One of the reasons that I left Oman was my need for a bit more cultural stimulus. In the month that I have been in Turin I have certainly started rectifying that. So far, I have visited GAM (as I mentioned a few weeks ago). I have now visited the Antiquities museum, mainly because it was next to the Roman theatre and city gate, so I thought I'd pop in. Amazing Roman artefacts, as could be expected. On Saturday, a colleague and I visited Palazzo Madama, which is a real hotchpotch museum housed in a beautiful Savoy-era palace. Got a fabulous view from the tower over the city, but unfortunately it was reached by a glass elevator, which I hate.
Last night I went a concert billed as the "classical music of the future" at a venue near my flat. I find going to a concert alone a bit daunting, but as you can guess from the top picture I took along my sketchbook for company. After my pre-concert glass of red wine, I drew some of the instruments whilst waiting for the concert to start (above). I liked the double bass lying at the front of the stage, and was fascinated as he played. The second piece was played by four percussionists each with a xylophone plus drums, cymbals, whistles and other things. It was amazing! It was also it's première, so I wonder how it will do in the future... Will HM Qaboo's orchestra play it one day? After all he likes loud percussion pieces. So that's 2 museums, an art gallery, and a concert so far In Italy, plus the ballet when I was home in UK. What next???
