Turin: Take 2

Sports and cinema was the name of the game when we returned to Turin for a second visit during our stay in Piedmont.

Find out what we got up to our our first trip to Turin.

At just under an hours drive from where we were living and working as au pairs for the summer, Turin ticks all the right boxes; museums, architecture and gelato.

On our second trip we headed straight to the Juventus stadium and museum. Mark was obviously more excited than me, but I was pleasantly surprised! The museum was interactive and very engaging, with all sorts of videos, interviews and storyboarding about this iconic club.

I especially liked the video feature at the end which spoke of the characteristics of the club, its fans and players. It was enough to even make me think I wanted them to win everything, Viva Juve!

Inside the Juventus Museum

Afterwards, we joined a tour group to visit the stadium. The members club and public facing areas were impressive, so much so that you could forget momentarily that football is meant to be a working mans sport whilst we gazed at private boxes and in-seat video screens. Deep inside the stadium though, we were led down corridors and into rooms which more closely resembled the delivery entrance to a large hotel than a space for millionaire footballers to hangout. The pitch space however was great, and despite it feeling very small, I could image a great atmosphere on match day.

After Juventus we risked life and limb to drive into the city centre. To say Turin is a tricky drive is an understatement, especially when your sat nav and maps are about 5 years old and clearly a lot of road changes have been made. I am not lying when I tell you that people in Turin are aggressive drivers, honking you for the slightest hesitation and stopping smack bang in the middle of the road to pop for a caffe!

Eventually though we arrived at the cinema museum in the spectacular Mole Antonelliana.

The Mole

The Mole was completed in 1889, the same year as the Eiffel Tour in Paris and although different has a similar effect on the Turin skyline.

Inside, the Cinema Museum is a Mecca for any would be film enthusiast, with everything from the history of image capture to a hall of fame for Oscars best actress winners. One room told the story of peep shows, from the raunchy to the sublime.

Famous movie costumes and behind the scenes photos were also a big hit and there was even a nod to Lumiere with a screening of "Train pulling into a station" with a real train appearing from behind the screen. This reflected the legend that when the 50 second movie was originally shown, the audience were scared the train would burst through the screen and into the room.

By the end of the day I literally had to peel myself away knowing there were a few exhibits that I'd missed and that the silver screen had once again left me wanting more!

The archeology of cinema

I was so glad we made it back to Turin. It is a beautiful city with so much to offer tourists who have had their fill of quaint Italian cities and are looking for a true European city.

Turin

Turin is an often overlooked city in Italy. Less ancient than Rome and arguably less pretty than Florence, I was surprised to learn than Turin is only the 8th most visited city in Italy, despite being the countries first capital.

Regardless, being so close to the city whilst staying in Santo Stefano we expected to visit a few times.

Always time for gelato!

Trip 1

We were excited to arrive on the train without being weighed down by heavy bags and an immediate need to get located and find out where we are going.

The first thing I noticed about the city was how wide the streets were. This wasn't like many other cities in Italy, grown around narrow, winding roads. Turin's grid design and art nouveau architecture made it feel larger and sort of Parisian.

Belle Epoque exhibition

We followed a walking route to help up get our bearings for when we inevitably return with children in tow. There was a distinct lack of tourists, which really gave the impression you were seeing a real city at work.

Glorious Galleria Subalpina

Being the home of the Savoy (the former Italian royal family) Turin is home to a palace, large gardens and wonderful museums. The Egyptian Museum is famed for being the oldest in the world as it was founded in the 1800's before the excavations which brought Egypt to the masses. Inside is an impressive collection - second only to Cairo - which includes mummified cats, tombs and scrolls from the book of the dead.

Coffee stop!

We made time for coffee in Caffe Mulassano, nestled in the porticos of Piazza Castello and stood in wonder at the Galleria Subalpina which looked like it was plucked straight from an art nouveau poster. It was lined with historic book and antique stores and its glass ceiling flooded the space with golded light.

In the afternoon we walked towards the river Po and Piazza Vittorio Veneto, stopping for a wonder around a belle epoque exhibition and having grown very fold of the city.

Looking forward to our next visit!

A change in the wind

There's been a change in plans!

I'm learning new things about myself every day on this trip, and whilst we were in Vietnam, where we thought we were going to build a new life, we realised something.

Ever since leaving Tan An and our not-what-we-expected jobs we busily applied for other teaching positions in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. We had two offers on the table to work in Thailand, and the Indonesian role was progressing well but we both had this strange lingering feeling that none of them were what we wanted anymore. It wasn't so much the work; we'd enjoyed the kids and subject matter of teaching English. It was more the idea of contracts, targets and results. We were having too much fun travelling by now and didn't quite want to give it all up for the lifestyle we will most likely have for the rest of our lives in the UK.

So, whilst going through these application processes, I explored other options that could help us extend our travels. What I found was WorkAway. Its a website for people looking for free help (hosts) and people looking for food and lodging as payment for their work. It was perfect! We could help renovate a Tuscan villa, or garden in the south of France.

In Hanoi we had our first responses, and whilst our dates didn't match with the need of many hosts, one was perfect. A few emails later we were happily accepting an offer to work in northern Italy for 6 weeks as au pairs for a 6 year old boy and a 10 year old girl. I was ecstatic, not only would we have the time to travel through Italy after our stay in Bali, but we would also get to live there which has been a dream of mine for years that I never thought I'd see realised. And what a better way to do it than with a charming and already friendly and helpful family!

There is no doubt in my mind that we have made the right decision, and the longer I am in Asia the more I can see is as the perfect holiday and sightseeing destination, but not somewhere I can see myself living. 'Its not you, its me'.

So, with that is mind, here is the travel plan for the next few months:

26 April: Leave the Thai islands for the mainland
27 April: Train to Malaysia
28 April: Fly to Bali
15 May: Fly to Rome via 23hour stop in Shanghai, China.
23 May: Train to Naples
30 May: Train to Florence
3 June: Train to Bologna
5 June: Train to Milan
10 June: Move in with family
7 August: Fly back to the UK for our next adventure!