Our visit to Turin
A trip to Piemonte would not have been complete without a day spent in its capital city,Turin, and, indeed, the first capital of a newly united Italy in 1861, before that honour was moved to Rome in 1870.
Turin Cityscape
Turin is a beautiful, gracious city, not at all spoilt by its industrial connections with car manufacturer Fiat. A walk from the main train station, Porta Nuova, leads us past magnificent baroque style caffès, decorated in a style reflecting the past glory of the city, home to kings. Outside Caffè Torino it is tradition to rub your foot on the bronze bull set into the paving stone, as a way of ensuring that you will return to the city.
Passing by the ex-Royal Palace, we made our way to Porta Palazzo, a vibrant, loud and exciting market, selling the freshest seasonal fruit and vegetables, including aubergines, peppers, mushrooms, and plums.
Porta Palazzo Fish Market
Most of our group were amazed when we ventured into the Porta Palazzo Fish Market, as there is certainly nothing to compare here in Derbyshire, although given Turin’s distance from the sea (78 miles) and similarly, Derbyshire’s distance from the sea (70 miles), there is no reason why we could not equally have such fresh fish on our doorstep.
Turin really is worth a visit because it has so much to offer. It is ideally placed for you to arrange a variety of day trips – for example, take a train from Porta Nuova and spend the day in the beautiful Val di Susa, or drive down to Liguria for a day at the seaside! Shopping is a must too, and Milan, the fashion capital of Italy, is only 80 miles away as well.
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