Milan to Turin and back! | alison richards | graphic designer and artworker

I wrote in my first blog about Milan that I had meant to go there on my big roadtrip around France and Italy and decided against it because the roads around it were crazy and I was worried about the parking situation... Well Turin (or Torino in Italian) was the same - another big city that I skipped because of the traffic. Thankfully, Turin is only a simple train ride away from Milan, so I had a day trip there.

I didn't know what to expect with Turin. Literally the only thing I knew about it was that there was a shroud that purportedly covered the face of Jesus that was found in the city. It does actually reside there still, but you can't go and view it - it only comes out on special occasions. But yes, that was all I knew about Turin, and the city turned out to be so much more than an old, mouldy bit of cloth. It was a really lovely place, nicer even than Milan!

I got to Turin about 9am, and set about exploring.

One of the squares on the way to the middle of the city. You can just see the train station where I came from at the back

Inside one of the covered malls. Christmas tree was still up even though it was 14th Jan!

The tall bit of building standing above the rest is the Real Chiesa di San Lorenzo

The golden faces on the gates of the Palazzo Reale di Torino

Turin was a really nice city to walk around in, and the weather was really lovely, so I enjoyed my time spent ambling along, looking at the different buildings. I eventually made it over to the Mole Antonelliana, which is the most famous building in Turin. It was built in 1889, and now houses a museum of cinema. While I'm sure the museum is interesting, I was more interested in going up to the top of the building for the view!

The building itself is 167.5m high, but a lot of that height is due to a tall spire that sticks out the top. I'm not sure how high you go to the viewing platform, but it was high enough for me!

The view over Turin to the nearby mountains

The Mole from below. The lift went to the platform that is just above the dome, and under the structure that looks like a fancy house on the top! One of the oddest buildings I’ve ever seen

I walked down to the River Po after visiting the Mole, as it looked like a nice place to be from up high. There was a church just opposite and I popped in there, then decided it was about time to go and have a look around one of Turin's many museums, so head back to where all the Palazzos were.

Inside the Chiesa cattolica parrocchiale Gran Madre Di Dio

The museum I chose to visit was the Palazzo Madama. This lovely old building house the Turin City Museum of Ancient Art, but really it housed all kinds of things, not all particularly ancient, mostly late Middle Ages to 18th century. While I was interested in the art, I really just wanted to have a poke around the palace!

I really liked the perspective in this work

Part of the ceiling decoration in the palace

They had a roof you could go to for a view. Of course I utilised this. The view from the roof over to the snow-covered mountains

It was time to find something for a late lunch (it was about 2pm!) before heading back to Milan. I ended up having a pasta dish from the region, and a glass of wine of course! I caught my train at 4pm and was back at my hotel an hour and a half later. I went out for a quick dinner, nothing too fancy because I was knackered from my day (and the late night pasta-making the night before!).