Blogs from Turin, Piedmont, Italy, Europe - page 2

"What news from the cafes today?" Apparently when King Victor Emmanuel II of Turin wanted the latest political gossip, that is what he would ask his advisors. Turin is famous for its beautiful cafes and they form part of the cultural and political history of the city. While we didn't have much time, I was keen to experience some of that cafe culture for myself. I particularly loved the magnificent Caffè San Carlo, with its gilded mirrors, wonderful chandelier and fabulous waitstaff. I must say I walked in and wondered if I should be turning right around again, but a coffee here is the same price as it is anywhere else in Turin (and costs much less than it does at home), despite the decor being so opulent and the waiters so crisply attired! Apparently anyone ... read more

Sometimes, and I think every traveller is asking this question from time to time, you accidentally go to a place and later you ask yourself: Why did I not come here any earlier? This happened to us with Turin, or Torino, in Italy. Well, to be precise, I (Nina) have been here before on a business trip, but I did not really visit the city. I arrived at the train station, went to a business lunch in a fancy restaurant close by, had some excellent piedmontese specialities and left the same day. So I had no idea what the city really is like. As our spiritual master, Sri Swami Vishwananda did a tour around Italy in April and was about to come to Turin, we did not hesitate and planned a short weekend trip to Turin. ... read more

I am officially living in Torino! I met and went home with my host family on Saturday. The live in a flat about 2.5 miles from the city center. My host dad, Cristiano, is a bank executive and my host mom, Tina, is a lawyer. They have two kids: Giacomo, who is 12 and also one of my students, and Giorgia who is 10. They also have a bunny, Bianca. The flat is very nice, and I have my own room. After lunch on Saturday we went around the city center and then out to dinner for pizza, which was amazing. My host family is friends with the host family of anothe girl in my program, so they joined us for dinner. They have very big portions here, and don't really snack, so it's been hard ... read more

Our annual holiday this year took us to Italy. We have visited most of the big cities in Italy and wanted to head off into the countryside this time and give a wide berth to large cities. We were looking for mountains and cooler weather after sweating our way through a hot summer. We flew into Milan and drove straight out in our rented car. As usual, we got an upgrade, a much better car than we ordered. We stayed three nights in Turin. The hotel wasn’t great, but it was adequate. Didn’t really matter, we don’t spend much time in our hotel rooms. Turin itself is full of monuments of a grander time, not very attractive somehow, not a crowded city, not much traffic. We didn’t use the public transport, we walked everywhere. We engage ... read more

Well known as the home of the Shroud of Turin, and the football teams Juventus F.C. still...not many tourist will come to Turin, in fact ...there are more to offer in this former home for the Italian Royal family. Turin also the headquarters of automobile manufacturers FIAT, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Iveco. And the view of snow cap mountain of the Italian Alps off in the distance. The city is full of renaissance, baroque, rococo and neo-classical architecture. It isn't the typical Italian city, but more French with wide boulevards that some called it "the little Paris"; There are so many statue, Piazza and Palazzo, the main sight are congested between Porta Nuova train station and Porta Palazzo, and the huge market there attracted big crowd during the day, and the general commercial area lay mostly ... read more