Wednesday, 23 February 2011

Saturday 19 February 2011: Turin, Italy


A couple of weeks ago I received a message via Facebook from a very dear friend of mine that I hadn't seen or heard from in over 25 years. Paola and I first met whilst on holiday in Laigueglia,Italy when she was just 14 years old and I was 16. I didn't speak any Italian at that time and Paola had only just started to learn English at School so we found a common language in French and started to get to know each other. Our friendship grew and we kept in regular contact with each other via letters and postcards and when we could we met up for our Summer Holidays in Laigueglia. For some reason at the end of the 1980's we lost touch with each other but thankfully modern technology has now brought us back together again. I was so thrilled to hear from Paola that I quickly arranged to come over to Turin so that we could catch up on our lost years. So yesterday I arrived in Turin and have the pleasure now of spending 3 whole days with Paola and her partner Paolo. It was beautiful sunshine when we awoke this morning, a perfect day for walking around Turin and doing a bit of sightseeing. We visited Turin's Egyptian Museum first. I didn't realise that Turin was home to the best Egyptian collection of artefacts outside of Cairo and I was really impressed both by the collection and the museum itself which has a long history of its own. Today we also visited Turin Cathedral San Giovanni Battista to see the Holy Shroud (the cloth that Christ's body was believed to have been wrapped in when it was brought down from the cross. I came to this Cathedral 33 years ago with my dad, when we were visiting Paola here in Turin, so it brought back some lovely memories. The Shroud has been moved now though to a more secure place in the Church to help to preserve and protect it. Whatever your faith or beliefs it is a fascinating artefact with a history that has intrigued and challenged mankind for many centuries now. The photo attached shows Paola and I enjoying a coffee in the Cafe Reale which sits beside the Cathedral - you can't beat Italian coffee. This was a great day, spent reminiscing, sightseeing and of course lots of eating and drinking.

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