While we were in the south of France we decided to take a short trip to Turin, Italy to tour a couple of museums and experience a real Italian dinner. It was an absolute gorgeous drive through the Italian Alps. It was summer so there wasn’t any snow, but it was so beautiful and made me think of the the VonTrapp’s having to go through some very similar alps during their escape. During our drive, we stopped several times and took pictures of just set and took in the beauty. We got there around lunch time and had a slice of pizza for the first time in Italy! It was different than here in the US, but it was good.
After lunch we went to the Museo di Egizio. This museum specializes in Egyptian archaeology and anthropology. It houses the world's second largest collections of Egyptian antiquities after Cairo. It has been recognized as a symbolic place in Turin and draws over 500,000 visitors every year. The ‘Museo Egizio’ was formally founded in 1824 with the acquisition by King Carlo Felice of a collection of 5,268 objects gathered by Bernardino Drovetti. The site of the museum is the 17th century palace, built as a Jesuit school by the architect Guarino Guarini that in the 18th century passed to the Academy of Sciences. The collections are owned by the Italian State, but the management has been privatised by means of a foundation, the Fondazione Museo delle Antichità Egizie di Torino, whose shareholders include the Region of Piedmont, the Province of Turin, the City of Turin, the San Paolo and the CRT banking Foundations. This privatisation of a State museum is a first for Italy. It was a great museum and we are so glad that we were able to walk around and take a tour. Strangly, we actually ran into some guests that were staying at the same resort we were staying at. Small world, huh? Even more strange is that they live in AZ, not far from where we live, considering we live on the other side of the world.
After the Egyptian museum we headed to the Museo dell'automobile. It was a really cool museum and has a path that takes you around the exhibition and tells the story of the evolution of the motor car, as well as the social themes linked to it, its transformation from a means of transport to an object of worship, from its origins right up to the contemporary evolution of creative thought, and all this is done with spectacular displays showing off the valuable pieces in the collection. It is a really cool museum and we stayed as long as we could before they closed for hte day. We wished we could have spent more time, but did enjoy what we were able to see in a few hours.
We walked around adn took in some local flavor so to speak. It was so interesting to see some of the houses and laundry hanging from lines draped from one building to another building. It's not just a stereotype. lol While walking around we ended up having a great dinner and I tired Gnocchi for the first time. I think I am spoiled forever, lol. It was some of the best Italian I have ever had. However, I had one of those moments when the server brought us our food and I wanted to say thank you, but I couldn’t remember what language to respond in. It was quite embarrassing, but the food and experience was wonderful. I love Paris so much, but look forward to being able to go back to Italy and go to Venice or Rome. Someday. Below are some fun things to do Turin if you are able to make it there.
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Page last updated August 2014.
