Torino is more than just the Olympics ...

I know everyone out there knows Torino and Italy as a whole is much, much more than just a place hosting the Olympics.

There are so many places on my city map that I will never get to, even if I were to stay here a full year. So many shops, so many places to have great food, a great birra and wonderful gelato.

Today -- and again on Thursday -- I am giving myself a chance to see more than just the world's best hockey players compete, speedskaters, lugers and curlers who get this Olympic spotlight once every four years. I am seeing history at every turn.

While I still get mixed up on which street is which to lead me back to my destinations at times, mainly because I continue to purposely take a different turn on a street to see something new, I spent some time today checking out the Natural History Museum -- it is close to the Media Center -- which currently has a very interesting exhibit on the Inuit people and their culture.

In addition to many soap stone figures, various objects and art from the Inuit culture, I also learned a lot about those who are from the most remote parts of the northern hemisphere, from the Scandinavian Peninsula to Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland.

I learned about their language, called Inuktitut (language of men), their alphabet has 44 phonetic symbols, it has provided the basis for 40 languages and dialects in the last 1,400 years. And, get this AP Stylebook fans, they have 40 words to describe the word ''snow.''
Aput -- means snow on the ground
Aputiit -- means snowflakes
Their language was invented by Rev. James Evans in the first half of the 1800s.

I was also intrigued by their abilities to not only survive the harshest winters you and I would NEVER survive but also their care for everything in their world. Listen to this item I read at the exhibit:
After they kill and clean the animals they've hunted, they gather the bones of the animal's legs and feet so the spirit of the animals can walk toward a new life.

Following this exhibit, I had lunch, another fine meal at the Il Saraceno restaurant (Giusi and her friend Paolo had taken me there on one of my first visits to Torino) and then I visited the Duomo, the church which has a small exhibit for the Holy Shroud of Turin (Dave from Colorado -- they do not have the actual Shroud open to visitors right now, this was the next best thing).

It might not have been the original thing -- there was a small replica -- but the exhibit was very interesting and moving, even for someone who grew up Catholic but has not gone to church nearly enough since completing CCD classes.
The church itself was pretty impressive, especially the outside. Inside, the church are several different shrines to different figures, including one called Madonna Grande. I left 2 Euro behind for the collection and lit candles for my two late grandmothers and as a token of appreciation for my mother and all mothers around the world.
Cameras are not allowed in the church so I have no pictures of the inside, but I did take away a brochure and took a photo of the outside of the church.

OK, that's what I gained in knowledge today. I am off to go to the apartment and then head over to the Medals Plaza to meet Giusi for dinner nearby.

Of the places I still want to see include a trip to a modern art museum, the Royal Palace and even the National Automobile Museum. I will attempt to get to all on Thursday.

And I will end this post with a shout out to a few new blog readers, Ecco who lives in Ohio and Kevin who I worked with in Long Beach and Los Angeles but is now working for the Miami Herald. Hey Kev, the Flyers SUCK!

Ciao!