A day in the life - Torino, Italy - Jan 21, 2006

As far as I can remember, this is the first time in my life (not including holidays and weekends, of course) where I wake up and think to myself, what would I like to do today, not taking in consideration anyone else's plans. The days are absolutely wide open for me to build as I wish. With this freedom, comes the difficulty that the majority of the people around me don't speak my language. We are traveling on budget, so I need to be creative with my activities. And transportation is not easy.

Let me tell you how we have come to know the transportation system in Torino. There are two stories that will paint the picture well.

The second day Tommy and I were in Torino, we decided to take the one and a half hour train ride to Cesana, the mountain town where Tommy will be working during the Games. We wanted to check out the scene and start asking around for work during the Olympics for me. We went to the train station early in the morning, found the schedule, bought the tickets for the next train using the automated machine, and went to look at the board which tells you which track your train will be arriving. Upon looking at the board of times/tracks, we noticed our town was not listed. This was odd, as we had the tickets in our hand, and were to be departing in about 20 minutes. After a few minutes of asking around, we found the 'information center' and the women told us our train was canceled due to the "strike" in the little English she could muster up. "Strike?" we said to each other. Does it mean the same in Italian as English? The answer is yes.

Eventually we talked to someone who told us that the strike ends at 5:00, and then we could take the 5:15 p.m. train to the mountains. This of course lead us to the question, is Torino really ready to host the Olympics in a month? The main transportation to the venues in the city and the mountains are by tram and train. And they randomly go on strike? Not a good sign.

About a week later, we were immobilized by a second strike during our time here as we were waiting for a tram to go into the city center for dinner. There are taxis, but I can't imagine they can handle the influx of tourists/Olympians that will soon be here.

My first day of exploration in the city after we returned from the mountains and Tommy started work began like this. . . I opened the map I had of the city to the hotel manager where we are staying, and pointed at the hotel location and Piazza Castello, the city center where the Olympic medal ceremony will be held. "Bus 14," he said. That sounded simple enough.

I find the stop for bus 14 having no idea the direction I need to go, and ask a women next to me, "Biglietto?" looking very confused. I show her on the map where I need to go. She opens her bag, and gives me a ticket. How nice, I think. I at least know how to say Thank you in Italian.

She then decides to take me under her wing and leads me to the bus, which I am just hoping goes in the right direction. We go about 4 blocks, she takes my hand, drags me off the bus across the street (while still holding my hand) and we get on bus 10. This wasn't part of my instructions, but I decided to go with it. About 5 minutes later, at another stop, she takes my hand again, pulls me off the bus, we cross another street.

By this time, I am a little skeptical about where she is taking me. On the bus, she showed me a picture of what looked to be like her daughter and pointed at me. Not only do I look like a Costa Rican, but also Italian. She was speaking A LOT of Italian to me, and all I could do was shake my head, "No comprendo," hoping it means the same in Italian as Spanish. Either it doesn't, or she really didn't care. She kept talking.

At the third stop, there was a woman standing there, and I asked desperately, "do you speak English?" She did. Thank goodness! I told her where I was trying to go and she said she was going the same direction, so I could follow her. I thanked the other woman who waved and was on her way.

Loredana, soon became my friend, and we ended up meeting for aperitifs (wine and appetizers) a few days later. She was as excited to have an American friend who spoke English as I was to have an Italian friend who spoke English.

Going back to the hotel later that day, I tried to take the same route, still confused, and needing help. I eventually found my way back, and had spent about 3 hours going from one side of town to the other.

That is transportation in Torino. I must say it has gotten a lot easier, now that I know I can walk 20 minutes to the tram, which is about a 30 minute ride that goes directly to the center, and I don't have to change buses/trams.

My soon to be sister in law emailed me the other day asking for us to describe a typical day. At the time, which was a little less than a week ago, I could not say. We had been moving around each day from hotel to hotel between Torino and Cesana and had stayed at a total of five different places in five nights. That in itself is exhausting! We moved to our current "home" about a week ago (a hotel near the Olympic village which we are paying for because unfortunately, I didn't have the credentials to get in the Olympic village where Tommy had a room). Like I said, it took some time to figure out some of the basics including moving around, finding internet, doing laundry, etc. I also spent some time emailing contacts we had met in Cesana, updating my resume, cover letter, etc. After a few days of no replies, probably because I could only write the emails in English, I decided to research language schools. I am excited to say I will be starting classes in Florence this Monday for two weeks. I will also be taking a few Italian cooking classes, which I am very happy about, Tommy is too!

I feel I can now write about a semi-normal day for me in Torino, which actual means today, because nothing about Torino has been typical. For Tommy, it is different, as this is his 6th day of work. Although, he will tell you his experiences are far from typical as well.

8:45 Woke up, but didn't jump out of bed because it is a lot warmer under the blankets.

9:00 Rousted out of bed while Tommy was getting ready to leave for his day. Went to the café downstairs for a very good cappuccino and a not so good nutella croissant. The breakfasts at our hotel leave a little to be desired. I read my book while having breakfast because I can't exactly pick up the local paper. I have been doing a lot of reading. . . in parks, on the tram, at lunch, waiting for laundry, at more cafes, etc.

10:00 Back to the room to pack my bag for the day, i.e. computer, book, map, and camera and to bundle up with my coat, hat, scarf, gloves, and Ugg boots.

10:30 Walked 5 minutes to a dry clean/laundry place. This is where I first went to try to do our pillow case full of laundry, but after I saw the prices (a pair of pants was 2.50 Euro) I asked for a self-service laundry mat in my own kind of sign language, which has gotten me by pretty well. The nearest laundry mat was about a thirty minute walk, so I had decided to take a taxi as I was carrying a pretty big load. That was my first laundry experience in Europe. I was back at the expensive place today because Tommy only has two pair of pants. He was wearing the pants when I did laundry before, so it was worth it to me to make a special trip and pay a little extra for one article of clothing.

10:45 Back to the room, because I didn't want to carry Tommy's pants around the city.

10:50 Walk to the tram stop along the Olympic Village, which unfortunately is not a scenic area of town. I walk by many police, volunteers, construction workers who are all still working to get ready for the Games.

11:10 Arrive at the tram stop and fortunately, there is no strike! I hop on.

11:40 I go to a café that is across the pedestrian street from the Mole Antonelliana. I order a Panini classici with pomodoro (tomatoe), mozzarella, oregano, and olive oil and a cappuccino. I sit at a table near the window so I can people watch, a very fun pastime. A tour group of children have just left the Mole Antonelliana, which houses the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. A young couple passes by on a bike (the girl is riding on the handle bars.) I spend some time journaling, including writing the above, and just observing.

12:45 I decide to go to the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in the Mole Antonelliana which is 167 meters tall. There is a high speed elevator that takes you to the top (see attached picture.) I have to say though; it was a pretty smoggy view from the top, unfortunately, and I couldn't get a very good picture. You can't see the nearby mountains. However, the trip up was entertaining. There were films displayed through the glass elevator walls. The film industry would really be lacking if it wasn't for Hollywood. There were many American movie displays including Jaws, Gremlins, Jurassic Park, Superman, etc.

2:30 I walk to a nearby internet café. Decide to go ahead and post this entry, I have gone on long enough!

I can tell you what the rest of the day looks like. After the internet café, I am going to walk 20 minutes to the train station and try to buy my ticket to Florence for tomorrow. Then, it looks like on the map, I can take the path along River Po most of the way back to our hotel. Probably about an hour walk, but it's a nice day and I could use the exercise. A few days ago, I ran along the river while my clothes were drying at the laundry mat, and it was quite nice. I should get back around 5:00ish, and will meet Tommy either at the hotel or Bar Alexander, the meeting place for the ONS staff. We have plans to celebrate my birthday tonight with a nice dinner and I'm sure will go out afterwards with our ONS friends. I will be hanging out with fellow students for my actual birthday. I have come to accept that this is not the year for traditional holiday and birthday celebrations, which is a small price to pay.

rb