June was a busy month for Torino. Not only did lectures at university end and exams begin, but it seemed as though something new was going on every weekend around the city. First up was the International Street Food Parade in Parco Dora. Parco Dora itself is actually a really neat place. It used to be the site of both a Fiat and a Michelin factory until they both closed in the 1980s. An urban renewal program sought to revitalize the derelict space and created a park still showcasing large columns and the old roof of the factory. This particular weekend, the space was packed full of pavilions selling cuisines from all over the globe while musicians and DJs played at the far end for entertainment.
The following day, after celebrating Sveriges Nationaldag (Swedish National Day) in Parco Valentino with our Swedish friends, we all went to Piazza San Carlo for the Champions League Final. Underdogs and Torino-based team Juventus FC had made it to the finals and was playing against FC Barcelona in Berlin. They had set up a large screen on stage in the piazza and what felt like the entire city came out to watch and show support. Italians love their calcio. Despite the massive support, Barcelona ended up winning the match with a score of 3-1.
The Gelato Festival was the next event to roll into town. The festival had been traveling throughout Italy and had set up shop in Torino’s Piazza Solferino for the weekend. I purchased a gelato card which gave me five different cups of specialty gelato flavors from local shops. I don’t know what they do to make gelato so good, but I will surely miss it when back in the States.
After getting some gelato one night, we stumbled upon the Festa della Musica. Despite the questionable weather, several musicians of all genres performed in many locations around the historic quarter of Torino. There were so many artists performing, that it was incredibly easy to walk just a few meters down the street and find something you like.
Shortly after the Festa della Musica, courses at Politecnico ended and final exam period began. The scoring system used at Politecnico is pretty different from American (and many other European) universities. Firstly, there are no grades throughout the semester. This provides great flexibility for traveling and leisure, but also makes it incredibly difficult when trying to motivate yourself to study during the semester. This also means that the entire course boils down to the cumulative final exam(s) marked on a scale of 0-30 (where 18 is the minimum to pass the course). In my case, I was taking three courses, but each course had several different parts to it. This meant that in total, I had to take seven final exams and was essentially responsible for everything the professors said (and in some cases, didn’t) say during class. Trying to memorize entire courses and textbooks, whilst not knowing the style of a professor’s questions, is no easy task. I literally didn’t leave my room for days at a time (only leaving to either take an exam or replenish my dwindling food supply).
Later in the month, thousands were again drawn to the streets for Pope Francis’ visit to Torino. I managed to capture a photo of him in his pope-mobile driving down Via Po after mass on Sunday morning. I don’t consider the internet the best place for theological discussions, but I would sincerely be interested if anyone could explain to me why he is such a big deal in Catholicism. I’m certain he is a great man and all, but crowds (both in Torino and in Roma) flock to him as though he were god. I’m obviously missing something.
To finish off this post, here are two more random photos from around town. There were a couple more things that happened in June, but those will be covered in a future post. This has been a sufficiently long post about some of the things that occurred in Torino in this time.
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