Sunday May 14, 2023
Carol does Carol and starts us off with a nice breakfast of eggs and peppers. Today will mostly be a walk and explore day. We start with a walk to the Church of Gran Madre di Dio. We go through Piazza Vittorio veneto which stretches from the end of Via Po down to the Po River and is the largest porticoes square in Europe. It was originally named for Vittorio Emanuel’s I but after WWI, the name changed to celebrate Italys defeat of the Austrians at Vittorio Veneto.
Architect Giuseppe Frizzi was commissioned to build the square in 1825 as part of a project to expand the city down to the river. However, there was a decline of 7.2m (21+ feet) from the entrance at Via Po to the river. He created an illusion that the square was level , he divided it into sections using small cross streets and brought some of the facades forward, which made the buildings appear equal in height. As you walk toward the river, the buildings actually get taller. When we cross the river to the church and look back, the illusion is complete as the buildings all look to be the same height and the square appears level. Fine job, Giuseppe. The church itself is of round design and in our opinion, not very spectacular. Its claim to fame is that supposedly the Holy Grail is kept here. I suddenly have an urge to look around to see if the Knights of Nicht are nearby.
Our next pilgrimage is up to the Church of Santa Maria del Monte and the Monte dei cappuccino Viewpoint. It is a pretty good climb up although most of it is in the shade of trees. At the top, there is a mass going on so we just enjoy the great view across Torino. We can see the Mole Antonella tower and other landmarks that we will be visiting. Unfortunately due to clouds and a bit of haze, we can not see the Alps that are not too far to the north of the city. After admiring the view, we manage to get a snake peak into the church before leaving.
We lean back as we descend the fairly steep grade from the church until we are back at the river level. We walk along the river to the next bridge over and cross. We are heading into Parco Valentino, Torinos second largest public park. Created in 1856, it was Torinos first public garden. It is a nice walk along the river and then we come to a small cafe that is serving sandwiches, wine, beer, and soft drinks. We opt to slit a sandwich with a glass of cold white wine. The sign said Chardonnay, but what we got was a sparkling Chardonnay, popular in the region but not quite our taste. We managed to drink it anyway and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and people watching on this Sunday afternoon. We find a small medieval village that is being renovated. From there we wind up along the gardens as we slowly work our way towards the apartment. It has been a nice walk and we get to put our feet up for about an hour before we head out again.
We walk towards Piazza Carignano and the Palazzo Carignano which houses the Risorgimento Museum. It takes a few spins around some blocks before we find it. We get our tickets which activates our Torino Cards so we can use them until 1530 on Friday. The museum offers a history lesson about the unification of Italy in the 19th century (the Risorgimento) which led to its modern state. It starts with some history of the Savoia Family who ruled from 1003 to 1720. We then see a liberty tree pole, a symbol of the balance of power shifting from autocratic kings to nations to governments elected by the people. The pole and cap on top originated after Caesar was assassinated. The Phrygian cap was a skullcap that used o indicate a freed slave. The palazzo itself served as the official residence of the Savoy family for over 50 years (Carlo Alberto and Vittorio Emanuel’s II were born here). The palace became the seat of Italys first parliament and has the original parliamentary room, the only one still intact from those born in Europe with the revolutions of 1848. We get to see items used during the history of the Risorgimento including two pistols hidden in a fake book (Just in case). We learned a lot about the various people involved in the Birth of Italy including Carlo Alberto, Vittorio Emanuel’s II and the best known one, Garibaldi. It is a very nice museum with enough English to keep you interested.
We walk back toward home and go theorugh Piazza San Carlo to see if the closed churches from yesterday are open. They are not. We look around the Piazza instead. There is an equestrian statue of Emanuele Filiberto, the Savoy Duke who made the decision to move the capital of the families territories from Chambery (France) to Torino. We see a Golden Bull in front of a cafe similar to one in Milan, where if you rotate on its nether regions, you will have good luck. We also discover a place that has ice cream that is all natural and only uses three ingredients. They are at the bargain price of 2E for a very nice sized cone and they are incredible. It looks like vanilla but does not taste like it. Just milk, cream and sugar and it is made fresh every hour. We are two happy ice cream lickers.
Instead of waiting for a pizza place to open at 1930 for dinner, we decide to walk to one on my list closer to the apartment that is open soon. We eat at Pizza 150 and order one eggplant and one sausage pizza. We also get a few slices of Farina which we knew as Cecina when we were in Lucca on a previous trip. It is like a pizza but made with a chick pea batter and it is very good. The pizza is good but they put the ingredients under the cheese instead of on top which is ok (maybe where Chicago got the idea) but I prefer them on top. After dinner, we retreat to our apartment for the evening. It has been a nice day and for a large city, we both think it feels smaller than it is.
Expenses Lunch and wine in the park 13E Arrancini at Sicily Street 3.50E Gelato at Gelateria Biraghi 4E Dinner at Pizza150 26E Golden Eagle Apartment 106.60E Walked 12.0 Miles
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