Turin is a rather dour industrial city, we found. Perhaps it was just the autumn greyness, which persisted in the city as it had over the fields we'd crossed by train from Venice. So when, on a dour street in a dour quarter we found our bed and breakfast, it was a pleasant surprise to be greeted by Flora, our distinctly cheery black-haired hostess, and shown to a top floor room that wasn't dour at all.
We'd arrived at the station with no directions to the guest house, just an address, and couldn't understand why the map that we bought from the platform stationers made no sense whatsoever. Nothing was where it should have been. The street we should have stepped onto as we emerged from the station didn't exist. It took several minutes of map turning and head scratching to realise we'd arrived at a different station to the one we were looking at on the map.
Simplest solution was to grab a taxi. The twelve minute journey that followed was probably the most hair raising since we'd screeched around Amalfi coast bends at the hands (well, only one hand on the wheel, the other was used to hold his phone to his ear) of the self-proclaimed Americano. But that's another story. Our Turin driver shot off at a pace, employing an unusual technique of driving in the opposite direction to the bulk of the traffic, which was usually heading straight towards us. Anyway, we reached Via le Chiuse and Casa di Flora in one rather shaken piece. A grinning Flora met us at the front door and showed us up the stairwell of wrought iron balustrades, wooden handrails and blood-red polished plaster to the top floor, and our room. Actually, make that 'apartment'.
Right up in the roof space, with velux windows looking over on the nearby rooftops, the generous room had a full kitchen area (though curiously no cooking pan, crockery or utensils), a sitting area, double bed and a spacious bathroom. Breakfast was cosy and communal, as guests squeezed around the table in Flora's own kitchen while she made tea and coffee.
During our short stay we never did get to grips with the bus and tram system. Thankfully not all the taxis were as manically driven as our first.
By the way, did you know that the T in FIAT stands for Torino?
La Casa di Flora B&B, Via Le Chiuse 85, Torino
Tel 011 4733456
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