One of the two towers that compose the vertical forest
10:00 Depart Milan
Italy's rail service is famous for its interconnectedness, even if it has a reputation for delayed trains. I booked an $80 roundtrip ticket on the highest speed rail in Italy (Frecciarossa) that took me from Milan to Turin in slightly over an hour. This would be a day trip for me since Brandon was in conference all day.
Before heading out I stopped by the Bosco Verticale to see the tree-filled tower in person (see the cover image). We had actually planned to see this the day before, but our schedule got away from us.
The joys of high-speed rail: traveling at 300 km/h!
11:00 Arrival in Turin
Once I got to Turin I started a search for lunch to get me through my museum-heavy day. I'm not sure if it was the area I was heading towards in Turin or the day, but very few restaurants were open and with my Italian skills not being great (read mostly nonexistent), I wanted to grab something quick with minimal awkward interactions. I spotted a mall with an Eataly attached to it that caught my eye. I knew I'd be pilloried when I got back for going all the way to Italy to eat at Eataly, but since I was taking a solo trip I went in.
My very delicious slice of pizza from Eataly in Turin.
I perused the aisles to look for pre-made or packaged foods, but I didn't find anything that stuck out as a quick lunch. That was until I stumbled on the pizza and bread stand that drew my attention. One slice of a very filling margherita pizza with some trail mix and I was ready to go for a day of exploring.
12:00 National Car Museum
2:30 Fiat Museum
20:00 Dinner at Al Venticinque
After soliciting recommendations from friends on Instagram, I settled on Al Venticinque for dinner with one of Brandon's friends. Known for the best carbonara in city in other reviews, we all ordered a medium portion of the meat carbonara and I think we all had the same reaction: YUM. Service felt slow compared to other places, but with a full restaurant both inside and outside, we felt that a wait for something as tasty as this carbonara was more than worth it. Plus, we snacked on steak tartare and drank spritzes while waiting, so we weren't famished or anything.