Italy, the Royal North

Four days to visit Italy is surely not enough. Anyone who has been there could say that - after all, Italians filled the most of UNESCO heritage list, so there is what to see there. It seems that you just need to pick a spot and there will be some ancient (or modern) invaluable sight/place/attraction//legendary/must see. And you can't just run through it - it is Italy, which you should enjoy. Maybe with a cup of coffee, which has a terribly long name, but tastes so delicious.... and their famous bakeries.... on a bench or outside cafe.... Or just walking down the curvy streets and getting lost in the old towns.... and getting your stomach ready for aperitivo....

Moncalieri - a cozy suburb of Turin. Here is a university where lots of Italian princes got educated (and left lots of portraits on the walls!...)

That was my idea when I was getting ready to visit Turin - former capital of Italy, still maintaining its royal pride which kind of balances the industrialism of the city. It is not very touristic. And probably not the place you would fall in love right away. Turin is a city which you should discover, which shows its face little by little, after taming it. To be honest, I didn't like it much the first day, and it felt strange - after Rome, Venice, Pisa, Verona, this place looked so different, as some kind of other Italy. And yet it has its own style, its own spirit. Locals drive bicycles or tiny little cars, which they park in the middle of the street - in between of tram lines. They eat fast food for lunch and take a "shot" of espresso for 1 EUR standing - prices are higher if you want to sit down. They don't go to cafes in the afternoon - most of them are closed till evening, when 'aperitivo' time starts. And then you can join for evening socializing: just pay ~7 EUR for any kind of drink (water, beer, or fancy cocktail - all the same) and eat as much as you want. We did that :)) if you know a good place, your stomach will be thankful for whole evening, and walled won't get too empty. Such aperitivo places are all over the city, and I guess that's what makes Turin such a lively place in the evenings.

One of numerous Turin's piazzas

As I mentioned, Turin is not very touristic. Before Winter Olympics 2006 it was even more quite. But if you happen to be around, you could get surprised - three days were surely not enough for me to see all I wanted, and I worked hard to keep balance between running and relaxing.

One of the "must see" places is Egyptian Museum, said to be the second after Cairo. Lucky Italians, their archeologists started excavations in Egypt among the first, and now they have an amazing collection of ancient tombs, pharaohs and gods, and mummies, and papyrus, which depicts sometimes funny, and sometimes even very erotic scenes. Time spent there: 2-3 hours; worth it? - totally.

around 2000 years old shoes....

Pharaohs and gods

Another place worth visiting is the Cinema Museum.A huge building where you can get so close to movie making: starting from history of video; famous 20th century directors, actors and films gallery; and finally - movies themselves, or at least their excerpts...... you can watch them in the laboratory, flowery living room, Western saloon, in refrigerator or spaceship...... or just half-lye on a comfy couch and focus on a huge screen on the wall. Impressive place, where 2 hours were not enough. Especially if you choose to take a lift on the roof and have a look to Turin from above.

Movies on the right, movies on the left!

Also, Turin is a royal city. And has a royal palace. And when I say royal, I mean gold and wealth, which fills every corner of every room. I was getting more and more amazed as I was walking from one room to another, reading about the lifestyle of those times (17th - 19th centuries) and imagining how it could have looked like then.  It overlooks the center of Turin and the Cathedral, where the Shroud of Turin is kept.

View from the palace yard

This is a highly illegal photo taken at the royal dining room

Highly illegal photo 2. Dancing hall.

All in all - Turin is a place worth visiting; and worth staying longer than 1-2 days. You have to prepare that cafes close at 3pm and till evening you'll only get fast food; and that what is written is not always true, esp.if it's about working hours; and that if you will go out for a real Italian dinner your stomach will be thanking you for weeks; and if you will take time to stop and look around, you will discover Italy far from the one in postcards, but no less charming.