Festa della Repubblica , Late of course

Continuing on with the review of the past few...events, days, things that interest me, et al, I found myself on the tour of Torino with my brother and sister in law, on what turned out to be Festa della Repubblica. Having worked in the tourist industry my entire adult life, I am quite use to working when everyone else is on holiday, so I seldom have the experience of crowds during peak holidays. Perhaps that was why I pleasantly surprised to be in Torino on a lively day indeed. It reminded me of Memorial day in the US with a bit of parading and strolling around. It seemed to usher in the summer season just as it does in America, with friends and family bar-b-queuing at home or eating out. It was quite a fun day out. As a B&B host, I find that if our guests want to mix relaxing in with seeing the sights, they're going to have to be very organized to make sure that their time fits in with Italy's lifestyle. Most tourist attractions, such as museums and such are closed on Mondays and usually break for lunch at 12:30 till 15:30 without fail, daily. The cities are a bit better about being open more round the clock, but not always. I always want our guests to be able to relax and yet, see as much as they want to fit in. A tall order it seems here in the land of siesta. Heaven forbid, that you might have staggered staff lunches at the touristic sites, so that the tourists who felt like lingering over a leisurely breakfast before setting off in the morning to conquer the daunting list of places to go, things to do, things to see, might actually see and do a fair amount on said list.
Michele, I still have yet to see the inside of it yet. I just can't hurry up people when I know they are tired and it's going to be a long day out. It just doesn't seem right to be on a rigid schedule. Of course, we started off from our house just in time to make sure we missed the timing to see the inside of most of the tourist attractions. On 5 visits with friends and family to Sacra San Michele on vacation when it's pleasant to enjoy the tranquility of our mountains, as well as catching up over coffee and pastries. So we enjoy the impressive monastery from the lovely drive past Avigliana lakes and the bucolic scenery of the twisting drive up to the still mysterious monastery that was used for the back drop to the Umberto Eco novel that was turned in to a cult classic movie, "The Name of the Rose", and ponder what it might be like to actually see the inside. I'm still wondering about the movie and book as well. Add those on the list as well....
Anyway, it was nice to arrive in Torino/Turin on a Saturday to a semi quiet town that still was serving lunch after 2pm and then cranked back up in the afternoon . I was a bit surprised at how packed Torino was and that there just seemed to be so much going on, complete with a procession of costumed people making their way to Palazzo Madama, reopened after 10 years or so of renovation. By that time we were just enjoying strolling around, soaking in the sights and keeping under the arcades like everyone else to dodge being soaked from the random rain, just like the King's walk was intended to do when constructed for the Savoy's so many years ago. Torino is always a great place to wander around and be surprised by it's charms.

Vi raccomando una visita!Cafe Baratti & Milano

Review of the past few ......

Well this looks like it might be a bit of the tour itself also.
The Giro d'Italia has come and gone,
The Festa della Republica, June 2, come and gone,
and my brother and sister in law, come and gone also.....but lots of fun to savor over the next bit of time. The Giro d'Italia is to Italy what the Tour de France is to France. High energy, top notch bicycle racing over a grueling 3 weeks all over Italy with enough pain and suffering to last a life time, or at least till the Tour du France kicks off about a month later. The long road races, the breath taking mountain climbs and descents, often in weather just one step off snow on top to add to the effort. It's every bit as thrilling as it's more famous cousin, and taken just as seriously here not only by the racers, but by the Italian fans as well. Some of the racers use it as a training tour for the French tour. Ugh, gluttons for punishment or adrenalin/endorphin junkies I've never been quite sure which it is.
We had some of the support crew stayed with us when the tour rolled into our big town of Pinerolo, situated at the mouth of our valley, played host to the tour. It was an exciting couple of days, with last years Miss Italia ( a local Piedmont girl, second year running) coming to town the night before to add a bit of glitz and excitement to the event the following day. Our crew got up early to put up the various banners and advertisements that helps to keep this show on the road. The crowds were thick and the excitement palatable with loads of hype and pink afloat to keep the kiddies and parents all aglow with the anticvipation of the cycle race coming to town. The race to the finish line was marred by a light rain that started just before their arrival, making the sprint a slippery affair exacerbated by plastic ads placed on the last few feet that proved to make a dangerous spot where the pack started falling like dominoes behind the winners in an ugly end to an exciting race. Alessandro Petacchi, a long time favorite, won his third win of this tour and his 22nd win of the national tour. It was a fun day conjuring up memories for me of when Bernard Hinault and Greg Lemond use to bring a bit of European excitment to Colorado when the "Coors Classic" race was still alive and cycle racing was a big event every year. Fabrizio reminisced about coming to the Pinerolo stage with his grandfather and it was a big day out from Serre Marchetto. It was nice to make some new memories.