Up at 6:45. We went to the “American Bar” on the mezzanine level for
breakfast. There were rolls with butter and jelly, and packaged croissants and
zwieback toast. Dad had tea, Mom had caffé latte, and I had hot chocolate. The
waitress spilled the little pitcher of milk on Dad’s lap, and went to wet a
towel to wipe him off, and she got him a new chair. She brought a new pitcher of
milk, which I used in my too chocolate-y hot chocolate. We returned to the room
for Dad to change his pants, and then we went down to hand in the key. I had
already paid 160 CHF/$80 for the room to get the voucher.
We walked to the Garibaldi Station, having to take an alternate route because of construction.
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| Construction (GJT) |
We passed an amusement park on a wide dusty boulevard. At its end was the fairly new train station. I went to buy our tickets to Torino and got one computer ticket for the three of us for a total of 18,600 ITL/$12. The 9:10 train to Torino came in a few minutes late. We found seats in a compartment. The scenery at first was flat suburbs, then flat tree orchards and cornfields. Around Novara and Vercelli, we started seeing miles and miles of rice paddies.
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| Rice paddies (GJT) |
We could barely see mountains or foothills through the haze, and certainly no Alps.
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| Stazione Porta Nuova (GJT) |
We arrived in Torino at 11:15 and walked through the large train station to find a tourist bureau. I went in to ask about a hotel, and the clerk called and got us a room at Hotel Italia. We walked over and checked into Room 403 on the 4th floor. After settling in, we went to walk along Corso Vittorio Emanuele II in search of a self-service restaurant. It and most other things were closed for vacation in August! But we saw wide tree-lined boulevards and squares with statues. We returned along the Corso to the station and a block past the square we found Via La Grange. One block farther was the self-service restaurant TO 1. There was a line of people extending outside the restaurant. We joined the line, which moved fairly quickly. I got rigatoni with a basil sauce and mineral water. Dad had ham with egg and a mixture of carrots and peas with mayonnaise, and a Coca-Cola and a gassosa/lemon-lime soda. Mom got a vegetable soup with two gassosas. The bill came to 7,300 ITL/$4.75, and I inadvertently handed the cashier a 1,000 ITL note instead of 10,000! We ate upstairs, where bottle openers were hanging from each table!
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| Ornamented building (GJT) |
We walked along Via Roma with the arcades.
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| Via Roma arcades (GJT) |
Behind Piazza San Carlo we saw the fountain with the statues representing the rivers of the Po and Dora.
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| Statues representing the Rivers Po and Dora (GJT) |
Piazza San Carlo has twin churches and more arcades, only second in number to Piazza San Marco in Venezia/Venice! Today the square was empty.
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| Piazza San Carlo (GJT) |
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| View down Via Monte di Pietà (GJT) |
We continued to Piazza Castello with the Palazzo Madama, the
Teatro il Regio/Royal Theater, and
Palazzo Reale/Royal Palace. We walked around to the
Duomo/Cathedral that was closed. We went through the
Porta Palatina/Palatine Gate and past Roman ruins.
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| Tram by the Porta Palatina/Palatine Gate (GJT) |
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| Porta Palatina/Palatine Gate (GJT) |
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| Gordon & Yuriko at Porta Palatina |
I bought three cans of Sprite and six bus tickets for 3,000 ITL/$3.90.
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| Torino bus ticket |
We boarded a #3 tram, which took us way out of the city along a Light Rail Transit/LRT line. It had its own right-of-way and high platform stations that were neat and new.
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| Tram on Corso Regina Margherita |
We got off one station before the end. Mom and I sat in the shade while Dad walked to the end of the line and back. Then we all walked back one station towards the city. I asked in a
tabacchi/tobacco/convenience store if they had transport maps. No.
We took a #3 tram back after sharing a Sprite. We stayed on the tram past the market and I was checking the map to see where we should get off. The lady in front of us asked where we were going. To Superga. She said to follow her. She got off at the next stop and we rounded a corner to catch the #15 tram. We had a very long wait, seeing two trams go in the other direction. Finally we boarded the tram. The lady got off later, but told us to stay on until the end of the line. We got off at the stop before the end loop, just past the Sassi-Superga rack tram. We had a half-hour wait for the next tram. Mom had a lemon popsicle and Dad had a cola popsicle, as I ate leftover potato chips.
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| Sassi Superga Tranvia a Dentiera/Rack Tramway (GJT) |
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| Sassi-Superga rack tram (GJT) |
The tram left at 16:50, and the conductor sold us the 1,000 ITL/65 cent tickets.
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| Sassi-Superga rack tram ticket |
He crossed the aisle to sell to the other passengers, then came back to us. Already paid! About 15 minutes later we reached the top and were herded out the gate that was locked behind us, not giving us a chance to take pictures. We checked the return schedule, then walked to the top of the hill to see Superga Basilica.
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| Superga Basilica (GJT) |
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| Superga Basilica dome (GJT) |
The view down on Torino was terribly hazy. We sat to share another Sprite and to eat grapes that were fermenting!
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| Tamiko and Yuriko, snack break |
We entered the basilica with its nice dome, and a small chapel. We exited and went down the steps to catch the 18:05 tram, paying 1,000 ITL each again. At the bottom, we walked to the tram end loop in hopes of finding a ticket kiosk, but only found a pissoir! We hopped on the tram to go to Piazza Castello. We walked down a street of arcades parallel to Via Roma. We were headed right into an elegant little galleria with sculptured plants laid out in the middle, Galleria Subalpina.
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| Galleria Subalpina (GJT) |
We walked past the National Museum of the Risorgimento. Walking back along Via Roma, you could see the brand new copper and glass of a Rinascente store down a side street. Some of the stores were still open at 19:00. But we didn’t find any restaurants open. We went back to the hotel to wash off perspiration and city dirt. Then went out again to look for a place to eat. We found a restaurant near the station on Via Assieta, the Risorante Luculliano. We were served by a father-son team who didn’t do too well with memory, or else my Italian was atrocious! Dad got tea and a Pepsi, and later another Pepsi. Mom had gassosa and I had a half-liter of water, only getting it at the end of my meal! We didn’t get napkins until we were finished, and Dad got sugar for the tea when it was cold. Mom had the tomato salad, adding the oil and vinegar herself, but did not get the salt and pepper. Dad and I ordered cream of Asparagus soup, but got flour soup like the Basler Mehlsuppe. We couldn’t taste any asparagus, although there were flecks of green in it. Then Mom and Dad got the spaghetti carbonara, that was saltier and drier than in Switzerland. I had an omelette with ham in it. We went to the cashier to pay the 25,000 ITL/$16 bill. Only one other group of three old people were in the restaurant when we were there, and when we left, two young girls came in. Very slow during the vacation month!
We walked over to the train station to double check the schedule, and to look for a better Torino map, which we didn’t find. We went to tourist information for a transit map, but the guy didn’t have one to give away, but he was there to tell us how to get too anywhere we wanted to go. I couldn’t explain that my dad collects transit information, and that we weren’t necessarily going anywhere specific. Still no map! Back to the hotel.
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| Hotel Italia (GJT) |
As we wandered around
Torino, we saw a lot of old men who were either bums or drunks who talked to
themselves or begged from passers-by.
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