Tonight I went with M., my host's wife, to Lingotto, on the outskirts of Turin. Here is the former FIAT factory, built in 1927, the first Fordist facility in Europe, over 350,000 square meters, famous for its rooftop track (featured in The Italian Job, starring Michael Caine). Now it is a complex with shopping mall, a hotel (the Meridian), movie-plex, restaurants, etc etc., the conversion was designed by Renzo Piano and opened in the mid-90s. We went to the concert hall with state of the art acoustics (photo below). The program was the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, playing Strauss (symphony no. 30--picture that ape's arm coming down), Wagner (prelude to Tristan and Isolde) and Bartok (suite from Miraculous Mandarin). All very well done, especially the Bartok, heavy but not heavy-handed. For more on the Lingotto project see link, left. 
Lunch earlier today with my host at a charming restaurant in Vercelli. Puff-pastry filled with asparagus and cheese, with a cream sauce (divine) and spaghetti with sardine and fresh tomato. It was the first time I had fresh sardine--really excellent, but I think I like the anchovy better yet.
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