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Published: August 1st 2016
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Woolly says – Having left the tusk and trunk eating baby behind for the day, an hours train ride left us in the centre of Turin.......well it would have done if either of the women had a sense of direction! Having left the station we turned right, an hours walking and we seemed to have discovered the suburbs, in the interests of helping my paws and not covering more miles than necessary I went for the sensible option of asking for directions and then having retraced most of our paw steps back towards the train line we finally found ourselves in what appeared to be a large square with some strange cows which seemed a little random. Pizzia Reale is home to The Royal Palace of Turin, originally built in the 16th century and modernized in the 17th century, with designs by the Baroque architect Filippo Juvarra. in 1997 it was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. We had no idea of why cows were an exhibit but having stopped the mammoth from trying to ride them we decided to have a look at the gardens that would have once been the place for the young royals to walk, play and socialise in.
Woolly says – Only a small area was open to the public which housed a large and rather strange looking statue and fountain, the rest of the gardens were still being worked on although looking at the two bears that were in residence in the closed area I’m not sure how many of the public would what to visit! Not fancying the inside of the royal residence I cast my gaze around and found the tourist information and a super lady who having given me a map and circled things on it for us to look at, also asked for my business card, obviously a women of discernment. Having considered our opinions and ignoring Jo who was trying to take us on another wild goose chase I strode off towards the Porta Palatina. The Palatine Gate provided access through the city walls of Julia Augusta Taurinorum (modern Turin) from the North side. It is one of the best preserved 1st-century BC Roman gateways in the world, not the biggest of Roman finds but a rather fine statue of Julius Cesar none the less. Jo and Zoe seemed to be intent on heading into the cathedral and with a last look at the roman towers I followed behind.
Although not a huge cathedral I felt that we should at least pay a visit given the famous shroud that it holds. Woolly says – I had heard of the Turin Shroud, a piece of cloth that is supposed to have wrapped Jesus’s body after his crucifixion and now holds the imprint of him. Wandering past the rather pretty alters I expected to find a long queue of tourists also paying their respects, but it was just us staring at an oblong box covered in silk cloths, not a shroud to be seen! I sat and read the information that told me that scientists had proved that a body had indeed been wrapped in the cloth and that blood had also been identified but not why I couldn’t see the shroud itself! Having huffed and been shushed by Jo I trotted back into the intense heat that seemed to surround the city. It was hot and in an attempt to shelter ourselves we wandered though the market area of Piazza Della Republica taking in the scents of the fruits and vegetables and watching the children begging their parents for toys.
Woolly says – A cooling drink and a chance to rest my paws and I eagerly set off to our next port of call, the Egyptian Museum, apparently the second biggest in the world, I was hoping to discover all sorts of delights. The first few floors were filled with display cases of relics found by Italian teams of archaeologists in the late 18 hundreds and early 19 hundreds. With the next floors taking us through the wonders of burial boxes and funeral items, they were amazing and so beautifully painted not to mention in incredible condition. I seemed to have lost the women and having glanced around with no sighting I followed a family into another area with relics found in Pompeii. There was lots to see and it struck me as curious that the Romans of Pompeii had held so many Egyptian memorabilia, no reason why they shouldn’t of course but it had never entered my mind that the Romans would have items from another magnificent dynasty of people! I found the small furry one attempting to remove a mummy from it’s final resting place much to the delight of a group of children who were egging him on!
Woolly says – I was only trying to help with the history lesson! On we padded through even more sarcophagus and into an area entitled Valley of the Kings which was filled to overflowing with items removed from the tombs there. There was just so much to see and a couple of hours had only allowed us to scrape the surface. A snack break was in order and as we sat trying to cool down I studied the map and suggested crossing the Po and having a look at the other side of the river. Jo chuckled and explained that her Dad used to call her Po when she was little but had never known there was a river of the same name. As we walked across the bridge I had the imagine of walking over Jo in my head and as I caught her eye I knew she was thinking the same thing! The Po wasn’t the prettiest of rivers but it did lead us straight to a very impressive church.
Woolly says – The Gran Madre Di Dio looked huge. The church of Gran Madre di Dio is a Neoclassic-style church conceived in 1814 to celebrate the return of the King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia to the throne, after the defeat of Napoleon. Even better the steps of the Gran Madre appear twice in the 1969 film The Italian Job, I wonder if Jo will let me have a mini! As I made my way up the steps I could hear singing from inside, as we hauled the heavy door open the congregation turned as one and peered at us, we all smiled sweetly and then closed the door behind us and hurried back down the steps rather than intrude on the service. Not having been able to glimpse the wonders the building might hold we walked along the riverside whilst deciding if we could manage the climb up to Santa Maria di Monte dei Cappuccini. Woolly says – The walk up was easy....... well anything is is your hiding out in a bag! Santa Maria di Monte dei Cappuccini is a late Renaissance style church built for the Capuchin Order in 1583. Jo looked a trifle warm on our arrival so having pointed out a handy water spout I left her trying to stand under it and peered up at the oddly shaped church, the few steps up and I attempted to push the door open....why do they make church doors soooooo heavy! A nice gentleman gave to my aid and I slipped inside to another church service, I looked at the door and realised that I was stuck until one of the girls came in, so I found myself a pew and sat enjoying the choir and the architecture.
We found him eventually humming along happily to the hymns we tried to make a silent exit, two churches and no pictures but then that’s how it is sometimes. As we ambled along the river and hopefully back towards the train station we all agreed that Turin was pretty, very pretty in fact for a city and even given that it was a Saturday not as busy as we had expected, as Woolly started to discuss which colour mini he would like I closed my ears and enjoyed watching the Po flow past.
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