Europe 2014: Turin (Italy) 3 nights before driving to Sestri Levante (Cinque Terre)

Wednesday 11th June 2014

After six hours on the train from Paris we arrived in Turin and met Elio at 2pm, the owner of our AirBnB apartment, a little flat on the 5th floor of an old building in a great central location (with thankfully an elevator to the 4th floor). Immediately changed into shorts (34 degrees but not humid) and went to look around town and get our bearings.

Door to our top floor apartment

Turin is a fairly big city, home to the Italian automotive industry although you wouldn't know it unless you head out toward that area. The inner city has a population of 911k and the metro area 2.2 million. It has that gritty city feel and there are graffiti tags (not artistic ones, just vandalism) absolutely everywhere. It feels like it needs a good clean up but having said that it still rather nice and definitely safe. It has tons of cafes, restaurants and over 200 museums. There are lovely public squares, gardens and palazzi from the 16th - 18th century and was Italy's first capital city back in 1861 when it was home to the House of Savoy, Italy's royal family.

Found a restaurant called L'Acino right on the corner of our street that looked busy and they fitted us in for dinner in their bar area and we had a great meal of local Piemonte dishes, including one pasta and hey, you have to have pasta your first night in Italy surely.

So amazing to get off the train and change language and have to learn the hello, goodbye, thankyou and fizzy water all over again. The Italians seem to think that we can understand them and they just keep talking in Italian but due to the gestures and hand waving we often do which reinforces their false assumption that deep down we know some Italian, and so it goes on.

Thursday 12th June 2014

Started the day with SR heading downstairs and next door to get a takeaway coffee. She sometimes has the tiny black espresso they serve here but thought she had the translation down pat to get a coffee with milk more like home, caffe con latte said the guide book, and in a sense that is what she got, a tiny plastic takeaway cup with a shot of espresso and a drop of milk with aluminium foil over the top as a takeaway. It is so amusing in each country how differently you need to ask for coffee and how diverse they are in the range of styles of serving. Well that coffee took no more than a gulp to finish so it was off to the nearby market to buy some fruit.

Sandy's takeaway coffee

It is a daily market at Porta Palazzo and it is massive. The biggest fruit and veg market either of us have ever seen and the prices and quality were super. We couldn't believe the size of it but were told, yes its on every day but Saturday is the big day, have to check that out before we leave!

The Turin-Piemonte Card for tourists is great value and we purchased the 48 hour museum deal for 26 euros with free public transport for an extra 4.50 and began our museum hop. Started at the Piazza Castello where you can find, in a rather confusing layout, the Palazzo Madama Museum with its extensive collections, and the Polo Reale with the plush Royal Palace (8/10) and the amazing adjoining wing of Royal Armoury (9/10), before a tram to the Mole Antonelliana, Turin's symbol of the city, that houses the National Museum of Cinema (7/10) and a lift to the 85 meter viewing platform (8/10). The lift had no shaft just cables up through a massive open space. The building was built in 1889 the same year as the Eiffel Tower but it fell down in 1904 and had to be rebuilt.

Friday 13th June 2014

Went to the incredibly comprehensive Egyptian Museum (9/10) before lunch and then a boat ride down the River Po where there were lots of people playing about on kayaks and cooling off from the days heat, a tram to the Church Piazza della Consolata which was rather plain on the outside but absolutely superb in its interior.

Nice police hats

Visited a small but interesting museum that is devoted to the Holy Shroud of Turin (6/10) before a little time out in our air-conditioned apartment and dinner once again at L'Acino where the owner and waitress were delighted to welcome us back.

Saturday 14th June 2014

Picked up our rental car at 1pm and drove towards Cinque Terre.