Branching out in Turin

Compared to other places on this trip, Turin seems like an upstart product of the Industrial Age.  It is elegant, lively; and more than any other place, we want to settle right in.  

Turin is rather clever with their tourist attractions.  They have everything priced rather high, so one is tricked into investing in a pass.  Not immune to such gimmicks, we ended up with a 48-hour pass and went crazy.  It allowed us to see some things we would not have otherwise.

* Cinema Museum: John liked it more than than I, because of their emphasis on music.  I found it rather dated, for the uninitiated.

* Automobile Museum: we only popped in because we were in the neighborhood.  For someone who is uninterested in cars, their collection blew me away, good job on the exhibits too.

* Agnelli Gallery: The one thing John wanted to do in Turin was to walk on the test tracks on top of old Fiat factory.  Multiple sources claimed that you have to pay for the worthless gallery to access the track -- not true -- take the elevator to the ticket office, go right out to the tracks.

* Venaria Palace: Empty shell of a palace, gardens are still being rebuilt, way overpriced and overrated.

* Egyptian Museum: Very popular,  impressive collection, purported to be largest outside Cairo, bigger than London.

* Madama Museum: The building was more interesting than the collection

* Reale Museum: The building was more interesting than the collection; but the Amory was more than impressive.

* Sacra di San Michele: The fact that the church was built right on top of a peak is impressive. While the building itself is unremarkable, the view of the Alps from their terrace is spectacular.  We walked on the old mule tracks that form a branch of the Via Francigena between two train stations to get to the church.

We were completely worn out after all that!

John says: The Italians call their city Torino and so will I.....Our cozy apartment was on the 2nd floor, facing this courtyard.


The apartment was in a very good location, 10 minutes walk from the train station and the Lidl market, and 5 minute walk down to the Po River and Piazza Vittoria




Torino hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics. The 2006 Winter Paralympic Flame was located on a hill not far from our apartment with a good view back to the city. You can make out the Italian Alps in the distance beyond the spire of the Mole Antonelliana which houses the National Cinema Museum that has a lift that takes you up into the spire for a view of the city and beyond.




Torino Taurinorum was founded by the Romans. Today the Cathedral (houses the Shroud of Turin) sits on top of the Ancient Teatro Romano and near a Roman Gate.






Piazza Repubblica is home to Europe's largest outdoor daily market. We arrived at tear down time.


San Donato, a residential area beyond Piazza Statuto, has many fine Liberty (Art Nouveau) buildings.








The Cinema Museum is located inside the Mole Antonelliana with a lift that rises out of the floor and goes up through the ceiling as you can see here.


On the main floor you can relax in comfy red chairs and watch projected movies, or watch the lift go up and down, or take a nap.








There are exhibits on sci-fi films, horror films, popular music films, movie cameras, movie posters and much more.




Our fav exhibit was a hands-on where your could watch classic movie scenes accompanied by the original soundtrack or one of your choosing (among 4). We put Neil Young's Deadman soundtrack over the final scene of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Awesome!


Not to mention the special effects booth. Take a look at this video of me playing fighter pilot.


Or watch it at this link if the embedded video does not play.

And the Mole was gleaming in the late day sun when we left.


One fine weather day (on short supply this trip) we took the train to Condove, walked up 600 meters in elevation to Sacra di San Michele (terrific views) and down to San Ambrogia station.






View to the Alps.


View to a hazy Torino some 20 kms away.


Returning to Torino we got off the train at Lingotto Station, near the 2006 Olympic village, and home of the famous Lingotto Fiat factory Building (now the lively shopping mall Galeria 8) and the Automobile Museum.






View from the old Fiat test track on top of the Lingotto Building back to the 2006 Olympic Village.


The old test track was more than very cool.










The Automobile Museum was a highlight with about 80 or 90 cars from the last 130 years and some nifty displays and exhibits. This is a 1901 Fiat with 8 HP parked in the Old Garage exhibit.


1906 Fiat.


At back left is a 1914 Rolls Royce and to its right a 1929 Isotta Fraschini.


1948 Cisitalia 202.




Famous race drivers.


Our fav exhibit was the race track. Lots of red Ferraris.








Fiat 500-A converted to a race car by Nuccio Bertone.


Leonardo Fioravanti - car designer, driver, and engineer - exhibit.


Due to bad timing we missed riding the Mole Lift on 2 consecutive evenings so we were first in line on Saturday morning. It was foggy, but still pretty good views.






Then on to the Egyptian Museum which I liked more than Sun-Ling. It was a very popular place to be; ie crowded.










Ancient Egyption board game.






Then by bus out to the Royal Place at Venaria Reale.






The Royal Barge.


From the rear.


Garden and grounds.


Back to the city by bus and to the Palazzo Madama Museum in the old Castle.


From the outside.






Then across the piazza to the Royal Place and its 4 museums.


Throne Room.


Amory - a fav for sure.






The ballroom.


View out the window to the Roman Gate.


The Palace Garden is open to the public.




Strolling home.






And if you get this far and want to see more photos of Turin - there are about 250 more on flickr - click here.