Our four nights in Turin were meant to ease us into the holiday spirit prior to snow-boarding. However, both of us managed to come down with pretty bad colds which, if I were at home, would have been a great excuse to stay home in bed. However, I am not one to waste a good holiday, especially when it involves eating. I got the low-down on what to eat and where to eat it from a colleague of mine, and was ready to take all of his suggestions on board...
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| Piazza Castello and the Royal Palace |
Being in Italy was a bit of a shock to the senses after spending so much time in Denmark. All of a sudden I had to make do with sign language, and to deal with people who spoke to me in Italian, even though I could not speak back to them. In a way, it was actually quite refreshing being in such an environment where people speak their own language. On the other hand, I would have real trouble spending a significant amount of time in a place where I can't communicate properly with people - and for this, I am thankful that I live in Denmark.
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| The River Po |
Back to the food... One thing I normally don't do when I have a cold, is eat ice cream. But, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. On our first full day there, we went to a lovely Italian cafe`/ice cream parlour in Piazza Carlo Felice. I was a bit hesitant when I chose flavours based on how interesting the names sounded, and then noticed how soft and liquid like the ice cream was as the smartly dressed server scooped it into a cup for me. But wow! This was by far, the best ice cream I have eaten in my whole life. It looked like it would drip, but it was so thick and creamy it held its form. There wasn't a hint of iciness - just cream. Strong flavours. A perfectly smooth texture. Again, wow! Subsequent ice creams on subsequent days proved that this city really knows how to make the frozen stuff!
Another 'must have' was the hot chocolate. There are two aspects to this - one, the cafe` experience, and two, the taste. The old classic cafe`s are a sight to behold - you feel like you are stepping into a small parlour from the early 20th century. Elegantly decorated, a handful of tables, almost as many staff as there are seats for customers - all of them impeccably dressed in bow-ties and the like. They are just beautiful. And the hot chocolate - well, calling it a hot chocolate in the same way as I call my home made "Cadbury powder in hot milk" a 'hot chocolate' would not be doing it justice. It is more like a thick hot chocolate sauce which is eaten with a teaspoon as much as it is drunk. So thick, and so chocolatey I couldn't even imagine such a thing before I had it. Couple this with a dollop of whipped dream to rival Devonshire clotted cream, and you have yourself a perfect afternoon 'cuppa'!
Of course there was also fantastic chocolate - especially my new favourite, creminis. A beautiful blend of soft chocolate and pralines - yum. But well, it wasn't all about the food. Turin is an interesting city. The Mole Antonelliana for example, the symbol of the city, houses the really cool Film Museum as well as a great lookout over the city. The building was initially commissioned by the city's Jewish community as a synagogue, but after quite a number of years of progress, and constantly growing costs, the city bought it off the community and had it finished. It's quite an architectural delight, and even more interesting is the brick construction of the massive dome, which, according to the civil engineer who sat on the plane next to me on the way in to the city, is studied by civil engineers all over Italy. It was very much 'on the edge' in terms of stability and required the designer to have extremely strict quality control over practically each and every brick. However, around a hundred years ago, after some small scale destruction by weather, the city decided to reinforce it with concrete - so it's not quite as fragile as it once was...
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| Looking down at the street from the top of the Mole |
One of the very interesting museums in Turin is the Egyptian Museum. Reportedly, the largest museum collection of Egyptian artefacts outside of Cairo. All this really means, as far as I can tell, is that the Italians were the most sneaky in terms of stealing heaps of things from Egypt. Although a little disgusting, my favourite exhibits are the mummies and human remains. I think it's actually quite awful that we dig up human remains so we can look at them, yet at the same time, live in a society which supposedly respects the dead. So while battling with this dilemma, I continued to check them out. It's most amazing how such an ancient society figured out how to preserve bodies so damn well! I find it totally fascinating (that and the fact that they were able to build things which lasted longer than a modern house in a Western country lasts...)
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| Palazzo Madama in Piazza Castello |
Back to the food... One thing I normally don't do when I have a cold, is eat ice cream. But, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. On our first full day there, we went to a lovely Italian cafe`/ice cream parlour in Piazza Carlo Felice. I was a bit hesitant when I chose flavours based on how interesting the names sounded, and then noticed how soft and liquid like the ice cream was as the smartly dressed server scooped it into a cup for me. But wow! This was by far, the best ice cream I have eaten in my whole life. It looked like it would drip, but it was so thick and creamy it held its form. There wasn't a hint of iciness - just cream. Strong flavours. A perfectly smooth texture. Again, wow! Subsequent ice creams on subsequent days proved that this city really knows how to make the frozen stuff!
Another 'must have' was the hot chocolate. There are two aspects to this - one, the cafe` experience, and two, the taste. The old classic cafe`s are a sight to behold - you feel like you are stepping into a small parlour from the early 20th century. Elegantly decorated, a handful of tables, almost as many staff as there are seats for customers - all of them impeccably dressed in bow-ties and the like. They are just beautiful. And the hot chocolate - well, calling it a hot chocolate in the same way as I call my home made "Cadbury powder in hot milk" a 'hot chocolate' would not be doing it justice. It is more like a thick hot chocolate sauce which is eaten with a teaspoon as much as it is drunk. So thick, and so chocolatey I couldn't even imagine such a thing before I had it. Couple this with a dollop of whipped dream to rival Devonshire clotted cream, and you have yourself a perfect afternoon 'cuppa'!
Of course there was also fantastic chocolate - especially my new favourite, creminis. A beautiful blend of soft chocolate and pralines - yum. But well, it wasn't all about the food. Turin is an interesting city. The Mole Antonelliana for example, the symbol of the city, houses the really cool Film Museum as well as a great lookout over the city. The building was initially commissioned by the city's Jewish community as a synagogue, but after quite a number of years of progress, and constantly growing costs, the city bought it off the community and had it finished. It's quite an architectural delight, and even more interesting is the brick construction of the massive dome, which, according to the civil engineer who sat on the plane next to me on the way in to the city, is studied by civil engineers all over Italy. It was very much 'on the edge' in terms of stability and required the designer to have extremely strict quality control over practically each and every brick. However, around a hundred years ago, after some small scale destruction by weather, the city decided to reinforce it with concrete - so it's not quite as fragile as it once was...
One of the very interesting museums in Turin is the Egyptian Museum. Reportedly, the largest museum collection of Egyptian artefacts outside of Cairo. All this really means, as far as I can tell, is that the Italians were the most sneaky in terms of stealing heaps of things from Egypt. Although a little disgusting, my favourite exhibits are the mummies and human remains. I think it's actually quite awful that we dig up human remains so we can look at them, yet at the same time, live in a society which supposedly respects the dead. So while battling with this dilemma, I continued to check them out. It's most amazing how such an ancient society figured out how to preserve bodies so damn well! I find it totally fascinating (that and the fact that they were able to build things which lasted longer than a modern house in a Western country lasts...)
It's a wonderful city - I've been three times and love it. Great photos.
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