Torino Borino
And so it turned out that Torino was even fairly dull on a Monday morning too. A smattering of shops were open at 10am when we visited the cathedral, with the most active thing around being the after-funeral party situated on the steps.
The cathedral in Torino smelt faintly of incense, making a change from the smelly central square. Very bright, marble and fairly echoey, it wasn't the most inspiring of buildings, but it was in no way unpleasant. It is of course the home of the Turin shroud, supposed to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ, but now largely discredited after carbon dating. It still poses questions however as it seems to conform in every way to the story of the crucifiction (crown of thorns, spears and all). A genuine puzzle for modern science and a real draw for the inconically religious. It was hard to tell, behind the armoured plexiglass, whether the image before us was the real shroud or a photograph of the same, which I suppose only added to the mystery of the whole thing. Nonetheless, it is a truly remarkable object and James, quite rightly, was rather pleased with his photograph (photos might be available at a later date).
We wanted to go to Asti for lunch, about 50 km away. The route was planned and we headed east to pick up our road. Crossing the river by some truly remarkable buildings (why to places always hide their true treasures till you're leaving?) we found a sign to the right to "Asti SS10". The SS10 was certainly the road we wanted, however I was absolutely (well 95%) sure we needed to turn left. But being English, we took the view that signs are not designed to betray, rather to help. In Italy (steep learning curve coming) they are in fact designed with the specific intention to confuse and throw you off your tracks. We headed blindly off down the wrong road, consistently being signed to "Asti SS10". I glanced in passing at one of those enormous maps you find at bus stops and noted that the "you are here" arrow was not entirely pointing in the place where "you thought you were or ought to be". We were in fact on the wrong road heading south towards Genova. A rapid re-assessment of route and a few stops to ask for directions brought us right.
The route that we actually took, was a mixed blessing: whilst 5km longer, it had the advantage of avoiding the big roads and also a couple of foot hills. Sadly for us, the countryside, however, was terribly boring. Unless you like cornfields, that is: in which case it would have been fascinating. There weren't even any hills to punctuate the flat! We lunched on baguettes, various, and ice cream which in shape resembled a section of bowel. Nice.
More boring countryside brought us to the industrial section of Asti, which was dull, except for the small egyptian man and his son who ran a fabulous fruit stall from a caravan in a lay-by. The peaches we had from there (7 for €1!) were the best I have ever had. We nattered in broken italian and english until it was time to get on. Asti itself would have to wait for another day.
Dull fields of corn came and went. The odd village passed by, as did a tractor or two. The sky was boring and grey. I don't want to sound defeatest, but it was genuinely a drag cycling today.
We arrived in Alessandria at about 5.15, found a post office, the information centre (which was not very helpful as they don't book hotels like they do in France), and then fairly swiftly a hotel. The cathedral here is an absolute must see. For me it is only just behind Chartres, but in a completely different way: small and intimate, with about 20 side chapels, there can't be more than a square inch of ceiling which is not covered with glorious frescos and mosaics. There was considerable renovation going on in the nave but this only added to the feeling that this church was well looked after.
We had a drink in a cafe on the square before dinner in a pizzeria (obviously!). With our Red Erik beer, we met a man from Sicily who was an antiques importer in England and Milan. We nattered for a bit and promised him a postcard from Rome.
So that was day 16. Not what one might call stunningly exciting. Tomorrow we head to Genova - over the mountains, and down to the sea!
The cathedral in Torino smelt faintly of incense, making a change from the smelly central square. Very bright, marble and fairly echoey, it wasn't the most inspiring of buildings, but it was in no way unpleasant. It is of course the home of the Turin shroud, supposed to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ, but now largely discredited after carbon dating. It still poses questions however as it seems to conform in every way to the story of the crucifiction (crown of thorns, spears and all). A genuine puzzle for modern science and a real draw for the inconically religious. It was hard to tell, behind the armoured plexiglass, whether the image before us was the real shroud or a photograph of the same, which I suppose only added to the mystery of the whole thing. Nonetheless, it is a truly remarkable object and James, quite rightly, was rather pleased with his photograph (photos might be available at a later date).
We wanted to go to Asti for lunch, about 50 km away. The route was planned and we headed east to pick up our road. Crossing the river by some truly remarkable buildings (why to places always hide their true treasures till you're leaving?) we found a sign to the right to "Asti SS10". The SS10 was certainly the road we wanted, however I was absolutely (well 95%) sure we needed to turn left. But being English, we took the view that signs are not designed to betray, rather to help. In Italy (steep learning curve coming) they are in fact designed with the specific intention to confuse and throw you off your tracks. We headed blindly off down the wrong road, consistently being signed to "Asti SS10". I glanced in passing at one of those enormous maps you find at bus stops and noted that the "you are here" arrow was not entirely pointing in the place where "you thought you were or ought to be". We were in fact on the wrong road heading south towards Genova. A rapid re-assessment of route and a few stops to ask for directions brought us right.
The route that we actually took, was a mixed blessing: whilst 5km longer, it had the advantage of avoiding the big roads and also a couple of foot hills. Sadly for us, the countryside, however, was terribly boring. Unless you like cornfields, that is: in which case it would have been fascinating. There weren't even any hills to punctuate the flat! We lunched on baguettes, various, and ice cream which in shape resembled a section of bowel. Nice.
More boring countryside brought us to the industrial section of Asti, which was dull, except for the small egyptian man and his son who ran a fabulous fruit stall from a caravan in a lay-by. The peaches we had from there (7 for €1!) were the best I have ever had. We nattered in broken italian and english until it was time to get on. Asti itself would have to wait for another day.
Dull fields of corn came and went. The odd village passed by, as did a tractor or two. The sky was boring and grey. I don't want to sound defeatest, but it was genuinely a drag cycling today.
We arrived in Alessandria at about 5.15, found a post office, the information centre (which was not very helpful as they don't book hotels like they do in France), and then fairly swiftly a hotel. The cathedral here is an absolute must see. For me it is only just behind Chartres, but in a completely different way: small and intimate, with about 20 side chapels, there can't be more than a square inch of ceiling which is not covered with glorious frescos and mosaics. There was considerable renovation going on in the nave but this only added to the feeling that this church was well looked after.
We had a drink in a cafe on the square before dinner in a pizzeria (obviously!). With our Red Erik beer, we met a man from Sicily who was an antiques importer in England and Milan. We nattered for a bit and promised him a postcard from Rome.
So that was day 16. Not what one might call stunningly exciting. Tomorrow we head to Genova - over the mountains, and down to the sea!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home