Turin - truly underestimated

We've been based just an hour away from Turin since June, so we've had the chance to visit the city a couple of times.

The city was the first capital of the united Italy and was where the Savoy (royal family) resided. As a result, the streets are well organised, clean and the city has an almost Parisien feel to it.
The old Savoy palace is in the heart of the city and is the focal point for one of the main Piazzas, but just around the corner you can also find plenty of culture.

Delve into the porticos and as well as a world renowned opera house, you can find beautiful old cafes - where I highly recommend a cafe con panna (coffee with cream) - along with gelaterias and quaint restaurants.

The galleria subalpina - a beautiful arcade

Just beyond this you'll find a stunning old arcade that houses antique bookshops, restaurants and even an old style cinema - it's a beautiful place that gives a real sense of late 19th/early 20th century.

Turin is one of the biggest cities in Italy, yet it's only the 8th most visited, but for those who do come to this hidden gem, you'll find that you can saunter around without the feeling of claustrophobia that places like Rome and Florence can give you with their swathes of tourists.

There's plenty to see too - we visited the oldest Egyptian museum in the world (someone debated this with me, but it was the museums words not mine!), which houses a very large and impressive collection, well worth a visit. There's also a civil war museum and the car museum - cars are central to Turin as here it's all about Fiat as this is where the factory is and always has been. In fact, not only is the Fiat factory famous for having the training scenes from the original 'Italian job' film shot on its rooftop racetrack, but I also found out that even Juventus (the famous football team - more on them later) are steeped in history linked to Fiat as they've traditionally been owned by the Fiat owners.

The Mole

Other than a piazza that boasts itself as one of the largest in the world, the city's main tourist attraction is the Mole - a big building with a pointed top that was completed at the same time as the Eiffel tower. You can see the Mole from nearly everywhere in Turin and inside it hosts a really impressive and fascinating cinema museum - we both loved it inside as it is a tribute to the history, the evolution, the art, the glamour and the wonder of cinema. This was one of my favourite museums of all.

The cinema museum inside the Mole

The people of Turin remind me of Milan - not surprising as they're only a couple of hours from each other - in that they're well dressed but casual and look like quite a few are well-to-do professionals (in the centre anyway). Further away from the center and we experienced some crazy driving on the roads as well as people literally parking their cars in the middle of the road! There's plenty to the culture, character and make up to this city.

Another footballing pilgramage - this time to the Biancaneri

Another thing I wanted to visit whilst here was one of the best and famous football teams in Europe - Juventus.

Turin has 2 teams; Juventus and Torino. Torino were massive in the old days, but they suffered a near identical disaster to the Man Utd Busby babes when their team went down on a plane in the alps and the club never recovered, whereas Juventus (derived from the Latin word for youth) overtook them and never looked back.

Juve have a proud history of success - with 32 league titles they well supported and are far ahead of all other Italian teams in terms of league titles. They've also had some of the best players in the world wear their famous black and white stripes (copied from Notts county no less), with my personal favourites being Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero.

So I was happy to cross another big team off my list when I visited as not only did I do a stadium tour but we visited their museum too. The whole stadium and museum are just a couple of years old as they knocked down the old stadium that was "too big" and had a bad atmosphere due to a running track and built a smaller purpose built stadium in its place. As a result, the stadium doesn't have the same wow factor as others - it has some big supports that are coloured in the Italian flag, but otherwise it's nowhere near as impressive as say, the san siro. Also it doesn't look big from outside as it almost merges into the ground, whereas most stadiums rise up like some sort of footballing cathedral.

Inside the Juventus stadium

The museum was fantastic though, way bigger than Milan's and there was so much to it. There were all sorts of things to see, learn and interact with plus an immersive experience of the way things are done at Juve. I doubt I'll see a better football museum - then again it is brand new!

Then it was onto the tour and I was surprised at the size of the group - about 30 of us of differing nationality. The old foundations of the Stade Delle Alpi can still be seen outside and give you an idea of how big it was compared to the new stadium, but inside things are neat, plush and well thought out.

There's a lot of simplicity in places, clearly they don't focus too much on luxury, but there are nice touches. Inside the stadium itself and I was impressed, not bowled over, but impressed nonetheless, it's only now a 41,000 capacity and therefore I thought it might be bigger considering the history of the club, but they fill out this stadium all the time and you get to hear soundclips of the match day atmosphere and that must be amazing to hear. Either way, all of these new surroundings are clearly working as they've won the title in each of the 3 years the stadium's been open!

Once again, I'd rather I visited to see a match but coming out of season I'm glad to at least tour the place and it further whets my appetite to visit the most famous football stadiums in the world (well, Europe).

So in all, Turin is city that has plenty to see and is often overlooked, but with plenty to offer, if you ever get a chance it's well worth a visit.

Friends, food and football in Milan

The Duomo

Arriving into Milan was significant because not only were we meeting up with Claire's 2 best friends for the whole of our 5 day stay, but this was also the last stop on our travels before we headed to Santo Stefano Roero in Piedmont to be au pairs for the summer.

We arrived a few hours before Jess and Sophie so we scoped out the immediate vicinity and at the paninoteca a few doors down I had one of the best paninis of my life filled with bundles of salami and Tabasco sauce.

We'd both been looking forward to seeing them, but understandably Claire was beyond excited, so when the reunion happened my prediction that there'd be tears came true.

In the evening we headed straight for the center of Milan and to see the Duomo lit up, the famous galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle II shopping mall before heading for giant portions of pizza and wine. The rest of the night was spent back at the B&B on our balcony drinking far too much wine (well, me and Sophie anyway!). It was so great for us all to catch up and also so surreal to have such good friends with us in a new place.

We all decided that during our 5 day stay we would see the major sights of the city, but otherwise we'd be more than happy just to hang out - especially as this was a much needed holiday for Jess and Sophie.

The second day we headed over to castello sforza and stopped just in front if it when we saw there were a whole load of stalls selling speciality beers, wines, sangria and foods from around the globe - all of which were music to our ears. As well as this, just outside the castle is a great big fountain that became a regular stop for us during the stay as it was a great place to dip your feet, enjoy the cool spray and people watch in the 30+ degree heat.
We then headed into the castle and the park beyond it, before heading for more gelato - in fact Jess pretty much became addicted to the stuff and who could blame her!

On the way back, the girls bought cards from a stand so we could play at night over wine on the balcony - but once we got them out later that evening we realised they were not normal cards at all! The cards were only 40 in number and had some strange characters - turns out they are for a popular traditional Italian card game called 'scopa' - of which we have since learnt how to play and really enjoy. Determined to play cards regardless, we figured out a system to use the cards to play 'uno' and so it was that 'scuno' was born!!

We repeated this sequence of fountain, food, drinks, park again on one of the other days, this time having a picnic in the park whilst there was a race going on for runners and their dogs, to which I was very jealous:
a) not to be taking part
b) for not having a dog

It was such a great time as we really got to just hang out and enjoy each others company, with one of the days allowing for the girls to hang out and go shopping whilst I went on my own trip for the morning:

My pilgrimage to the San Siro

Not the prettiest outside but the San Siro is spectacular inside

So I planned one morning to head out on my own to see something I've always wanted to see since I was a kid. As a kid I grew up spending my Sundays watching Italian football on tv as it was on channel 4 and during that time I grew a fondness for both Milan teams. Now I was in Milan I had the chance to visit their stadium which is one of the most famous and impressive in the world - the San Siro.

Heading to it via a combination of metro and bus, I felt like a kid again as I was so excited to be going, something that brought back memories of my first ever football game which just happened to be at the old Wembley of all places. The best stadiums of today are the modern equivalent of the Colosseum - it's where all the action happens and where the eyes of the world are focused and I certainly want to visit as many of my favourite stadiums as possible as each one is unique.

Unfortunately the season had already finished so I couldn't go see a game which is always the best experience, but I still didn't want to pass up the chance for a tour of the stadium and museum.

Just a few of the many famous names that adorn the museum

The museum was smaller than I was expecting but did cover the things I'd expected such as all of the trophies won by the two teams and a walk back in time with all of the most famous players that have played for AC Milan and Inter Milan.

AC Milan changing room

Inter's changing room

Inside the stadium we visited the two teams changing rooms and whilst AC Milan's was plush (not as plush as southamptons I might add), I was really surprised at the contrast with Inter's; while AC had individual bucket seats, screens etc, Inter had just a basic bench and a tiny artwork on the wall as well as their badge. I really expected more but then that's supposed to be Inter's style.

The amazing inside of the San Siro

Then it was time to enter the stadium to the pitch itself and I was blown away by its size and how unique it is. I took a few moments to imagine a match going on and enjoyed the calm of the stadium (even if there were 20 other people on the tour and a team of workers setting the stadium up for a one direction concert).

Before I left I had to ask some Germans for an obligatory photo before leaving very, very happy and with a new resolution to visit more stadiums around Europe.

I returned to the center of the city to find the girls enjoying shopping before we headed for coffee & cream, paninis and more gelato. It was a great day for all!

End of one journey, start of another

A couple of days later we waved goodbye to our friends once again as we headed to the train station having had a great last few days of travelling. Milan was good to us and a great place to hang out in.

As we got on our train we not only headed away from Milan, but away from the travelling part of our journey as we were now off to the Piedmont region an hour away to be au pairs for the rest of the summer. We were ready to begin this new challenge as we were ready to be based in one place again for a period of time rather than a fleeting moment and we were excited about getting stuck into life in the Italian countryside with a family that were happy to take us in with welcome arms...