Torino - In Presence of the Bull
- Tobias Heller
- 2. Feb. 2017
- 6 Min. Lesezeit
From Genova may way leads up to Torino, an important cultural center in the Region Piedmont in northern Italy. It used to be the capital of Italy in earlier times, due to which it houses several art galleries, museums, splendid palaces and monuments, outstretched piazzas and furthermore facilities that make Torino worthwhile a visit. This will be my last Italian city on the trip so far before I am off to France in order to go along the coast to Spain.
Sightseeing & History
History to go, please!
I will rejoin with Gianfranco again, who will fly up from sicily during the prolonged weekend, both of us staying at one of his friends from sicily. Torino is far up north and as it is only the start of february I expect not to step into a tropic paradise in terms of temperatures. And indeed when I arrive it is quite freezing, all the time in the neither hot nor freezing temperatures of sicily has lessened the ability to endure the cold without complaint. I arrive before Gianfranco at the main bus station located off center and meet with Silvio, who loves here in the city and which I had met back in Palermo for dinner. Together we pick up Gianfranco at the airport by car, and as it got quite late we stay indoors today in order to get up early in the morning to walk around the city. We wake up from deep sleep due to the shrill ringing of the alarm of my phone, around us complete darkness. I am slightly confused about the time and the given fact that it is so murky and lightless until my sleepy brain comprehends that the blonds have been shut down before going to bed, which is not too much to my liking, as I prefer to be waked up by daylight, uprising my chances of lifting my body out of the comfortable bed instead of slumping back to sleep once more. After we are done with preparations we set off to the center in order to join a free walkin tour - definitely Gianfrancos idea as I not necessarily love those tours if I only have a certain amount of days left. It is interesting though I am somehow continuously forced to keep following the group, wheras I am more the strollong type, occupied with the most unimportant details along the way and capturing them with my camera. The tour guide speaks in this typical extremely overpronounced Italian accent which - unwillingly - makes me start to giggle a lot, trying hard to maintain countenance. Our guide however does a good job explaining the cities history and shows us around several main buildings and squares around the old city center.
Torino offers one of the most atmospheric ancient cafés that can be found in Torino at Piazza San Carlo, such as the renowned Cafe Torino which is situated along an elongated archway with several likewise places, a brightly emanating neon sign in it's front which gives the arches a reddish glow. Briefly before the verge of the door, a golden bull is embedded in the pavement, and similarly like in Florence where you are supposed to touch the pig's muzzle in order to return to the city one day, figuratively you should make one turn on the bulls testicles. Inside the Café, elegant baroque furniture, a classical overly charming old-fashioned surrounding invites for a hot drink, while the most delicious mouthwatering, sweet delicacies are displayed in the large glass counter reflecting the nearby chandelier's warm and soft light. A gracious stairway sways down in a slight dynamic bow, lit by a matted glass facade. The place welcomes to sit down and taste one of the traditional drinks of Torino, a mixture of espresso, dark chocolate and a layer of foamy milk on top, instead we proceed the walking tour through the chilly, rainy day.
Torino indeed offers an enormous set of political and cultural important buildings, streets and monuments around the old city center, which is inscribed in the world heritage list. From Piazza San Carlo we walk past Museo Egizio onto a large Piazza, which is considered to be the heart of Torino, housing several majestic buildings, such as the royal palace Palazzo Reale and the omnipresent Palazzo Madama, which is situated right in the middle of the vast open square. Funnily I have to think about several of the Italian cities with houses crammed together so tightly in order to accommodate more people, while here those large open spaces are only inhabitant part-time by tourists.
We follow our tour guide over to Porta Palatina, which are the remains of an ancient portal and archeological heritage of the roman Turin. Nearby are the outstretches of a green meadow and the Cathedral di San Giovanni Battista is just around the corner. I feel sorry for the tour guide, but my thoughts are starting to drift off - too much of a history lesson for today and I start to get confused by the numerous palaces, squares and churches. At least the slight drips of rain have ceased meanwhile, causing us to fold back our umbrellas.
Harbor & Seaside
Across the River - Chiese della Gran Madre di Dio
Once at the riverside we leave the large square, cross over the bridge and step up the several stairs that lead up to another Church with massive columns in the front side of it's entrance. On that uplifted platform we have an overview over the Plaza and observe the busy ongoing activities and cars passing back and forth over the bridge. Two massive statues to both sides are to set, with the iconic maria lifting up her up a goblet as to salute Torino, accompanied by an angel standing right next to her. From here we start to stroll up the hill, pathways leading through green spaces and up Vila della Regina, from where we get a nice view over to Torino. Unfortunately the weather is till overcast - though the rain stopped - and the city lies ashen and colorless beneath us.
Harbor & Seaside
Palaces for Free - Sunday Checkout
My brain apparently tries to escape from the cage it is held in, hammering hard against the insides of my skull. Yesterdays night out involved too much alcoholic drinks and I am desasterously hangover, similarly is Gianfranco. The inhabitants of the shared apartment decided to throw some kind of students house party yesterday, us amongst them, invited to drink. We all ended up drunk in the city center, touring some bars. The most vivid memory about that night are the weird snobbish french who started talking to me, appearing overly self-opinated and hard to get rid of. It also involved tears and sentimental breakdowns and deep conversations, in total a typical somehow fun yet also disastrous night in Torino. It is the first Sunday of the month once more and we decided to take advantage of that, visiting national museums and palaces which offer free entry for today.We start with the Museo Archeologico, still tired and not in the best state of mind for a huge intake of information though we pull ourselves together, walking into the dimly lit basement which doesn't improve the drowsyness. Honestly can't remember overly too much about the things displayed here, for certain several broken pieces of ancient tableware and inscriptions on stones. Ancient stuff. Quite. The close by Galleria Sabauda offers various renaissance paintings, such as Rembrandt, Gerrit Dou, Jan van Huchtenburgh. Once we are done with the large rooms and uncountable paintings, we slump down on the overly welcoming chairs in the hallway, closing our eyes, lingering there exhausted.
Indeed the museums fun is not over yet, and we stroll over to the King's Palace, which contains massive, large and impressive rooms, decorated with chandeliers, various paintings, in general more incoming information to cause our heads to be not he verge of bursting. The adjacent Armeria Reale though is the crowning highlight of the tour, with a large golden overabundantly decorated hallway with various amours, arms and stuffed horses flanking the sides. This room indeed is impressing, filled up to the ceiling with historic heritages.
Harbor & Seaside
Museo Egizio
On our last day we decide to pay the visit to the Museo Egizio, a museum dedicated completely to egyptology and it's art and culture, containing various sarcophaguses, papyrus inscriptions, statues and monuments and is worth a visit. I am happy not to see further roman classic statues and heritages of the renaissance and welcome the change of cultural field. The Museum stretches over several floors, and highlights in a large darkened room with enormous statues are glowing out of the dark illuminated by nearby spotlights.
Harbor & Seaside
Goodbye once more
And once more do I have to say goodbye to Gianfranco and self speaking the weekend turned out to be over in the beat of a heart. He will take his flight back to Sicily and I am proceeding on, finally leaving Italy after four indescribable months laden with the most precious moments in my life so far. Thank you, Gianfranco.
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