after sadly dropping ann off at the milan malpensa airport, i made the game day decision to drive the 2.5 hours west and visit torino for a day! torino is the capital of the alpine region of piedmont, and hosted the winter olympics in 2006. it is a very nice city filled with wide streets lined with arcades, and surrounded by mountains.
near the main square, i visited the church which holds the shroud of turin, famous among many catholics who believe it to be the actual shroud in which christ’s body was wrapped when he rose from the dead, and which now has an imprint on it resembling christ. it is now hidden away, but was last out for public view in 2013, when ann actually came to torino to see it! in the church courtyard is a nice clocktower that can be climbed for 2 euro for amazing views over the cityscape!
i then walked down to the po river and chanced upon a gelato festival that was touring around europe! there were about 40 different gelato purveyors from around the continent, and one ticket let you try all of them!
i then took a long walk along the river po, to the base of a nearby mountain, atop which is the imposing superga cathedral, which provides amazing views over the torino valley. i took a little, once-per-hour train up the mountain, which takes over 30 minutes to get to the top. immediately behind the superga cathedral is a touching memorial for the grand torino professional football team, all of whom were killed when their plane crashed into this mountain during a blizzard in the 1950s. one can climb to the roof of the superga cathedral and look out over the sunset.
a great day in torino!
