Turin or Geneva?

[overkill94]

Alright, super random question here but I'm in Milan right now for work and about to head out somewhere else tomorrow. I thought I would be meeting up with a friend of a friend in Lucerne but it turns out he's busy until Wednesday.

In the meantime, has anyone been to either Turin or Geneva? They're both kind of on the way to Lucerne so I'm wondering which is a more worthwhile visit. Thanks!

[johnnya24]

Turin is great for a day trip, or a short break. Nothing more than that. I was stuck there for 10 days twice when my ex was doing her PhD ... short break would have been nice, 20 days was torture. The first time our "hotel" sucked ... that made things even worse. Nothing fun to do in the evenings. I had a friend who worked in Zurich ... he quit a really high paying job because he was bored. But Geneva looks really nice from the pictures I've seen ... would love to go some day.

Everything is in the center of Turin (Castle, Mole, Palace [I think] main squares and concourses), and then the cafes and restaurants leading down to the river, which is nice. We had to spend a lot of time at the Museum of Modern Art at the Castello di Rivoli ... I liked that, but would be too much for a short break maybe (it's about 5/6 miles away in an old converted castle ... because Ana was researching Arte Povera, we got to go into the dungeons where they were storing some of the art ... that was amazing, but I don't think open to the public).

I remember everything shutting for about 4 hours in the afternoon (everything) ... you couldn't even find somewhere to get some food. We found a restaurant we liked, and I remember us standing outside waiting for it to open (6pm sharp) more than once ... we weren't the only ones funnily enough

Milan I liked more ... Turin and Genoa are day trip cities. Some clever bureaucrat decided to build an elevated motorway right across the port/seafront of Genoa, destroying what could have been a great vista ... although the train ride from Turin to Genoa was spectacular! Milan to Turin was pretty flat as I remember. Sadly we didn't get to spend enough time in Milan to really form an opinion.

Amazing that I've spent so much time in northern Italy over the years, and never been to Florence or Rome.

[overkill94]

Looks like Geneva it is!

Johnny, I had a similar story the first time I went to Bologna for work - because of the jet lag I would be hungry at random times but NOTHING was open between 2 and 6. Seems to be something the less touristy towns practice since I didn't have the same issues in the touristy cities like Rome and Milan.

I fell in love with this one part of Milan called Noviglia. It's a row of bars and restaurants next to a canal which seems to be quite popular with the locals. Saturday night I was strolling by and heard Iron Maiden eminating from one of the bars so I popped in. Turns out it was a heavy metal bar so I spent the whole night rocking out to Pantera, Slayer, Metallica, etc. while kicking it with some awesome dudes (and one rocker chick who was hitting on me). Unfortunately that place was closed last night so I had to settle for the "Irish pub" which had a strange mix of blues and Buddhist paraphenalia. Since that sucked I headed home early, but not before standing and watching the street performers playing an accordian and a saw (yes, a saw) for about 20 minutes. It was truly one of those surreal movie-like atmospheres with the music playing, the water in the background, and all the people passing by.

[johnnya24]

Good choice I think. Afternoon closing pretty common in med countries ... but I was used to Greece, where the shops closed but the cafes, tavernas and museums would always stay open. You always had somewhere to go. In Turin it became a ghost town ... and the people were so fking rude. Apparently the Turinese are notorious, even within Italy (that bad!), for having huge chips on their shoulders. Hateful stuck up people.

Two incidents spring to mind about my time in Turin:

1. We went to a cafe near the hotel, and I ordered a cappuccino. It was the early evening. The stuck up waiter just looked at me ... bemused. He started a heated conversation with Ana about my ordering a cappuccino after lunch time. It wasn't the done thing apparently ... cappuccino's are a morning drink. When she told me what he was upset about, I waited until he came back, then told him we didn't want it and left. He was not a happy douchebag.

2. 8 Euro Cokes. We found a cafe open down near the river ... it was pouring with rain, and there weren't many options. We ordered 2 cokes ... the bill came to 16 euros without a tip. No fking way the locals are pay 16 euros for 2 cokes. Again douchebag waiters and staff ... I poured the rest of my coke over the seat, paid the 16 euros and left. Classy ... I know ...

God I hated Turin.

[overkill94]

Wow, even on the train over to Geneva a Coke was only 4 Euros (still ridiculous).

Made it to Geneva this afternoon and damn is this place expensive! Best deal on a hotel I could find was $250 a night. Very beautiful city though, I'm looking forward to doing some sightseeing tomorrow. Right now I'm chilling at an Irish pub with an American, and Aussie, and a Brit. It's so refreshing hearing people speak English again!

[Fresno Bob]

Wow, even on the train over to Geneva a Coke was only 4 Euros (still ridiculous).

Made it to Geneva this afternoon and damn is this place expensive! Best deal on a hotel I could find was $250 a night. Very beautiful city though, I'm looking forward to doing some sightseeing tomorrow. Right now I'm chilling at an Irish pub with an American, and Aussie, and a Brit. It's so refreshing hearing people speak English again!

I was going to post that all of Switzerland is superexpensive, we spent more in three days there than my buddy and I did in 2 weeks in the Greek Islands