We had a lazy morning and didn't head out until noon.
all is quiet on New Year's Day
last night's Napolitano dinner
Via Lagrange and the "Mosaic" lights
Piazza Carignano and one of the seven million statues of Torino
We slowly made our way to the Museo Egizio, or the Egyptian Museum. It contains the second most important collection of Egyptian artifacts outside of Cairo. The whole city of Torino was packed inside it because they were offering a New Year's Day special entrance fee of €1. Needless to say despite the crowds it was a very interesting and nicely presented museum. It is always astonishing to see the life and every day objects of human civilization from as far back as 7500 years ago.
hall of statues, one of the highlights of the museum
cats rule, even the Egyptians knew it
cats rule, even the Egyptians knew it
We thought there would be a museum cafe for a bite to eat but there was not unfortunately. Ravenous, we scoured the city for something open and first, stopped at Caffe bar Universita for our first bicerin.
What is a bicerin you may ask? It is a layered hot drink - on the bottom is thick, Torinese hot chocolate, on that a shot of espresso, and finally a layer of cream or milk. It is served in a glass with a little spoon. They are a cure for whatever ails you.
art deco cafe, common in Torino
What is a bicerin you may ask? It is a layered hot drink - on the bottom is thick, Torinese hot chocolate, on that a shot of espresso, and finally a layer of cream or milk. It is served in a glass with a little spoon. They are a cure for whatever ails you.
bicerin #1
A few doors down was a kebob/felafel joint with a line out the door so we thought #1 it must be good and/or #2 there's not much else open. So we waited on line and watched this place operate under unusual, stressful conditions. People waited patiently while the owner made doner after doner after doner. His wife was at the side rolling out pitas by hand and putting in the pizza oven for a minute before taking them out, steaming and all puffed up. There was one small fryer for fries and the odd felafel order, which was ours of course. We outrageously had to wait 45 minutes from beginning to end however it was really delicious. The handmade fresh pita made it all worth it. We ate it too quickly to take a picture.
what we saw while stuffing our faces with that felafel
The visibility wasn't great but we went to a panoramic site anyway. We walked through the Piazza Vittorio Veneto where we were last night and across the river to Il Monte dei Cappuccini, a hill with a convent on top with a look out over the city and the Alps.
It wasn't a very long climb to the top. There was a mist over the city and the Alps weren't visible but for a faint outline which at first we thought was clouds until a peak here and there could be discerned from the haze. It wasn't a great day for pictures but there are 2 other vista points we will get to before we leave: the top of Mole Antonella and the Basillica di Superga.
On the walk back down from the hill, we had to cross over the river Po to get home. We caught a beautiful wintry sunset behind Castello del Valentino, another of the Savoy palaces.
we returned here on a clearer day
It wasn't a very long climb to the top. There was a mist over the city and the Alps weren't visible but for a faint outline which at first we thought was clouds until a peak here and there could be discerned from the haze. It wasn't a great day for pictures but there are 2 other vista points we will get to before we leave: the top of Mole Antonella and the Basillica di Superga.
On the walk back down from the hill, we had to cross over the river Po to get home. We caught a beautiful wintry sunset behind Castello del Valentino, another of the Savoy palaces.
looks like France because it was designed by a French princess in the 1600s
Jen
Ken
Ken waiting patiently
Time for siesta! After a rest, we went looking for open restaurants in the neighborhood but were out of luck. There were a few places open near the train station but we weren't keen on eating at any of them. Ken suggested we go to Eataly again because he remembered reading it was open today so we took the bus 15 minutes out of the center only to find it was closed. It WAS open in the afternoon. From the bus, I had seen a pizza/pesce specialita sign on an open restaurant.
So we walked over to it and had an incredible Italian seafood dinner - in an Asian owned and staffed restaurant! It was packed with locals so we knew it was going to be good. There was also the quintessential TV in the dining area. It's name was Pizzeria Entremetier Di Ling Wei Fu. There was an Abruzzese slant as there were a few dishes with pasta alla chitarra.
its gotta be good
So we walked over to it and had an incredible Italian seafood dinner - in an Asian owned and staffed restaurant! It was packed with locals so we knew it was going to be good. There was also the quintessential TV in the dining area. It's name was Pizzeria Entremetier Di Ling Wei Fu. There was an Abruzzese slant as there were a few dishes with pasta alla chitarra.
seafood fry with calamari, shrimp, and take a guess...anchovies!!!!!
hot, garlicky penne fra diavolo
mussels and clams with some spaghetti
We started with a mix seafood fry with shrimp, calamari, and anchovies. It was all cooked perfectly. Then we had pastas - I had a humongous portion of linguine with clams and mussels which was amazing and Ken got the penne fra diavolo, also delicious. The table next to us ordered limoncello and it seemed like a pretty darn good idea so we ordered them, too.
Cin Cin!