A chocolate festival (2-11 March 2012) in Milan's kissin' cousin: Turin

Like chocolate? What a silly question.

From the 2nd to the 11th of March, 2012, in the downtown Piazza Vittorio Veneto of Turin, Italy's chocolate capital, there will be the "Cioccolatò" fair of chocolate....More......

Lots of stands, more than 6,000 different products, and "Spalm Beach"--complete with lawn chairs--where you can relax, taste, and even be massagged with chocolate. (Why "Spalm"? "Spalmare" means to spread...what everyone loves to do with one of Italy's favorite chocolate treats, Nutella, a spreadable mix of chocolate and hazelnut paste...though I can't say I've ever taken to it, Italians go nuts for it.)

Why Turin? Because the city has a loooooooonng love affair with chocolate, beginning with the cup of hot chocolate offered in 1560 by the duke of Savoy, Emanuele Filiberto, to the city to celebrate the transferral of his dukedom's capital from Chambéry to their town, now full of caffés offering this marvelous stuff (it's like hot chocolate pudding...are you salivating, yet?).

Turin is a wonderful city with a long and fascinating history. The pre-Romans were called Taurini (perhaps meaning "people from the mountains," though the symbol "taur" was rendered by the head of a bull, a "toro"), while Romans established a military camp there in the first century B.C. to protect their northern borders. In the early Middle Ages, the city bordered the lands of the Franks, while the association with the Savoy line popped up in the Romanesque period. Love history? Turin's official newspaper, the Eco di Torino, offers some info in Italian with handy pre-fab buttons for Google Translator, which gives you a rough idea of the text in rough English: http://www.ecoditorino.org/augusta-taurinorum-origini-e-storia-del-capoluogo-piemontese.htm.

Want to know more before you go? Turin smartly offers a wide range of official tourism info in English (yeah!), including maps, hotel info, traveling info, museums and events, history in a nutshell, WiFi, etc.: http://www.comune.torino.it/canaleturismo/en/. They also have an official city web site in English (yeah!), with practical information, particularly for English-speakers living in the city: http://www.comune.torino.it/en/.

I can't resist recommending at least two museums: the Egyptian Museum (Museo Egizio, look under "Egizio" on the tourism web site's page dedicated to museums), one of the most important Egyptian museums in all the world, second only to the one in Cairo, and the museum in the historic Mole Antonelliana dedicated to movies (look under "Cinema" in that same list). Even if you're not a great fan of the history of the movie industry, the spectacles of the exhibits are great fun in and of themselves.

Wanna go? Want the skinny? It takes from one to two hours on one of Italy's national train service (Trenitalia) trains, depending on the service chosen. Cost? Reasonable. For a one-way second class ticket on the 1 hour train, it's currently just under E. 35.00(ca. $50), while for the 2 hour train, it's only about E. 11.00 (ca. $15.50). You can check the schedules and buy tickets on their website in English (yeah!), and chose to print out the ticket on your own printer. You can enter these city names in English or in Italian (Milano, Torino), but remember that usually only the more well-known cities have an English version, in case you want to go somewhere else, too: http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD.

A "heads up"...Turin, like many other Italian cities, has more than one train station. Sometimes the train stations are dedicated to services belonging to different companies (national and private). Sometimes the city is big enough--as in Turin's case--to warrant two stations. They're often signaled on the web site and in printed train guides only with their initials. Oh man...which one to choose?! For other cities, try Google maps. For Turin, get off at the P.N.--for Porta Nuova / New City Gate--station; it's the most central one. Once there, get a map, and walk. The heart of downtown is small enough so that you won't need to take public transportation if you don't suffer from mobility problems.

Enjoy!

Neo-Romanesque fun on via Boscovich

Like a bit of fun kitsch now and then?...More......












How about a lizard gargoyle, or two?












Head off to via Boscovich 32, and what I'm thinking was the Milanese headquarters of the French movie company, Pathé, at the turn-of-the-century.

Reminds me of the Berri-Meregalli palazzo by Arata (1911-1914) on the corner of via Mozart and via Cappuccini. He's the same architect also responsible for the original early 20th century design for the Stazione Centrale...before the project got stalled and was modified before being realized.

I snapped these photos with you in mind this morning around 9 A.M.-ish.

Enjoy!

Nation-wide strike of local train services, tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 17

The Italians fear Friday the 17th as we do Friday the 13th.

And there's going to be more public transportation strikes, tomorrow. Is it a coincidence? Maybe and maybe not.

They will last part of the day, and vary in times from area to area.

Here's what the official national train company, Trenitalia, has to say about service during strikes (it's in English, yeah!): http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=4e0f331438dea110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD.

In case you read Italian, here's the page (only in Italian, booooo!) on the Trenord local train service for northern Lombardy about their guaranteed trains during strikes: http://www.trenord.it/it/assistenza-e-diritti/treni-in-caso-di-sciopero.aspx. Wanna try your luck on getting an English-speaking operator? Their toll-free help line is: 800.500.005.

Free organ concert tomorrow evening, San Babila

Like organ music? I do.

There'll be a free organ concert held in San Babila (Piazza San Babila) by the Fondazione Organo of the basilica tomorrow, February 16, at 8 P.M. It's their first concert of their 2012 season. Maestro Matteo Venturini will be playing.

Every time you visit a church in Italy for anything other than strictly religious purposes, find the maintenance ("mantenimento") and/or restoration ("restauro") money boxes, and be generous.

The churches you are visiting as if they were museums have cleaning staff and electric bills to pay.

Plus, San Babila needs a new roof.

Have a heart.

Enjoy!

Still snowy and C-O-O-O-O-LD in Milan

The snow of a number of days ago is lingering a lot longer than usual because of the unusual cold (worst winter weather in about 30 years is the televised rumor going around). Going outside feels like stepping into a freezer. Milan has been spared the worst, so I'm really not complaining. Within a few days, the streets and sidewalks were mostly clear, though there's fluffy white (and grungy) stuff piled up on higher surfaces, on the parks and along the road sides.

Here's a gray day snap of the chilly stuff piled on top of some of the information totem poles scattered throughout the Sforza Castle grounds.

May I brag a bit?

I did the English translations for these!

Enjoy!

Handy Helpful Hint: validating your bus-tram-light rail tickets

I see lots of people, Italians included, suffering through their first exposure to these tickets with the magnetic strip, so I thought I'd give you a helping hand, especially for those not used to taking public transportation.

On the bus, tram and light rail ("passante") tickets used in Milan there is a stylized arrow pointing in the direction in which the ticket needs to be inserted into the machine, whether the direction is perpendicular to the ground, and away from you, as is the case with the subway, or--as in this case--straight downwards in front of you (light rail uses both kinds).

Where's the arrow? Look to the left hand side of the ticket in my hand; it's also pointing in the direction of the much more visible ATM logo.

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

:>

Rainy Sunday

Weatherman had said clouds.

I took him at his word.

And got stuck out and about...More......

...without an umbrella.

Silly me.

(No complaining, though; the rain is light...have beret, will travel...and we need it badly.)

Doing a 'light painting' while snug, dry and warm on a tram headed for home on a chilly Sunday after a cozy morning at a local library with a nice friend...who even fixed me lunch!

Enjoy!

To not forget: train track 21

Track 21, Central Train Station, Milan.

Chilly winter morning, January 30, 1944.

600 Italian Jewish men, women and children packed into train wagons.

Destination: Auschwitz....More......

There are so many sites and pages dedicated to the Holocaust (or denying the Holocaust), and it is not always easy to discern the underlying motives of the authors. I tried to find a widely respected, authoritative and disinterested source for basic information: the Britannica encyclopedia, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/269548/Holocaust.

Reliable chronologies help to frame events in context.

Italy's racial laws were passed on the 5th of September 1938, but exportations took place only after the first fall and return to power, heavily assisted by (some say a puppet of) the Nazis, of Mussolini. The German occupation of Italy and the Republic of Salò dates to September 1943.

On January 30, 1944, six hundred Italian Jewish men, women and children were taken to track 21. They arrived in Auschwitz Birkenau on the 6th of February.

Within a few hours, 500 of them already were gassed and burned.

A memorial dedicated to the victims has been begun on track 21 (binario 21) in Milan's Stazione Centrale, though the progress creeps along as funding permits. The website dedicated to the project has a chronology of the events in Italian. [The single page in English has unforgivable errors...why, oh why, do companies and associations resist using capable native speaker translators? Translating a couple of pages, at least for an overview (which needs to be written with the foreign reader in mind, and not be "merely" a translation of the Italian text) will cost no more than about a hundred bucks. A word to the wise is sufficient.]

The panoramic chronology on "Historyplace.com" tends to ignore Italy, but does present a German-centered framework: http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/timeline.html. (As you can see for yourself on the page dedicated to the site's authors, the site was born out of the study of letters to and from an American airman flying missions over Germany. While it's true that the principal authors were closely related to the family in question, it's also true that they are historians with college degrees, and were assisted by another historian. Nevertheless, it's always good to keep your thinking cap on.)

Why this message on this site, and why today?

This site is dedicated to Milan, a city I love, and though I tend to present its positive aspects (there already are enough complainers around us and on the web), today is a day for remembering.

To not forget.

To not repeat.

Photoless Friday: Affordable Art Fair Milan, February 2-5

Intrigued by contemporary art, and have a secret desire hidden by a shy wallet to buy and collect?

Superstudio più's Affordable Art Fair Milan is for you...More......

Affordable Art Fair Milan, via Tortona 27, 2-5 February 2012

Thursday 2 February 11:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M., Art&Flames Night Event 6 P.M. - 10 P.M.

Friday 3 February 11:30 A.M. - 8:30 P.M.

Saturday 4 February 11:30 A.M. - 8:30 P.M.

Sunday 5 February 11:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.

It promises a good selection of contemporary art pieces from E. 100 to E. 5000. (And since the pieces are contemporary and most probably by little, or lesser, known artists, the national cultural patrimony laws won't prohibit you taking whatever you buy out of the country...something always to keep in mind when shopping for art.)

But you have to fork over E. 13 just to get in.... (it seems ridiculous to me to pay for the privilege of giving someone more money....).

Nevertheless, it should be challenging and exciting to see what's bubbling in the newest of new art markets (as I presume there'll be lots of younger unestablished artists offering these affordable prices).

I'm still undecided (it ain't just the money...O.K., it is partly the money...it's mostly a dig-in-my-heels disgust at having to pay in order to pay...), though I've been yearning to go (this surprised little miss non-contemporary-art me) ever since I saw the first ads.

If you go, let me know what you think. (They also hold these Affordable Art Fairs in London, Brussels, New York, Amsterdam, Melbourne and Singapore.)

In the meantime, it's a good place to remind you again (ad nauseam?) that I get no kickbacks of any kind--not even a stick of chewing gum!--for my reviews and comments.

Lifted directly from their web site is the following:

SUPERSTUDIO PIU'
Via TORTONA, 27 - MILANO 20144
Tel. +39 02 422501 - Fax +39 02 475851
e-mail: info@superstudiogroup.com


HOW TO REACH US
SUBWAY: Green line MM2 P.ta Genova or S.Agostino
BUS: Lines 47- 59 - 68 - 74 - 90/91
TRAM: Lines 14 - 29/30
LINATE AIRPORT: Bus 73 to S.Babila + Red line MM1 Cadorna + Green line MM2 P.ta Genova or S.Agostino
MALPENSA AIRPORT: Malpensa Express train to Cadorna + Green line MM2 P.ta Genova or S.Agostino

For more info (yeah!, they have pages in English), see:

http://www.affordableartfair.it/content/bigliettie_info?lang=en

and

http://www.superstudiogroup.com/index.php?disp=conta

Enjoy!

Photoless Friday

Already Photoless Friday, again, whew!

Run, before it closes on Monday the 30th of this month, the photographic exhibit of the "manimals"...More......

...of Guido Daniele ("manimali" comes from the conjunction of "mani"/hands and "animali"/animals), the body painter who does the extraordinary animals painted on hands, or other kinds of body painting (for example, for the Mueller yoghurt commercial).

The exhibit is in the "Chiostro dei Glicini" (Wisteria Courtyard) of the Società Umanitaria nestled into the Renaissance ex-monastery of S. Maria della Pace on the corner of via Daverio and--where the current entrance is at n. 48--via S. Barnaba, behind the "Tribunale" (Milan's central courthouse).

The exhibit, open "every day" (though one has to be careful in Italy, this often means "except Sunday") from 10 A.M. to 8 P.M., has been mounted to bring to the attention of the public and Umanitaria's students (generally reasonable fees, folks!) the theatrical make-up course that will be offered there, and for which Guido Daniele has promised to teach.

For more information about the course:

Accademia Professionale di Trucco Artistico di Gabriella De Michele
tel. +39.02.579.68.379
formazionedemichele@umanitaria.it

Upcoming strikes and traffic blocks

It’s prohibited to the driver to speak.

Liberalization may, or may not, be the right medicine for the Italian economy overall, but in addition to the recent taxi strike, other sectors also are striking in protest: trains, local transportation, planes, ferries, trucks, gas stations, pharmacies and lawyers.

Need the scoop in English?...More......

Thursday and Friday, February 26-27, 2012:

TRENORD: the train service in Lombardy principally in and out of the Cadorna station that includes the Malpensa Express light train to and from Malpensa Airport. For further information (probably only in Italian): 800-500-005 (toll-free from inside Italy).

--“RFI” network: strikes from 9 P.M. Thursday to 9 P.M. Friday. Certain principal trains guaranteed only on Friday from 6 A.M. to 9 P.M. and from 4:30 P.M. to 7 P.M.
--“FerrovieNord” network: strikes—INCLUDING THE MALPENSA EXPRESS in and out of the Stazione Centrale—from 9 P.M. Thursday to the end of service on Friday (midnight?!). Certain principal trains guaranteed on Friday from 6 A.M. to 9 A.M. and from 4:30 P.M. to 7 P.M.
--Some lines will be modified, rather than cancelled, on the 26th (in Italian): http://www.cronacamilano.it/wp-content/uploads/cronaca/21235/modifiche-treni-giovedì-26-gennaio-2012.pdf
--Some lines are guaranteed on the 27th (in Italian): http://www.cronacamilano.it/wp-content/uploads/cronaca/21235/treni-garantiti-27-gennaio-2012.pdf


TRENITALIA: the governmental train service covering all of Italy. For further information (probably only in Italian): 02.89.20.21 (if that doesn’t work, try it without the “02”), 199.892.021, 199.30.30.60 (this latter only for disabled passengers). Some, or all, of these numbers may be fee-based.

--Strike from 9 P.M. on Thursday to 9 P.M. on Friday
--Their standard page about essential services in case of a strike (in English!): http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=10caf6923cdea110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD


FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

ATM-Milan’s urban transportation system: strikes from 8:45 A.M. to 3 P.M., then again from 6 P.M. to the end of service (midnight?!).

SHIPS, FERRIES AND PLANES: Pilots, stewards, stewardesses and personnel of Alitalia-Cai and Meridiana Fly, as well as in the airports of Roma Fiumicino and Roma Ciampino. More precise information about ships and ferries was not specified.


CURRENT

TRAFFIC BLOCKS TO COMBAT POLLUTION. Beginning January 23, the situation is complicated by local traffic blocks due to high smog levels. For this, see the web pages (usually only in Italian, sigh) of each city involved. How to find the address? They usually follow this formula: http://www.comune.citynameinitalian.it, ex.: http://www.comune.milano.it.

Heading to Milan? Here are the cities in the “Hinterland” (Milan and surrounding small cities) involved: Abbiategrasso, Albairate, Assago, Baranzate, Bareggio, Bollate, Bresso, Carugate, Canegrate, Cassano d’Adda, Cernusco sul Naviglio, Cesano Boscone, Cesate, Cinisello Balsamo, Cologno Monzese, Colturano, Cornaredo, Corsico, Inzago, Lainate, Legnano, Locate di Triulzi, Magenta, Melegnano, Milano, Motta Visconti, Novate Milanese, Peschiera Borromeo, Pioltello, Robecco sul Naviglio, Rozzano, Segrate, Sesto San Giovanni, Settimo Milanese, Vanzaghello, Vimodrone and Vittuone.

TRUCKS transporting goods of all sorts – in progress, they generally park/go painfully slowly on important roads and highways essentially blocking traffic for everyone


NEAR FUTURE

PHARMACIES – February 1st

LAWYERS – February 23-24

GAS STATIONS – on and off, three days at a time, TBA


…in short, it’s a moment to thank the Cosmos that one didn’t give in to the temptation to move out of Milan, or at least to the far flung suburbs, to *try* to save on rent….


If you read Italian, and want to check the sources for yourselves for further info (downloaded Wednesday, January 24, 2012, facts not checked):

http://www.cronacamilano.it/cronaca/21235-sciopero-treni-milano-26-e-27-gennaio-2012-orari-corse-garantite-infoline-per-passeggeri.html,

http://www.cronacamilano.it/cronaca/21243-blocco-traffico-hinterland-milano-dal-23-gennaio-2012-elenco-comuni-aderenti-e-info.html,

http://www.cronacamilano.it/cronaca/21238-sciopero-atm-milano-27-gennaio-2012-orari-e-corse-garantite-linee-urbane-ed-extraurbane.html,

http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2012/gennaio/23/fermano_taxi_poi_Farmacie_Calendario_co_8_120123021.shtml,

http://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/cronaca/articoli/1034974/sciopero-tir-il-governo-basta-blocchi-manifestante-travolto-e-ucciso-da-un-camion.shtml

Wordless Wednesday

:>

"The fog comes on little cat feet..."

The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

("Fog," Carl Sandburg, 1878-1967)

Taxis waiting next to the Cadorna station...yesterday

Taxis waiting at Cadorna's side exit, mid-morning yesterday.

Don't expect to see them waiting, today.

There's a national taxi strike, today, from 8 A.M. to 10 P.M....More......

Arriving in Milan's Linate Airport? Take the Linate Express, bus X73, E. 1.50, Monday-Friday, 7 A.M.-8 P.M. For the price of a regular bus ticket (E.1.50), in about a half an hour it goes nonstop to Piazza San Babila at the other end of Corso Vittorio Emanuele behind the Duomo. On normal (non-strike, non-trade fair) days, there are taxis at the stand, there, waiting to whisk you to your destination. The general area is well-served by bus, tram and metro.

Arriving at Milan's Malpensa Airport? Take the Malpensa Express: http://www.malpensaexpress.it/en/index.php. It's a fast and easy "trenino" (little/light train) that costs only E. 11 one way. Some are nonstop, some stop at a few places along the way. Some get into the Cadorna station (in the general area of the Sforza castle, so still quite central), some now get into the Stazione Centrale. At both, taxis usually are waiting just outside all exits...but not today. From either train station, bus, tram and metro transportation is easy to the rest of the city.

New to town, and worried that the tram, bus, metro (subway) and "passante" (urban light train) indications on your map may be old? Have an iPhone? Then you're in luck. There's an app for checking Milan's public transportation system, see my: http://mymilanitaly.blogspot.com/2011/06/photoless-friday-16-got-smart-phone.html.

A word to the wise is sufficient...no matter how tired and frazzled you are, do not give in to the temptation to take a pirate taxi.

How do you know?

If someone comes up to you furtively, whispering "taxi, taxi," you can be sure it's a pirate taxi.

These are private individuals working under the table without licenses, without safety controls, without training and without insurance.

I think you get the picture.

Good luck!