I did not expect to return to Torino. And yet I did, twice within 8 months! There was something about that city that hooked me. It wasn’t obvious but a very quiet elegance.
And sometimes that’s all it takes.
Torino feels different from the rest of Italy.
It is much composed and restrained. The long arcades, symmetry of the streets and the grand palazzi feel very Parisian. (I haven’t even been to Paris yet I find myself comparing.) Such details of the city makes Torino 10 times more sophisticated than other places.
I remember walking around the porticoes along Via Po– the street that seems to stretch to an uninterrupted straight line. There was something very comforting about that. Torino is a city you can walk in endlessly. And you should. It will enthrall you.
Trams pass quietly and seem like they belong to another time. Another era. It is all very beautiful and unrushed.
Torino is like that friend who is so glaringly gorgeous but is unaware of her own beauty.
And then the city is filled with gorgeous bars like Caffè al Bicerin, Caffè Torino, Caffè Mulassano, Baratti e Milano and many other places to eat. There are rituals like sitting down for a bicerin– a layered coffee, chocolate, cream combination with a secret ingredient that no one knows.
Bicerin is not something you drink in Torino, you feel it.
And then there is the ritual of aperitivo, invented in the city in the 18th century, which is especially more fun as per me at the many bars in Piazza Vittorio Veneto. Here the light softens and the city feels like it’s exhaling…..Underrated doesn’t even begin to cover it. You just have to experience it.
Torino is also full of sights to explore. There is so much to see. You’d be astounded! The Mole Antonelliana (the tall towered building in the picture above), standing tall and unmistakable offers views that make the entire city feel composed. The museums, some of the finest in Italy holding eons of history.
The fountains, the piazze and the bull heads scattered across the city are worth of every stop.
Did you know that the bull is the symbol of the city of Torino? It represents strength and power.
Only a short train ride away from the city is the countryside, the wineries and the lakes. I traveled to Lago d’Orta and took a day trip to Alba. Both felt like stepping into another rhythm altogether.
What stayed with me while visiting Torino wasn’t just the city but also the people I met. I made a few friends thanks to Instagram and someone who I just happened to meet on the app, slowly became the person I would carry into my life far beyond that trip. That friend hosted me at her home on the second trip and later flew down to India for my wedding!!
And sometimes I think would that have happened if I hadn’t gone to Torino in 2017?? If I had not logged in on Instagram that exact time my trip to Torino was being planned and spoken to her?
That version of Torino, the one I experienced, feels much different from now. Torino is now much more popular and visible. And while that is inevitable, I’m grateful I knew it when it still felt like a bit of a secret, before everyone found about it.
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