Recently I’ve been focused on my individual trips so I haven’t posted anything from my layovers with Emirates. For those of you who don’t follow my blog, I’m a flight attendant based in Dubai.
Today’s article is about Turin – the small charming city in the northern part of Italy will steal your heart with its beauty.
My flight from Dubai to Milan was with departure at 04:00 in the morning so when I arrived in Milan I was almost unconscious :)
The good thing about this time is that we actually arrived in Milan early in the morning so I had one free day that I had to use wisely.
After a short power nap I took a bus from Milan Malpensa Airport to Turin. The buses run each 2 hours and you can find the schedule here.
There is also a speed train that is faster but it departs from Milano Centrale. My hotel was at the airport so the bus was more convenient for me.
I experienced some difficulties with finding the bus platform. That day was Sunday so most offices at the airport were closed. The Italians are not the best with the English language so the answers that I received made me even more confused.
At the end I found out my bus stand which is located at Level 0, exit 3, bus stop 4 (just trying to save you some time) :)
At 12:30 sharp my bus arrived and me and one Russian guy (more lost even than me) were the only one passengers that haven’t bought tickets in advance.
Luckily the bus was not full so I bought my ticket from the driver. The price is 22 € and it’s the same if you buy your ticket in advance.
The journey to Turin takes aprx 2 hours but I don’t remember anything because I fell asleep immediately (which means that the bus is comfortable).
When I arrived in Turin I met my Italian friend Emanuele. Do you remember the story from Rome? Sorry for the non-Bulgarian speakers who will have some difficulties with the translation but here I’ll compensate with Turin :)
So me and Emanuele started that day with a beer and pizza in Mercato Metropolitano which is located just 100 meters down on the street, opposite from the bust station.
We started our walk from the dark side of the city called The Gates of Hell. No, this is not a scenario from The Lord of The Rings and I’m not talking about Mordor ;)
Gates of Hell or Piazza Statuto is the square where you will see a giant pyramid-shaped monument. On top of the pyramid you will see a dark angel that is believed to be a Lucifer himself. The west part of the city represents the dark side where once the Romans buried the dead.
We continued our walk on Via Giuseppe Garibaldi: one of the main streets of Turin that goes through the city.
Via Giuseppe Garibaldi
Sometimes we fall in love with places at the moment we see them. That was the case with Turin. I was thinking that the city is just a major industrial spot of northern Italy but turned to be much more – a hidden treasure that probably a lot of tourists underestimate.
I have to take a deep breath before I describe it.
It’s Sunday afternoon so the open cafes on the cobblestone streets are full of people who are eating, chatting or enjoying their espresso.
In the shadow of the Turin arcades there’s hidden more coffee shops and fashion stores. In fact the arcades are an important part of the Turin’s historical architecture. The center of Turin has 18 kilometers of arcades which makes the city the largest pedestrian area in Europe. Back in the days that was the route of the royal carriage.
The massive wooden benches on the streets are offering some rest for the tired pedestrians and elderly people. Colorful balloons attract the attention of children and adults. The beautiful small balconies are full with flowers and in some not so pretentious areas with hanging clothes :)
Each and every house is matching the Baroque style. Even the big franchising has no power here. Have you noticed how this McDonald's looks like?
The only one other city I’ve seen where the history had the last word over the commercialization is Porto, Portugal. (Checked the full article here ) :)
Turin is not only people friendly but also dog friendly :)
It is the home of “Fiat” so often you will feel that people here don’t recognize any other brand. But you’ll also find some other non-standard choices here :)
Enormous squares surrounded by stunning Baroque buildings and beautiful fountains in the center.
Museums, churches, arcades, magical castles, and tons of art – that is Turin.
Egyptian museum in Turin
If you are roaming around the city during the weekend you have a pretty good chances to hit one of the open local markets. Olives, sausages, cheese, wine, oil, soap, honey, “confetture” (I like this word) … And the best – everything is homemade.
That day we found one at Piazza Palazzo Di Città and it was an ultimate pleasure for all senses. Here I’ll try at least to create a small feast for your eyes:
If you are in Turin you shouldn’t miss one of the city major landmarks: Mole Antonelliana. The tower that was built once as a synagogue offers great views over the city but also great queues.
As usual I didn’t want to waste my time waiting, so me and Emanuele continued to the the bright side of our itinerary - The Church of Gran Madre di Dio which looks a lot like The Pantheon in Rome.(Do you still remember where we started?)
If you want to chill out I highly recommend you a walk in Parco del Valentino. Take a walk along the Po river and enjoy the unique views of medieval castles.
In Sunday this place looks like a campsite. It’s full of young people and street musicians.
Here is located the Medieval Village and despite the fact that is an artificial one it’s worth it to walk around.
Here’s a small secret about Turin. Did you know the city is a home place of Nutella? From the crispy slices of pizza to the melting gelato – Turin is delicious!
After the park it’s time for best gelato in the town. Our transportation is also unique. In Italy there’s a popular app called “Enjoy”. The app provides car sharing (you know like the bicycles that you ride and you drop off somewhere in the city). It’s popular in cities like Milan, Rome but it’s very convenient here in Turin because the city is small hence the distance between two points.
So if you want to give a try to your driving skills in Italian environment you can download it and jump into one of those cute red “Fiat” bugs left somewhere on the street :)
I forgot to take a photo of our “Fiat” but I have something better for you…
this beauty blinked at me while on the road ;)
“Enjoy” car in Turin
(Photo taken from Internet as I forgot to take a photo
of our red bug which looked exactly the same) :)
The best gelato you can find in Gelateria La Romana. The address is: Corso Inghilterra, 31/A, 10139 Torino, Italy
The golden rule “Do what the locals do” applies here. The enormous line at the front of the gelateria will show you the right way :)
It took Emanuele more than 5 minutes to translate all the flavors that the gelateria has to offer. Somewhere in the middle I just stopped him and I choose the ones that caught my attention from the first minute :)
We finished that day with a classic Italian espresso in “Busters Coffee” - a nice coffee shop which looks like a cousin of Starbucks but the coffee tastes better, before I took the last bus (19:30) back to Milan.
So after this layover in the paradise of gelato, here’s the today’s tip for your next trip:
“Life is like an ice-cream, enjoy it before it melts…” ;)
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