Home again...

We're home. Tired, with our suitcases filled with dirty clothes and our heads still full of Italian. And my camera full of photos! We drove back through France, having decided that the St. Bernard pass was not for us―it was still foggy and raining up there when we left. Torino is surrounded by the Alps, and they are normally visible from all over town. We only saw them as we were leaving. But never mind, we'll be back. We still have lots of Torino to explore!

Torino Road Trip: Day 13 The Shroud

Today after class we went to see La Sindone, the Shroud of Turin. It’s an ancient relic, much studied and much disputed. Some say that it’s the image of Christ, that it was wrapped around his body after he was crucified. Others say that it dates from the 12th or 13th century, and was probably from the last head of the Templars who was tortured and crucified as an example to the others. Still others say that it’s a total fake.

Torino Road Trip: Day 12

When you think of Torino, or Turin, what comes to mind? The Shroud? Fiat? Mazerati? Maybe the fine wines of the Piemonte region? Truffles? All of those are here, but there’s something else amazing, that would be among the last things I would have thought of when Torino is mentioned. Torino is the home of one of the world’s finest museums of Egyptian artifacts. I know.

Torino Road Trip: Day 11

Today it was drizzly while we were in class, but it stopped by the time we were finished with class. We didn’t have another class after 2 o’clock today, so we decided to take the car and explore the region a little bit. We headed south, to Alba, about an hour south of Torino.

Road Trip Torino: Day 10

If you’re ever in Torino, you absolutely positively MUST go to a place called Eataly. It’s down near the Linghotto complex, and easy to get to with public transportation. It’s a foodie paradise.

Road Trip Torino: Days 7-9

On Saturday we didn’t have rain. It was cloudy and a little chilly, but it wasn’t raining. So we went to the market, of course. On Saturdays in Torino, there is a market. OK, there’s a market every day in Torino. I’ve read that this is the largest open air market in Europe. It’s certainly the largest I’ve ever seen. And on Saturdays it’s even bigger. You’ve already seen the section that sells meat—indoors. Saturday we explored the rest of it. There is a section dedicated to fruit and vegetables, of course:

Road Trip Torino: Day 6

Today we finally had some sunshine! WAHOO! After school, I went for a walk while Dan did some work on the computer at school. I wanted to show you a little bit what Torino looks like. It’s really a very pretty city—it has an architectural unity that you don’t often see in cities. Paris has it, Washington DC has it, but not a lot of Italian cities have it. Here it’s because Torino, while an old city, was largely built or re-built in one era: the baroque. Many of the buildings have porticos, called portici (POR-ti-chee) in Italian. All told, Torino has 80 km of portici! You can go for a looong way without getting wet (except at the intersections). This week we're very grateful for the portici.

Road Trip Torino: Day 5

Rain. It’s still raining. So, today we’re going to visit a market.

Road Trip Torino: Day 4

Today it rained all day. It didn’t just rain, it poured. All day. So I’m going to tell you a little bit about the school, since we didn’t get any photos of Torino outside.

Road Trip Torino: Day 3

This morning when we woke up, it was still cloudy. After breakfast, though, it started to break up a little and we started to get a sense of the view from our balcony. The light was splendid, and I took this photo of one of the hills to our east. I’m not sure what the church on top is yet. I’ll let you know when I find out.

Road Trip Torino: Day 2

We woke up to a light, drizzly rain. Ew. Not the best weather for crossing the alps—especially if you want to get some awesome photos! With the rain came fog. Lots of it. But when it lifted (partially) we had some splendid views. This one is in Gruyere, just south of Bern:

Road Trip Torino: Day 1

8 am: We’re off! The sky is cloudy, perfect for driving. There wasn’t much traffic. As we doive south, the first hour or so was in Belgium, with familiar countryside all around us.

ROAD TRIP: Torino

ROAD TRIP!

We're off at the crack o'dawn tomorrow. Again. This time, we're going in the car, and we're taking you with us--virtually, of course!

We're off to Torino (Turin) for two weeks, where we'll spend the mornings in class improving our Italian, and the afternoons exploring Torino and the Piemonte region of Northwest Italy.