Rivoli
Saturday afternoon we went to Castello di Rivoli and IKEA, courtesy of a bus trip arranged by the school for the first-year students. The Castello di Rivoli is a castle near Torino that used to belong to the Savoy family. It was turned into a barracks at one point, but it is now an art museum.
The bus ride to the castle was an adventure. Getting onto the highway and to the correct exit was not a problem, but once we were on the regular streets, the signs to the museum suddenly disappeared. So there we were in this huge tour bus, driving all over the back roads of this town. We were going down small lanes, through the parking lots of apartment buildings…we stopped three times to ask for directions.
The first person was a pedestrian who walked over to the bus to talk with the driver. He was almost run over by a car that decided to pass the bus, and I think we all learned some new Italian words from him. After the second person gave us directions, one of the students asked the driver, “Is this a famous castle?” with the implication that if it were, there would have some signs for it somewhere. The driver’s reply was, “In Italia…” and then made one of those hand gestures that conveys so much more meaning than mere words ever could.
The third person we stopped to talk to was another bus driver. The hand gestures and extended conversation were unsettling, as was the driver’s comment upon coming aboard of “piu piccolo.” At first we thought his “very small” reference was to the size of the parking lot at the top of the castle, but it soon became apparent as we drove further along that the streets were becoming narrower and narrower. Finally, we reached a point where they actually had traffic lights controlling traffic in both directions: we had about two or three inches on either side of the bus as we squeezed through this exceptionally narrow portion of the road. Once we were past that point, though, it was smooth sailing all the way to the castle.
The building itself is very interesting because it’s a fusion of the original castle with some really new and modern architecture. So you see old bricks and then suddenly an external staircase made of steel and glass. Or a mirrored window recessed in a castle wall. Inside, the rooms were magnificent in and of themselves, but then they had these pieces of art installed in them – it was pretty incredible to see the combination. Unfortunately, only one floor was open (out of about 5 or 6) due to reconstruction, and I can imagine the other floors were just as interesting.
The collection consisted of modern art, but I like to think I’ve gained some appreciation for it and that it wasn’t completely lost on me. Since we were only allowed on one floor, and we had an hour and a half scheduled for this stop, I ended up exploring the grounds of the castle, taking lots of photos (not yet added to the gallery), and just generally enjoying the fall day.