The Streets of Modern Turin

While the streets of historical Turin are small and plainly elegant, the streets surrounding these areas in the city center are grand and often lined with arcades.

Under these arcades are shops, bars, and restaurants of all kinds.  Occasionally we run across a Chinese or some other kind of ethnic restaurant, and I'm a little curious but I'm not sure if I would try it.  The local Italian food is too good to pass up...

Right in the center of town is the Via Lagrange, which is a large pedestrian-only street near all of Turin's historic attractions.  There are tons of shops here, and naturally this means there are a good number of shoppers.


This street is only one of the many shopping havens in Turin.  Nearby is the Via Roma, home of many upscale designer shops, and not too far away is the Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, which some say is the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe (it is nearly 1 kilometer long).

At the heart of town is La Piazza Castello (Castle Square), which, in addition to having many places to eat and relax, also is the site of the Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace), Palazzo Madama (Queen's Palace), and Il Duomo di San Giovanni Battista (Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist), which houses the famous Shroud of Turin.  More on the attractions in the Piazza Castello will be coming in a future post, after I get a chance to go inside the cathedral.

On the other side of the square, you get a very nice view down the road, for which my camera can't do justice.  So instead, I thought I'd post a picture of the view obstructed by a tram, so at least you can see what one of the older trams here looks like.

Tomorrow is a Torinese holiday, so we get a day off.  It is a day in celebration of the patron saint of Turin, Saint John the Baptist (surprise!).  During the day, Kristen and I might go hiking in the hills around town, and at night there will be fireworks.  Highlights of tomorrow's action to come... tomorrow!