I got to know it quite well, so if you're planning on visiting Turin yourselves, I suggest you take advantage of my newly gained knowledge ;)
A friend from Great Britain (who I've actually met last week at the meeting in Florence) has paid me a visit yesterday. It was a great excuse to spend the day doing nothing but sightseeing, trying out different pastries (by the way, trying Gianduiotto is a MUST when in Turin! ;) and enjoying ourselves!
First thing that you most probably think of when you hear the word »Turin« is- FIAT. As a matter of fact, Turin actually puts "T" in »FIAT«. It is actually known as »the Automobile Capital of Italy«. Besides Fiat, Turin is also home to factories of Lancia and Alfa Romeo. By the way, I've never ever ever seen so many Fiat Panda cars in my life as I have here in Turin. And I'm pretty sure I never ever ever will ;)
The male part probably knows it as the host of the Winter Olympics (held in 2006) and as a city with two big football clubs (Juventus and Torino f.c.).
However, the city has much more to offer.
Do you have any idea which is the birthplace of solid chocolate?
Or where the world-famous grissini were first made?
Or which was the first capital of unified Italy?
What about the highest museum, where can we find it?
Can you guess which city hosts the biggest open-air market?
Or where Nutella is made?
As you have probably figured out, the answer to all of these questions is simply- Turin.
Mentioning the highest museum, I have to explain it in greater detail. I'm talking about Mole Antonelliana which is a kind of a symbol of Turin. Its 167 m high spire can be seen from everywhere. It actually hosts the National Museum of Cinema, which is, as mentioned before, the highest museum in the world.
It also has the biggest open-air market (Porta Palazzo), but many people refuse to visit it due to the supposed crime that is present there. When I told some people about my intentions of visiting it myself, I was rather surprised by what they've told me. The first reaction was: »Why the h*** d'you wanna go there?«. Hm, maybe because it's the biggest one in Europe? ;)
But when they saw I'm not giving up, they've suggested I leave all my jewelery at home and take the minimum of money with me.. If their words are to be trusted, you can get robbed even in the daylight. Well, me and my curiosity had no intentions of not seeing it, of course. I was actually very lucky to have mentioned this to one of my collegues at school, Carlo. He has kindly offered to give me a tour of the market. Of course, I said yes ;) To be honest, I found it interesting and not even a bit dangerous. I think I even found the place where I'll be doing my groceries in the coming 2 months ;)
I've noticed that some people are full of fear. Fear of the unknown; either of the unknown situations or people who appear to be different from themselves. I do agree a certain measure of precaution is necessary, but I do not want to wander the world in fear, just waiting for something bad to happen.
There is another thing that is really attractive for the tourists- The Egyptian Museum which is supposed to be second largest in the world (right after that in Cairo), is certainly worth a visit.
If you're fond of churches, I suggest a visit to Gran Madre on the other side of the river Po. It is one of the most important religious objects in Turin, modelled on Rome's ancient Pantheon.
If the above mentioned arguments did not persuade you to come to Turin, then I assume something must be wrong with you ;) Kidding.. let me just mention one more thing- come for the people. They are really nice and pleasant and ready to give a hand. Which counts the most.
No comments:
Post a Comment