Torino, Italy - July 26th

Early this morning, we departed to the train station and headed to Torino. This city was the first capital of Italy when all states were united in 1861. It was also the cinema capital until Facism took over and moved everything to Rome.

Once we arrived, we went to our hotel which was located in a kind of car garage/mall. The rooms were even nicer than the ones back in Milan except the AC did not work as well. We only stayed a few minutes to drop off our bags before heading back to the metro. We had a quick meal at McDonalds then got on a bus to take us to the National Cinema Museum. There, we waited while Dr. Wright got tickets. During that time, Gary called me. He had stayed at the train station with Cat while she used the bathroom, and they did not know what stop to get off the bus. I walked back to the bus stop we had come from and waited for them, hoping their bus would come to the stop I was at. Unfortunately, their bus never came so after a while of trying to explain where the museum was, I head back to the group. They, however, had already gone inside the museum, so I waited in the lobby for Cat and Gary. By some miracle they actually made it before too long. Together, we entered and reunited with the rest of the group.

The museum was very entertaining. First we learned about the history of film, watching a few 10 second videos that were some of the first caught on film. After that we walked through an area that had information on many older actors and actresses as well as some directors. There were also scripts, original costumes, and set designs. We finished the tour by relaxing in the center of the museum which was very open with a very high ceiling. They had very comfortable seats arranged the way theaters have them only you could lay down and watch the movies on massive screens on the walls while listening through speakers built into the seats on both sides of your head. I fell asleep it was so comfortable. After my short nap, a group of us took the elevator to the very top of the museum where we had a view of the entire city. When we had finished taking in the sites, we returned to ground level and walked into the main section of town. There, some of us had a drink native to Turin, I think it was called bicella. This is basically a glass of espresso coated with chocolate and whipped milk. Gary and I went on to shop around the town. I got a great deal on a shirt, pair of shoes, and a hat which only costed me a euro. With our new clothing, we joined up with a couple other members of the group and went to look for apertivo. Along the way we came across many other stores but no apertivo. Eventually we found an Irish Pub which was still serving so we stopped for a drink and snacks. From there we went to another bar for more drinks. Still looking for some fun amongst the otherwise boring night life of Torino, we wondered the streets being loud Americans. Unfortunately, there was not much fun to be had on a Tuesday night and eventually we began walking back to the metro station. We arrived only to find the trains had stopped running, but luckily a night watch guard told us we could take a bus. We made it back to our rooms and watched Jersey Shore, the only show in English until everyone was tired enough to go to bed.