Finally they came and sort of straightened it out, however I ended up sitting across from the old couple, rather than replacing them (this led to a great stare-down between us once the lights were turned off again). The cars themselves were about as un-sleeper friendly as they could get: we were sweating, packed in, and sitting straight up with the least comfortable back support and neck support features imaginable. I was finally able to wedge myself in and get a little shuteye until we made it to Turin. We disembarked left the station with great haste (any place in the world would have been an improvement). The walk through and to the front of the station helped us forget that (except my full bladder was still there) ride, as the interior was pretty great and the façade was surprisingly highly detailed and pretty massive. After admiring this entry and the street that it sat on (as I have been informed, the nearness of this city to France influenced the layout, so most streets here are grand boulevard-esque), we set off for the day.
The first stop was directly across the street through a nice
little park that was a pretty welcome sight after a great deal of the jam-packed building-scape of Rome. The axes of the streets coming into this area were pretty fantastic, as well as a nice little palazzo that we found. From there we walked through another, bigger park filled with runners and dog lovers to a building described as a “castle,” but once again this moniker didn’t quite fit as there were really no towers or anything else that would constitute a castle. However, the building was still pretty fantastic; it had fantastic brickwork and its length along an already highly extended street along the river made it a pretty great sight (and site). From here we continued along towards a Medieval Village that was built in the 1800’s for a cultural expo. Once the extreme phoniness to the point of hilarity was overlooked, this was a pretty fun stop. Filled with cardboard cutouts of disproportioned folks from that time period and decorated in the cheesiest ways imaginable, this area was a lot of fun to walk through. All joking aside I did really enjoy the street atmosphere as the height of the buildings made the enclosure idea that we have explored in Rome quite palpable. The angles of the many buildings also created a very discombobulated and borderline harsh condition along the edge of the street, which was also very interesting.From there we continued down a pretty great waterfront road until coming to another park (I miss buildings already) which led us past a cool building that was a part of an exposition and to the bus stop. We took the bus out to the Lingotto Building, which was Fiat’s first production plant. It has since been gutted and turned into a mall for the most part, however the original racetrack on top and the giant spiral ramp-way that the cars took to the track are intact. Renzo Piano has also done some work to the building, adding some nice interior work for exhibits and a spaceship-looking addition onto the roof. We wandered around for a bit just looking at the scale of the place before heading in and taking the giant ramp up. It was quite a hike up the six floors of super-ramp, but the roof was totally worth it. We had a fantastic view out to the city and to the awesome Olympic Bridge, plus a small view of the racetrack and Renzo addition. However, being the curious and sneaky architecture students we are, we decided to jump the fence and climb the stairs up to the level above the track. This turned out to be an amazing decision, since the view of the space was pretty great. The embankment of the track was much steeper than I expected, and the size of the building was really emphasized by the massivity of this space. We ducked and snuck around this top level for a little bit, poked up to take pictures once the security guards down below looked away, and generally reveled in our reckless abandon for a while before deciding to head down.
After exiting the building we continued along a major road after setting our sights on the Olympic Bridge.
We ended up taking the narrow pathway along a highway through a tunnel, which was a pretty exhilarating experience. We ended up finding a pedestrian exit, but it ended up being abandoned, full of unwanted nature, and generally creepy; to add to that, it placed us in the center of a junkyard, which was not really where we wanted to be. So we continued trekking along the road (it was around now that our itinerary was lost, which would prove to be completely inconsequential) before coming up on the right side of the tracks (literally). We first stopped at the old Olympic Village, which was more depressing than interesting. The large complex of polychromatic buildings, having been turned into public housing, was largely abandoned (looking) and had fallen into disrepair. However, we did find a nice Nervi building as well as a complex of interesting buildings with great perspective lines. After exiting this wasteland of forgotten glory, we finally came to a still-living memory.The bridge was pretty fantastic, as the scale of the curved steel shape that supported the cable bridge was great. The curve of the bridge combined with the placement of this giant archway made the two ends very different, and at one end it appeared that the arch didn’t even sit over the bridge. After walking across and enjoying the views of the city and the awesome rail yard below, we walked back around the Fiat building to head for another bus stop (not before stopping for water in the most tempting bakery that I have been in). We rode the bus back to the train station where we walked through a major market on our way to a prominent Piazza. The food here was unbelievable exciting, so we broke down and took a break; I had fresh donut holes covered in powdered sugar and cold custard, which was a fantastic decision. After dejectedly leaving the market we came to the entrance to the Piazza, which was market by two almost identical churches, similar to those in Piazza del Popolo in Rome. We stopped in one called Santa Cristina, which was very intimate and had pretty nice light coming from above.
From there we walked through the piazza, which gave great views back to the twin churches as well as the fountain in the center. Next up was the Palazzo Carignano by Guarino Guarini, one of the more famous architects from Italy whose remaining works are found here in Turin. The front façade was fantastically detailed and the scale of the façade was great. We went inside to the public courtyard, which was filled with fantastic ornament, often to the point that the individual shapes came together to create a new material quality that was very interesting. Another interesting moment was came a few feet into the space where the color of the brick changed in a very perfect line up, which was very odd. Once we had finished enjoying this space we continued on to another fantastic piazza surrounded by great housing blocks (one of which had a massive tower!), a very regal Parliament-looking building, a Guarini church (closed till later), and a Palace. We walked around the back edge of this space to get to another piazza on the back side, which was where the Turin Cathedral, or more importantly, Guarini’s Chapel of the Holy Shroud was located. This chapel is possibly Guarini’s most famous, and easily the most beautiful. The interior was very clean and surprisingly simple, but the light streaming in is the best part. Beyond the altar there was a reproduction of the space beyond, which was fantastic even in its two dimensionality. Sadly, the chapel was heavily damaged by fire and has been under reconstruction since 1997, so the altar and the unbelievable dome are hidden from view. However, the Holy Shroud (all religious/scientific hoopla aside, this is pretty cool!) was rescued and remains on display here. After enjoying the space here and a Last Supper replica (we had to have scheduled weeks in advance to see the original in Milan so this was pretty good), we sat outside for a minute before pushing on.
We wandered through a bunch of cool streets with some awesome intersections before coming to the Mole Antonelliana (or “the Pointy Thing” as we called it for the whole day). This former Synagogue was once the tallest stone structure in Europe, and now houses a cinema museum (said to be the tallest museum in the world!).
Although the exhibit looked great, our purpose here was to get up to the top of the massive spire to see the city. After a little wait we got in the elevator, which turned out to be the coolest (maybe) part: it was all glass and after crossing ground level rose directly up the center of the Dome, giving us a full view of the space which was full of exhibits on tons of different levels. After ascending the 85 meters (just over half of the 167 meter structure!) to the observation deck. The view out was absolutely amazing, especially because the sun was starting to come out (forecasts for both cities this weekend: 100% chance of rain). We saw tons of amazing spaces like a street that sliced a massive path directly through the city, tons of public areas off of main streets, and buildings like the train station, a mini version of the Pantheon, and the awesome piazza with the Guarini works. Reluctantly we took left the platform and rode back down (just as great the second time!) and checked out the café for the museum before continuing our journey.From here we stopped at a cool circular space filled with dense trees and surrounded by a busy road that we had seen from the observation deck before wandering around this area to see a few cool buildings that were semi-anonymous but still fantastic. For such an historical city, the amount of new buildings and the amazing way the old, new, and natural spaces work together is great. Whether this is just a comparison to Rome which is constantly strangled by the past, or to America where we just bulldoze anything old I am not sure, but I think the way that this city looks and feels in this cooperation is one of the most amazing phenomena I have noticed in my (not so extensive) travels. From there we came back to the Guarini church that was closed: the Real Chiesa di San Lorenzo. The centralized plan was probably the best of its kind that I have seen, and the dome was easily one of the most intriguing; the supports that crisscrossed over the opening created a fantastic layering which was then emphasized by the light let in by the upper portion of the dome. The altar even had a second smaller dome that was a beautiful second moment, though we couldn’t get under it.
We enjoyed this for a while before coming to a very nice galleria (much like an arcade) with a fantastic glass roof. From there we walked out to the train station (three times and it still looks great!) to catch a bus out to the edge of town. Our goal was to head up to the top of a large hill and see a Guarini church sitting up there. Sadly, the bus that would take us (for free) up top was done running for the day, so we had to take the funicular (tram thing) up for nine euro. Even sadder was the discovery that this church was not in fact a Guarini, but Juvarra. However, all hope was not lost as the ride up was filled with tons of great views, and the church still looked extremely promising. After the ride we hiked up the last of the hill before coming to the church, which fulfilled on its promise. The height of the Basilica di Superga was pretty fantastic (except it made it nearly impossible to get a picture without falling off the cliff), and in an unbelievable change of pace, the yellow exterior was awesome! We walked around inside for a while and enjoyed the very rigid and well-lit design as well as the massive dome (again making pictures a pain!). The altar and nave were both great as well, featuring a second dome that helped backlight the fantastic space.
Once we had finished inside we split up to enjoy the rest of our time before the ride down, so after exploring
unsuccessfully the other spaces next to the church (all closed off), we walked back around. The pathway that lead behind the church sat on a great cliff and gave fantastic views of the surrounding valley and mountains beyond. In the back of the church was a memorial for a flight that had crashed into the hill while carrying an Italian soccer team. The anniversary of the tragedy was a week or so earlier, so the shrine was decorated with tons of gorgeous flowers. After a few minutes of relaxing out front we made our way back down the hill where we caught a bus back down to (of course) the train station. We found a Kebab place that was far an away the best I have had in Italy (and second only to Durumzade in Istanbul) and ate in the station until our train to Milan. The ride was about a million times better than the night train earlier in the day, so I slept the whole time. The train station in Milan was pretty fantastic; the scale of the spaces and the exit into the city at night was breathtaking.We set off for our hostel next, and after a half hour hike down a lot of major streets, over an awesome pedestrian bridge and then through some horrifically sketch areas we finally stumbled in. As it turned out, this place was a horrible decision. We were told by the desk worker (he had a mohawk which has now ruined them for me) that we needed to have given him a telephone number to call (ours at the apartment only works to the hotline and from America) because there were no rooms available. Besides the frustrating thought of someone posting room availability on a website without having it, we were especially befuddled by this man’s lack of understanding of email. He told us next that we could stay at his cousin’s hostel close to the Duomo of Milan for a reduced price, and it was then that we realized the scam. The five of us inside exhibited a fantastic array of emotion varying from acceptance (Jon saw beer for sale in the fridge and was prepared for the walk) anger (Joe, Allie and Andrea were fuming with such intensity that I was getting nervous) and of course, my own bewilderment bordering on the comical. So we said fine and left with no intention of going to his stupid cousin’s hostel. When we met up with the others from the group, the reactions were a similar variety, and after ranting outside we set off for the city center.
We came across a few different places and had no luck at any of them (the closest was a single room for 70 euro), and there came a point where the decision was going to be between park benches near a water fountain or in the train station. After a few hours of wandering around the dark and mostly abandoned (but surprisingly innocuous) city, we finally gave up on our pride and made our way to the cousin’s hostel. As it turns out (no surprise here) the hostel is in the middle of nowhere and only “close to the Duomo” because of the Metro stop down the road. After some negotiation and nervous waiting, we got four beds and access to the kitchen for the other five for only 60 euro. The icing on this horror-filled cake was walking into the room and seeing a very rotund man in tighty-whiteys, black calf-high socks and an undershirt sitting above the covers directly in front of the door. After the most relieving and highly anticipated shower of my life (I couldn’t clean the image of our roommate from my head though...) I went to bed and fell asleep before I could even get under the covers. Even this grand festival of shenanigans couldn’t tarnish one of the most amazing days I have ever had!
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