I might have unconsciously avoided Torino in the past and feel lucky to have missed seeing any of the industrial environs commonly associated with it, mostly due to Fiat. (Those dreary car factories were real hot beds of left wing partisan resistance during the war.)

On Monday, my friends from Chiusure whisked me away from Toscana for a whirlwind tour of the city. We drove up the coast through Genoa and into the Piemonte to the head of the Po River. Here is Torino, and what I did see were the lush green parks around the palaces from the time of the Savoy. I found it an incredibly elegant city of wide boulevards lined with deep arcades or porticos under which there were sumptuous belle époque cafes and smart shops.

There are many theaters and cultural institutions and the Egyptian museum is renowned for a collection second only to Cairo's. The architecture of the castelli and ville range from austere to Baroque and the palazzi that are now offices and apartments often have great ornate atriums within. The city is graced with many parks and some of the avenues afford distant views to the Alps or landscaped river banks. The torinesi seem to get their style from the French without losing any of their Italian charm and warmth.

The Mole Antonelliana, Torino's signature building was the tallest in the world when built in 1863. Originally intended as a synagogue but later sold to the city, it is this strange, massive brick structure with a square cupola and a spire at the top. It has an elevator that soars up from its center to a viewing platform. And now it houses a wonderful museum of Italian cinema.

The three of us visited those two museums and ate and shopped and walked and sat in cafes under the arcades or out in one or another grand piazza for three lovely warm autumn days and nights before heading home on Wednesday evening. It was a wonderful little holiday.

posted by Joanna @ 10/09/2004 07:49:00 PM