Chapter Five—Parco Valentino: On Vacation

Do you write? Do you paint? Do you write poetry? Do you like to relax? Heck, do you like to have fun? If you answer YES to any of those questions, go to Parco Valentino, the most wonderful stretch of benches, trees, and grassy knolls that Turin has to offer—oh, and located along the banks of River Po. You’ll find a multitude of Italians here, playing soccer, picnicking, tanning, walking, running, and one time I saw a guy roller-blading.

Turin’s (mostly) clean streets are wonderful. The piazzas are always busy with social happenings, the aperitvos are always playing their music, and Via Roma is always available for the wonderful Italian art of window-shopping. Turin isn’t a huge city, but it’s a big one. It can get busy and, at times, it can become a little suffocating. I, for one, had never lived in a high-rise apartment before. I’d never been on the third floor of a building that, below, had shops, cafés, etc. I’d always grown up in houses and at school at the University of Iowa I lived in a duplex in a quiet, residential neighborhood. After a couple weeks of being in Turin, I needed an escape.



If you need an escape, and if you don’t want the hassle of having to take a train somewhere out of town, go to Parco Valentino. At the right time of season it is paradise. The river, as I said, runs along one side of the park. You can rent a bike, you can rent a peddle-powered go-cart sort of contraption, or you can rent one of those carriage-looking bicycles. This is another place that is great alone, with one other person, or with a group.

One time I went alone. I read Hemingway and Woolf and sat on a bench and watched some Italians play soccer. And one time I went with a group of others, and we played kickball. Parco Valentino, obviously, doesn’t cost anything. But bringing a picnic and some wine is a great option to make an afternoon of it. The park is quiet, tranquil—yet another versatile Torinese setting.