September 28 – October 2, 2015: With a choice of Milan or Turin after the Italian Lakes I had no difficulty picking Turin over Milan, which I had already visited. Turin seemed over-provided with interesting museums, not to mention cafes and restaurants. Hotels were a little more problematic, and I wound up sleeping a bit above my usual price point at Townhouse 70, which had actual turn-down service (provided even when I put out the do-not-disturb sign). The staff were very helpful, breakfast was good, and I slept well.
Founded by the Romans, for centuries Turin was the seat of the House of Savoy, which held sway over varying swathes of northwestern Italy and southeastern France, and ultimately provided reunified Italy with its first king and its first capital. The city had the buildings and avenues one would expect of such a power base. In the city center many of the streets were lined with soaring arcades, no doubt providing welcome shade in the summer, and providing me with shelter from the rain. A little further out the streets were still wide, wide enough that I noticed cars parked along the center line! When just one or two cars were using this novel parking lot, they had their hazard lights on, but where several were lined up they didn’t bother.
The Savoy family also built castles and palaces in the surrounding countryside, and although many have disappeared one, designed as a hunting lodge, still stands in Veneria Reale and was recently renovated after years of abandonment. Calling it a hunting lodge is seriously misleading, palace would be more accurate, although in one of its earlier incarnations it was even bigger. The grounds have also been rescued, and should really be seen on a sunny day. Unfortunately, Accuweather once again proved inaccurate, and I visited on the wrong day.
The basement provided more information than I really needed on the history of the family and of the building. All of the furniture was long gone, so the rooms upstairs were mostly empty, but the walls and ceilings were plenty grandiose. A special exhibition on Raphael contained a number of pictures borrowed from Florence, a city I still have not visited. While I could appreciate Raphael’s ability, I was not converted into a fan. I’m afraid I was actually more appreciative of the Venetian barge in the stables.
The really grandiose palace, of course, was in the center of Turin. I was suitably impressed, but the more baroque buildings I see, the more excessive I find them. The Madama palace/castle, which I also visited, did offer some medieval church artifacts, along with cases of silver, glass and ceramics. And, reached through the wintry gardens, access to a tower and a view. At least you could visit the gardens at the Madama palace, those around the Royal Palace were suffering from neglect and off limits.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my visits, but not as much as those to other museums in town. I confess to complete disinterest in the Shroud of Turin, so I skipped that museum, as well as the well-regarded museums devoted to film and Fiat. I would like to have visited the Decorative Arts and Risorgimento museums, but there I would have had to join a guided tour in Italian. The official at the Risorgimento museum seemed positively offended that an English speaker might want to visit his museum! But I had a lovely time at the virtually deserted Asiatica Museum, and a pretty good one at the popular Egyptian Museum, said to be the best outside Cairo. It was certainly a great deal better maintained and curated than the one in Cairo, although my audio guide was partially defective.
The Asiatica’s collection was small, but included some exquisite pieces. Not to mention, Tibetan thangkas from the 15th century which I was surprised to see in Turin. I did ask how they came to be there, but the language barrier proved insurmountable. The ritual artifacts made from human bone in the Tibetan section were even more surprising! A temporary exhibition on the Spice Route, featuring National Geographic photographs, reminded me that I still haven’t made it to Central Asia…
The man who completed Turin’s Egyptian collection, Ernesto Schiaparelli, obviously had unusually good relations with the Egyptian authorities. Although short on gold artifacts, the museum held a very great deal of everything else you might expect in the way of sarcophagi, grave goods, and statues. The remains of a couple of pleated linen tunics must be among the oldest textiles on view anywhere, and a bed, complete with bed linens, was not much younger. The visit ended with a long mirrored room full of large statues. The museum was extensive, and by that time I was almost too tired to appreciate them.
Aside from museums, I also made sure to visit some of Turin’s historic cafes. I mostly drank coffee – proper macchiatos! – since although the one spritz I allowed myself in the San Carlo came with munchies, they were not particularly good munchies. (I was starting to feel that I had been eating and drinking too much and was gaining weight.) The San Carlo, once a hot bed of revolution, featured mirrors, frescoes and chandeliers, but ultimately my favorite was the smaller and darker Mulassano, covered with beautifully carved wood panelling.
One consideration in picking Turin over Milan had been that I didn’t have to get up quite so early to catch the direct TGV to Lyon, but I still left the Townhouse 70 shortly after 7:00. I had been looking forward to a reputedly scenic journey through the mountains, but the weather was uncooperative. In Italy one band of cloud lay in the valleys, and another draped the mountain tops.
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