This is our brand new Peugeot to carry us around northern Italy until June. We picked it up on the outskirts of Milano and headed off, a little shakily at first. Keep right, look left takes a bit of getting used to. With only one small incident at a toll booth that ended with blaring horns and a waving fist (luckily we have French plates), we made it on to the Autostrade unscathed and headed off to Turin.

Turin has been described as “the city with the most beautiful natural location in the world”.

We couldn’t see the surrounding snow covered mountains from our vantage point at the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Monte del Cappuccini (phew, what a name). It’s located at the top of the hill behind our AirBnB on the eastern side of the Po River. The air quality that day was a little low but gave us the idea of the size and density of the city.

In the 18th century, Turin became an urban design project with lots of public squares, grand boulevards and royal palaces built in order to make the city fit for a capital. Many palaces, churches and castles are scattered all over the city and today the city centre is filled with cafes and restaurants. On our wanderings, we saw too many historic buildings to count, all ornate and reflecting what the original architects had in mind. Big, grand, fit for a capital.

Interestingly, the overall architecture of Turin is not typical of other Italian cities we’ve seen. It has a French look, and you can see how it gets it’s nickname “little Paris”.

Turin is also a city of technology and industry, and the home of FIAT. The “T” in Fiat stands for Turn. Not surprising, Fiats were everywhere.

It’s also where drinking chocolate became a thing. In 1678, the Royal Duchess gave a local the first permit to sell hot chocolate as a drink. It took off. Turin then became famous for its chocolate drink and chocolates as a sweet. With Easter just around the corner, many chocolatiere windows were elaborately displaying Easter chocolates. The bigger the better!

I read on Google that Turin residents are well known for their understatement and composure. I’d agree. The whole city reflected this.

In a word, we found Turin charming

Because we were walking around 12km a day, we enjoyed an added indulgence with our mid morning espresso macchiatos on a couple of occasions.

Apricot Crostini -v- Tarte Tatin. Hard to decide……..

We were staying very close to the Umberto I Bridge and walked across it daily to the city centre. It was built in 1903-1907 to replace an old steel cable bridge which had been closed for safety reasons. There’s four bronze statues on its corners representing Art, Industry, Mercy and Valour.

The Vibe

The River Po was quite full despite the drought we’d read about.

Scary toys.

The Food

Ravioli 🙂 Jeff ordered Scampi and Sea Bass in a Shellfish Bisque. I went veggo – Artichoke with Leek and Sage.

Veal Cheeks with Mushrooms and you can’t go past a good salad!

Two very popular dishes on nearly every menu in the Piemonte Region are Steak Tartare and Veal with Tuna Sauce. We both tried the famous Veal with Tuna Sauce that had been highly recommended by our host. I’m definitely not a fan. It’s called Vitello Tonnato so I now know to steer clear of it on menus, along with Carne Cruda (raw meat). Jeff, on the other hand, loves steak tartare and thought the veal was enjoyable.

Who doesn’t love a slow cooked beef dish and mashed potatoes. Winner!

Palazzo Reale (The Royal Palace)

We spent more time wandering through this magnificent Palace than any other. Every room in the Palace is spectacular and the art collections are outstanding. But my favourite, and the one that got us both curious, was the Royal Armory.

This is the Cathedral of St John the Baptist which was attached to the Palace. There was a funeral service underway while we were peering through the windows from the adjoining smaller private Chapel in the Palace.

The Royal Armory – I thought the horses were real (taxidermied), but are made of wood with actual horse skins sewn on. It was reassuring to see how horses were well protected in battle. But it’s hard to imagine them getting up much speed. And for every brave soldier, head to toe and everywhere in-between protection was a must.

It’s difficult to bring to life in a photograph all that’s on display in the Armory. There was so much detail and information you could spend a whole day just in that section.

And, that’s another wrap.

Ciao Torino.

Next stop, Roddino in the Piemonte Region.

Catherine & Jeff xx