We woke up early again to cloudy skies but no rain so we were able to walk around beautiful Rapallo one last time after breakfast before checking out of the hotel and walking to the train station to catch the 11:22 AM train to Turin. We had nice first class seats and enjoyed relaxing and reading our books for the two hour trip to the Turin Lingotto train station. There was no taxi in sight when we walked out of the station, but one pulled up just as I was getting our cell phone out to call one. It was a short drive to our fancy modern hotel, the AC Hotel Torino, which I had been able to get for free by using the points from Mike's Marriott credit card! Our room was very large and modern and since it was mainly a business hotel, had a large double desk with two chairs! As modern as our hotel was, Mike read a plaque outside that said the building was originally a pasta factory!
Since it was almost 2:00 PM we were hungry for lunch and walked through the parking lot behind the hotel to one of our favorite places in Turin -- Eataly! Eataly is a high-end Italian food market comprising a variety of restaurants, food and beverage stations, bakery, and retail items sponsored by Slow Food. This had been the first Eataly we encountered back in 2009 and we thought it was so big and amazing (it was in an old Vermouth factory), but it actually looked a little small this time after seeing the newer and much bigger one in Rome several years ago! We went directly to the pizza restaurant and split an excellent margherita pizza with wine and beer. Our server only brought us the pizza on one plate, so I was going to put my slices on a napkin. I noticed the man at the table next to us get up and say something to the server while pointing at our table -- and we immediately got another plate! Mike thanked the couple in Italian when we were ready to leave and they were surprised we were in Eataly in Turin all the way from California!
It was still just cloudy and not raining so we headed across the street to the huge shopping center, hotel, convention center complex which is in the old Lingotto Fiat factory.
Construction on this building started in 1916 and the building opened in 1923. The design was unusual in that it had five floors, with raw materials going in at the ground floor, and cars built on a line that went up through the building on the curved ramp above. Finished cars emerged at rooftop level to go onto the test track! It was the largest car factory in the world at that time. 80 different models of car were produced here in its lifetime, including the Fiat Topolino of 1936. The factory became outmoded in the 1970s and the decision was made to finally close it in 1982.
With directions from helpful locals, we finally found our way into the very busy shopping mall and found the elevator to take us up to the fourth floor and the Pinacotecca Giovanni e Marella Angnelli -- a very small modern art museum designed by architect Renzo Piano on the roof of the Lingotto complex. The Pinacoteca Agnelli houses a collection or artwork from the Giovanni and Marella Agnelli private collection with works by Tiepolo, Canaletto, Bellotto, Canova, Manet, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso and Modigliani . . . wow! The museum was very peaceful and open and enjoyable. With entrance to the museum we were allowed to go out on the old Lingotto factory rooftop test track and you can see the banked test track which was made famous in the "Italian Job" movie when they raced the Mini Cooper cars up the ramp and around the test track!
This picture is looking in the other direction around the Lingotto rooftop test track and that weird glass bubble thing is actually a very expensive upscale restaurant!
We made our way back through the shopping mall to street level where we found our way to the huge supermarket to buy some beer, wine and water for our room. We relaxed and cleaned up back in our room while watching a very heavy rain storm go by. It was raining a little when we left the hotel to walk back to Eataly where we went to the fish restaurant for branzino (a European seabass fish) cooked tempura style in asparagus cream soup which was very good. There is nothing in English in Eataly so it is always kind of a surprise to see what you get when you point and order! We looked around at the amazing displays of food -- I don't think it would be possible to count how many different types of pasta they have for sale -- before walking back to our hotel in the rain.
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