TURIN – SHROUDED IN MYSTERY

February 2026. Turin.

In 1985 the New Musical Express gave a legendary review of The Jesus & Mary Chain, berating them for no longer having the energy to play the twenty minute sets, slipping into the “rockism” of hour long shows with encores.

Similarly with blogging, it’s harder (for me, anyway) to write concise posts you can read in a couple of minutes than long, flabby, ones. I need 300 words10 pics (max), and a theme.

And the theme here is “What’s Turin famous for ?“. Well, Mrs RM reckons it’s the Gianduiotto chocolate, hence the icons on her “unmissable Turin” map on Google.

And, in fairness, the Novi-choc (problematic name alert) we bought the last night was almost as good as the 1kg bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk from Cannock Woolworths in 2008.

Half a dozen of Mrs RM’s choc bars mark Turin’s ornate cafes, many selling the overated Bicerin, “a rich and creamy hot drink with espresso, hot chocolate, and whipped cream“.

But what else does Turin, a city of over 800,000 souls have to offer ? It certainly hides its treasures under a shroud of mystery.

Well, a lot of large squares,

a museum housing stuff taken from Egypt, a giant tower called The Mole, plenty of shopping galleries,

and even more cafes with espresso for 1,50 euros.

Juventus, the best supported team in Italy, big enough for Ronaldo to play for once, charged 90 euros for tourist seats at their new Turin home, about 70 euros too much for me.

That leaves the Shroud,

which frankly is what most Britons associate with Turin. You can’t even see it, but the cathedral itself is a gem.

But what else is there to DO, apart from visit the giant Museum of Egyptology (no ta), pop in churches and eat ?

Well, we certainly weren’t finding out the next morning after that first night on the beer and an hour of Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

That looks even more hallucinogenic than Paris 2024.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

13 thoughts on “TURIN – SHROUDED IN MYSTERY”

    1. My thoughts entirely, Lana. If anything, the absence of any real veneration of the shroud (or copy) was the most notable thing in the cathedral. I remember the debate about it 30-40 years ago, Turin was synonymous with the shroud.

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  6. “TURIN – SHROUDED IN MYSTERY”

    Not sure if that should be a (slow golf clap) or a (groan).
    (but, I guess it was bound to happen)

    “February 2026. Turin.”

    (looks up)
    You do take some nice ‘atmospheric’ photos.

    “slipping in their into the “rockism” of hour long shows with encores.”

    It could just be me, but I feel there’s something amiss with the first four or five words.

    “Similarly with blogging, it’s harder (for me, anyway) to write concise posts you can read in a couple of minutes than long, flabby, ones. I need 300 words10 pics (max), and a theme.”

    Understandable. We all have our certain styles or whatnot.

    “And the theme here is “What’s Turin famous for ?“. ”

    I think you covered that in the title.

    “And, in fairness, the Novi-choc (problematic name alert)”

    (slow golf clap)

    “we bought the last night was almost as good as the 1kg bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk from Cannock Woolworths in 2008.”

    A double (slow golf clap) in one sentence!

    “many selling the overated Bicerin, “a rich and creamy hot drink with espresso, hot chocolate, and whipped cream“.”

    With a side order of heart palpitations?

    “It certainly hides its treasures under a shroud of mystery.”

    It never gets old?

    “Well, a lot of large squares,”

    Pfft. Lotsa European towns/cities have those.

    “a museum housing stuff taken from Egypt,”

    See above. 😉

    “plenty of shopping galleries,”

    What I said, above.

    “and even more cafes with espresso for 1,50 euros.”

    Possibly see what I said above?

    “Juventus, the best supported team in Italy, big enough for Ronaldo to play for once, charged 90 euros for tourist seats at their new Turin home,”

    Blimey!
    But, I hear that ‘sports seats’ over here can be just as bad.
    (a quick check shows that prices for a seat at an NFL (American football) game last year was anywhere from $123.31 to $514.61. Yikes!

    “That leaves the Shroud,”

    It’s still a mystery to me!

    “which frankly is what most Britons associate with Turin. You can’t even see it, but the cathedral itself is a gem.”

    That’s taking this ‘shrouded in mystery’ thing too far.

    “Well, we certainly weren’t finding out the next morning after that first night on the beer and an hour of Winter Olympics opening ceremony.”

    (nods)
    Yup. I was so happy that our ferry ride, to start our trip home last month, wasn’t till 1pm. It allowed us to check out at the latest possible time, walk down, and a have a semi-leisurely brunch just a 3-minute walk from the ferry. Anything earlier would have been, problematic.

    “That looks even more hallucinogenic than Paris 2024.”

    (looks up)
    Was that part of the opening ceremonies?

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      1. No argument about the Paris opening ceremony. 🧐

        By the way, I head out shortly to pick up my darling wife from the airport. Seeing as how she has been gone a week, and we’re trying make Friday night date night, I won’t be doing any more commenting until tomorrow. 😎

        Cheers 🍺

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      1. I have no idea. Maybe it’s that high as there are only 8 home games a season?
        (baseball has 81!)

        But ya, it’s almost a religion with some of them. Heck, I hear that college football (American style football) gets over 100,000 per game!

        (oh and back home safe and sound, obvs)

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