Turning Heads in Turin

Today is Palm Sunday, and while Italians don’t carry around palm fawns, they do carry around olive branches. I think it is just an indigenous way of acknowledging the same event Italian style. We decide to take a train to Turin from Bologna. But on this particular day, the trains are on some kind of strike. The first train we planned to take left the station without letting any passengers on board. So we cross our fingers, and cross platforms in hopes the next one decides to take passengers. The train is there at the platform, but no one knows if the engineer is going to actually take on passengers. The closer to the departure time, more religious the people on the platform become. Some blessing the train tracks with their olive branches, some content with the traditional signing of the cross, and some going with the never fails, I hope, crossing of the fingers. While waiting, we form a little bond with our fellow travelers. An Italian who is clearly used to this kind of behavior says, “It’s Italy” which for her explains everything. Ten minutes after it was suppose to debark, the doors swish open and the platform people swarm aboard before the engineer changes his mind. But the blessing does not cease until the creak of the wheels are heard. Then in unison, everyone breathes once again. As grand as I thought Bologna was, Turin manages to trump. This is a city with grand palazzos, one right after the other. For me, the most impressive building and one of the most interesting I have ever seen is the Mole Antonelliana, an amazing structure built in the 1800’s. Originally it was commissioned by the Jewish community to be a grand synagogues. But somewhere along the way, the architect and cost got so out of hand that the Jewish community withdrew from the project. The citizens of the city were so enthralled with the building that the city took over the project and completed it after the death of the architect to its now grandeur. They weren’t quite sure what to do with this building, however, but after a few tries at different uses, it settled in to becoming a magnificent museum of the cinema. And it is magnificent. As big as any Cecil B. DeMill extravaganza. We spent hours in there, and still felt like we were rushed. One of the things I really wanted to see was the Shroud of Turin. Perhaps the most well known medieval relic, it was purported to be the actually burial shroud of Jesus. It first appeared in the 1400’s. People have been trying to figure out it’s authensity every since. In 1988, however the myth was exploded when carbon dating came back proving that it was no older than the 12th century. Of course, those that have it dispute those findings and still cling on to it’s authenticity. Seeing it proved to be as illusive as determining its legitimacy. We went by the museum 3 times and always it was closed. I knew that the original is rarely put on display, so in the end, we never got to see it or the copy that is on display. I know, kind of sad.