When most people take it into their heads to visit Italy they don’t think first of Turin, and by the time they’ve done Rome, Venice, Florence and Naples they’ve run out of money, so Turin gets passed by . . . thankfully. It’s a gem I’d like to keep to myself but I’m feeeling generous today so I’ll share it with you.
A good few days itinerary would be as follows:
After a mandatory coffee (or whatever) in Piazza Costello, jump on a Number 15 tram and rattle down Via Po, through the great expanse of Piazza Vittorio Veneto and on out to the suburbs. After a while the tram crosses the river and soon you’re at the stop for the Superga.
Sassi-Superga station is about 100 meters from the tram stop, and from there the cog railway runs up the steep hillside before it arrives just short of the Church, La Superga, that looks out over Turin. The ticket desk is hidden inside the restaurant. It’s a cheap ride, and the restaurant itself is not expensive, though remember that the train leaves on the hour, so pace yourself accordingly, leaving enough time to enjoy whatever you order.
The ride up the hillside is slow. For eighteen minutes passengers are chugged noisily through woodland, on a hill slope that rises abruptly out of the city. The wooden slatted seats are uncomfortable, and on weekends you might have to fight for a seat. The train and its history are interesting enough, but the main attraction is the view from the top.
The train stops at a station just below the summit and it’s only a short but steep walk up to the Church from there. The inevitable Visitor Center complete with café and trinket shop and a panoramic view of its own are located at the station, and five minutes takes a reasonably fit person on up to the Church. Take your time, though, and enjoy it.
The Church is a Church is a Church. If you like visiting graves you have the privilege of paying your respects at the tombs that hold the bones of members of the House of Savoy.
A path runs around the perimeter of the Church complex, which is pleasant and shaded, and behind the Church is an interesting shrine built in honor of the members of A.C. Torino football club who were killed in 1949 when the plane bringing them from a game in Lisbon crashed into the hill in bad weather. The shrine with its fresh flowers and family photographs of the dead shows how fresh the tragedy is in the minds of the people of Turin.
But it’s for the view that visitors make the trip. The city stretches out from the foot of the hill and it’s not hard to pick out the Mole Antonelliana, the course of the Po and the Porta Nuova train station. Beyond that, over the plain, the Alps rise. If it’s a clear day, the mountains seem close enough to touch, with snow on top or even down the sides, depending on the season. On hazier days the view is dulled but still impressive.
The trip back down to the city is the reverse experience of the ascent. The train leaves on the half hour, or if you prefer there are paths down through the woodland. It’s a great place for mountain biking too. For those who can only free-wheel downhill there is the option of putting your bike on a special wagon to be hauled up the steep slope letting you return home with the wind in your face, having expended no energy whatsoever.
One thing to remember: the railway doesn’t operate on Mondays and Tuesdays
A trip for another day is to get back on Tram 15 at Piazza Castello and head down Via Po, but you might want to take a walk under the porticos that run the length of the street. Along the way, stop in for coffee at Caffe Roberto. At the end of the street the Piazza Vittoria Veneto sprawls in all directions, ending at the river, and if you stand somewhere in the middle of the chaos of tram lines and overhead cables and look above the roofs of the fabulous buildings you’ll see the spire of the Mole Antonelliana soaring up over the city. Start walking towards it and when you lose sight of it in the narrow streets away from the open Piazza just keep heading in the direction of where you last saw it - you’ll hit it eventually.
Aesthetically the Mole is like the Eiffel Tower - it’s so ugly that it’s beautiful. It’s really a garden folly of epic proportions. The Jews of Turin commissioned a wacky architect to build them a synagogue way back whenever, but they took fright when they saw what he was coming up with and abandoned the project. The city fathers then took it over and today it houses a museum in praise of the development of cinema; a must-see.
It’s also a shrine to Gianni Agnelli (Mr Fiat). On the interior wall a spiral walkway lifts you ever higher past a photographic history of his life, and whatever politicians and statesmen he wasn’t photographed with probably weren’t worth meeting.
The cinematic artifacts are displayed in rooms off the main structure and are well worth the visit. All the developments in cinematography are documented starting back with lanterns making shadows on canvas screens.
In the centre (I speak British English) of the vast vault that was originally intended to house rather a lot of worshipers, an elevator rises from the floor to disappear up into the spire to let passengers walk round an observation platform. This is certainly not for everybody, but the access to it is deceptive and you don’t realise what the deal is until it’s too late.
The elevator car is glass on all sides and holds 9 people plus operator. It takes 59 seconds to get to its destination and makes its way there when 5 improbably thin wires pull it all the way to the top. There’s no structure around the car, just these wires attached to its lid, so as it lifts the passengers eventually find them selves dangling in empty space. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. Then you have to go down the same way.
The view from the top on a good day is superb: Alps in the distance, and down below all the landmarks that you’ve already become familiar with. Pity about the anti-suicide fence, though.
Set aside a full morning for this, especially if you want to do the museum justice, and go as early as possible (it opens at 10.00) to avoid too big a queue for the elevator.
And for food?
Well, the tour books don’t mention Nuove Salette, at least not the ones I’ve read, but it’s the place to eat in Turin. Tucked away in a side street (Via Goito) near Porta Nuova train station, it’s a restaurant in Italy rather than an Italian restaurant, and mercifully it doesn’t pretend to cater to anyone other than just people who want to eat. They don’t even translate the menu, a skill not yet mastered by most restaurateurs the world over. Local people eat here and everyone seems to know everybody else, but not in a way that excludes strangers. The surrounding streets are seedy, and for some reason the ladies who hang about those streets all wear very short, tight skirts. Strange.
The cooks and waitresses are a friendly lot who don’t speak English. I like that, and the menu is fairly self explanatory anyway. The people seem to genuinely want the customers to enjoy themselves and come back for more. They seemed pleased that foreigners came in, but couldn’t figure out why.
The menu is standard but extensive and certainly not expensive. I went for the set menu - an unbelievable €20 excluding wine! The wine we ordered was very affordable and more than just drinkable. I was quite chuffed with my choice.
Aperitif - a glass of champagne
Starter - a platter of cold meats, bread, cheese and the tastiest bruschetta I have ever had. Where do Italians get their tomatoes?
Next course - spaghetti (home made) with a meat sauce to die for.
Next next course - lumps of meat roasted on a spit with just enough roasted vegetables and salady bits to go with it.This was a seriously exceptional and good-value meal with no pretension. Maybe I should have kept that to myself. Hope it’s as good when I go back next year.
