The second day in Turin, Ross and I did a better job of being tourists. After hotel breakfast (which if you stay at a hotel in Europe usually consists of slices of meat and cheese, croissants, natural yogurt, corn flake cereal, coffee, and fruit juice) we got out of the hotel ready for a day of proper sightseeing. Ross and I both really wanted to see the former location of the Shroud of Turin as well as a Palace or two. After checking the hours of the ice skating rink set up in our plaza (an activity we definitely wanted to do before leaving Turin), we headed up the bustling street Po toward Duomo Saint John Baptist. Ross and I were a bit confused because on the map the cathedral was listed as Saint Giovanni....which now that I think about it does seem like Jean or John but at the time such as association was not clicking for us. Skipping over the Royal Plaza Ross led the way to the cathedral. I'm not sure what I expected but I was nonplussed by what I found. The cathedral was dark and unattractive thanks to the gaudy gilding here and there and a serious lack of light. I was impressed with the trompe l'oeil painting above the altar though. Ross and I took a quick walk around the interior, ending in front of the shroud's location (not the actual shroud) but a clearly indicated area especially dedicated to the Shroud. Behind what looked like bulletproof glass a square coffin/table like structure sat covered in white and red cloth and adorned on top with a crown of thorns. Above this ....holding tank shall we say.... hung an enlarged facsimile of the part of the shroud that showed Jesus' face. Ross waited patiently while I took pictures. Then we left the cathedral happy to have seen the location of the shroud but ready for some sunlight and more sights.
Ross was really interested in the Madama Palace which was conveniently located next to the Royal Palace, and both were positioned around the piazza Castello. The architecture of the Royal Palace was gorgeous but neither of us wanted to go inside; the tourist book didn't make it sound appealing enough. Instead, we crossed the few steps over the piazza Castello and entered the Madama Palace. Not sure of what we could see for free and what was considered a tour, Ross led through the entrance hall toward a room with a large Christmas tree. We were amazed when our feet hit glass. The entire floor of the room was glass so that you could see down into the stone passageways of the basement. It was both thrilling and scary for me to look through the floor to the stone level below. With nothing else exciting in that room, we moved back out into the entrance hall flanked by two grand staircases. Others were lazily traversing them so Ross and I did the same. Unfortunately the staircase only led to an upper hallway over the entrance and then down the other staircase back to ground level. Intrigued with the beauty of what we'd seen for free, we decided to spend some euros on the tour/museum deeper inside the palace. The self-tour led through the museum collection of religious art and medieval art. Although much of it was fascinating and cool to see I think my favorite part were the upper levels.
Ross and I were both wondering if the entire castle would consist of art or if any of it would show palace rooms true to their age. We explored the basement with a beautiful roman mosaic floor exhibition. After traveling up a spiral stone staircase our wishes were fulfilled. Palace rooms with old wooden floors, floor to ceiling mirrors, and thick, gaudy, richly colored wall paper greeted us. We saw breathtaking furniture and beautiful fireplaces. On the next floor, we explored the endless rows of china (I mean endless!) and a room entirely dedicated to lace. But my absolute favorite part of the hours long tour we took was the jewelry exhibition that the palace had in the ballroom. The ballroom itself was elegant and spacious - Ross had trouble dragging me away from it - but to add to the allure was an exhibition with ambient music and moving lights of American costume jewelry from the first half of the 20th century.
Some of the sparkle seemed to interest Ross, which made me feel less selfish about oohing and aahing over each bejeweled little work of art. Finally, drunk off the glitz and glamour (at least I was), we left the Madama Palace hungry for lunch.
No comments:
Post a Comment