Turin Impressions

On Sunday we walked up to the market at porta palazzo which we understood to be on every day but we found it empty. We did see a small one on the way but didn't spend much time there as we were headed for the real deal! We are still hoping to find it.
Instead we headed for the Giardini Reali which is a very pleasant park where the Torinese walk their dogs, talk on their mobiles and generally relax. We had walked through it the day before but that time it was jammed with police who were there to protect us from a student demonstration. Something to with a meeting of European finance ministers or the like.
From there we wandered into the Piazza Reale which hosts two Palaces, one is the Palazza Madama, the home of two regents Maria Cristina and Giovanna Battista and the other is the palace of the royal family. The piazza is enormous and has various fountains and interesting buildings in and surrounding it.

 

In the afternoon we were fortunate enough to get tickets for the opera. We saw a wonderful performance of Otello, one which neither of us have seen before. The opera house in Turin is not big but the acoustics are terrific - no need for discreet microphones here!

Opera performance photos from Google.
Today we spent most of the day wandering around the parco de Valentino and botanical gardens. Another memorial of many Italian wars was at the entrance.
We also saw the medieval village which was built in the 1800's as an authentic reproduction of medieval Piedmont and classified now as a 19th century monument.

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