Short FUN Time in Turin/Torino!

So it was good bye to Gloria and my delightful stay with her in Alessandria! I am so appreciative of her very generous hospitality-especially with such a busy schedule and life style! Hope to see her in Boston one of these days-or at least Miami!
So with my last train ticket for this extended trip in hand, I was off to Torino. Cinzia had offered to host me for another great chapter in my couch surfing experiences. www.couchsurfing.org When I arrived, I checked my suitcase at the train station. 

Frankly I knew nothing about this grand old city, until I looked around on the internet, especially www.Tripadvisor.com The number one spot on that site is Mole Antonelliana, home to http://www.museonazionaledelcinema.it The Mole (pronounced Molay) houses the fascinating National Cinema Museum,  and it was originally intended to be a synagogue. The building was gutted and is a fascinating museum about the history of cinema, especially Italian cinema, but also much was about Hollywood films (with Italian "voice-overs"). But first I went up in the elevator to see Torino from highest vantage point in the city. In the busy season, the reports said long waits, but now there was no wait. Then I started to wander around this amazingly interesting museum! The "temple" is the location where you can view clips of old movies projected onto two different large screens, where you can lounge in these wonderfully comfortable chaise lounges with built-in head phones.

Around the outside there were various "movie sets" so you could pretend that you were there! My favorite was this Western saloon AFTER the fight!

On the ramp and upstairs there were explanations about special effects, old posters, etc. There was also a display, dedicated to Robert Altman.
It was definitely one of the most interesting museums I have ever seen!

Then I visited the Palazzo Reale, another grand old building filled with artifacts of "days gone by". It included a tour in Italian which I took so I could see another floor. There was information in English in each room to read.
Before I went to meet Cinzia, I retrieved my suitcase  the train station. With the help of various folks along the walk, I found the correct bus, where she was going to meet me. She greeted me with a hug as I got off. However, THAT was when I realized I did not have my phone! We made the five minute walk back to her house, when she got right on the computer to try to find some phone numbers she could call, as I thought I might have left it at a shop at the station. We gave up, and I decided I would go back in the morning to see if I might find it. I met and talked with her delightful children, 17 year old Guilia and 18 year old Ricardo. They both have very heavy and impressive workloads at school with multiple languages, math, history, etc. 
Cinzia prepared a delicious dinner of potatoes, zucchini, and beef scallopini with fruit and cheese for dessert. Her husband Remo would be coming back from his work later. In fact, as we were finishing dinner, Cinzia's phone rang, and someone called to say she had found my phone on the bus! (She had seen me leave it, but I left so quickly she could not give it to me.) We could pick it up at 11 or 11:30 that night, so Cinzia asked Remo to stop by to get it on his way home, as it was very close to their house. Remo arrived about 11:20 with the phone. However, it turned out we were supposed to pick up the phone in the morning, so the father of the girl who called was quite angry!!!
The next morning I visited the Palazzo Castello, which was more of a museum with many paintings as well as pottery and glassware. Cinzia and I met about 1:30 for lunch, which was another delicious slice of pizza. Torino had many small restaurants which sold pizza slices and calzones, which they passed through window storefronts!

Cinzia and Remo, who are serious bikers, had visited the US several years ago. At that time she thought that perhaps Torino could use a bike rental shop, so she opened one! http://www.torinoinbici.com We had a great visit, and I was happy to have met Cinzia and her family! ONE more great couch surfing experience! I headed back to her house for my luggage-except she forgot to tell me about the security system, so, of course, I set it off! She came back-"in a flash"-, on her bike, of course!
When Melissa and I had been in Saint Raphael two years ago, we had met Anna, Bruno, and their son Andreas from Torino. They were, in fact, the folks who helped us pick up the collapsed wall oven for those of you who know that story! Anna had offered to take me to the airport, which gave us a chance to visit briefly over a cup of tea. It was fun to see her. They have a new home in Agay, so they no longer visit Saint Raphael!
I checked in for my 7:05 Ryanair flight two hours in advance; my suitcase weighed about 13 kilos (15 is the limit), so I was okay there! This time they did not even check the weight of the carry-on, which was under 10 kilos anyhow. And I was off to Paris for the final leg of my journey!