Turin: a star

💥🚨 Spoiler alert: Stanley Tucci - our icing on the cake 🍰 is at the end of this post 😏 

Please, sit down and enjoy our juicy Turin updates 😄

Photo by wiwibloggs

In Turin, we are ready for 2022 and we have already started celebrating 🎉 in October 😁 when we were officially chosen to host the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with 41 countries  represented 🏆. A record and a sign for the arts, the world and Turin indeed!

How was such a miracle possible?

We owe it all to Maneskin - the Roman group who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021 thus bringing the Euro Song Fest back to Italy, and more precisely to TURIN in 2022 ✌

For this reason our new city anthem sings: 'thank you Maneskin, Eurovision in Turin' 🎵followed by a long list of local specialties, celebrities and things that make Turin unique. 

Amici, sing along with us:

Thank you, Maneskin 🙏 because more than ever both Piedmont, our wider region, and Turin need to be in the spotlight of the world's top tourist destinations. Unfortunately, our locality is still very underpromoted, and the few attempts to put our city out there are quite disconcertingly lame. However, our city is so magically outstanding, everyone notices her even when badly presented. 

Enjoy the video our old mayor presented to run as ESC 2022 city host back in May 2021:

For reasons we can't share, our local administrations stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that Turin has had a great international renown and reputation for the past 1000 years, thanks to her intense international relations started when she was the capital of the Kingdom of Savoy, before becoming the first capital of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

In fact, the locals have no idea that non-Italian speakers know about 'the Shroud of Turin' but have totally no clue about 'Torino' (Is it a place? Where is it?). This shouldn't come as a surprise, after all, Milan, Rome, Naples, Padua, Genoa and Venice didn't waste their money in a useless rebranding and smartly opted to keep their long established visibility.

But so be it, especially because by now, we are also used to the fact that nobody in Italy is cheering for our ESC 2022 victory because they have the certainty 😳Piedmont is about to become the next most popular Italian destination 😉 Magari - we can only dream of it! 

Reality is though that some wise Italian and international investors have already started investing in Turin and Piedmont for over 10 years now, taking advantage of our low prices and local insecurity! 

And once you find out what we hold up here in Northwest Italy, in the heart of the Alps, how can you blame them? Look:

Being the ESC 2022 still months ahead and the economical return looking rather distant, Turin, Piedmont and the locals though are still like Cinderella sleeping by the kitchen fireplace. On top of our local pessimism, add the toll of Covid19 and the lack of vision of our local administrations. It all translates into a BIG: we do need some EXTRA help 💪

As in the best fairy tales and Hollywood masterpieces, following the Bollywood footprints who brought over to Turin and Piedmont 3 movie productions to be filmed 🎬 RIGHT HERE, at the end of this 2021, not only Netflix has answered our prayers, but Stanley Tucci with CNN too 👑

Photo by Henry Golding while eating at Piola Cianci in Turin

Don't get us wrong, we are immensely grateful for Khiladi (2021), Rhade Shyam, Thank you the Indian movies filmed here, plus Assassin Club with Crazy Rich Asians' Henry Golding - who moved to Turin for one whole month to shoot in August 2021 but... they all show a tiny fraction of Turin and Piedmont 😓 we do NEED MORE 🙌 

By magic, Netflix did hear our prayers, fully understood our needs and as Crazy Rich Asians was a love letter to Singapore, so An Astrological Guide For Broken Hearts is a real love letter to Turin 💖

Wait! What??!

Yes, you read it right: Netflix has just released the biggest TV commercial for Turin, showing the world what we have and who we are, with their brand new TV series!

Very optimistically, we can now say that reality is way wilder than fiction 😜 and by a pure stroke of luck, this is how things are unraveling in Turin!

Allow us a sec 'not to' brag 😇 amici 😹 but at Turin Epicurean Capital we have always been into astrology 🌟

Back in 2000, while attending her foreign language pedagogy class at The Ohio State University, Lucia had created a nice Italian vocabulary activity revolving around the horoscope!

So when in 2017, her highly missed 😢friend, Turin fashion guru and Turinepi19 guest, Ulderica Masoni introduced her to Turin astrologer Patrizia Balbo who was looking for a translator for her new book (Italian version here), Patrizia was automatically invited to take part to the 4th edition!

 

So no, we weren't surprised at all when we heard that Netflix had turned the famous romantic novel Guida Astrologica Per Cuori Infranti by Silvia Zucca into a TV series, and we were thrilled they had chosen to SET it AND film it in Turin... first capital of Italian cinema!

Photo by: What's New on Netlfix

Many Turinese will naturally lie to you, brushing off astrology and romcoms as futile but... everyone will admit it is exciting to recognize the locations shown in the 6 episodes of this first season. By the way, season 2 has just been okayed 👍

In a way, An Astrological Guide For Broken Hearts is the Turin's Bridgerton: a light comedy very much needed during these Covid19 times, highlighting the natural beauty of our city and showing you also areas where visitors don't normally go to.

Why should you watch it??

To travel from your armchair, plan your next travel over to Turin and why not? Also to improve your Italian 👌 or maybe it can give you the incentive to learn it 💫

Language wise, it will help you to learn passively new words and idiomatic expressions; to improve your listening comprehension skills and to present you with authentic Italian situations. Your 'Italian soul' you will surely rejoice 😍

Ultimately, you will enjoy a comedy about contemporary Italy, set in a one of kind naturally beautiful city even the locals have to pinch themselves to believe it is Turin indeed and not a set!

Our dear Mole Antonelliana has multiple appearances and you can see it in and outside; you'll also get to see our cathedral Gran Madre di Dio from a scooter and the sky; you'll get familiar with our Roman lanes and Al Bicerin coffee house by Alice - the protagonist's apartment, as well as many other locations all around town!

By the end of the 6th episode, you'll be looking up for flights, so we'd like to remind you that Turin has her own airport: TRN connecting Torino to most European and Italian citie 😝

Wait no further, enjoy An Astrological Guide For Broken Hearts, visualize yourselves in Turin AND be ready for more Netflix series set and filmed in our magic city! 

... in fact, the next must-watch Netflix series is an historical drama about Lidia Poet, the very first Italian lady lawyer back in 1883!

But it's certainly not all!! As Lucia was typing this post, Stanley Tucci got to Turin too 😅 to film 📽 an episode of Searching For Italy for season 2 on CNN 😌 

He went to ristorante Del Cambio - Turin's first restaurant - and will also be paying a visit to Al Bicerin café to fully capture the local royal vibes! For sure he'll savor an original bicerin 😋

In her quintessential Italian style, Turin stands out for her unparalleled elegance and poise. Hopefully, Stanley will be smitten and, like all our visitors, he will be craving for more 🎆

Photo by La Cucina Italiana

 

May our underdog years be over for good 🌈 and as they say, amici: life's a b***, get ready because our dharma is finally getting fulfilled ✨ 

No matter how you call her, Turin or Torino will cast a spell on you 🧚and we'll welcome you with open arms 👐 every time time you'll visit 😎

Cari amici, remember, our future is in the stars 🌠 and when you least expect it, life magically turns into a fairy tale 💃

For tours and privates, e-mail Lucia: turinepi@gmai.com

PS: in case you were wondering, Lucia is also interested in Chinese astrology 🐲 and by popular demand, she has been incorporating it in her ITA L2, ESL and FR L2 classes 👸