Chiuso Per Ferie

"Closed for the Holidays." That's the story of yesterday and this coming week - my last - in Italy. The holiday is a sacred time for Italians, meaning that nothing can stop anyone from interfering with one's vacation plans. In many cases, people take all of August off to go on vacation, typically to southern Italy. For those of us left here, this makes it difficult to find places to eat or buy things. Fortunately for us yesterday, Lingotto was open and we found that there were some places to eat still open. But today is Sunday, so the chances of finding something are lower. Wish us luck!

Anyway, let's continue our journey from yesterday. There are some nice things to see around Lingotto, which is near the areas where the indoor Olympic events were held in 2006, as well as this park, which was the site of the Italia '61 exposition.

I couldn't find much on what the Italia '61 expo exactly was, other than that it was in Turin and commemorated the 100th anniversary of Italy's unification. The park runs along the Po river and seemed to be popular among those seeking a relaxing bike ride.

Here's the view from a pedestrian footbridge that I think is also used for marathons here in Turin. Across the river you can see the Lingotto area and some construction on the National Automobile Museum, which Fernando and I had previously tried to go to, not knowing it was closed for renovation.

At the south end of the park is the Palavela. This cool-looking building was originally built for the Italia '61 exposition, but was also the building used for ice skating events in the Olympics. It is closed for renovation now, as it will also be used for the World Figure Skating Championships next year.

Right next door to the Lingotto building is an interesting place called Eataly.

It reminded me of Ikea in style and layout, except with the furniture replaced by food. In the front there were a Trader Joe's-esque grocery, but in the back there was a vegetable market and a food court that confused the heck out of us. Each of the counters had a different theme (one was for cheeses, one was for meat, etc.), so we had no idea how we could sit down and have a regular meal. We were confused enough to just find a place to eat in the mall next door instead.

But this place was cool! Around the corner from the food court was an inclined moving walkway (which very much reminded me of Ikea) that led to a wine and beer cellar.

Again, wish us luck in finding something to eat today!