27th - 29th September, 2021
Apartmento Casa Dual, Turin, Italy
The journey from Switzerland to Turin in Italy was a relatively short hop, just over 3 hours for this leg. However, the journey was filled with some unexpected stunning scenery en route. We stopped for coffee in a lovely little village and were fascinated by the huge, overlapping round roof slates pegged into place that were used in the area.
Continuing on our journey, there was all of a sudden a chorus of shouts to stop! We'd spotted a distant mountain with a lot more snow on its peak than we'd seen previously. Pulling into a side road we all jumped out to take photos and also take in the views and lenticular clouds forming. As we made our way further down the mountain, we were wracking our brains to try to work out what the mountain we'd seen could be. Consensus was that it must've been Mont Blanc and sure enough, as we arrived further down the mountain, so we saw signs towards this magnificent mountain, the highest in western Europe.
As we headed towards the border between Switzerland and Italy once again, we had a choice of a tolled road or a scenic route. Although we weren't in a hurry, the satnav was showing a narrow, winding road disappearing into the mountain. Making a comment about the way the Swiss get money out of people, given that we'd already had to purchase a Swiss motorway vignette for a year, we chose the tolled route. We entered a tunnel, known as the Great St Bernard Tunnel and and were impressed with the length and construction, regardless! It seemed to go on forever and we were quickly at the outskirts of Turin, ready to pick up our keys for a city apartment from Giovanni who managed to apartment for his family.
Continuing on our journey, there was all of a sudden a chorus of shouts to stop! We'd spotted a distant mountain with a lot more snow on its peak than we'd seen previously. Pulling into a side road we all jumped out to take photos and also take in the views and lenticular clouds forming. As we made our way further down the mountain, we were wracking our brains to try to work out what the mountain we'd seen could be. Consensus was that it must've been Mont Blanc and sure enough, as we arrived further down the mountain, so we saw signs towards this magnificent mountain, the highest in western Europe.
As we headed towards the border between Switzerland and Italy once again, we had a choice of a tolled road or a scenic route. Although we weren't in a hurry, the satnav was showing a narrow, winding road disappearing into the mountain. Making a comment about the way the Swiss get money out of people, given that we'd already had to purchase a Swiss motorway vignette for a year, we chose the tolled route. We entered a tunnel, known as the Great St Bernard Tunnel and and were impressed with the length and construction, regardless! It seemed to go on forever and we were quickly at the outskirts of Turin, ready to pick up our keys for a city apartment from Giovanni who managed to apartment for his family.
We settled into the apartment and then followed Chris on a tour of some of the local streets, looking for those relating to the film "The Italian Job". Not being a film buff and never having been to Turin before I was looking forward to discovering what the city had to offer. My first impression though wasn't at all positive; there seemed little to see other than old buildings without much character and dirty streets filled with people. We found somewhere to eat and then readied ourselves for more exploration the following day.
Finding out that there was a hop on/hop off bus, we walked to the starting point and waited until the bus arrived. Normally there would be 3 tours to choose from; on this day there was only one which we decided to take.
For me, the start of the trip seemed to offer more than the previous day. Everything was more impressive and I began to get a feel for the city and a desire to take some photos.
Chris, Pat & Linda wanted to go and see the cathedral so we arranged a rendezvous some time ahead. I wandered towards the river and found plenty of open space and not so many people. I found a place to sit and watch the river and get my bearings for the possibility of more photos at night. An egret stood beside the rushing water for ages before flying off without catching anything. I did wonder whether it would be able to see, let alone catch anything in the fast flowing waters.
Finding out that there was a hop on/hop off bus, we walked to the starting point and waited until the bus arrived. Normally there would be 3 tours to choose from; on this day there was only one which we decided to take.
For me, the start of the trip seemed to offer more than the previous day. Everything was more impressive and I began to get a feel for the city and a desire to take some photos.
Chris, Pat & Linda wanted to go and see the cathedral so we arranged a rendezvous some time ahead. I wandered towards the river and found plenty of open space and not so many people. I found a place to sit and watch the river and get my bearings for the possibility of more photos at night. An egret stood beside the rushing water for ages before flying off without catching anything. I did wonder whether it would be able to see, let alone catch anything in the fast flowing waters.
Setting out from the apartment in the evening, the prospect of a decent sunset receded as clouds began to fill the sky. Nonetheless, I hoped to be able to capture the city at night as there were some prominent buildings that I thought would be lit up. I knew the point I wanted to reach and with Chris along too, I was in position and ready to see what the evening light would bring. Alongside where I'd decided to stand on one side there was a film crew with some impressive kit, their camera pointed at the cathedral and on the other side, a guy with a drone. Chris began chatting with one of the film crew and found out that they were in the city for two months filming for an American movie with the title "Assassin's Club". Walking back to the apartment, Chris and I stopped for a beer and tapa at one of the few places still open. Whether it is due to Covid or not, the city seems to sleep fairly early, at least publicly! As we waited for the food and drink to arrive, we had an SOS call from Pat and Linda who had been unable to gain access to the apartment with the key they had. The front door was huge, heavy and old and the key was temperamental. A relieved Pat and Linda were still outside when we arrived back; thankfully the evening wasn't too cold and we were all soon back inside, ready to yet again pack our cases for the journey next day.