Grand Torino

A very early start for me this morning.  Up at 6.40 in order to go to Torino for the day.  Claudia was dropping me off at the train station on her way to work, and we left at around 7.05.  I got to the station early enough to catch an earlier than planned train, as there would be little time to change trains at Milan Central.  I needn't have bothered as when I got to Milan, I found that the train was 20, then 25, then 30 minutes behind schedule.  In one way it was good because it allowed me time to get a 'Cornetto' and cappuccino.  Surprisingly, the cornetto wasn't great as the custard inside was a bit too runny.  

I enquired whether I could catch another train to Torino, but the other one would still have got in after mine, despite the delay.  I was going on the high-speed train.

At the Torino train station I found the Information desk, got myself a map, and enquired about the hop on, hop off bus.  I decided, given how little time I had in Torino that the bus would be a good idea.  Outside the terminal I had to find the stop and a gentleman saw me looking at the map and asked if I needed help.  At least, that's what I think he said, as I didn't quite get what he said.  Anyway, he assisted me and told me where I needed to be, but turns out the lovely man was wrong.  I then saw another information desk who directed me back to my original spot, except across the road!

The bus however, only departs once every hour, so I had to hang around for about 30 minutes for the next one.  The bus arrived and I listened to a bit of history and saw some lovely buildings and piazzas, but I got off at the Castello.  In hindsight, I really should have done the whole circle first, then got off, because, as it turns out, I didn't get back on for the rest of the day due to wrong timing, so pretty much wasted the 15€.  

From the Castle I went to the Royal Palaces (right next to each other).  This is where it got interesting and the understanding that Torino was Italy's original capital was accepted by my brain.  The palace was grand.  As it should be.  There is no other word apt to describe it.  However, given the short timeframe I decided not to get a ticket to see all the rooms inside.  I figured if I had time, that I would go back.

From there I walked down via Roma to Piazza San Carlo and saw the twin churches of Chiesa di Santa Cristina and Chiesa di San Carlo. At this point I won't bother you with all the detail.  But I saw much regality, grandeur, beauty and architecture.  Torino, definitely deserving of the title it once held.  However, it did appear to me to be quite 'dirty'.  It does look like it needs a good scrub.  I saw more graffiti than I would have liked.  But you know you're in a rich town when you see beggars, and there were quite a few of them.  Sabrina had told me this yesterday, and I certainly don't recall seeing any beggars in Calabria!  Via Roma is full of big name stores like Armani and Prada, but I don't know if it's just because we're coming out of the tourist season, but there certainly weren't hoards of tourists around, so that was nice.

In my wanderings I entered the grounds of the National Museum (del Risorgimento whatever that is), and I was approached by a lady, and talking to her, she asked me where I was from.  I simply said from Australia, except I used the dialect form of the word 'from'.  She immediately picked up on it and asked if I was Calabrese, and she then said that she too was from there, and to speak the dialect, as we would 'understand each other well'.  She was from Gioisa which is near where my parents are from.  We spoke for a bit before saying our goodbyes and shaking hands.

I went and saw the Mole Antonelliana which houses the cinema museum, but I bought a ticket for the lift to the top of the building for panoramic views of the city.  It was a hazy day, but it was still worth the trip.  It was an awesome sight when I turned the corner and caught sight of the Dome.  Stunning.  This building is on the 2 cent coin, and is the symbol of the city.

From the Mole, I walked to the River Po and through Piazza Vittorio Veneto, made my way back to Via Roma via a couple of other piazzas and viewed more grand buildings and private buildings along the way, witnessing once again, how much money is in fact in Italy, despite the 'crisis'.

At Via Roma I stopped for an espresso at a really fancy cafe which had tiny tiny cakes.  I had a cream puff the size of, oh, my thumb!  And it was divine!

I needed to make my way back to the train station to get my train by this time, but I decided I needed to have a gelati.  And I stopped at a place that claimed authentic or original gelati.  Whatever it claimed, I can vouch that it was bloody excellent (trying to compare it to the one I had at Cinque Terre, and it potentially rates first....or second....in my all time best gelati).  It was caffe and nocciolo.

Torino wasn't originally on my itinerary for Italy.  It should be for yours!