Refurbishment Update 09 Feb 2006
by marco2005
All the city is spotted by works made to give a sleek image of itself.
It is almost done... Square Piazza San Carlo is ready to be fully opened to the tourist just in time for the Olympic Opening.
The Metro has opened 4 days ago, and closed 2 days ago (just for maintenence, some trouble with the electric power system)
The main avenue are reopened to the traffic giving some relief to the locals (in 2005 there were plus then 1500 work on the roads of Turin!!).
And where the works are unfinished, were covered by red curtains in Olympic style. So nowadays you will see a lot of red boxes mushroomed in the city.
In the other pic, an update view of Piazza Vittorio, and the work for another undergound parking.
Piedmontese Language
by ant1606
Although Italian is the official language, Italy is a relatively young country (unified in 1861) and the various regions within have their own tongue. Some of these are considered dialects while others are languages.
Piedmontese is a written Western Neo-latin language listed on UNESCO's "Red Book of Endangered Languages". My grandparents took Italian at school as a second language, and I still grew up with Piedmontese as the normal conversation tongue of my parents.
Due to the "Italianization" of the country, it is declining although still widely spoken in a variety of forms. Even Piedmontese had to be "unified" into a koine' common exchange language understood by people throughout the region. "Occitano" and "Franco-Provenzale" dialect families are in fact quite different to each other.
Known to derive from the early languages spoken by Ligurian tribes (from the Iberic Peninsula), it was later integrated with Celtic, Latin and some Arabic words. It has today some similarities with Catalan and Gaelic. I was surprised to find out with Irish friends about words in common, such as:
Conij (rabbit), "Conhin" (not sure about spelling) in Gaelic
Drugia (manure) from Celtic "Dru" (fertile)
Balma (cave) from "Balmein" (high stone)
Bealera (water stream) from "Beal" (water stream)
Brich (peak or high ground) from "Beal" (hill)
Bisa (cold wind) from Bis (pungent)
Some words from Arabic with identical meaning:
Taola (table) same as "Taula" in Arabic
Portogal (orange) same as "Burtuqal"
Carador (aisle or hallway) same as "Karadur"
If you visit Piedmont and speak Italian, don't be surprised if you hear something that sounds similar to French. You're listening to Piedmontese. And, don't be surprised if towns 20 km apart from each other have a different tongue!
I'm fluent with the both the Turinese form and the version spoken in the Canavese region.
Other resources:
http://www.biellaclub.it/_cultura/piemontese/index.htm
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_piemontese
OLYMPICS 2006
by Onedragon
WELL I HAD ONE DAY IN TURIN /TORINO.. SO I WANTED TO SEE THE PLACE WHERE THE SHROUD WAS AND SEE IF I COULD CATCH AN OLYMPIC GAME IN THE TIME I WAS% THERE. WELL..BUMMER..THE CAB DRIVER TOOK ME TO ONE LOCATION IN TOWN AND THERE I FOUND OUT THAT THE TICKETS WERE SOLD OUT FOR THE EVENTS GOING ON RIGHT THEN...SO I ASKED WHAT ELSE WAS GOING TO HAPPEN AND THEY TOLD ME A HOCKEY GAME WAS AVAILABLE FOR 114? TO 220 ? EUROS.. RIGHT AWAY I SAID YES..I WILL BUY...THEN I ASKED WHAT TIME AND THEY SAID 8 O'CLOCK THAT NIGHT..MY HEART SANK AND I REALIZED MY PLANE WOULD GO BACK TO VENICE AT 6:50 THAT NIGHT..SO I FOUND A PLACE AT LEAST TO BUY GIFTS FOR ME . .WITH THE TORINO 2006 EMBLEMS..
Summer Nights in Valentino
by Jetgirly about Cacao
In the summer, Cacao in Parco Valentino is the place to be. This huge open-air disco is built like a Roman Ampitheatre, with tables and chairs sloping upwards and a large dancefloor below, in the center. There is a chupito bar for cheap shots of rum followed by pear juice. Admission is free with a minimum drink purchase. Lots of stairs! And lots of fre parking at night! Dress to impress in shoes that you can walk up stairs in.
I wanted pasta but ate a wonderful sushi....
by Marina27se about Arcadia
Located inside the Galerie Subalpina, this restaurant is distinguished by its original mix: regional specialities sit side by side with sushi. Among the Japanese specialities, you can choose from: sushi, makimono/roll, sashimi, wasabi, saké and Japanese desserts. The sushi was so so so wonderful. The waitres was so helpful and made the meal even better.
Sign in with Facebook
Abbonamento Musei
the best bruschetta
Bronze statue
How Palazzo Madama used to look like
