Life in Sepia

I live on the outskirts of a little village called Moncalieri. Since my office at the ITC ILO is at the edge of the city of Turino, it worked out more convenient to live in Moncalieri rather than in Turino's city center. (Aside: It takes a bit of time to orient to a new reality where major cities and little villages coexist and I can actually move from one end of a city to another in under one hour!)

My colleagues at work are always a little amused when I tell them that I live in Moncalieri, which is typically associated with old people, old churches and shop vendors who speak the regional dialect of Piedmontese rather than standard Italian. But for some odd reason I feel at home in this quaint little village. Maybe it's come as a welcome relief after the noise and chaos of Bangalore or perhaps its because I am not built to be the city-center person.

My house is located in a 'piazza', which is essentially an empty square space that is enclosed by a church, residential complexes, shops, cafes, banks and other commercial establishments. The empty space at the center is used for social occasions, for flea markets and sometimes just for parking. This is typical to the Roman style of town planning. So when I say that I am located in the piazza, it means that my apartment is actually located amongst the first line-up establishments around the square. And I live on the fourth floor, which gives me the ideal vantage point to peek down on Italian life as it goes by at its slow best. Weekends are particularly interesting, I watch weddings, Sunday markets, people sipping their coffee, children peeking into the moss filled baroque fountain. The fourth floor vantage point also offers me a breathtaking view of the the city of Turino against the backdrop of the Italian Alps. I love watching the city light up gradually in the mornings, with the buildings that are farther away turning a lovely golden a few seconds before the buildings ahead of them.

And the highlight of it all? I wake up to the sound of church bells and the smell of coffee and fresh bread from the confectionery downstairs...for those few minutes each morning, life seems truly at its sweetest.

Some pictures from my life in the historic center of Moncalieri

View of the Piazza from my apartment-the tallest building is always the church.

The sunrise over Turino

I wish I could paint :( or atleast that I had a better camera

The Sunday flea market

And...the apartment itself

ps: I forgot to add that I now have connections...Sonia Gandhi is believed to have next of kin in Moncalieri