Travel from Torino to Milano

 Travel Day: Torino to Milano

THB and DB decided to do our internal travel in Italy by train. THB set the schedule of the train trips for the middle of the day so we didn't have to rush out the door early in the morning. And we would take express trains. In business or premium seating. 

The Principe di Piedmonte Hotel was great: the suite was ideally laid out to overcome jet lag, the staff was very friendly and helpful and accommodating. A great experience and not just post "Covid" great. At around 9:30 we ventured out to get sandwiches for the trip. We our lunch on the train, at Archivio Negroni and finish up in the Magna Pars hotel in the late afternoon. 

The Torino train station was less than a 10 minute walk from the hotel. The train was on time. The business class car was just us and two other guys, spaced as far apart as possible, all of us wearing masks. 

Worked really well today with one small exception. Milan was hotter and muggier than Turin and we had planned a visit to a museo near the train station. Not near enough: with our roller bags and additional small carry-on bags, it took about a half hour instead of 10 minutes. Later that afternoon THB started feeling sluggish and slightly warm, just like in Hawaii. Temperature related? THB thinks so.

The Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano consists of the private collection of the Stefanos and a few works by Ms Stefano. It was on the 2nd floor and we needed help from someone on the bottom floor on how to work the elevator. Worked great until we made it to our floor: we couldn't figure out how to open the door (elevator was maybe circa 1920, and maybe serviced last in 1960. 

To say the place was musty is probably to paint it too generously. The rooms were small, the paintings maybe needed to be dusted off, the lighting was glaring, and some of the staff appeared bored or angry, or both. While we were there only one other couple made it to the second floor. We learned that the city helped fund the Museo and got help from the Stefano family's foundation. Attendance is free. 

First 3 paintings are Boschi and Stefano

Stefano

Morandi - bottles

Fontana

Fontana

In the style of Louise Stanley

next 3: de Chirico

Another Fontana: holes instead of slashes

Boschi di Stefano

It took something between 10 and 20 minutes to have someone (ANYONE?) help call us a taxi. Once the connection was made the cab showed up promptly and off we went to Achivio Negroni. No, this was not THB's idea of exploring how a Negroni came to be his fave cocktail.

Archivioni Negroni is just what it says: Edoardo Negroni was an engraver and metalsmith who used his tools and talents to make very small to large pieces, starting his own company in 1958. His daughter, Eliana Negroni, now in her late 50s, has kept the shop functioning and periodically making a piece upon request in the style of her father. Since the products can be reproduced, there are a lot of molds and models that her father made, hence the "archive" is still an asset for requests to fashion a new piece. 

Eliana is a member of AJF and makes her own jewelry and carries pieces made by local Milano artists. She gave us a tour (it's a small shop, maybe 10 or 12 machines in total), showed a video of the process, and then we talked art jewelry. 

the majority of the entire hotel is given over to Zencon0

We taxi to the hotel, around $30. This tells us that from the hotel to the train station in a few days will be more like $50. Milano has a dense inner city full of small one-way streets and thus most cross-city traffic is done my maneuvering slowly in a large circle on slightly larger streets. We could take the metro except during Covid we are reluctant to be more exposed.

All white all the time

Magna Pars l'hotel a Parfum is extremely modern, situated in an old perfume factory. How modern? Even the guy showing us to our room can't quite get everything to work from a touch screen built into the wall. There are shades on the inside of the wall of windows, there are shutters on the outside wall of windows. There are lamps, lights on the ceiling, there is a fan, there is the a/c, the TV rotates from bedroom to the living room. All in white. 

4 closets with 3 hangars each

Le coup de grace: the room number is embedded in the floor. 

Dinner? First we visit the ESH Gallery, they have an exhibit of glass work because this week and next are big glass design shows all over town (and thus months ago it was not easy to find a hotel room). The gallerist recommends Morna, around the corner from the hotel, 

Negronis accompanied by snacks at Morna. 

Dinner downstairs at Magna Pars: ice cream for THB and DB with all the fixings, $20.