Turin, Part I: April 23-24

 We got up on the 23rd, after another amazing breakfast at Ada Nada, and took the road to Turin. (Torino) The landscape flattens out as you leave the Piedmont.
  We found our way to Matteoti 25, our hotel. It is a strange little place. It is on the 4th floor only of an old building, almost not labeled. Mark double parked as Barbara tried to figure out the entrance. Luckily, an older woman let her in and she got into the beautiful old wooden elevator and went to the 4th floor and figured out which door to open. (2nd choice, however!) Inside the hall was a table with Anna at it. (No lobby, no counter) Then, she instructed Barbara to go downstairs to the bar and a man would let Mark into the court yard. This almost didn't happen as she said that the lot was full, but when Barbara explained that we had called last week, she said it was okay. Thank heavens for Google translate as we speak virtually no Italian and she does not speak much English. Anyhow, after parking in an incredibly small spot, we both went upstairs and Anna let us in our room, No. 1. It is quite spacious with a good bathroom, so will do.

    We then went out for a walk to find food. We ate at Sushisun, a Japanese restaurant, because, as it turns out, Turin is mad for sushi. It was all-you-can-eat for just 10 Euros. From there we walked to Plaza di Castello where there is a tourist bureau and we got maps and had the Metro system explained to us.
   From there, we walked home via the Egyptian Museum where we found out the prices etc. (We will go there later in the week.) So far, we like the city very much. We met a young American couple who have lived here for 4 years - chiropractors.

   Barbara's back was hurting and she has a head cold, so we had an early night. But, in the middle of the night there was a power failure and the emergency light in our room woke us up. After about an hour, it was resolved, but it was rather disruptive and both of us realized we had not explored the emergency exits.
   On our second day in Turin, we walked quite a bit, but at a leisurely pace. We walked down to the Royal Gardens first. Then, we walked back along LaGrange to Primepoi Restaurant. Mark had a very unusual-looking dish, fried pizza. It was stuffed with greens and meat, no cheese. Barbara had spinach and fish (sea bream). Then, we walked to the train station and took the Metro.

Turin has only one Metro line - just over 8 miles long, built in 2006, although the portion we were on was added in 201. It is modern and clean. We went to the end of the line and then walked to the Auto Museum - 3 floors of the history of autos and lots about racing. We went with Otis and Hank in mind.

They would definitely love it. We enjoyed it, too, although when it got to engine and component parts....we lost the plot. But, we spent the afternoon there and then took the subway back home and did nothing the rest of the day! Although the weather was supposed to hover around 70 degrees, it climbed into the 80s.