Torino
Life has been busy recently so it has been a while since we have updated the blog with what we have been up to.
Starting with the weekend before last we had a dinner with about 8 of us in the name of learning to cook “Italino”. A few weeks before this we had been talking with Chiara and Ottavio about a Risotto that we had made. The recipe we followed was a little strange, for example you added the cheese at the beginning. It turned out the Chiara had seen the same recipe and agreed that it was unusual. As such she kindly offered to teach us how to make a “TRUE” Italian risotto and hence the purpose of the evening.
As is normal before we have people over we went through the house cleaning everything in case people mistake our house for one that is lived in. Chiara then came over a little early and walked us through a Red Wine and Rosemary risotto. Well, it was delicious and deceptively simple, though slightly time consuming. We even made our own vegetable stock! It also included an entire bottle of Red Wine that matched the other 7 or so bottles about 5 of us were able to polish off. Needless to say the next day was a little slow but that wasn’t too much of a problem as that Sunday was very wintery.
The following weekend we had our next appointment with the priest who will be performing our wedding ceremony. Our previous “love school” appointment was before Christmas so it had been a while. Here we finally found out what form the ceremony will take and started choosing readings and music. What we decided you might just have to wait and see 
That night we had dinner with the two amazing people who are helping us organise the wedding. We met up with them at a bar where Cinzia’s fiancé works and had a great evening chatting and not talking about weddings (easier than you might think for me ). Continuing my effort the previous weekend I drank a little too much but this time forced myself to go swimming with Vilija and surprisingly felt better for having done so.
Recently Vilija and I realised that there isn’t too much time left before we leave Italia and head back to Oz. As such we made the decision to try and see as much as we can before we leave. Given our renewed enthusiasm to see places yesterday we pulled ourselves out of bed early (I am of the opinion that early rises on Saturdays should be made illegal under the United Nations Convention Against Torture!!) and jumped on the 8am train to Torino.
Torino is about 2 hours on the train from Genova, which is only fractionally further than Milano. Torino is the original capital of united Italia before it subsequently moved to Firenze and finally Roma. It is also the home to the Italian Monarchy, the Savoy family of which all male members were banned from Italia between 1946 and 2002.
Tornio was a beautiful city, a lot more French (northern European) than other cities that we have been to. In place of Mediterranean Terracotta and Pastel Green coloured houses were multi-story terraces with cast iron balconies and pitched tiled rooves. It also featured large Piazze and Palazzi that gave it an elegant, open feel.
We were told about two museums in Torino that were worth a visit. For those people that aren’t up to date on their Ancient Egyptian history Torino is home to Musee Egizio that holds the world’s seconds largest collection of Egyptian artefacts. It was an amazing museum with many sarcophagi and other statues that are perfect condition. One phenomenal piece was a 5000 year old mummy well preserved with skin and burial cloth still visible. It was fascinating and well worth a visit.
The second museum was the Italian National Film Museum, which, oddly enough, is all about the development of the Film industry. It included its early beginnings that included optical illusions that were popular in the 1700’s and followed its development up to recent times and yes there were English translations for those interested.
Enhancing the appeal of the museum was the building itself. It is housed in the Mole Antonelliana, which is the symbol of Torino. It was originally intended to be a Jewish synagogue, though never consecrated. It features a tower made of Aluminium that climbs to a height of 113m. Inside the main auditorium, which is a huge void, runs a scenic elevator. It is located directly in the middle of the room and ascends as if by magic on wires through a small opening in the roof. It brought images of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator to my mind and was truly a brilliant piece of design and deservedly an Italian landmark.
We also managed to quickly stop at the Duomo that holds the Shroud of Turin and see the box in which it is held. We saw the official replica and read up on the controversy surrounding it. Irrespective of what you believe, it was an interesting thing to behold, whether truly the shroud, or the world’s first photograph.
We were very impressed with Torino, so much so that we highly recommend a visit. It is an easy day trip from Genova, we left at 8am and returned on the 9pm train. It is a significantly prettier town that Milano in our opinion with the added benefit that we weren’t overcharged for food and the like.
See our flickr page for more of our photos.
