Coaching for Pizza: Another Good Day in Torino and a Glorious Dinner in Varese's Sacro Monte

Thursday, 14 June, 2018

Today was my 150th consecutive day living in Italy's greater Venegono Superiore megalopolis!

Time flies when you're having fun.

After a good night's sleep in our Torino hotel, we would spend most of our morning exploring the Piemonte's most important city, after Mombaruzzo of course.

That lunette window was

part of our bedroom's charm

Woman in Yellow

in an early morning arcade

The Medusa may be beheaded

but you still should not look at her

Torino has many structures

suggesting power like this one

Every piazza DEMANDS a statue

of a "Hero on Horseback"

A modest entrance to a

random building

I thought the phrase was

"Got Milk?"

At this point Laurie and

Dick Bellman sat down for

another café

I left them at a sidewalk table to go see the . . .

. . . landmark Mole Antonelliana

This building is the symbol of Torino with its 167 meter tower complete with an aluminum spire appearing on the Italian two cent Euro coin.

It was meant to be a synagogue when construction began in 1862 but it has never been used as a house of worship. Today it is the site of Italy's National Museum of Cinema.

Former Italian Prime Minister

Silvio Berlusconi

I returned to Piazza Castello to reunite with Laurie and Dick, but only briefly as Dick was about to board one of those huge, double decker city tour busses to get a better feel for Torino as he was not flying home until Friday.

We, on the other hand, needed to return to our hotel as it was getting close to our 11:00 a.m. check-out time. Once that tasked was accomplished, we headed back onto Torino's arcaded streets so that Laurie could execute her now well thought out shopping campaign.

As for me . . .

. . . I had a chance to take LOTS

of pictures of the many interesting,

old merchant buildings

Italian coffee . . . TI AMO!

Arcaded protected lunch

time tables were ready

The Palazzo Madama

A revered statesman or writer

Maybe both.

Laurie in front of the

Palazzo Carignano

This was the one time Prince of Torino's modest apartments. It now dedicates 30 of its rooms to the Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento Italiano that we would visit a bit later today.

Camillo Cavour was born here

He was one of Italy's greatest statesmen in the 1800s who spearheaded the Italian Unification Movement.

Interesting building

Grandpa's Gelato

Hmmm . . .

Piazza San Carlos' entry in the

"Hero on Horseback" sweepstakes

Two churches side by side

on Piazza San Carlo

The Chiesa Santa Christina is on the left, the aptly named Chiesa San Carlo is on the right.

We were nearing our big site of the day, the Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento Italiano housed, as I said earlier, in the Palazzo Carignano.

This interesting museum is dedicated to the struggle to create and maintain the country that we have grown to love, Italy, from its former long standing conglomeration of warring city-states.

A closer look at the Palazzo Carignano

LOTS of bricks were used to

build this huge Palazzo

Of course the main entrance to the

Palazzo had a "Hero on Horseback"

"Lady, I would definitely NOT

sit there if I were you!"

We entered the Museo Nazionale

del Risorgimento Italiano

GREAT beards seem to be an

Italian tradition

Except for Christopher Columbus

from Genoa

When you entered the former Prince's

apartments you needed to be impressed

We were.

Colorful flags and Heraldry Shields

alway get my attention

A Soldier's Life

Faithfully standing guard

The Coronation of Vittorio Amedeo II

as King of Sicily in 1713

I said I love Heraldry

Ancient Madonna and Child

A Declaration of the Rights of Man

I have to wonder if America's current Republican Party leaders have ever looked at a document like this unique one?

The Power of the Press

in a Democratic Society is

a fundamental principle

A Phrygian Cap like the one

worn in the previous cartoon

This cap and its red color are symbols of the revolution and the bloodshed on both sides of the Italian Unification battles.

Napoleon figured into the

Piemonte's history . . .

. . . quite prominently

Laurie should NOT be doing this to

a young Emperor Napoleon's likeness!

Laurie marveled at the intricate

needle work on this fabric

King Vittorio Emanuelle I

King of Sardinia 1802-1821

Fortunately for everyone, the King had the legs to pull off the desired look in his Coronation Robes.

A printing press is a key component

to any revolutionary movement

So is a well regulated Army

As are a few knife wielding

radical conspirator

The Palazzo's ceilings were all

works of art to some degree

Carlo Alberto

King of Sardinia 1831-1849

He was a key figure in the Italian Unification Movement.

A bust of King Carlo Alberto

As usual, GREAT mustache!

King Carlo Alberto's

ornate ink well set

What a nose!

Shouldn't this style of helmet

be THE prized award at all

surfing competitions?

Revolutions usually mean

Armies fighting

Grazie

The site of a newly united Italy's

first Parliament

The Parliament Room was as

ornate as the rest of the Palazzo

A new, unified Italy required

weavers to make new national flags

Nightmare

What to do when suddenly awakened by a bare breasted woman AND a man holding his own decapitated head in his hand?

Well, he could shoot at them

or toss an all'Orsini hand grenade

CHARGE!

A Zouave soldier's uniform

A group of Zouave dressed soldier's fought in the American Civil War on the Northern side.

We have seen many of these unique uniforms at our son Michael's Civil War Re-enactments over the years.

Vittorio Emanuele II

King of Sardinia 1849-1861

King of Italy 1861-1878

The facial hair was OUTSTANDING!

He was the first King of the now unified Italian state.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

leading his famed Il Mille or

Redshirts from Sicily in the

Unification Movement

A wounded soldier from

Garibaldi's Army

The Medal Collection of the

Savio Brothers

They were brave warriors from the looks of it.

"Follow Me!"

I'd follow Vittorio Emanuele II's beard anywhere into battle!

"We're in this together!"

The fight in Napoli

A final look at

King Vittorio Emanuele II

The new nation of Italy gave rise to the political cartoon as a means of expression.

Lady Public Opinion is not happy

with that man trying to get

out of that tomb

So a priest, a pig and a well

dressed Italian woman meet in . . .

The USA's Pacific Fleet is

perceived to have lots of weapons

Let this be a warning to all of you,

DON'T SKIP LEG DAY!

Bare breasted grape pickers

are always a big hit in Torino

When in doubt, wrap yourself

in the nation's flag and call

yourself a patriot

We are trying to sign him

to play Special Teams for the

2019 Skorpions

I'd buy a bottle from him

That reminds me, I've got to call

Joe Mollica about Pamplona, Spain's

Running of the Bulls next month

Ancient Weapons of War

No idea who he is but

his beard deserves to be on

an important statue

Colorful Embroidered Banner

The Sun

It was definitely out today on this hot Piemonte day.

Alpini hat on the top left

From the looks of it,

being in the Italian Navy

has its down sides

Ornate Medals are an Italian MUST!

The 30th and final room of this

worthwhile museum again was aimed

at getting you to believe in the power

of the state over the individual

Displaying a Declaration

of the new Italian state

Huge, ornate ceiling in

Room 30

Laurie dwarfed by Room 30's

paintings

For their sake, I hope that hand

grenade was made by the ACME Co.

Too late for him

A well dressed Field Doctor

preparing to treat the wounded

Ten Year Commemoration

of Anita Garibaldi's death

She was Unification hero Giuseppe Garibaldi's wife.

One final look up in Room 30

before leaving

It was a spectacular museum that was well worth the price of admission.

Lunch with a beer sounded good

Boar meat polenta was a good idea

We wisely shared just one of their large portions.

Polenta is useful for 4 reasons . . .

Serves as soup,

Serves as bread,

Satiates and warms up your hands,

WARMS YOUR HEART

I think that is actually five reasons but why quibble, it was good even in the day's heat.

On Piazza Castello

Emanuele Filiberto

Duke of Aosta

A fitting pick for this War Memorial as he was known as the "Undefeated Duke" as Commander of the Italian Third Army during World War I.

More Soldiers

An Alpini on the right

"Hero on Horseback"

That reminds me,

we have to get to Las Vegas to see

Jenn, Andy and Kevin soon after

we get back to California

Arcade shade was PERFETTO!

Great looking farmacia

Our last look at Torino was

the Chiesa Santa Christina

on Piazza San Carlo

We were back on the road for the two hour 30 minute drive back to the Villa Skorpion.

We only had a few hours at home to freshen up before heading out again for dinner with friends atop Varese's Sacro Monte.

We were to meet at Enzo and Nency's home to carpool up to Sacro Monte. But first, Enzo surprised me with . . .

. . . Medals from the weekend's

Italian Flag Championships

I could not attend this tournament in Grosetto as I wanted to focus all of my energies on our Senior team's Wild Card Playoff Game that same weekend and the sites were separated by a four hour drive.

On the left is the U15 squad's National Championship medal and on the right is the U17's Third Place medal.

GREAT EFFORT BY ALL!