BAC Piedmont - 2014
May 24 - Torino
This was a day for sightseeing. We left the hotel as a group and walked up Via Lagrange to Teatro Regio where we met our guide for a morning walk. I can't begin to name all of the places we visited and viewed, but there were several - palaces, museums, cafés, city squares, statues, gelateria, chocolate stores, and many more. The 2 1/2 tour was in a relatively small area in the north central area of the city.
Among the items our guide talked about was the cafe culture and its link to coffee and chocolate. After our tour ended at Piazza San Giovanni, Vickie, John, Margie, Jackie, Deb and I walked over to Al Bicerin and had glasses of bicerin. This is a traditional hot drink of Torino made with layers of espresso, drinking chocolate and steamed whole milk. It is amazingly good.
We started to walk back to the main piazzas looking for a place for lunch. At Piazzo Di Citta, we found some cafés. The most popular one had a long wait. Margie, Jackie and Deb decided to go their own way for a quick bite and then a museum tour.
Vickie, John and I went to a less crowded cafe and ate lunch in its outdoor area. It was sunny and warm so the weather was perfect. I had some mini stuffed pasta with a sauce of butter and grated cheese. Vickie had fish while John had a pizza. Beer was on our table too. We compared it to eating al fresco in Berkeley or Oakland but Torino with its magnificent buildings and people friendly squares won hands down.
From lunch, we walked through a flower market that flowed for several blocks. I left the Belands at a Vodafone store and went back to my room.
We had a Happy Hour at our hotel at 6:00. Then we strolled to our first group dinner at La Locanda del Sorriso, a nearby osteria. My meal started with flat pasta ragu. Then I had fish with a salad. For dessert I had a small chocolate cake.