on the shows… we both are having a laugh because Kanootz has just made an interesting comment about late-night Italian TV programmes.

beautiful moon... Palazzo Madama

‘Angel vs. Devil’ he says about the channels. One channel would be advertising lewd services/products and the next will be a Gospel music concert. Flick it again and you know what you’re going to get. They even feel the need to have these so-called models advertise home furniture and grocery stores! Anyway… we’ll write as we recollect.

23 November 2007… Kheli wagged classes that evening to fetch us from Torino’s Porta Nuova station. We didn’t think he would mind, so we didn’t apologize. Wink! Well, the photos didn’t lie… he is TALL. He had to bend down to give us both a typical Italian hug…

kheli, kholeen, kanootz

Torino's new icon...

Piazza San Carlo

Sick of dragging our backpacks in and out of buses and trains, we hailed a taxi to take us to our home for the next 7-8 weeks. Kheli seems apologetic about the apartment, mentioning that it’s like Manila. The truth is, for a metropolitan dwelling, this 2 bedroom apartment isn’t bad for 3 people. And anyway, it’s so conveniently located. 5 minutes away by foot is a shopping mall, and beside it is a first-class gourmet food market called EATALY. Then around the corner is the local flea market – open everyday till 4pm. Then there’s another (albeit smaller) shopping mall right in front of the apartment building, and a grocery store behind it. Bus stops are also right in front of and behind the apartment. To go to the central shopping area is one bus ride away. The only downfall (and quite a major one, considering we’ll be here for a considerable amount of time) is that we can’t seem to find an SDA church nearby. No surprises there… this is Italy.

winter olympic housing

kholeen buying us biglietti for the bus

We told kheli not to tell anybody of our actual arrival date/time, to surprise the rest of them. It was so funny, kholeen rang later in the evening for kheli to meet her at the local grocery shop. kenneth went instead... she said she kept looking and thought she knew the guy next to him... then the next morning, when kanootz' mum & dad got home from work, kanootz opened the door for them. Minja (mom) & Pim (Dad) were... uhm... crying. It has been close to 7 years since they saw each other. sob! sob! drama della famiglia!

hot drinks @ cafe d'arte

apperitivo @ Cafe d'arte

Anyway, to give you all a little background on the city of Turin…

Turin or Torino (Italian) is the regional capital of Piemonte. It is encircled by the Alps and host to the rivers Po, Dora, Stura and Sangone. It has a vast area of parks and gardens, therefore considered one of the greenest cities in Europe… although of course in the winter, it looks much as one would expect of a continental city – GRAY.

piazzetta reale at day time

Castello Medieval by the River Po

Just as well, during the winter months, the city’s piazzas and streets are illuminated by art and fantasy, poetry and social themes, words and numbers, canvases and carpets, flowers and wheels, thus making the winter and Christmas atmosphere more magical. Luci d’Artista [Artists’ Lights] is a major ‘open-air’ museum project which started in 1998 and the only event of its kind in the world. Of course, there’s no use describing all these in words… so we took photos for all to see:

palle di neve up close

Luci d'artista: Palle di Neve

This first one is called ‘Palle di Neve’ [Snow Balls] by a lady named Enrica Borghi. If you take a closer look, you’ll see that the snow-white balls are actually made up of several (used) plastic bottles cut in half, the necks stuck into a polystyrene ball and the bodies hot-fringed with scissors to form a rose with transparent petals. A light bulb is inserted into each of these so that when placed side-by-side, the artificial flowers become luminescent crystals in a giant snowflake.
Next one is called ‘Tappeto Volante’ [Flying Carpet] by Parisian Daniel Buren. It is an unusual “gazebo” that supports a tightly-knit mesh of steel cables to which red and white or blue and white cube lanterns are attached and illuminated at night. It’s in Piazza Palazzo di Citta, Close to what is apparently the biggest open market in Europa.

tappeto volante [flying carpet]

Luci d'artista: Planetario

A favourite one, is by Carmelo Giammello (apparently a well-known name in the world of contemporary arts), which he calls ‘Planetario’. An invisible net hanging over Via Roma supports many different illuminated shapes representing various constellations: the Plough, Little Bear, Orion, etc. The other smaller lights are the thousands of stars that crowd the universe. It really is amazing...‘Luì e l’arte di andare nel bosco’ by Luigi Mainolfi is a colourful narration of a local fable about a crazy guy who managed to find the children who were lost in the woods... This lighting work on the façade of the Porta Palazzo market is called “Amare Le Differenze” [Love Difference/Diversity]. The artist envisioned his work to bring love wherever there is tension due to diversity. And quite fittingly, Porto Palazzo is the citta’s area with the highest concentration of various ethnic, religious and cultural groups.

Luì e l’arte di andare nel bosco

Love difference

It’s a beautiful city to stroll at night. Reminds us of Fiestas back when we were younger, except the bridges, building architecture and cobbled streets definitely make you know you’re in Europa. There’s even this musical fountain. It’s mesmerizing to watch… just watch out for dog poops on the grass. Haha!

musical fountain by Parco di Valentino

beautiful building along river po

More photos of/in Turin:

street vendor along via roma

illuminated statue (Vit.Emanuele)

illuminated people...

bagoong - Italian style

lighting decors at local mall

kanootz' new 'fro... like?

cute poser... not camera shy

a little arc de triomphe along vit. emanuele

On our first weekend, Kanootz’ family took us up to Basillicatta di Superga, a gig beautiful domed structure perched on the very highest hill of the city and historical home to the Royal Savoys.

Basillicata di Superga

As beautiful as it was, the Superga was no match to what was surrounding it, what no human being could ever make / build – the magnificent Montagne Alpine! What a sight! You could really stare at it all day. So sorry that the photos can never get anywhere close to the actual experience of being surrounded by it.

view from Superga

Ate (Filipino for big sister) Kholeen also took us around the shopping center. Jane would have loved all the shoe shops over here! Joia is salivating over stilettos and boots of all kinds! Fortunately for Kanootz, Jane has sent some money for Joia to have the pleasure of shopping for a few pairs in her behalf.

our Turin Family

this way please...

It’s been a bit tougher for us when it comes to exploring independently. Joia’s Italian… SUCKS! Boohoohoo! So we wait till the evenings and weekends when Kanootz’ Dad gets off work so he can take us around by car. Don’t worry, we do use most of the free day times productively – by SLEEPING! Or in Joia’s case, sewing (a hobby she’s just taken up after a crash course from Kanootz) new curtains for Kholeen and Kheli’s rooms and kitchen. Also, she’s been busy gift-wrapping tiny little presents for Kholeen to give out to her hubby’s family here in Turin (there’s more than a battalion of them!!!).

joia's new hobby

giftwrapping for kholeen

Slowly, we are getting familiar with bus routes, actually coming out of the grocery shop with shopping bags, etc. Still, it’s a lot better when Kholeen comes out with us. Like one time, she took us to Veneria Reale – a Reggia located outside the Turin City Center where the Royal Savoys’ 17th century palace and gardens are located and newly restored. It was so funny… we got there so late because we stopped to window-shop at nearly every single boutique we passed by. We were so late; it was dark when we got there, and anyway, it was close on Mondays. Oh, but it was so much fun! We even got to enjoy some hot chocolate drink in one of the boutique cafés / cioccolatterie. The people here claim that chocolate is from the Torinese and not from the Swiss. Does Ferrero or Caffarel ring any bells? Well, these are Torinese chocolate and confectionery companies. Oh, and we should mention that a hot chocolate drink here is not hot water with a spoonful of chocolate powder… rather, it’s half-a-cup of melted chocolate blocks (latte/nero… milk/dark) and half-a-cup of whipped crème! By golly, our diabetic genes had a temporary feast!
Anyway… we‘ll blog some more tomorrow… cause Joia’s found ‘The Purpose-Driven Life’ on Kheli’s desk the other day, and it looks like a good read...

road to superga

formaggi in asti

nearby castello di moncallieri

garcias reunited...

Turin, Italy