Turin Travel Guide
7/02/2008 at 2:00 PM
Tags: Italy Travel, Music Festivals, Green Travel, Summer Travel (all tags)
Last July at Turin's Traffic Festival, Daft Punk and Arctic Monkeys put on performances that we would've paid good money to see. But we didn't have to because it's been free since its inception in 2004.
This year from July 7-11, the event line-up of punk, trip-hop and electro performances, cinema and contemporary art will not only be free, but also green. And to accommodate all the happenings, the fest is expanding from the main stage in Turin's Parco della Pellerina to include the Arena Civica in Milan and other smaller venues around Piedmont.
Check the event schedule before you go to avoid showing up at the wrong venue and looking like a music fest rookie in front of your friends. Besides, you'd be kicking yourself if you missed the Sex Pistols' first-ever Turin performance along with Brit punks The Wire. Others headliners not to miss include Patti Smith, Tricky, Afterhours and Justice.
--Courtney Scott
Related Stories:
· Traffic Festival [Official Site]
· Music Festivals coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: What's On Torino]
by Jaunted
3/27/2007 at 11:05 AM
Tags: Trains, Death (all tags)
You might've heard that overnight train travel in Europe is occasionally risky, but this is the first time we'll tell you that taking the train in northern Italy can have serious health consequences. So, for that matter, can going on holidays.
It's all about Ferdinando Borelli, an old Italian guy who took a holiday recently. On the trip back from Savona to Turin, he had a heart attack (quietly, we presume) and sat dead in his seat. Other passengers presumed he was asleep. It seems even the ticket guys didn't want to disturb him, because he traveled between Savona and Turin six times before cleaners tried to wake him up and couldn't. That's why holidays and train travel are bad for your health. But then again, so's staying at home.
[Photo: Maximolly]
Related Stories:
· Last Journey Was Dead Long [The Sun]
· When Death Takes a Holiday [Jaunted]
by amandak
2/27/2006 at 10:05 AM
Tags: Torino Olympics 2006 (all tags)
The Olympics are over, and it's time for all of us to put those lowcut spangled TV-watching outfits away for another four years. But before you do, check out the Washington Post's hilarious awards for Olympic Oddities, which include "Venues That Sound Delicious" (Cesana Pariol, anyone?) as well as some good Johnny Weir quotes:
Gold: "I never felt comfortable in this building. I didn't feel my inner peace, I didn't feel my aura. Inside I was black" (after finishing a disappointing fifth in men's figure skating).
Silver: "I could very likely wake up and feel horrible, like Nick Nolte's mug shot" (before skating his long program).
Bronze: "I dragged myself out of bed, had my Starbucks, put on my self-tanner and went from there" (after winning the national title last month).
Via Althouse.
by johnrambow
2/24/2006 at 12:35 PM
Tags: Olympics (all tags)
You doubted us when we told you the
Cheburashka would destroy all opponents, but here we have exhibit A: After dismantling the Canadian hockey team Wednesday, most of the Russian team in the above photo is holding a Cheburashka. Not only are they vicious little fellas (the Cheburashkas, not the Russian hockey team), but they're breeding.
If the Russians win today, the entire Olympic Village will be infested with these monsters. Keep your eyes peeled; they'll be here before long.
Related Stories:·
The Russians Are Coming [NY Times]
·
Mother Russia [Jaunted]
by AVB
2/23/2006 at 10:10 AM
Tags: Olympics (all tags)
Phew, enough of that serious Olympic coverage--back to the parties.
Those wrascally Russians aren't just exercising "
face control" at some of the better clubs in Moscow these days. No, they're keeping a tight lid on who gets into Russia House at the Olympic Village. Parties there are the
hot ticket, according to the NY Times.
We appreciate that "Please, I'm Russian" has replaced "I'm friends with the owner", but the Games also a serious case of Russian merchandising fever. Clothing manufacturer
Bosco di Ciliegi is selling bunches $270 sweatpants with "Russia" written across the ass. The Russians have even come up with their own mascot, one that looks like it would enjoy feasting on the snowy flesh of Neve and Gliz, Turin's mascots for the games. It's named Cheburashka (pictured), and it will destroy you.
How can you tell that Russia House is the hot scene of the Games? Why, Johnny Weir made an appearance there two nights in a row, in his beaver and python skin coat. Thanks Johnny--you're Jaunted's new cultural barometer.
Related Stories:·
Russia is Red-Hot [NY Times]
·
Jaunted's Olympic Coverage [Jaunted]
by AVB
2/22/2006 at 2:40 PM
Tags: Olympics (all tags)
The two-man luge should have tipped us off, but it turns out that Turin is not only famous (now) for the Olympics, but for being the most
gay-friendly city in Italy. After the Games, the city will be host to a gay sports extravaganza in March and a pride parade in June. We're not sure what a "gay sport" is, exactly, but if you ask anyone from Boston, they'll tell you it involves Alex Rodriguez.
Why is Turin so gay-friendly? Being the one of the least Catholic cities in Italy helps. Still, there's work to be done: While the Mayor of Turin welcomed the festivities, he asked that organizers make themselves scarce during the Olympics.
We think the mayor's focus is misdirected. Did anyone else see Sasha Cohen's outfit last night?
Related Stories:·
Turin's Other Claim to Fame [SF Chronicle]
·
Jaunted's Olympic Coverage [Jaunted]
by AVB
2/21/2006 at 11:50 AM
Tags: Olympics (all tags)
More on why Italians seems less than enthused about their Winter Olympics. It's beyond grumpiness, but could it be called a
conspiracy?
Not a Mulder and Scully conspiracy. More of a
Mean Girls conspiracy. Some Turinese are speaking up to accuse other Italians of not hating the players but hating the Game(s).
They claim that it's because of the Italian spirit of
campanilismo, which translates to showing more support for one's city than one's country. So, the Turinese say, Romans and the Milanese aren't being supportive of Turin's Olympics.
Italy is also having tough times politically. Their embassy in Libya was burned down by angry protesters after a right-wing member of Italian parliament ripped open his shirt during a session to reveal a t-shirt with the famed Danish cartoons of Mohammed on it.
At least we know that passion lives
there.
[Image via Kevin Hutchinson/Flickr]
Related Stories:·
Turin Competes for Italy's Attention [Toronto Star]
·
Jaunted's Olympic Coverage [Jaunted]
by AVB
2/20/2006 at 11:35 AM
Tags: Olympics (all tags)
What if the citizens of a host city of the Olympics
ignored the games entirely? In what may be a preview of Paris 2012 (or New York 2016), the Turinese (described as reticent so many times you'd think their mouths were glued shut) don't seem all that happy about hosting the Games.
Olympic Games are meant to be a window into the character of a host nation, and homemade flags and municipal pride rumored to be in relatively short supply in Turin. The mascots are an ice cube and a snowball, after all.
But it's not that the Turinese don't care. It's that no one will be able to do nationalism quite like the Americans in Salt Lake 2002 Other nations don't always show their pride with synchronized dancing and flag-waving. Maybe the understatement in Turin is
exactly the kind of national pride the Olympics needs.
Related Stories:·
Speak Up, Torinese [FT]
by AVB
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