London to Turin – or Torino as it should be called because that is what the locals call it.
We’ve got our holiday planning pretty organised, or so we thought until friends in Italy tell us that they are organised to go to Sperlonga and they want us to visit them there.
Sure, we said, when? ’15th June, it’s all organised came the reply.’
But we are booked into Cornwall until the 15th and we can’t possibly get to Sperlonga by 15th. ‘No problem, 16th then.’
Having spoken with our English friends about flying to Italy and the dramas that came with it, we decided to use our Eurail pass and train it. Not having used the local ‘cheap’ airlines did not make us immune to the many stories passing around the difficulties entailed. Most of the time the stories were about cheap not being the operative word once all the ‘add-ons’ are loaded into the price. There are charges for everything, supposedly. Even for your carry on baggage and handbags.
Pushing that aside we booked our seats on the Eurostar and the TGV to Turin. On the 15th we drove to London – six hours – handed the car back to the rental company and stayed overnight. The last leg into London was a crawl for at least an hour so that was enough traveling for one day. Our hotel was in a very convenient district, straight across from St Pancras station, but not a place I would like to be walking around at night.
We asked the reception where we could get a quick bite to eat. She directed us to a local pub. With every wall hosting a large screen and a World Cup match in full throttle, the place was pulsating. After one beer we couldn’t get out of there fast enough. So we succumbed to eating McDonalds. First, and hopefully last, time of this trip.
Up with the birds, breakfast, showered and off the do battle with the crowds as St Pancras. Boarded the Eurostar, only to find they had changed our seats from two together to two separate places on the train. So I decided to give the Frenchies a dose of their own medicine and refused to be quiet and sit down until they reinstated our original seat booking. Which they did in the end after they tried to console me by saying ‘we know you are upset, but the train is full’. My reply – ‘I’m not upset! I’m angry – I don’t care if the train is full – get me my seat back!’ Which by some miracle, they did.
Anyway, enough of my ranting. Two and a half hours later and we were changing platforms in Paris and heading from Gare du Nord – three stops – to Gare de Lyon where we were entertained by a young chap playing one of the many pianos dotted throughout train stations in Europe.
Then on to the TGV to Turin (Torino). Arriving six hours later at 8.30 at night. And what a surprise that town – and the journey to get there – was.
After traveling for some hours through pleasant countryside in France we then entered the Alpine region of the border.
Between picturesque valleys to extremely tall bridges and motorways to long tunnels, this trip was very entertaining. Very surprised to see there was still snow on The Alps and it’s summer!
Wish we had done a bit of research about Torino before we booked only one night there. Would have stayed longer if we could have.
This city was once the Capital of Italy upon the unification in 1861 and it’s lovely architecture is reminiscent of that ira. It is still classified as the capital of the Piedmont.
Sitting in a valley, in the shadow of The Alps, it is very protected and claims to have good climate all year round.
We went for a stroll after checking into our hotel and ended up in a lively cafe with tables spread out under the wide portico, reminding us of Bolongna. 
After a couple of beers each and a lovely fungi pizza and plenty of entertainment, for the sum total of 26 Euro we relunctantly ambled back to our hotel as we had to be off again in the morning to Rome then on to Sperlonga. Did I mention that we love Italian trains?
