Wet Market

Mercato Porta Palazzo, the biggest open air market in Europe is normally not a so called 'Wet Market', like those we have in Singapore, but the rain is back and transformed it into a wet wet market.

The ground is wet, the people are less, making shopping seems less chaotic.

Location: Porta Palazzo

Continue On Balon

Some stalls at the flea market Balon on Saturday are setup by the shops along the street, so basically the shops place their goods in front of the shops and business as usual.

Compared to the independent stalls, the things sell by the shops are more valueable, such as antiques and collectable items. Unlike the independent stalls which have more surprises.

 Location : Balon

Saturday Flea Market

Flea market at Balon on Saturday is something to experience once in a while. It used to be more chaotic, more packed and more erratic.

Visited the flea market last Saturday and found that there were lesser stalls, many areas were not allowed to have stall setup, so overall, it seemed less crowded and less interesting, also less 'dangerous'.

Many illegal stalls were sent away, and the remaining stalls were selling more 'traditional' items.

Nevertheless, Balon is still a place worth to visit on a nice Saturday morning, just beware of the pickpockets.

Location : Balon

Vendors

The market at Porta Palazzo, the biggest open air market in Europe, is obviously full of vendors and they  offer beside foods mainly clothings, bags and accessories.

Most of the vendors are actually not italian, those who sell clothings, bags and accessories are mainly the chinese and africans.

While making the photo, one of the African vendor wanted to know if I did ask their permission to photograph them. I told him that I am not doing close up of any person, so it is not necessary to ask any permission since the market is a public place.

 

Location : Porta Palazzo

Community Concierge

In the heart of Turin, in Porta Palazzo, the community concierge is born: a place where you can find help for small errands in the post office, to shop at the market, or an IT support, small translations, and where to reweave relationships based on solidarity and on trust.

 An old newsstand that does not forget its past, but returns to be the reference point in one of the most important squares of the city, straddling two very different but adjacent neighborhoods.
The culture shop - Community Concierge is located in the newsstand in Piazza della Repubblica 1 / F and with the direction of the Italian Network of Popular Culture gives life to a network of public and private subjects, from the world of commerce, of crafts, of the third sector and of active citizenship that puts the idea of ​​proximity at the center.

The community porter's lodge, which had its first virtual baptism during the emergency, is therefore proposed as a physical and relational place where you can begin to rebuild a community of proximity, where you can trust each other, give and receive help, exchange information , suggestions and ideas.

Location : Porta Palazzo

A Normal day In The Market

The market has slowly gone back to normal, no more long queue to get in, but still some people are wearing masks and the price of fruits and vegetables has gone up with no reason.

Location : Porta Palazzo

Saturday Market Reopen

Saturday, restaurants, bars  and shops are officially allowed to reopen, even the stands selling household goods at the open air market are allowed to start again.

The chinese shops are opened too, chose one with less people queuing up and got in just after waited for a while, and of course was obliged to disinfect my hands before able to shop.
Every procedures are in order and people are behaving well in the shop.

Outside the shop is another story, many people are walking around, plus the queues in front of the shops, the scenerio is quite chaotic.

The household goods market is crowded and there is no control of the flow of people getting in and out. Whereas, at the fruits and vegetables market, the entrance and exit are monitored and there is a long queue.


Location : Porta Palazzo

Phase Two Market

The outdoor market at Porta Palazzo is finally allowed to open, but numbers of people allowed to enter into the fenced up market is limited, thus a long queue was formed yesterday when we were there. Ended up, we didn't enter to buy anything, the queue was too long.

There were fewer stalls then usual and the space was big, they should have allowed more people to get in, and strange enough the indoor market was allowed to get in freely with no control, isn't it more dangerous in closed up space?

Location : Porta Palazzo

Lock Down The Thirtieth Day

The 30th day! Judging by the situation, most likely the lockdown will be extended till May.
There are more and more people getting out for a walk and more cars are going around, regardless the lockdown is till on.

Early in the morning at about 0930 hours, smokes were rising behind the blocks across the street, they were from the parallel street from home.

A shop selling fake flowers on the ground floor of a building was on fire, even though it was closed due to the lockdown. All the residents living above had to be evacuated. Fortunately, there was casualty.

 

Went to the market to get some traditional agnolotti for Easter.
The open air market which was very lively and vibrant is now souless. Rows of empty stalls were left in the market square, there were some people walking between the empty stalls and police were deployed at various position in the square.
The only stalls opened for business were those in the indoor market which was on the other side of the square.

Surprisingly, the entrance to the indoor market was not controlled. Anyone could just go in and out  and nobody was checking the number of people inside the market, which is weired, A police car parked not far from the entrance and some policemen were standing there monituring the situation.

In the market, there were not many people, and everyone kept a personal safety distance in accordance with the rules.

Exited from the market, in front was the famously crowded and chaotic bus stop, there were quite a number of people waiting at the bus stop, but it was far less than weeks ago,

Since I was out, why not take a tour around the square to visualise the situation.

The part where they used to sell household goods was closed.
Outside the police post, a homeless had turned a stone bench into his bed.

Completed one round of the square, while heading home, saw two policemen were questioning and checking on a couple who were walking their dog.

Under the arcade on the side of the square, two homeless were still sleeping and one was busy feeding the wild pigeons.

Location : Piazza Della Republica

Lock Down First Day

Yesterday was the first day of the total ( in the sense of whole Italy ) lock down, people are advised to stay home as much as possible, no gathering, shops are to be closed after 1800 hours, in case of necessity to go to places like the supermarket, please keep a distance of 1.5 meters from any individual.

Well, I did have a need to top up my asian food stuffs. So I went towards Porta Palazzo for the chinese shops.
I do remember asking one of the shops if they will close up the shop due to the public panic, they said no, since their customer base is mostly the Africans. ( I think they meant the Africans are less likely to discriminalise the Chinese for the Convid 19 )

The streets are not deserted, but pretty obvious that there were much lesser people around, the percentage of people with masks does increased however.

There were lesser stalls at the open air market, but still there were people buying.

The first chinese bar that I had been to was closed, further down turn left where there are the chinese grocery shops, doors closed. Every single one of the chinese shop is closed, some with notice on the door stating that for the health of the public they have decided to close the shop temporary.
Even the one that said they won't close, is now closed.
So, I will have to go without asian food till the beginning of April. 

Location : Corso Regina Magherita ( Porta Palazzo )

Women's Day Protest

There are so many protests nowadays, I just can't follow up what protest is for what purpose. Went to the market the other day at Porta Palazzo, there was some commotion at one end of the market, went near to take a look, there was a group mainly of women and they were shouting, 
Then I realised that it was a protest about violence against women, I think....

 She said : We want bread and roses.....

New Whale

In Turin , on a façade at Porta Palazzo emerged a whale made of waste , or rather a sperm whale, judging by the features and the vertical way of diving, which leaves only the typical tail out of the water. It is the work of  streetartist Mr Fijodor who comes from Liguria, and he is familiar with the sea and its inhabitants, including those of the Sanctuary of Cetaceans that is right in front of his city of origin, Imperia.

As the Goal 14 of the 17 Global Goals to be reached by 2020, to promote awareness of the unsustainability of the current model of development, from an environmental, but also economic and social point of view.
The Goal 14 - life below water is entrusted to Ligurian Mr Fijodor with his work which focuses on the sea and its creatures.
The Goal 14 has among its many objectives that of prevention and reduction of marine pollution of all kinds.
The artist writes:I have interpreted the theme of Goal 14 - Life Below Water - placing a whale as the main character, the largest marine mammal but also one of the most vulnerable. She is for me to represent the fragility of the marine ecosystem and to be the spokesperson of the distracted and short-sighted exploitation of men.Even its location is anything but random.The wall is located in via Cardinal Cagliero, or between the area of  ​​Balun and the Porta Palazzo market in Piazza Della Repubblica. It is said that "if Turin had the sea the port would be right here, at Porta Palazzo".
Life below water wants to be a denunciation, a personal synthesis and at the same time a huge circle of hope for life and for the affirmation of its diversity.

CDP April Theme : Wet

Is theme day again and it is WET!
Spring in Turin often brings in some rain, as though it is to wash away the past year and start all over again....

At Porta Palazzo open market, every Saturday evening after the market , the piazza where the market was had a complete wash over, so the ground will be obviously wet and plus the rain it gets even wetter....

Please click here to view the other entries....

Cleaning Up

Saturday evening after the flea market at Balon, the cleaners begin cleaning up the street with this vehicle.....

To The Market

A couple walking to the open air food market at Porta Palazzo, one of the most multi-ethnic area of the town....

High Fashion

'High Fashion' at the Balon.....
Balon is the flea market in the Aurora district of Turin.

 

Sermig Arsenale della Pace

Sermig - Arsenale della Pace at Balon
The young missionary service (often referred to by the abbreviation SERMIG, from "Young Missionary Service") is a group founded in Turin on the May 24, 1964 by Ernesto Olivero together with a group of young people with a desire to eradicate hunger in the world through works of justice, promote the development, experiencing solidarity with the poor. Initially born as a missionary group with the intent to cooperate with various missionaries around the world, then the SERMIG began to care about the poverty present in Turin, while extending its work to other places around the world.

However, the last time I brought a female friend there to give away her used clothing, something happened which  makes me question the attitude of some of the helpers towards foreigners.

While I was with the friend standing in front of the containers which collect donated items, we were wondering why there was a bag of old bottle plastic corks in there. Suddenly a woman came right up to us and asked if she could help us anything. Before I could answer, she grabbed me on my shoulder and shouted : 'No, you can't do this, you have to come with me to the center!' She begun to drag me away, then I realized that she thought that I was there to steal.
I stopped her and said :' We are here to give, not trying to take!'
She startled for a moment, and I said to her :'You think all foreigners are poor, all are thieves?'
She quickly apologized, not actually to me, she apologized to my friend who is an European, asking my friend if I was with her.
It seem to be a bit petty to mind, but the instant instinct reaction reflects what a person actually think, to me, deep in her mind and heart, I think she does 'discriminate foreigners (especially those happened to be around Porta Palazzo )' with a concept that they are all poor and tend to steal.
That makes me wonder why she bothers to care for the job? To make her feel superior?

Porta Palazzo Market Getting Ready

Everyday at about 8 pm in the evening, stands are being setup at the open air market at Porta Palazzo, getting ready for the next morning.

While I was taking photo of the setting up, the workers (mainly Moroccans) shouted at me and wanted me to get lost. I was taken aback, as the place is a public place and I have all the right to take photo there.
So we had some 'discussion'.
Their reason was that, they were afraid that their photo will end up on internet and they don't want their girlfriends or whatever back home know that they are doing such job.
I assured them that I didn't take their photo and I was not interested in taking their photo.
They apologized and that ended the episode.
Well, they could have just told me in a more civilized way instead of tried to chase me away as if the place was their house.
Just wonder, what happens if their girlfriends decide to visit them in Italy?

Vandalism Protest

At Porta Palazzo market, a group of girls were spraying words on the wall, kind of a protest against something....
Regardless of how righteous is the cause, this seems more a vandalism than a protest, beside dirtying the wall, I don't see any other result can come out from spraying 'words' on walls and ended up a waste of manpower and money.