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A Tour of Turin
Entry 9 of 22 | show all | print this entry |
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This weekend, the gang and I decided we'd continue exploring Northern Italy with a trip to Turin (Torino), about 1.5 hours west of Milan, followed by a journey to the small town of Ivrea in the Alps above Torino for their very special Carnevale celebration (more on that in the next entry - you don't want to miss this).
But back to Turin: A lot of people say that Torino is nothing special, and it is often skipped on tours of Italy. Based on its role as the automobile manufacturing capital of the country, some even call it the Italian Detroit (No offense, Detroit, but you're not exactly a tourist magnet). However, I beg to differ, because I found Torino to be absolutely charming, and a great place to visit. They say it's the most French city in Italy (or the most Italian city in France!) because it used to be a part of France, and the French influence is still very prevalent there. From the orientation of the city to the regional accent, this place was decidedly French.
Besides the charming French influence, Torino has a lot of three of my favorite things of all time: Movies, Chocolate, and Jesus! Movies: Torino is the home of Italy's national Cinema museum, in the Mole Antonelliana building, the trademark of Torino's skyline, and one of the tallest museums in the world. I LOVED this museum - it had everything from the very beginnings of moving pictures, shadow puppets, vintage movie camera, and flip books, to giant screens playing montages of comedies/horror movies/musicals/cartoons, with lounge chairs with built-in speakers where you could lay and watch. It also had posters, well built sets, costume pieces, and interactive exhibits. There was also a Willy Wonka-esque glass elevator that takes people to the top of the building to catch the great view of the city and the Alps, but it rainy/foggy that day (of course), so we didn't make it up there. Overall, this was an awesome place!
Chocolate: The home of every Euro's favorite breakfast food/peanut butter substitute, Nutella, Torino is also Italy's chocolate town. Almost every shop sells chocolates, chocolate pasteries, hot chocolate, chocolate gelato, etc. In fact, apparently you can buy a "Choco-pass" for €10 and go around town sampling chocolate all day. Now that's my kind of town! I might even go back for the Chocolate festival that will be held in Torino in March. Jesus: In addition to the normal heavy volume of churches/beautiful religious artwork in any given Italian town, Torino has something special: One of the most precious relics in the most precious relics in the world, the Shroud of Turin. This is supposedly the sheet that Joseph of Aramathea wrapped Jesus' body in, and now has left on it an imprint of Jesus face and body, hand/feet/side wounds and all. The actual shroud is not openly on display in the church (they only put it out every couple of years), but they have pictures and xrays hanging up to see, and the actual shroud is on the premises, just not in plain sight. The shroud has miraculously survived numerous fires/bombings, so I guess they're just trying to protect it. Millions of pilgrims come to Turin every year to see the shroud, and this pilgrim agrees that it really is a moving experience.
Turin was for many years run by the house of Savoy (french), whose influence is still very noticeable in the city. We even visited the Palazzo Reale, where they family lived for generations. It was old and opulent and beautiful, and because we were students, we got to go on the tour for free - all in italian, of course. After a delicious dinner (Agnolotti alla Piemontese and local wine - mmmmm), and a trip to a local pub (yes, an Irish pub - a lot of the clubs aren't open in winter, and this place was packed with a cool young crowd), we went back to our very clean and hospitable hostel on the other side of the Po river, and got ready for a BATTLE the next day...
More thumbnails ...
Where I stayed:
L'Ostello per il Gioventu' a Torino
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