Pilgrimage To Torino, Italy

October 24, 2011: The next day we decided to go to Torino, Italy located in the northeastern part of the country near the Alps. The night before Doreen checked the times of the trains going there and also the weather on that day.

The forecast said it will rain there so we brought a folding umbrella just in case. It was very chilly on this early Monday morning and the rush of of the traffic in Genova is very hectic with people pacing doubly even though the weather is cold.

My friend Doreen and I left Genova early in the morning at 0630H because the train ride going to Torino last about four hours. Upon receiving our tickets and determining which platform we are to embark we boarded the train and setled for the long train ride.

On the train we discussed what we have read at Wikipedia the previous night because we always have to read in advance what to expect and what to see on a certain place we wanted to visit. We both knew that Torino is the safe for the Holy Shroud which was thought to be the white cloth wrapped with Jesus when he was burried in the seppulchre.

Although the validity of the cloth was been questioned by a lot of experts and scholars the carbon study of the cloth says that it was during the times when Jesus was burried. So many people around the globe made a pilgrimage to go to Torino every year to visit the famous Holy Shroud.

The train ride was very smooth and uneventful and we arrived in Torino in a safe condition. The sun was out but the weather is still chilly. We were garbed with think layers of clothing and a scarf to adorn ourselves.

When we got out of the train we immediately located the Tourism Office and asked what is the best way to tour around Torino. They advised us to walk the streets in order to appreciate the beauty of Torino because Torino is just a small place and we can finished browsing it n one day.

First stop was Piazza Giancarlo which is located at the heart of the town and this will determine us whether we have to go east and west of north and south. We decided to continue south first because we already came from the train station located on the north side of the town. At the center of the piazza is a bronze statue of a man strided on a horse.

As I can remember Torino was the sight of the 2006 Winter Olympics and I was watching it on TV last time and they showed very nice locations and sceneries on TV. I remember they showed on NBC the Piazza Giancarlo which was the seat of the old republic in Torino. In the courtyard was seen the Church of Saint John the Baptist which originally housed the Holy Shroud when it was moved to the town's Duomo in the 1900's.

As we continued going south we also located another plaza called Piazza Reale which also housed the Palazzo Realle and a small castle as well as a big fountain on the rotunda. It was located at the southeast side of the town.

We then continued going east and saw the ruins of the Pallestine gate which they made as a park and the Torino Duomo which now housed the famous Holy Shroud. We inquired inside the information center and asked if where they are exhibiting the holy cloth but they were saddened to tell us that the Holy Shroud was been placed in a crypt and is only being opened every ten years to preserve the cloth and protect it from the wear and tear of the whether. Instead they showed us a video footage of how they acquired and protect the holy cloth.

From the Duomo we went to the Cinema Museum which has the revolving watch tower on top of the dome but apparently the building was closed on a Monday. We then continued walking east towards the hillside and went to the monastery on top of the hill and also got to see the aerial view of the town. We also took a lot of pictures of the whole town.

We felt we did a good browsing of the town and it was already 1800H and we still have another four hours train trip back to Genova. Good thing the weather was cooperating with us and the trip went smoothly and uneventful.

We arrived at Genova close to 2300H and we were so tired from the whole day walking. The day was very productive and we have enjoyed our sighseeing of the whole town of Torino but our goal to see the shroud was not realized yet at least we get to see another fabulous place we haven't been before.

Everytime we are on this kind of journey we always see fabulous structures and places and we feast our eyes until we get tired of it.