From Porta Nuova to Porto Palazzo: Downtown Torino

When I was doing housing paperwork before coming, I chose the rare option of living with a host student, so I didn't request any neighborhood to live in. When I didn't get placed with an Italian student, I randomly was put in downtown Torino, and I am so happy I was.

Out of all the USAC students living in the downtown area, I probably live closest to midtown. I am about a 10 minute walk to Porta Nuova, the new train station/one of the busiest metro stations. Once on the metro it takes less than 10 more minutes to the last metro stop Lingotto, and then another 10 minute walk to school. I can also take the 18 bus to school, but although more direct, depending on the time of day it could take me longer to get to school on it. Despite the shlep to school, I wouldn't change where I live. I'd much rather live in part of the city where there was always something to do at any time of the day then live conveniently close to school, but in a less exciting area. That being said, of course, there are pros to living in near school and midtown, and Erin highlights some of them in her post.

My favorite Piazza: San Carlo

Art installations outside Palazzo Reale

Downtown Torino includes palaces, piazzas, museums, porto palazzo (the huge open market), expensive and cheap shopping, multiple restuarents, bars (coffee shops), pubs, and clubs. The architecture around me is beautiful. I am also a close walk from the Po river and Valentino Park. I haven't even explored all of downtown yet just like I haven't spent that much time in the other areas like midtown and the school area (although my favorite kebab shop is in Midtown).  There are also a lot of streets in my area that are just for pedestrians and around 5 in the evening when work ends, people parade through them.

Po River

Piazza near my apartment

Roman ruins in Palazzo Madama

View from Palazzo Madama or Piazzo Castello

Marvelous Midtown

One of the things I was most worried about before coming to Torino was the housing situation. This is probably due to the fact that we were not told where we would be living prior to coming here. Anything unknown is usually a cause for worry, especially when going to live in another country. I had no idea which of the three areas of town (downtown, midtown, or near school) was going to be the best fit for me.

Here's the truth: no one area is any "better" than another. Each part of town has its own unique attributes as well as its own pros and cons. Torino is a beautiful (and huge) city with all kinds of things to offer to all kinds of people. I don't think I have heard a single person complain about the area in which they live. Props to USAC!

I was placed in the midtown area of Torino, so basically halfway between school and downtown. Actually, the downtown area is somewhat closer than school (about 2 metro from downtown and about 4 metro stops away from school). To get to school, it takes about 25 minutes. I can either walk to the nearest metro stop which is about 10 minutes away, or take the bus almost directly from my apartment to school. I usually take the metro, since the bus is not as consistent and I like to walk as much as I can (to burn off all the pasta). If the bus arrives when I actually want it to, the journey to school takes about the same amount of time as taking the metro. However, the bus has proved to be very convenient at times. I have found that bus 18 will take me nearly anywhere I need to go.

Overall, I really love the area around me. Yes, it does take a little bit of time to get to school, but we really are at a great half way point between campus and downtown. There is also a huge variety of businesses to choose from. There are several restaurants and retail shops in the area, as well as a few grocery stores and open markets. There are tons of great options for shopping on Via Madama Cristina; I actually found a great pair of boots for only 10 € while shopping there one night. There is also an awesome open market on this street where you can find a great selection of foods as well as clothing and other items at amazing prices.

Of all the great features this area has to offer, Valentino Park is definitely my favorite. I can't believe that such a beautiful park is literally just steps from my apartment. The park runs along the Po River and is quite a contrast from the busy city just over the hill. In this area you can see the amazing Valentino Castle as well as the Medieval Village, both of which are absolutely stunning. I actually walked down to the park just today to enjoy one of the first warm (ish) and sunny days since I've been here. iPhone photos don't exactly do this place justice, but for now I hope it gets the idea across!

Overall, wherever you live there will be positives and negatives. There can never be an "ideal" location in such a large city with so much to see! Every area has something amazing and unique to offer, you just have to get out and explore!

Ciao for now!

Erin

Carnivale!

Carnivale, also known as Mardi Gras, is celebrated throughout Italy with parades, masquerade balls, parties, entertainment, and lots of confetti, and even orange throwing. Speaking of orange throwing, we had the pleasure of experiencing first hand Lo Storico Carnevale di Ivrea where La Battaglia delle Arance (the battle of the oranges) takes places. Ivrea, a small town near Torino, is best known for this three day carnival where thousands of townspeople participate in nine teams and throw oranges at each other. One of the townspeople is elected the Mugnaia, who in the legend was the miller's daughter, who refused to spend the night with the local duke, and instead chopped his head off. The carriages represent the duke's guard and the orange throwers represent the revolutionaries of the tale. It is unknown why oranges are used considering the 270,000 kg (around 600,000 lbs) have to be imported from Sicily each year. Before oranges were used, they threw beans and then apples.

 

Visitors can't throw oranges from the crates, but can throw the smashed oranges on the ground at the carts. We were told that if we purchased a red hat we'd be safe from the flying oranges. This was not true. Many of us were covered in blood orange juice by the end of the day.

If you have the opportunity to go, do it! It was unlike anything else you could ever see or participate in. The carnival was completely free. The only expense was the 3 to 5 euro red hat that was supposed to be our protection. The streets also had stands of carnival pastries, including the warm nutella filled doughnuts called frittelli.

We are about to go to Venice to experience the end of their famous carnival. There are also many smaller carnivals happening all around Italy right now. The other night, I went to one in a tiny town close to Ivrea where elaborate floats circled around the streets, music blasted, and confetti was thrown everywhere. 

If you are here during carnival season, take the time to join in on the celebrations!

Ciao,
Hannah and Erin

Valle d'Awesome!

Ciao a tutti! Goodness this week has been busy! I finally have enough time to sit down and talk about this past weekend in Valle d'Aosta. As I said before, I want to take as much time as I can to explore local areas around Torino. If you're at all interested in doing the same, I would definitely recommend Aosta.

This small town is located about 68 miles north-west of Torino in the Italian Alps between France and Switzerland. If you want to see some amazing panoramic mountain views, this is the place to go. To get there, my group and I took two trains, one from Torino to Ivrea, and one from Ivrea to Aosta. The entire trip took about two hours and was well worth the journey! Our train tickets cost just under 10 € (round trip)

Aosta is, in one word, picturesque. With its cobblestone streets, colorful buildings, charming shops, and of course incredible views of the alps wherever you look, Aosta has definitely made my list of favorite places.

While small, Aosta is still packed full of sights to see. There is still evidence remaining from Roman rule throughout the city. Visitors can see ancient roman roads, town walls, bridges, and crypts. The valley is also full of ancient castles. 

Our group spent Saturday exploring around the city. On Sunday we decided we wanted to see more of the alps and do a little hiking. We found a tourism office near our hotel that told us to take bus 8 (near the train station, cost is about 2 €) to Cogne, which was about a 30 minute trip further into the mountains. Cogne is an adorable little ski resort town. That weekend there happened to be a cross country skiing competition going on, which definitely added to the excitement. We explored around Cogne for a bit, then took another short bus ride (about 10 minutes, cost was 1 €) a little further into the mountains where there was a hiking trail.

The area was absolutely beautiful. There was tons of snow but the weather could not have been more perfect (although much colder than Torino!). The trail was flat for the most part, and we were able to watch parts of the race at various points also. Words cannot really explain how beautiful it was! 

This was the perfect place to go for a short, inexpensive weekend trip. Including transportation, lodging, and food, I only spent about 70 €. I would definitely go back! As always, please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions or want more information! Ciao for now!

From Snow in the Alps to Snow in the City

So, I went skiing for the first time ever...in the Italian Alps! 

I wish I could say I flew down the mountain gracefully, but instead I actually only skied for 15% of the time, slid down backwards for about 20%, tumbled down for 10%, and hiked down for the rest. It was still really fun, the view was amazing, and definitely worth the trip. The trip to Olux was only 5.40 euros each way. If you ski, don't ski, snowboard, or just like the mountains, I would really suggest making the short trip up to the alps.

Then, today in Torino, it snowed! I went on a walk and ended up getting lost for about half of it, but it was so peaceful and beautiful out, it didn't matter. 

The Mole in the snow

The Po and the Gran Madre di Dio church

Piazza Vittorio

Getting from A to B

Ciao! I just wanted to take a moment to share a quick tip with everyone. Lucky for all of us here in Torino, this city provides a fantastic public transportation system. However, if you're as directionally challenged as I am, getting from point A to point B can seem somewhat daunting.....but don't fear!

The other day I stumbled upon Torino's public transit website (link provided below). The site provides all kinds of information about the public transit system and all it has to offer, including maps of all available routes. What I found most helpful on the site was the Journey Planner. This tool allows you to map routes between various locations in and immediately surrounding the city. You simply select your starting and ending points, and the site generates possible routes for you to take using public transportation (including the metro, tramways, and buses). As someone who has never used public transportation before, this is very helpful to me. I hope you find it useful as well! Arrivederci!

-Erin

Gruppo Torinese Transporti
http://www.comune.torino.it/gtt/en/

Learning How to Travel: Genova

Buon giorno! This weekend, my third here in Italy, I traveled to Genova with about 15 other people from my program. Although I would call the weekend a success, I learned a few things about the realities of traveling in a foreign country.

View from Palazzo Rosso

Genova is about two hours away from Torino by train. For Italy, the best website for finding trains is trenitalia.com. When I was first looking at tickets I found some on raileurope.com but I couldn't figure out how to purchase the tickets for the dates. So for me trenitalia was easier, but I would suggest buying your train tickets at the train station. The benefits of doing this is that you don't have to worry about printing out your ticket or conformation and you have the option to change your time of departure. One of my three roommates, Katie, and I thought about taking the 8:20 train, but instead we slept in Saturday morning. We got to Porta Nuova train station 15 minutes before the 11:05 train, which was about 7 euros more (the 8:20 along with many other times that day was only 11 euros). We decided the extra money was worth it because it was one of the fast trains that cuts travel time down dramatically. We get on the train thinking we could sit anywhere, and choose a random compartment (like Harry Potter!...most trains, though, have normal seating.) We soon realized there was assigned seating, but also that we ended up not only in the exact compartment but each of us in our exact seats.


Once we got arrived, we started wandering around looking for some of the others that had arrive earlier in the morning. We ended up running into our hotel and decided to go ahead and check in. The receptionist asked for our passports, the one thing I forgot to bring. After panicking for a few seconds, he told us that the hotel would accept a photo or photocopy. I called my roommate, who was still in Torino, who sent me a photo. About half the group of students booked rooms with NH hotel, while the other half booked a hostel. The hostel it turned out, wouldn't accept photocopies, so everyone that had planned on staying there moved to our hotel. When I booked a week in advance, I paid 20 euros for my half of a double. The price at least doubled for everyone else. Tip: Make sure to know the hostel's or hotel's policy. I think most places do accept photocopies, and regardless it is always good to carry a copy with you.

NH Hotels are all around Europe, Latin America, and Africa. It don't know how often they have deals as good as the one I found, but it is always worth checking. My room was really comfortable (coming back to my lumpy pillow in Torino was not exciting), the continental breakfast was delicious, and they had free wifi.

The only other "challenge," you could say, was food. For me this is hard, because being a lover of food means I want to try the best food for all the places I visit. If you go someplace for a week and have a kitchen, then you can probably find a cost effective way to buy food, but for a weekend, going out is obvious. Saturday night, we asked the hotel receptionist what her favorite restaurant was. It was a little cute place that graciously accommodated nine of us. It was 20 euros worth of amazingness. On Sunday, I was on hunt for pesto pasta, because pesto originated in Genova and there was no way I was leaving without trying it. My friend and I asked at an open market where we could find some, and a man working there offered to help us find a place. Most places were closed because it was Sunday, but after walking down a couple streets we found a restaurant happy to make us pesto pasta even though it wasn't on the menu. We also tried a lot focaccia and Ligurian white wine and it was absolutely wonderful for only 9 euros. You can find really good prices and ones that aren't the best for your wallet, but I think it is worth the splurge every once and a while. Tip: Ask locals where to go.

Why go to Genova and what to see:

There are many museums, palaces, and beautiful churches in Genova and because of this I bought a museum and bus pass for 13.50 euros. I only made it to one museum, but if you know for sure you are going to visit many places in the city, the pass is a good option. I went to Palazzo Rosso, which houses a variety of paintings and beautifully decorated rooms. What made it that much better, though, was the rooftop view.

The water! Saturday was a bit rainy and cloudy, but Sunday was such a clear and warm day. The water was sparkly and bright blue. Genova seems like a great place to visit in the warmer months, but I was happily surprised how lovely it was the first days of February.

Sunday we took a bus and and then walked to Boccadasse, a small town right next to Genova. The rock beach was full of families enjoying the weather. Colorful houses winded up narrow streets, and we walked up and down them seeing an amazing view at every turn.

Christopher Columbus supposedly was born in Genova and you can take a tour of his house for 3.50 euros. I'v heard that is isn't worth it.

There are quite a few places you can get a good view of the city. I went up the main one at the old port near the aquarium called Bigo. I don't think the 4 euros was worth it, but the sun was setting and it did make for a beautiful view. The aquarium is pretty famous, and even though I really love aquariums I couldn't imagine spending 20 euros to hang out indoors. If I went again though, I would definitely visit the Biosphere.

Boccadasse

View from the Bigo

If you interested in the program Erin and I are traveling with, USAC, here is the link: http://usac.unr.edu. This blog, actually, is counting as an 1-credit internship though USAC. USAC offers many different internships ranging from 1 to 3 credits in design to education to marketing. They offer a lot of support to students and try to engage you in the culture of the country as much as possible.

Discovering Torino

Ciao a tutti! I have been living here in Torino for about three weeks now and I can't believe how many things I have experienced in such a short time. There are so many things I want to share that it's hard to decide where to start! The one thing I want to mention first is how fast time goes by here. I'm realizing quickly how important it is to take advantage of every minute of every day. Four months seems like a long time, but it will pass you by in a heartbeat if you let it!

One thing that has definitely been a priority for me is exploring Torino. It is very easy to get so caught up in planning trips to other areas that you forget to take time to discover all Torino has to offer. There is a huge abundance of history, art, and culture available here in the city.

If you're interested in exploring what Torino has to offer, there is a museum pass available (at a really great discounted price for students) that allows access to a multitude of museums, royal palaces, castles, gardens, and exhibitions located throughout the Piemonte region. The pass is only 30 € for students and will easily pay for itself over and over. The pass can be purchased through InfoPiemonte, located in Piazza Castello at a the corner of Via Garibaldi. Be sure to tell them that you want the student yearly pass and bring both your student ID card as well as any document that contains your birth date (you must be under 26 to claim the discount). This is a really great deal for any one who wants to really explore the local area.

Since the Italian class is every week day for six weeks, it is difficult (and not really worth it) to plan trips very far from Torino. I think these six weeks are a great time to really get to know the city. Using my museum pass, I have already visited the Palazza Reale (Royal Palace of Torino), the famous Mole Antonelliana/National Cinema Museum (where you can see a panoramic view of the whole city), and the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi. I feel that the pass was well worth the relatively small amount I paid for it, and will definitely encourage me to see as much of this area as possible. I hope this is helpful!

InfoPiemonte will also give you a book containing all of the different sites the pass gives you access to (there are TONS), all located in and around Torino. The booklet also provides internet links for each of the attractions that will usually tell you the best way to get there. You can also visit http://www.abbonamentomusei.it/pages/Abbonamento_Musei/138 for more information about the pass or feel free to e-mail either Hannah or myself if you have questions! Ciao for now!

Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi (about a 40 minute journey from Porta Nuova)

Palazza Reale

Hannah at the top of the Mole

Mole Antonelliana/National Cinema Museum

Benvenuto!



Fruit stand at Porto Palazzo

Ciao, I'm Hannah Spiegelman. I am from New Mexico, but I am a sophomore studying at Goucher College in Maryland. I am a History major and Art History minor, so obviously I had to pick Italy to study abroad. You'll soon learn I love food most of all, but I am also very interested in photography, interior design, architecture, traveling as much as I can and experiencing new cultures.

Ciao! My name is Erin Wenham and I am a Business Marketing student at California State University, Chico. I decided to spend my last semester of college in the best way possible, studying abroad here in Torino, Italy. As a lover of photography, travel, FOOD, and new adventures, I can't wait to share this experience with you! I Hope you all enjoy it and find everything helpful!

View from the Mole

We'll include our own experiences, advice we learn, and helpful tips for students intrested in studying abroad.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions just contact us!