Grand Tour of Italy: Turin

Guess what, folks! This is the end of my Italy posts...except for Rome, which I will tackle hopefully before the end of the year.  HA!  Because I had been to Rome two times previously, I guess it feels like an after-thought, even though it's not.  So, I WILL tackle it...later.

But for now, I finish the tour here with Turin, which happened to be our first day in Italy (after two days of riding the OAD coach/bus from the Netherlands to get there!).

We entered Italy on the Switzerland side, just north of Turin,

and left Italy 15 days later on the Austrian side, north of Verona and Venice.

We arrived in Turin at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, 3 April, to meet our Italian guide at 10.

Because we were early, our bus driver drove us around to see some of the sights...

and ended up at the Palazzo Madama to connect with our guide.

We had plenty of time at the beginning and the end of our 5.5 hours to see its many faces,

even though we weren't there to visit it.

Its origin dates all the way back to the first century BC!

Our guide was taking us, instead, to Parco del Valentino (Valentino Park), 

Turin's second largest public park at 500,000 square meters (123.5 acres).

We were on our way to...

the Medieval Village, a 19th century reproduction of a 15th century village on the river Po.

It had us at HELLO (the entrance)!

This is the other side of the entrance (always look back!),

with Astrid and me in the left and right images, thanks to a friend.

Of all the places to see in Turin, I can't imagine any place better

(coming from someone who loves this kind of architecture).

I wanted to STAY and really see everything...

especially the church, if it had been open.

It was hard to leave it and move on to the next attraction...

the Fountain of Twelve Months, also in the Valentino Park.

It was designed by Carlo Ceppi and built in 1898.

Here, too, I wished we could have lingered to find out more about each month.

But no, we were still on the move, getting back on the bus to where we started at Palazzo Madama,

from which we then walked to the Royal Church of  San Lorenzo (Saint Lawrence), 

adjacent to the Royal Palace.

It was designed and built by Guarino Guarini between 1668-1687.

Can you see me snapping pics while on the go with the group,

hurrying before it closed at noon...

just so we could see what Turin is famous for:  a replica of the Shroud of Turin (top right)!

It's still revered to be the burial fabric that covered Jesus after his crucifixion, in spite of how

scientific data supports the confession of an unnamed artist who made a forgery of it in 1390.

The two modern negatives near the shroud show the image on the shroud much better.

From the San Lorenzo Church we then walked to the Turin Duomo/Cathedral.

It's dedicated to St. John the Baptist and was built between 1491-98.

The Chapel of the Holy Shroud, added to the cathedral in 1668, holds the "original" shroud

(put on display only 5 times since 1933).

Because it was before lunch, and we were already late, we had time to only peek in.

I was lucky to to grab these images, seriously.  Others didn't even go in.

But I did have time to grab other sights as we went to lunch...

and after lunch, heading back to the bus, the Mole Antonelliana, built in 1863.

Sometimes it's only the landmarks that are important, I guess, just to say we saw them.

But I go back to what I said at the beginning...that what we saw in Valentino Park

was worth the entire time in Turin for both of us.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Now, totally changing the subject, Astrid and I leave on Saturday for a week in Austria,

celebrating her 65th birthday (which was last week, 24 August).

Our base will be in Ehrwald, Austria, for the week, 

from which we'll visit Germany castles, Lichtenstein, and the Austrian Alps.

So, we'll take a break here and see you later!