The Little Bull

After being in Milano for a month, I decided to take my first day trip to see a city other than Champoluc. The family headed down to Roma to visit grandparents while I headed by train with a new friend from my language school, Katie, to see the nearby city of Torino (Turin) which translates to "the little bull."

Cute Alpini on bike

Gli Alpini at the station

After a two hour train ride, we arrived and immediately outside the station saw a group of people collected, mostly consisting of Alpini, a elite, mountaineering sector of the Italian army (in fact the oldest mountaineering infantry in the world). It's always fun to see them because their uniform is so particular and to me really quite charming. We set out from the station to find something to eat at one of the restaurants recommended by my Lonely Planet guide book. After a little discussion, we decided on one of the more economic options that also happened to by nearby, 8 3/4. It was a cute little place with color coded rooms and a menu of tasty looking options, but we both settled on the very affordable pizzas. With full stomachs, we headed out to see what this new place would offer.

Torino is a large city and was actually Italia's first capital before it moved to Firenze and then finally Roma. With Milano and Genova, it makes the triangle of Italia's major industry. However, in comparison to Milano it is much more esthetically pleasing. I really enjoyed Torino's green spaces and smaller, pedestrian-only streets lined with different shops and café's.

The gates of Palazzo Reale

The main square in Torino is huge and very beautiful, with the Palazzo Reale lining one side. This palace was inhabited by the Savoy royalty and really has more of a French feel to it than I've seen elsewhere in Italia.  Attached to this palace is a cathedral that housed the famous Shroud of Turin, which only is shown when the papa, Pope, decides so. The last time was 2000 and the next estimated showing is 2025. Needless to says, we didn't see it.




Next we headed over to the Mole Antonelliana, which was originally designed to be a Jewish synagogue, but funding ran out part of the way through it's construction. It was finished, but now houses instead the National Museum of Cinema. We bypassed the museum, more for financial reasons than anything else, and took the high speed elevator to the top of it's spire to get a panoramic view. It was beautiful to see the city and it's surrounding hills from up above all the buildings, but the smog unfortunately prevented a clear view of everything.

Mole Antonelliana in the distance

Katie at the top of the Mole Antonelliana

After wandering around for a bit, getting lost a few times, we made our way back to the train station, grabbing a cappuccino before catching an evening train back to Milano. There we met up with Katie's boyfriend, Marco, for dinner. He had just arrived from Paris where he was working on a project for his job. He and Katie had met at the University of Minnesota, where he was doing his masters. It was great to get to meet another Italian, practice the language a bit more, and hear about his impressions of America.

I've been keeping busy with my classes as well as at home with the girls. All three were home sick last week with varying degrees of colds/fevers. They were feeling better, but now one has yet another fever. Hopefully we'll all be healthy by the end of the week!

UP NEXT: I meet up with Katie and Marco again, as well as another mixed-nationality couple, for a day in Toscana.