There is so much to absorb here – the city is old, it is messy, sometimes confronting, but it is so interesting. Everywhere we walked, and looked, was something amazing to enjoy. Like all Italian cities, Turin is filled with Catholic churches (chiese) – which after just having left Istanbul, is such a contrast to the distinct architecture of all the mosques we saw whilst there.

We both woke quite early and enjoyed breakfast of muesli and yoghurt in our little apartment before heading off to get our bearings. We were up well before sunrise, which was around 7.45am. We wanted to find the bus stop that would get us to the airport in a few days time. Not to catch a flight, but rather to collect a hire car for the next stage of our trip. Mick was very keen to visit the Tourist Information Centre – he was their first customer for the day. The woman who served us spoke beautiful English and gave us so many ideas that we were overwhelmed. But one thing she mentioned had Mick’s ears prick up – being Saturday, the markets were on.

I had purchased a self-guided walking tour of Turin city online before we left home. I was sent a link with audio and directions that would take us to some of the key landmarks and explain their significance. The detour to the Saturday markets meant that we did not get through everything on today’s program – but there is always tomorrow.

Turin is the capital of the Piedmont (Piemonte) Region, and it is the fourth largest municipality in Italy by population (with fewer than 900,000 people – depending on which source you quote).

During the 16^th Century, the Savoy (Sovoia) royal family / Dutchy made Turin the capital of its territory, moving it from Chambéry (which we will visit in a few weeks). They were the owners of the Holy Shroud which they eventually moved to Turin in order to save the now San Carlo Borromeo five days in travel on his pilgrimage to see the relic. The Holy Shroud was never returned to Chambéry.

We walked through the Piazza Carignano next (this reminded Mick of one of his favourite wines made from the Carignan grape which we drank a lot of when we were in the South of France). The palace located in this piazza is now the National Museum of the Italian Risorgimento (which I had to look up – the Unification of Italy). No photos here except for this place.

I had wanted to find this restaurant after watching the SBS show starring Stanley Tucci – he had given it high praise imdeed. But this would be as close as we would get. The place was full at 9.30am and there was a long line of people waiting to get in.

So onwards to the Piazza Castello – my photo shows the Royal Palace.

This huge square is surrounded by porticoes and arcades, often found in similar large squares in Spain (and probably other countries too). With the monarchy in Italy ending in 1946, this building was almost abandoned until 2007 when it was opened to the public. Mick and I did not go inside. We had more steps to do!

Unfortunately, Mick was not dressed correctly for the next important site – the Duomo. (Cathedral). No shorts allowed.

Walking around in the early part of the day was great. The crowds were light in most places, and it wasn’t until late afternoon that it became super busy.

Anyway, the other name for the Duomo is Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista – an additional chapel was built to preserve the Holy Shroud. In 1997 a huge fire severely damaged the church but luckily firefighters were able to rescue the Holy Shroud by breaking its protective glass.

There was a video being shown inside the Duomo depicting how the Holy Shroud is thought to have been created. But the relic was not on display. It rarely is anymore.

We were almost at the markets – just a few more minutes and we spotted large numbers of umbrellas and stalls with people selling everything from cheese to shoes. But Mick was interested in the price of rabbit and fish.

We decided it was time to head back to our apartment. On our way we were able to buy a Ventolin inhaler for Mick at a chemist (for €4, which is very cheap), and then Mick spotted this chiesa he wanted to have his photo taken in front of. He always tells me that he still has hundreds of plenary indulgences left from his days as a young boy .

We walked past this synagogue during the afternoon, built for Turin’s Jewish congregation. There were many armed guards and police officers and cars surrounding it, obviously becasue of what is going on in Gaza and Israel at the moment.

I went for a further explore later in the afternoon to find somewhere to have dinner. But we eventually decided we would eat in our apartment – so nice after having to eat out every night.

Mick bought the most expensive bottle of Barolo wine – a 2019 for €14, from the supermarket next door. Most wines there cost between €1.50 and €5!!!

Barolo is the reason we are here in Piemonte. We plan to explore the region over the next almost two weeks to taste different nebbiolo wines. Our son Edward has told us we need to be prepared to pay up to €90 for a bottle of aged Barolo.

We will see.