We spent a fun/relaxing week in Torino (Turin) - a great chance to dive into Italian culture and lifestyle. Very walkable city, with a mixture of working class neighborhoods and many quite opulent buildings. It's not necessarily on anyone's radar as a tourist town, which makes it an authentic way to start to get to know our new environs.
Turin is located in the Piemonte region of Italy; it sits along the Po River (longest river in Italy) and its foothills serve as the gateway to the Italian Alps. Architecturally, it feels a lot like a larger Swiss city (Geneva, Zurich), but it looks a little more lived in...Some claims to fame:
Torino was the first capital of the newly-formed Kingdom of Italy from 1861-1865 (after centuries as separately-ruled entities, the various city-states of current day Italy were finally united during the Risorgimento (or "resurgence");
Torino is the headquarters of Fiat Group Automobiles (one of two main subsidiaries of Fiat Chrysler) and the site of the Shroud of Turin, which is only occasionally unveiled for actual viewing (the museum displays a replica year-round); and
Torino hosted the 2006 Winter Olympic games, and is also home to soccer powerhouse Juventus F.C. Oddly, the team is nicknamed the "Old Lady," even though Juventus was the ancient Greek god of youth (hence the word "rejuvenation").
But perhaps Torino's greatest claim to fame is its role as the birthplace of the aperitivo, brought to the world in 1768 by the creator of vermouth, Antonio Benedetto Carpano. Aperitivi are the drink of choice for Italians as part of the pre-dinner ritual, and include all types of cocktails that use, for example, Campari or Aperol: the Spritz, the Americano, and the Negroni are just a few.
The Torinese take pride in their native cocktail, and we have quickly joined them in their enthusiasm - in the cocktails as well as the pre-dinner meal.
Pro tip: As good as the aperitivo is, look for bars offering an "apericena" ("cena" means dinner) - the apericena is the aperitivo x 10 - if you find the right place, you can basically get a quality buffet dinner for the price of your drink. Compare the delicious-but-only-partly-filling aperitivo on the left to the delicious-AND-filling apericena on the right. BTW, great apericena available at Inside Restaurant and Bar in the Quadrilatero Romano neighborhood.
