Palazzo Reale, Filing Paperwork and the Big City

I am going to attempt to not be wordy on this post. I took some pics on our last day out and wanted to show you all a little bit of Torino and the significance of history. ;) You know me, trying to impart knowledge everywhere I go. Ha!

Excuse the quality of these photos. Some were taken with my camera, so they either have a glare or are blurry. I'm hoping you get the gist of the pictures from the Palazzo Reale, even if the quality is substandard.

So here's the story behind the excursion day...the kids and I have to go mail our paperwork for our residency application. We met our representative at a small post office, signed a form and off went the application. It was very easy and anticlimactic. I was really expecting to feel something when we started this process for the kids and I. I only felt ready to get on to the fun stuff.

We then walked to the tourist office to buy our annual pass for the museums! It took a long time to do that, so we headed straight to Soup&Go, KK's favorite Torino spot. It was yummy, like always. We need one in Northern Kentucky. One of my industrious friends needs to work on that. :P

After lunch, we headed to the Palazzo Reale. In English, this is the Royal Palace. It is huge! I am not sure which king it was built for...but I know it was for the Savoy rulers. See, you are learning already. It looks like Vittorio Emanuele II was the king of Italy that lived there when it was, I assume, abandoned. I'm not sure on this, so don't quote me! Here are a few pics of our tour.

I think this was a Throne Room

Look at this floor! Seriously. I "need" some hardwood floors like this.

So fancy...and bright. The chandeliers were amazing! I wish I had my Canon with me. Next time.

These were pictures of a ballroom.

The mural on the ceiling in the ballroom. I believe this was one representing the Olympics

The Oriental Room

The Dining Room - I think a few pieces of the place setting were missing. The table was enormous. This pic does it  no justice.

The view from one of the windows. There is a fountain in the garden and the Mole behind it

Little J and Boo in the armory...in front of the horses

Somebody is tired...oh, and KK, too.

Big J with some armor and swords

Boo really liked this horse

After we toured the palace, the girls and I headed to get some chocolates and loose-leaf tea. We were successful in finding chocolate, not tea. Somehow, I lost the tea shop we had passed on our way to the palace. You just never know when a shop is going to completely shut down and even close the windows. Not only did we females imbibe in chocolates, we bought a cone of Amsterdam chips, i.e. french fries. We had them top them with BBQ sauce, but KK and I had Samurai sauce on the side. YUM! I don't think the clerk thought we could handle the spiciness...it was divine! We then walked back to Piazza Castello to await our boys. They were walking through an art museum while we enjoyed a little shopping time. The girls and I were able to watch them prepare for the 10-year anniversary celebrations of the Torino Winter Olympics. We were invited to go to White Night last night with Joe's coworker, but it was raining and sleeting at our house. We decided to stay in and play some games, instead. We woke up (incredibly late) to ice covering the yard. I'm glad we stayed in last night.

 Isn't she lovely? (at Piazza Castello)

 When did my Boo start looking like a pre-teen? I don't like it! (Piazza Castello)

I must say, the kids and I loved this day! We were able to explore, spend time with Joe and walk around downtown Torino. We really, really needed a fun day like this. Arrivederci!