If we’re honest, we can point out some things that Italy doesn’t do so well (as there are problems in every great country)—namely: bureaucracy, parking, and dealing with dog poop. Getting your police permit is a pain, dealing with your landlord—depending on who you have—can be, uh, questionable at times, and if there’s roadwork on Via Nizza the bus can take 30 minutes to get from Porta Nuova to Spezia (a walk that’d take 40 minutes if done briskly). As you go through the invariable ups and downs that come with culture shock (trust me, you’ll deal with this), you’ll get to a low point where you start criticizing everything Italian.
What a horrible parking job! Why isn’t there a ticket on that car?
Typical Turin…I just stepped in dog poop.
Did that bus just pass us?
The point being: you’ll deal with frustrations. When those frustrations come, when you’re down on Bel Paese (an affectionate term that Italians use for Italy), go to Eataly.
The USAC staff might take you there—or one of your Italian classes (Eataly is conveniently located, once again, right next to Lingotto, on Via Nizza)—but don’t let that be your only time to go.
Eataly is a sexy, Italian version of Whole Foods. Like many things, it is a product of Turin that has since migrated; there is a location now in New York City and also Tokyo.
Far different from the cookie-cutter feeling you get at American supermarkets, Eataly is an organism of its own, a true example of Italian ingenuity, art, and creativity all centered around its favorite cultural point: food. The place itself is a maze, as you enter with the checkout area to your left, a cookbook sort of library to your right, and goods on sale in front of you. Walking straight and then turning left, you discover how the market (but also a restaurant) is laid out: in, essentially, stations. There is a cheese station, a meat station, a fish station, a beer station downstairs. And of course there is something of a wine temple also downstairs, the various wines stacked neatly and attractively on high shelves, labeled by region, or by what foods they go well with, or types. Piedmont boasts a great portion of one of the walls.
My apartment was two minutes away from Eataly. I went there again and again. I went there for groceries, I went there for wine, and I went there for coffee.
And of course, the food, even if slightly pricey, is delicious. And it is made in front of your eyes. It is made with Italian ingredients from all over the region-driven country. It is an honor that Eataly started in Turin, for it truly captures the best of Italian traits (creativity, taste, showmanship) and brings them together into one building.
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