Wow. What a week! We are really worn out. This has been a really tiring week. We saw lots of really cool things, but we worked hard to do it.
We got up on Friday and had breakfast in the rooms, after wishing Grandpa happy birthday. Then we all packed into the car (it is kind of crowded with the six of us and the luggage) and headed to Italy. We didn't have a hard time leaving Geneva. It was much better than when we arrived. We did have one stop on the way to Italy; Mount Blanc, the highest peak in Europe. We stopped to look at the peak (and the other mountains in the Alps), and then drove UNDER it!! The tunnel took about 20 minutes, and when we came out, we were on the other side of the Alps and in Italy.
We drove for another few hours and finally arrived in Turin (Turino). We were going to skip checking in until after a little sight-seeing, but we stumbled across the hotel as we were entering town. So we checked in and picked up a map. It was very helpful! Turin is about as well marked as Geneva. But, armed with a map, we made our way to the Museo dell Automobile (Automobile museum). Turin is the Detroit of Italy, making brands like Fiat and Ferrari. They had some really cool displays of old cars starting with a model A and a model T through modern cars. They even had some steam engine cars. We had a good time wondering through the displays and were pleased that some of the displays had English translations.
Then we headed off to the Borgo Medioevala, a reconstructed medieval village. It was built in 1884. It is a small cluster of buildings, dwellings, workshops, and stores all looking onto one street with a castle at the end. The castle was really cool, but we didn't get much out of the tour. It was only in Italian. We walked through the town and felt like we were in the middle ages due to the large numbers of knights and ladies running through the streets. (A school had been making clothes and armor out of crape paper and had been let loose to have a battle.)
We walked back to the car by way of the river and park. After resting in the hotel for about an hour, we went to a restaurant recommended by the front desk. Time for PIZZA!! Because restaurants don't open until 8:00 (even later than in France), it was a late night. We had great pizza, though. The wait staff had a good time trying to teach us Italian, and thought we were very funny. It was a wonderful meal and we look forward to our next meal.
From there it was off to bed. Saturday was going to be a big day. We have all of Turin to see in one day!!
Saturday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel. Then we drove into Turin. Amazingly, we were able to find a free (read not pay) parking space! We then walked to our first stop, Duomo di San Giovanni. While it is a beautiful church in its own right, this is the church that houses The Shroud of Turin. This is the 4 yard sheet of linen that many believe to be the burial shroud of Christ. Although the actual shroud is next scheduled for public viewing in 2025, we saw the case that holds it. There was also a striking, full sized photo copy. There was a person constantly narrating the copy, always in Italian. However, we could see the outline of a man that was obviously hurt when he died. Andrew was very impressed with how clearly you can see the outline of a face. I found it very moving to stand before the case holding the shroud.
From there we moved on to the Palazzo Reale. This is a 17th century castle. Unfortunately, the Italians don't seem to be very organized and the next tour was at 1:00 (it was 11:30), so we bought tickets for the tour and went to see the San Lorenzo church. This was a really beautiful church. It is very different from any church we have ever seen. It was circular and the guide book says that it was designed by the architect, Guariano Guarini, at his best. It was very hard to explain, so I will have to let the pictures speak for themselves. There was also a side alcove with a copy of the shroud (much less crowded) and selves showing the articles of the passion. There was a replica of the crown of thorns (matched to the wounds on the shroud), samples of the nails that would have been used, and some of the whips that would have been used (also matching the wounds on the back).
We have a quick lunch of Panini, al fresco, before heading back to the tour. Although the tour was in Italian, we enjoyed the beautiful rooms and the brief written translations into English. We also met a man from England (and Canada) who was on holiday. He offered to translate if the tour was in German or Dutch, while I offered the same for French. No luck though. The castle was decorated similar to Versailles. Lots of paintings and gold. I'm sure we would have gotten more out of it if we had understood the tour. :)
I forgot to mention that Turin is the sight of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Knowing that, we knew that there was going to be some road construction while they put in a subway system. We didn't see much of that. What we did see was the whole town "sprucing up." Many of the statues were covered up and being cleaned. Many buildings as well. In fact, the next thing we tried to see. The Queen's castle is right across the square from the Palazzo Reale. However, it was closed and looked like it was being remodeled. So we moved on, consoling ourselves with gelato (ice cream) on the way.
We had quite a walk to get to the twin churches of San Carlo and San Cristina. These two churches are built right next to each other (both in the 17th century) on Piazza San Carlo. The Piazza (plaza) was described to us as one of the most beautiful in Turin. We missed the piazza, walked right on by. When we finally found it, we knew why we walked by. It is not there. It has been replaced by a hole in the ground. Apparently, they are redoing the piazza. Because the churches open onto the square, they were closed as well. We have learned that you shouldn't visit a town that is hosting the Olympics the next year. Everything is being closed in preparation for the next year!!
We then ran into the British man from the castle. It turns out he owns a bed and breakfast in Canada and invited my parents up for a stay!
We walked back to almost where we started to go to two museums that are housed in the same building, Museo Egizio and Galleria Sabauda. The Galleria is a collection of paintings from the house of Savoy (the royal family). It sounded very impressive and we were looking forward to seeing it. However, it was also close in preparation for the Olympics. So we had to settle on just the Museo. This was really cool. It is called the Egyptian museum. There were statues of Pharaohs, real mummies in real sarcophaguses, and entire tombs transplanted there. It is one of the best museums of its kind. We had a great time and the kids were very fascinated with the mummies and the food and things that were buried with them.
We were all really worn out by this time, so we headed back to the hotel to give the boys baths. We then got another recommendation for a restaurant, this time we requested pasta. The first option was closed, the second full, but the third was open. It appeared that the front desk misunderstood our request, because this was a seafood restaurant. Very traditional Italian food, but hard on Dave. He settled for the calzone, and the rest of us took the recommendation of the waiter. What we got was a pasta with mussels, calamari, squid, and a prawn. UGH!! Definitely not what I would have picked. I suffered through and most of it was pretty good. The highpoint of the meal was the dessert. You get to pick out three!!! Yummy.
We took our time in the morning and were on the road by around 10:30. When we left Turin, it started raining. As we climbed in the Alps, it started snowing. By the time we left the tunnel on the other side, it was raining again and it rained the whole way home. We got home around 7:30. A very long day. Needless to say we are tired out. Hopefully we will rest up this week.
Well, I hope you enjoyed our adventures this week. We sure did. You probably won't hear from us for a week now. Hope you are all well. We miss you.
Amy
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