Turin; Saturday, 25 September, 2010

I headed out of the hotel into town to carry on having a look around, this time in the dry, and it is a much more impressive and pleasant city in the dry.

I had a short wander around the Archaeological Park before heading over to look around the Cathedral, before visiting the museum in the Cathedral’s crypt

I had a long wander around the city centre, walking along the length of Via Po down to the river and across to the Gran Madre di Dio church on the opposite bank (though as there was a wedding going on at the time, I thought it was a bit rude to wander around the inside of the church)

I caught the bus back through the centre of town to the station at Porta Susa and grabbed a bite to eat there before heading over to the Museo Civico Pietro Micca.

The museum was very interesting, helped along by an almost personal guide as I was the only English visitor to the museum at that time. A visit includes a guided tour around the tunnels underneath the museum which date back to the early 18th century and were used to help defeat the French besieging the city as part of the Spanish war of Succession.

By the time I emerged from the tunnels I was blinking, partly due to the low light levels in the tunnels, but also because the sun had finally decided it wanted to shine, albeit in a hazy form. I took this as a hint to go out to the Basilica di Superga high on a hill overlooking the city for the views.

I caught the bus and tram over to the terminus of the Sissi-Superga rack railway and managed to catch the hourly train with a couple of minutes to spare. I got to the top station and wandered up to the Basilica taking in the views of the city, slightly spoiled by the haze and thin veil of pollution that appeared to be settled over it, though the low clouds helped to make the Alps stand out even more in the distance.

I took in the attractions that the Basilica had to offer before catching the train back down into town, getting back into the city centre just before dinner time.

I had a bit of a wander around the city centre having a look at a couple of restaurants before finally settling on a very pleasant one on Piazza San Carlo. After the very filling dinner I staggered over to the other side of the square to get a small Gelati before wandering back past the Royal Palace and the Cathedral to the bus stop to catch the bus back to the hotel.

By the time I arrived back I was feeling very full, and suddenly very tired, so at barely half nine I turned it for the night.