Beyond Fiat – Discovering Torino’s Beauty

Torino has evaded me for years, and as someone that has been living in Florence for the past 10+ years, that might actually make a bit of sense now that I think about it. For those of you who aren’t big Italian calcio (soccer/football/fútbol) fans, the arch nemesis of Florence’s Fiorentina, is the famed Juventus from Torino. I don’t know why exactly the rivalry has persisted for so long, but I do know there has been some serious beef between these two teams since the 1930’s! 

BUT

This isn’t a blog post about calcio.

The reason why I bring it up though, is because I’ve never once heard something positive about Torino living in Florence.

The only ways I’ve ever heard people talking about Torino are:

• Grey
• Ugly
• Polluted
• Industrial
  

Which now that I think about it is quite similar to the ways I’ve heard people talk about Milan, except for the industrial part – but I digress.

There appears to be a series of stories revolving around Torino, that have been passed around over the past decades by older generations (around the age of my grandparents), which today are unfortunately no longer accurate representations of the truth.

What is true is that Torino has long been a major hub of automobile manufacturing (often compared to Detroit in the USA), but these facilities have since either moved away from the city center, have diminished in size, or perhaps are no longer producing as much pollution as in the past.

The end result is that the Torino that I’ve heard about in stories simply doesn’t match what I’ve now seen in person – and I’m so excited to tell you all about my first experience.

As a travel photographer, my passion is seeking cultural enrichment, and capturing beauty in the details that often go unnoticed. So when I set foot in Torino, Italy for the first time, I admit my expectations were somewhat tainted by preconceived notions. I had been told that Torino was an industrial, grey city, but what I was about to discover was a stark contrast to this stereotype – a vibrant, culturally rich city with an atmosphere that enchants and an environment surrounded by the embrace of nature and neighbouring mountains.

Is it all fairytale views, manicured hedges and bei palazzi? No, it is not – but it’s also why I love it. Torino hasn’t been transformed into ‘Disneyland’ (yet) like many other cities in Italy, and to be honest – I really love it. Give me raw – give me real – give me Italy! 

People often ask me why I visit a place when I arrive. ‘Ma perché Torino?’ for example- not in a curious way – rather in a way that is surprised that I chose their city to capture; with so many other cities that they perceive as being more beautiful – as if I need to justify, for them, and for me, why it is that I have decided to explore their city and dedicate my time to it. I cannot tell you how many times I have captured a city, and have told people of the interesting sights and beauty I have experienced – only for people to be almost surprised – as if they had forgotten that there are actually interesting places and sites to see less than 1km from where they are standing. 

It’s one of the main reasons why I love what I do, and why I continue to be passionate about Italy, and Travel Photography in general. My work inspires people, and I’m not talking about foreigners who love pretty pictures. I’m talking about people who have been living in the same city their entire lives and have completely turned off their ability to see the beauty in front of their eyes. I have personally witnessed on countless occasions the joy that people feel when they realize that they are actually surrounded by beauty all around them. That all they need is a different perspective, and suddenly they are reminded of the value and allure of the place they were born, the place they currently live, or the place they have visited before.

The majority of messages I receive online, and in person, when people see the images I’ve capture of their city sound like this:

“I never realized my city was this beautiful”

“I never realized how many interesting views there are in my town”

“I’ve lived here for decades – I can’t wait to explore the places you have visited again with fresh eyes”

There is honestly nothing more humbling than hearing these sentiments from locals of the places I have visited.

This is a big part of the ‘why’ for me- regardless of the amount of photos I take, and how much art I will never sell – that I continue to love what I do. I love and am nourished by the feeling of changing people’s perception of the world around them to be a better, and more beautiful place. I want to create art that is a representation of this change in people’s minds – a positive reflection of their own inner beauty, and their willingness to connect with and appreciate the world around them in a variety of ways, from a variety of perspectives.

OFF WE GO TO TORINO!

I am currently working on the collection of prints for Torino, and I will announce its release sometime soon. If you’re interested in knowing when the collection is released, or to receive any other related updates regarding new collection releases, new blog posts, general updates, etc. – please subscribe to my newsletter 🙂

Day 1 – Booking placed for the next day

Time: 10:29pm
Length of trip: 4 days
Destination: Torino Porta Nuova

I wasn’t really sure of what I was going to find when I got to Torino, but one thing was for certain: I was excited.

Once I arrived at my AirBnB, my host helped me get acquainted with the neighborhood by giving me some advice – where to find a pastry shop, or ‘Pasticceria’, a market, a restaurant, and a place to grab a cocktail or a beer. I then set off to explore a little bit of the surrounding area to get my bearings before it got dark.

During this trip in particular I wanted to know what it would feel like to live in an area of the city where I was located- just outside of the city center. What would the mornings feel like? How about walking home at night? Would there be any local markets, local activities, or would it be mostly dead during the day?

I planned on doing a lot of walking the following days, so after I went to the market to get some essentials, and unpacked my stuff- I grabbed my Onewheel and headed out in search of a beer and some dinner. 

The neighborhood I stayed in is called Cenisia, which is a residential area once removed from the city center. My first destination of the evening was the craft beer place Toccalmatto, which was about a 12 minute ride away on my board taking Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. I quickly memorized the route and head out into the crisp winter air. 

Cruising through Torino’s streets I immediately felt the size of the city, as well as the diversity of sites and things to do there. Even though it was getting dark already, Torino definitely made me feel excited to explore and get lost in its diversity. 

Once I entered the historical center, I was immediately inspired by all the different types of Architecture, and felt grateful to see a variety of trees around. After about 10 minutes I arrived to Porta Nuova and I knew I was near the neighborhood of San Salvario. In order to not look like a total tourist, I took out my phone and mapped out the rest of my route on Google Maps, and started my trip placing only one bluetooth earbud in my ear so I could both hear traffic and get help from ‘Father Googleham’ in case I took a wrong turn 😉

 

Once I arrived at Toccalmatto I immediately knew it was precisely what I was looking for. Somewhere chill, both in regards to atmosphere, and the people working there. They had a good selection of beers on tap, and also a respectable selection of craft beers in bottles and cans- so I for sure knew I would be set for a few hours with a couple IPA’s happily plugging away on my laptop. After working on a mix of blog writing, and preparation for the shooting days to come- I ordered one of their sandwiches, had my second beer, and then headed back to my apartment for the evening. So far, so good Torino!

Day 2 – THE NEXT MORNING

Date: Friday, Jan 13

Since I had a specific objective for the day, I decided to walk to the nearest metro stop, Racconigi, so that I could get closer to the city center and take better advantage of the early morning light. After a few stops I got off at XVIII Dicembre so that I could take a few photos on the way to my first destination: Piazza Statuto.

It’s places like this that honestly are so mesmerizing to me. The headspace someone needs to be in in order to create something like Il Monumento al traforo del Fréjus is just so fascinating. Depending on how you’re feeling at any given moment the statues and entire scene will certainly make you feel it represents a variety of different things.

After leaving Piazza Statuto I was definitely ready for a cappuccino and a pastry so I headed towards a place nearby that stood out to me the most: Caffè Mulassano. I don’t know if it’s luck, experience, or a mixture of both – but I honestly can’t believe how I find places like this sometimes. It’s the kind of Italian coffee bar that is very unassuming, but when you enter it’s like stepping back into time.The place is very small, but the history you feel inside is unavoidable.  The ceilings alone made my jaw drop when I finally realized how amazing they were – which was just after I took my first drink of my coffee. Being the travel-introvert that I am, I didn’t any photos as it would have been rather intrusive, but I will certainly be coming back to this truly cool location next time I’m in town.

Next up on my journey was a jaunt through La Galleria Subalpina, which was honestly something I found by accident. It’s one of those places that’s surrounded by monuments – so it would be easy to miss, or not even realize that its there. When you do find it though, you know you’ll always want to take the same route to see it again. It’s this place in particular that I started to truly feel the French influence in Torino, and I absolutely loved it.

Exiting La Galleria Subalpina I headed out towards Piazza Carlo Alberto, which is a very picturesque place filled with magnificent facades of both the Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino, which in itself is amazing, but is overshadowed by Palazzo Carignano with its immensity, contrasting colors, and overall grandeur. 

What truly caught my eye in this plaza though was this sculpture in front of the Biblioteca, which depicts a girl reading a book, seated next to a pile of books, and a butterfly pouring coffee from a moka into a small cup. It’s not often that you see art like this, especially in front of such a prestigious library.

The Mole Antonelliana is one of those monuments that completely takes you by surprise. It’s also an example of a monument that completely dwarfs every other building in an Italian city. In Torino the Mole Antonelliana, which stands at 166 meters (~544 feet) tall, is massive. Originally designed to be a synagogue, the Mole Antonelliana now stands as what is believed to be the tallest museum in the world, housing Italy’s National Cinema museum. 

What I immediately found when trying to capture it at ground level was that it would be extremely difficult to do, due to the close proximity of every other building nearby. This is because there is no grand plaza surrounding it – it’s just there as if it were any other palace or regular building in the city- so I knew what I needed to do. I needed to get away from it, and up the nearest hill I could find so I could try to capture more of it.

Not that long after I was on an expedited mission towards increased elevation, I was of course distracted, again, by something that interested me: a statue called “Eco” by Marc Didou. Besides its striking physical appearance of two inverted faces screaming, if you lean close enough towards one of the mouths you can actually hear what Torino’s rivers joining into one sound like.

The Chiesa di Santa Maria del Monte dei Cappuccini is located just across the river from the center of town, with a nice walk up to it through some nice trees and a short hiking path. To get the shot I wanted, I knew I needed to hike up there. Once you get to the church there is an amazing overlook of the city in front, which is exactly what I was looking for. As you can see in the images here – the Mole Antonelliana is absolutely the star of the Torino show – besides the snow-capped mountains that surround the city that is – which in their own right are an amazing site to behold. These mountains, and the vicinity of nature to this city – once capital of Italy – are part of the reason why I find Torino so alluring.

Once I was finished with capturing Torino’s skyline, I headed downhill back towards the city center. On the way down I stopped in front of Chiesa Parrocchiale della Gran Madre di Dio (What a name!), which caught my eye as it looks remarkably similar to the Pantheon in Rome. This happens to me a lot while I travel, and is often why I prefer to not have a rigid agenda. Things like this just pop up out of nowhere, and sometimes my wanderlust kicks in and I’m off exploring something unknown for the next hour.

Instead of crossing Ponte Vittorio Emanuele I to head immediately back to the city center, I decided to take a walk along the river – mostly to see what the park was like, and if it was dog-friendly, but there also seemed to be some nice walking paths so I decided to check them out and take the long way towards where I wanted to have lunch.

I’m really glad I took this detour, as it took me quite a ways along the river, which allowed me to re-enter the city from a completely different direction. Once back in the city center I strolled through some interesting neighborhoods I for sure would have completely missed otherwise, which were filled some very interesting street art, and this one small street in particular had all these white circles on the pavement which was pretty cool.

My destination for lunch was the famed Piola da Cianci, which I had heard great things about after talking a bit to some locals on Reddit. No frills, local dishes, honest prices, and a chill atmosphere: it did not disappoint. It feels like where locals go for lunch during their work day to get a good meal without breaking the bank – I definitely felt like I fit in :). During my trip I ate there several times, and can really recommend it.

The rest of the afternoon I primarily focused on exploring some of the neighborhoods I came across, enjoying walking through the incredibly long covered walking paths called Portici. Did you know that Torino comes in second place in all of Italy for having the most portici? I think it is something like 18 kilometers of portici throughout the city – First place goes to Bologna, which has more than double the amount. Isn’t that crazy!? Both great cities to visit on rainy days ! 🙂

After stumbling upon this fallen tree statue (pretty cool right?!) I happened upon a neighborhood that made me feel confused, and that is because I honestly thought I entered suburbia in the United States. Huge, wide streets – individual big houses with yards. Kids playing in the streets, parks, trees – Sure, it’s still Italy, but let me tell you this neighborhood feels nothing like any of the other neighborhoods that I’ve ever visited in Italy. It stood out, in a good way – I just couldn’t believe for a second that I was IN Italy there.

After walking through suburbia, half expecting to run into a house surrounded by a white picket fence, with some old guy waving howdy neighbor- I headed towards my long awaited treat for the evening, countless steps later – Open Baladin.

Open Baladin has long been one of my favorite places to visit in Italy. The first location I ever visited was in Rome, and I’ve been to that location probably 10 times ( Considering I’ve now been to Rome more than 30 times, I think that’s pretty good ) . Open Baladin is Italy’s answer to the popular demand of craft beer – and great beer created in Europe. Is it a chain? Yes. Is it more expensive than going to a local craft beer place? Yes. Is it still worth it to go, because they have a great selection of beers, and have been my goto place to get amazing burgers ( sempre al sangue ) all of these years living in Italy? 100% yes. That said, what do you think I did when I got to Torino and found out there was a location there? Well, as the photo shows: I got EXCITED.

DAY 3

I woke up and discovered that the market next to where I was staying was in full bloom. Venders were selling everything from used clothes, fresh vegetables and meat- to Eggs. I point out eggs here as for those future readers looking at this – a bird flu occurred between 2022/2023, which killed over 61 MILLION egg-laying chickens in the US, causing the prices of eggs to skyrocket to ridiculous levels. Naturally, I shared this image with my family and friends, because when life hands you golden eggs you make an omelet because they’re 6 for 1 EURO in Torino. 😉

After having a bit of breakfast and a much needed cappuccino, I headed towards the subway, which I have to say was remarkably clean and well-organized. One thing that I can say about Torino is there is (in my limited-experience) great options for public transportation. There are buses, trams, and subways that will get you basically everywhere you need to go. Then again, for people like me who walk or have a Onewheel at their disposal- the possibilities are also, nearly endless. I imagine like many other Italian cities there are also problems with public transit from time-to-time, but at least it seems they have some reasonable back-up options available in the event that one service might have outages.

 

I exited the metro at Nizza and did a quick search around the area to see if anything out-of-the-ordinary popped up. Lo and behold – there was. What you’re looking at here is what is called il Portone del Melograno ( English: The Pomegranate Door ).

I know, I know – It seems a bit touristy, but hear me out – there was literally no one there, and this door is honestly pretty cute. I mean who thought of that? Props to you – I wish the door to my house looked that interesting 🙂 It gives off these “Carmel by the Sea fairytale cottage’ vibes – and I totally dig that.

I then headed out towards the neighborhood of San Salvario in search of some epic street art. Wikipedia describes this neighborhood as being hip, filled with coffee shops, music clubs – basically where all the cool kids hang out, and honestly I don’t blame them. This neighborhood is very cool.

One really interesting piece in particular was the ‘Before I die I want to’ wall. Imagine the entire side of a building that is covered with essentially a stenciled space for you to fill in the blank for what you want to do before you die. I spent some time reading a lot of what people wrote, and honestly it was pretty fascinating. Sure – there were a lot of things that people wrote that were really silly – or outright absurd, but there were also quite a bit of entries where people really wrote some heartfelt and even philosophical responses. I honestly thought it was a great idea – if anything as an interesting social experiment combined with art. 

Before getting to the park where I was headed, I also came upon this additional work of a woman’s face that honestly stopped me in my tracks. There is just something so calming about this work of art that is hard to describe unless you see it in person. How do these artists choose the placement of these murals they create? The colors, or lack thereof that they choose? The perspective that the facade of the edifice forces you to see until you arrive, almost like you’re longing to see more as you walk. If you haven’t noticed yet – I am a big fan of street art, and I love finding works like this during my travels. This one in particular was just such a surprise, as it has been added to an otherwise unassuming building at the entrance of a park, which I found really interesting.

 

 

For those of you who aren’t interested in street art like I am, meet my extremely friendly squirrel friend, that I named Pierre. I have never met a more photogenic squirrel in my entire life – but perhaps he just knew that he had never met a more capable photographer to capture his best. The world may never know the reason why we met – but here he is – Pierre in all his furry, and inquisitive glory.

This area of Torino is also where the Borgo Medievale is located. It’s essentially a meticulous reconstruction of a medieval village from the 19th century, complete with traditional houses, artisan workshops, a castle, and surrounding gardens. If you want to check that out more, you should explore for yourself 🙂

For me, I thought it looked really cool, but I also really enjoyed this installation just outside its walls. Things like this that exist, and also allow for nature to do its thing always gain extra points in my book. Art, museums, restaurants- you name it. If you built around existing nature, instead of cutting it down – or simply wanted to incorporate it into the design of what you’re creating – I automatically like you a lot more.

Afterwards I headed back towards the city center where I came across some interesting statues before heading back to Piola da Cianci for some more great food, and then back to my apartment so I could leave my gear and freshen up before heading back out for the evening.

After taking a break at the apartment I headed back towards the city center and started wheeling around where Torino’s famed Egyption Museum is located. As it started to get dark I started plotting out my plans for the evening I stumbled upon Piazza Carignano where I saw quite the unique site that I wasn’t expecting at all.

The installation here is called Le Cosmometrie di Mario Airò, also known as Le Luci d’Artista. I have to say this is quite the unique site as the ground of the plaza is covered with these geometric, illuminated glyphs that are projected onto the stones of the street. If you’re in town while they are on display – I highly recommend checking them out.

After spending some time in the piazza and checking out all the cool symbols I made a plan to head towards Birrificio Torino. I arrived a bit early, so when they opened I was the first person inside. All the workers there were really nice, and they even let me charge my board while I was there as well which was awesome. Before sitting down at the bar I decided to take a stroll around the place to check it out, and let me tell you this place is enormous, and very cool. Being the beer aficionado that I am I took a seat at the bar when I was finished and started chatting with the bartender who was kind enough to talk to me about the beers they produce and provided me with some of the largest beer samples I have ever received. Needless to say I stayed there for a couple hours before I needed to head to my next destination: some much needed food!

Another thing that I was really interested in checking out in Torino was their availability of Mexican cuisine. Seeing that I’m from California, and my partner is from Mexico – I knew having some great Mexican food available to us would be a solid selling point if we ever considered moving here. After doing some significant research I decided that my first experience was going to be at El Beso. Walking into the place, I could immediately tell that this was going to be a bit more of an mid-upscale Mexican dining experience. The decor was on point – exposed brick with some industrial elements, as well as some nice artwork all around the place. Taking a look at the menu I was pleased to see it wasn’t all Tex-Mex options – and to my absolute delight they sold (and had in stock, which is rare!) my beloved Negra Modelo, which is one of my all-time favorite Mexican beers and is extremely difficult to find in Italy. I ordered a variety of dishes- my favorites being some of their tacos – and the margarita that the server convinced me that I had to try ( Alright, it didn’t take much to convince me at that point ). All and all I have to say the experience was positive at El Beso – though I have to say I still do miss my cheap and good street-food-style tacos from Southern California that’s for sure!

Luck would have it, on the way home to my apartment for the last time I even stumbled upon a street called ‘Corso Stati Uniti’, which I honestly found quite fitting as I was missing home a bit while I one-wheeled back to the apartment, carving my way through Torino’s streets. 

The next morning I slept in and took a bit of a long detour back towards the train station, feeling honestly a little reluctant to leave. I headed to my now-favorite Torinese coffee shop, Caffè Mulassano, zig-zagged through the old town, and even headed back to Galleria Subalpina to again admire its remarkable beauty and calming French-inspired design.

Entering the train station I couldn’t help but feel that I had accomplished something great during my trip here. A further developed understanding and appreciation for Italian culture, a renewed yearning to explore and connect with new cities in deep and meaningful ways- all of which left me with feeling a true admiration and love for one of Italy’s great cities. Thank you so much for the wonderful experience, Torino. I promise I’ll be back and I honestly can’t wait to explore and experience even more of what you have to offer.

As you can imagine – this blog post took a lot of work to create. What did you think? Was any of this information helpful, or do you have any comments? Let me know in the comment section below 🙂

Cheers until next time,

– Scott