Door Series #20

Introducing Baustelle!

The finale act of the Independence Day concert was a trio called Baustelle. This was the first time I have ever heard of Baustelle, and what a treat it got to be live. They have not one but two lead singers, a girl and a guy. They played so many instruments, one moment sounding like an opera and the next moment 70's rock. Also add to that recipe some classic Italian love songs and a dash of electronic rave.
If you like to find new music all the time like I do and you don't mind hearing it in other languages, check out these vids I posted, you could be the only kid on your street rock'en out to Baustelle. 

Viva Italia!

 April 25th in Italy is Liberation Day, La Festa della Liberazione. April 25, 1945 was the day when the Allied troops finally were able to liberate Italy from the Nazi regieme. With this year's 25th falling on a weekend and people already here to see the Shroud, thousands of people were in Piazza Castello today. We only went out into the masses once and that was to watch a bit of the concert while we waited the long line at our favorite gelatoria.

 We should be able to hear the concert, as it goes into the evening, from our window. One of the perks of living in the city center.

Pier ordering our gelato from VANILLA, the best gelatoria in Torino. Flavors include pear and red wine, cinimmon and apples, and caramilized figs and ricotta. YUM!

It's the Little Things

This is an American garbage collection truck:

This is an Italian garbage collection truck. It's almost cute! I guess we have smaller trash here....

Door Series #19

This door I found in Santa Margahrita in Liguria by the sea.

Weekend Market Finds

About Italian Men

One or two things about Italian men....

They carry bags:

They think that the words "Romantic" and "Rock" go together.

They wear every kind of hat ACCEPT baseball caps.

They have no problem with public displays of affection.

Signs of the Thaw

Signs of spring around Torino...

So many fruits, enough to make a berry tart within an apple tart.

Street preformers.

                                                Convertable tops.

                                                                   

Weekend at the Sea

As I mentioned before, we spent the weekend in the beautiful Italian Riviera. The weather has quite a multiple personality disorder which made it cold one minute and warm the next but it did make for some dramatic pictures.

 

 There was a bicycle race that went thru town on Saturday morning but the riders were going so fast that I only captured this much:

   Many of the apartment buildings have painted tromp l'oeil details on them unique to this region of Liguria, Italy. 

                          Jolie enjoying the sun...  

                                                                                  

Crash

Brief setback...
Apologies for the shortage of posts but my computer crashed and I had to reinstall many programs and recover all of my photography.
Now we are off to the spend the weekend at the sea and I promise to come back with something fabulous!
Baci!

Italian Spring Markets

Behind these gates I found a fabulous market...

Bags galore!! SIGH,  A little piece of heaven.

Waiting To See the Sindone

The line of people waiting in the rain to see the shroud. The line stretched from the church into the near by park.

http://www.lastampa.it/

The Shroud is Out!

Once every 10 years the Shroud of Turin, the believed shroud that covered Christ in his tomb, comes out of it's ornate holding trunk and is displayed to the public for 1 month. Today is the first day it is out since the last showing in the spring of 2000. When this happens the worlds media and about 2 million people come to Torino to sneak a peek. It should be an interesting month, this brings out the devoted as well as the crazies. It also brings out the heavy security, everywhere I look there are men in uniform. Here are a few pics I took of the opening with the Bishop of Torino coming to be the first visitor. Notice the paparazzi snapping shots!!

Una Film

They were filming again in Torino today. This time a 20's period crime film. I was fun to see everyone in costume but taking smoke breaks and chatting on their cell phones. These are all the pics I could get because then I got scolded for being to close to the action... 

Waiter, My Red Wine is Fizzing!

Something I never knew existed until I moved to Italy was bubbly red wine. It's not quite as fizzy as champagne but has just a hint of fizziness brought about by a second fermentation. It still tastes like a red. It's not sweet, it's bubbly red wine and I love it! Next time you go to the wine store give it a try. Ask for vino rosso frizzante. ("Frizzante" is fizzy in Italian). Cin Cin!

Door Series #18

It's amazing what you find when you decide to take a few different streets on your walk home.

On another note:

That's Happy Easter in Italian.

12-Stop Shopping

In Italy there really is no one-stop-shopping. Instead you go to the salumeria for salami, focacceria for focaccia, pescheria for fish, macelleria for meats, and pasticceria for cakes and sweets. But recently I found a new one, the rosticceria, in the roman quarter of the city which is the oldest part of Torino. The rosticceria's speciality is roasted chickens, yum.

The chicken shop is right next to this charming paneteria, for bread, who has this unique window full of Easter eggs in a way I have never seen before.

The roman quarter is also full of buildings with faux painted tromp l'oeil, which I love.