YA-25: Trip to Torino, Milano and Genova!

Ciao!

This is probably the longest time I’ve been without updating the blog for a while, sorry about that. After the Palio I did some travelling and then my sister came over to visit and, before I realized it, I was leaving Italy and was home again already. I went on holiday mode which means no updating the blog, so now I’ve finally managed to pull my life together (sorta) and get this post up. Enjoy!

The trip to the Triangolo Industriale – Turin, Milan and Genoa – was the last big getaway with Megan that I got to do before going back home after my Erasmus (*insert sad emoji here*). It was four days packed with a lot of trains, a lot of heat and a lot of walking, but also great food and new cities, so I cannot complain. Here’s what I got up to.

On Tuesday the 4^th we were leaving to go to Torino, where we’d booked an Airbnb near the station to act as a base for the four days we’d spend in the north. The trip was long but went absolutely fine. We got the train from Siena to Firenze SMN, where we managed to buy some lunch before hopping on the AV to Torino PN. It took around three hours to get there, but the AV trains are a dream: comfy seats, wi-fi and aircon – what more could you ask for? Once we got to Torino we made our way to our Airbnb which was just off the station and we dropped our bags. Jose and his housemates were really nice and the room was just what we needed so it was perfect! We then went out to explore Torino and go grab lunch. We’d been recommended a few places and settled on a salad bar called Soup&Go in which you can make your own salad for 5 euro. It was so yummy! On our way we started getting our bearings of the city and also discovered a contrada in Turin with flags and all – in the hip area actually, with a lot of artisan shops and nice restaurants. The salad bar was cosy and quiet and the salad was so big I literally could not finish it!

We then decided to explore the main sights of Torino, following my list (Megan is in charge of places to eat, I’m in charge of sightseeing #travelgoals). We first headed to Piazza Castello where the main palazzi are – Palazzo Madama and the Palazzo Reale di Torino. We took a few pictures and walked around under the sun (it was pretty hot). They were setting up a stage near the Palazzo Reale so we had a look at the performers doing their tests before heading to the Giardini. However, we had to pay to go in and since we weren’t really going to have much time in the city, we decided to pass. Instead we went down a quaint street on our way to the Duomo and bumped into a granite or Sicilian slushie shop called Vainilla and could not pass getting one each. Megan went for coconut milk and I went for figs and, let me tell you, it was probably the best granita we’ve ever had; the flavour was so intense and the consistency was creamy and perfect. We seem to always find the best places by chance! If you are ever in Torino, definitely pay them a visit! We then walked towards the Duomo and the small Roman park right next to it and the Archaeological museum. We didn’t go inside the Duomo but instead sat outside in the shade enjoying our glasses of glorious slushie. After that we traced back our steps and went past a few shops (got myself some more H&M camis because they were on sale…) and looked for Palazzo Carignano, where the first King of Italy Vitorio Emmanuelle II was born. On our way we discovered a beautiful church called Chiesa di San Filippo which had beautiful sculptures and adornments all over – it was quite a sight! It’s near the Egyptian Museum and the Palazzo Carignano, if you are ever close by. 

After that we decided to walk to the riverside and admire the Po and memorial up on the hill (we didn’t actually have time to get close though) and retraced our steps back to the centre to get some Moroccan aperitivo at Hafa Coffee. It was so good! I got some ginger and pineapple lemonade and we sat outside and enjoyed different types of grains and all the hummus and bread we could get while the sun was setting. We also had musical entertainment with a random dude who started singing along old hits to get some money, so weird. Eventually it started to look like it was going to rain so we walked back to the Airbnb trying to find a supermarket on our way so we could get a few things for breakfast. Who would have imagined all supermarkets would be closed at 8pm on a Friday… Torino, you let us down on that one. After a lot of googling and walking around we barely made it to a Carrefour before it closed and picked up some water and some food for the morning. We were knackered, but nothing that a nice shower and some sleep wouldn’t fix!

The next day we went to Milan. We got up pretty early to have breakfast and then catch the 8am train to Milano. We sat by the window and it was clearly a business people train because it was probably the most fancy one we’d been on in Italy. I mean, we were handed out the newspaper and some snack bags with water and madeleines and all! I slept most of the way and once we arrived in Milano Centrale (a massive and impressive station which was actually kind of hard to navigate) we went to the underground and got the M3 metro into the centre. First stop, the Duomo and Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle II.  We arrived just before the masses which was great, and were able to walk around the square and admire the outside of the Duomo. It is an impressive building (half covered in ads because of restoration work nonetheless), so it was pretty cool to see it in person. We also went to the Gallery and turned backwards three times while stepping on the bull’s balls for good luck! The Opera house La Scala was also nearby but we only saw the outside unfortunately, perhaps one day we’ll be able to watch a live performance… After those three monuments we decided to do some shopping (you just have to go clothes shopping in Milan!) and I managed to find a blue dress I’d seen the day before, but this time the right size!

After that we made our way towards i Navigli passing by the Colonne di San Lorenzo which are the remains of a Roman cathedral. We also saw a sweets outlet which was to-die-for. If only it would’ve been colder outside, I could’ve got more chocolate without worrying about it melting! I finally grabbed some Baci Perugina which were really good! Once we arrived in the Navigli quarter which is a hip area with canals that reminded me quite a lot of Amsterdam, we were surprised to see an Onda flag hanging off a window! So far from Siena, yet preparations and pride for the Palio still present! Here we met with Bea, whom I’d met back in Harrow House in Swanage during an English course in summer 2013. Who would’ve said we’d be meeting up in Milan? She is from Genova but studying in Milano so we had lunch together at this really cool Japanese and Brazilian fusion cuisine called Copacabana. We had “Brazilian sushi” while catching up on the last few years and it was lovely to see her again. She was also kind enough to give us some advice and recommendations for Genova the following day. 

After parting our ways we returned back to the Duomo to continue exploring Milan and onto Castello Sforzesco, which is an impressive sight. Michelangelo’s Pietà Rondanini is housed in the museum but I’d assumed we were not going to get to see it, so I was happily surprised to learn that we’d arrived just in time for the free hour slot – entry is free during the last hour of the day (4:30-5:30pm). I managed to complete the trio!

We then entered Parco Sempione which was massive and reminded me of Hyde Park with a lot of people walking around and playing sports, and the police riding horses, and crossed towards the Arco della Pace, just to get closer, not actually to it. It was super warm so we decided to run a few extra errands in a couple of shops we wanted to visit (including Megan’s own random photocall in the street) before catching the metro back to Milano Centrale. There we really struggled to find a place to get some food as Megan was sure she’d gone past Sapori e Dintorni but the station was so huge we couldn’t find it… Luckily enough we had an hour so we eventually found it and got some veggies with chicken and some fruit for our little dinner on the train back. It was a relaxing meal while watching the sunset from the train after a long day of walking under the heat, but I’d say we covered Milan in a day pretty efficiently!

On Thursday we were going to visit Genova or Genoa, so we got up and ready.  All was going well until the train leaving Torino was late to leave the station and we missed our connecting train from Alessandria by a couple of minutes. It was really annoying because we found ourselves stranded in that random small town for two hours because there were no other trains to Genova before that. It also meant we had less time in Genova than we’d planned, just because of a 15 minute delay. Annoying. Anyway, we reached Genova at midday and were quite hungry so we walked straight out of the station to find a place to eat, stopping by yet another Chiesa di San Filippo which was covered in gold and absolutely amazing (yet again, you just bump into the prettiest places without planning it). We settled for a very local looking bar that did a lunch menu and got some trofie al pesto and frittadina and ate way too much. Tummies full, we headed back out to explore Genova. We didn’t really have an itinerary and Genova is more of a maze than we’d anticipated, since there are so many levels, so we did a lot of walking around and getting lost. 

First up, was the Porto Antico with the Aquarium, la Biosfera and the old boats. The buildings are so, so pretty, Ligurian style. There is a rundown charm to them, all different colours. We decided to walk along the port towards the Lanterna and got totally lost and ended up in the middle of a high way… So Google Maps came to the rescue and after climbing some pretty steep stairs (Salite dei Sassi) we were back in the centre. We explored the main sights: Porta Soprana, Chistopher Columbus’ house, Piazza De Ferrari with the fountain and then towards Piazza Matteotti and San Lorenzo (which we didn’t go into). In San Lorenzo we ate some really good gelato and frozen yogurt as well as looked around a lovely artisan market before heading onto Via Garibaldi where the Palazzi are.  We walked along the street and admired the different palaces and listened to a really good busker before finding some stairs leading towards the Spianata di Castelletto. 

It took a while but we climbed all the salite and reached the top. The views were amazing so we sat on a bench and took it all in. We also started a conversation with an old man who suggested we tried the Old Wall next, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough time. We already had to give up the idea of visiting Boccadasse because we’d missed our train. Instead we went down the way we’d come from and found the gate at the end of the stairs closed. We panicked for a second and had to retrace our steps and find another way down until we reached the Galleria. It wasn’t a big deal though because the narrow streets were so quirky and beautiful; it was still nice to walk around. 

Since we had some more time to spare we decided to explore the narrow streets of the centre and got lost a few times. We bought some really good dry focaccia at a local bakery and then ended up finding the dodgy area of the town… We made it through and bought some food for the train journey back. All the houses and valleys in Liguria look so pretty, it was definitely one of my favourite regions.

Friday was our last day. We were only in Torino for the morning, so after packing up, we decided to go to the Museo Nazionale del Cinema, which is inside the Mole Antonelliana. We spent a good two hours and a half and I absolutely loved it! There was a lot of paraphernalia, interactive exhibitions, pictures and posters about all kinds of films and the filmic process, I really fell in love. The base of the Mole reminded me of Disneyland with the exhibition full of décor making it feel like you were inside an old movie. I was really glad we had the time to go, it was definitely worth it and you should go by if you can! We got some giandujotti chocolate and had some falafel for lunch near Piazza Vittorio before going to Piazza del Castello to get a last glass of granite to enjoy in the heat. We sat on a bench for a bit and, before going back to the Airbnb to grab our bag, we went into the Duomo to see the Sindone or Holy Shroud (which, turns out, was not actually there anymore, only some pictures). The trip back to Siena was fine but long; we made friends with a Kiwi couple, Hera and Harry, on their European backpacking trip and gave them a few tips for Florence and, despite our train from Florence to Siena being delayed, we managed to grab some food and eventually made it back at around 10pm.

It was a super exhausting trip, but I cannot believe the amount of things we managed to fit within four days. Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria. Milano, Torino and Genova, the three capitals of the Triangolo Industriale – check!

Alla prossima!

Zoe