On to Rivoli and Turin

For our final tour outing we were taken to Castello de Rivoli, about 17 km outside Turin. On the way Marc gave us an extended summary of all that the expedition had sought and achieved. The Castello is a renovated group of buildings housing a permanent and temporary exhibitions of contemporary art. The renovation is a work of art itself, shown in a miniature model

There are lots of architectural dazzles

The art itself was explained by a very professional young museum guide and is either too large or too complex to illustrate. We were particularly drawn to a series of 4 long public screen size videos shown simultaneously as 4 individuals, who were otherwise too poor, were shown the ocean for the first time and filmed from behind while contemplating it, and each turns round so we can study each face in detail with their reaction etched in their expression. W's immediate reaction was that while the exercise was fascinating there seemed to be an element of cruelty in taking people into a world which they had no way of experiencing other than through the artist's desire to film their reactions.
After the viewing we walked across the courtyard to restaurant Combal Zero for lunch, listed as one of the 50 best restaurants in the world.

And indeed everything was perfect, from the view of the Mountains, the spaciousness of table arrangement, and the acoustics that enabled everyone at each table to speak quietly and be heard,- partly due to Charlotte asking the management to turn the music off. Of course the perfection of the food and wine cannot receive justice from listing or photography, so discreetly we pass on.
At the end of lunch the group broke up. We and one companion planned to take a taxi to our Turin hotels. This taxi had been arranged by our trusty tour manager Charlotte, and ordered by the restaurant at a fixed price of €30. Sadly not even the combination of the efficiency of Charlotte and the reputation of the restaurant saved us from being ripped off by the taxi driver. When we were about to board he said he could not take us into Turin because a demonstration was in progress and he would take us to a Metro instead. It was a short drive away from the restaurant to the Metro terminus Fermi, a mere 7 km, where he deposited us after demanding his €30. There was a police battle in town but nowhere near our hotel, or in the way of our route. Since our hotel was near the Metro we only had 100 metres to walk, but our lady companion with suitcases was not so lucky and had to drag them several blocks.

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