Turin - or Torino, Italy. Another trip.

I ended up in Italy again - on short notice. This time it's Turin, or as they call it there, Torino.

It was a rushed visit - fly there, go to work (not fun after a long flight with little sleep), food, sleep, work, food, sleep, etc. That's why there are very few pictures - I simply did not have time.

We got there at about 2 in the afternoon, got a hire car - it took a few different tries, but we eventually got a little car - little 4-door smart car. More on that here...

Through a lot of experementation with the GPS, we got it to direct us to the hotel. We stayed at the Residence DuParc... more on that here.

So, gastronomic details. Night 1 - we met with some other guys from the US and wandered out to get food. Being Italy and being that we were hungry for something now, the answer was pizza. We were the only people in the restaurant - but that took nothing away from the place. 3 waiters, fast beer, low prices and delicious pizza. I did not pick up the tab, so I have no recollection of the name of the place. Glass sliding doors, and about 5 minutes from the hotel - that's all I could use to relocate it. Anyway - it was good.

Night 2 - after 13 hours at work and still tired from the flight, the hotel restaurant seemed like a good idea. I assumed the restaurant was part of the hotel, but then learned it was an outside company. In any event, it was really really good. No menus - just a very charismatic and knowledgeable waiter. I had stuffed calamari for appetizer and seared tuna with lots of fresh vegetables for main. It was delicious - washed down with a pair of nice cold Moretti's. What I thought was funny was the bill at the end. We needed to keep receipts so we had to request one, it came out at EU 70, (for 2) but that was all that was on the bill. No breakdown, nothing. It's as if there was a fixed price!

Night 3 - last night. We went for a wander looking for somewhere interesting. Now, again, being in Italy, where better than an English pub! The 1870 Huntsman Pub. Actually, it was really good - top notch pizza, nice decor, and smoke free. I had McFarland's Golden Fire beer to wash it down. Listed as an Irish beer, and quite nice at that, I have since learned that it's brewed by Heineken. No worries - I don't discriminate against beer's origins - it tasted great so that was all that mattered.

And then back to the hotel, a little sleep, airport, plane, Paris, plane, Detroit!

Anyway - here's some pics - not that many and not that great - but anyway...

In the air above northern Italy - check out the Alps

Same here...

A random building on the drive from the airport. I've never seen people on balconies like these except in movies.


Downstreet view from hotel room.

Alpine view from hotel room.


Downstreet the other way


Another view

Evening view - a bit blurry.

Morning.

Same morning.

And again, the same morning. OK these pics are getting boring. Maybe next time I'll be able to wander a bit in the daylight and take some decent snaps.