Monday Mysteries: Mysteries from Turin

Today we take a virtual trip to Turin to consider a few small mysteries from some sites that Chris and I saw there a couple of weeks ago. First, following up on the Monday Mystery from a couple of weeks ago, this statue in downtown Turin was a bit of a mystery:

Egyptian statue (copy), Turin, Italy

Egyptian statue (copy), Turin, Italy

Yes, that’s an Egyptian statue on the right-hand side of this street.  Why? Well, you might think that it’s outside the Egyptian museum — but it’s not. It’s several blocks away from the museum, and there’s no sign on the statue to tell you that or to even indicate that there is a big Egyptian museum in town. Odd.

There’s also little bit of a mystery to share about the following photo from Turin as well:

Mole Antonelliana Tower with "UFO", Turin

Mole Antonelliana Tower with “UFO”, Turin

I say it’s a UFO, Chris claims it was just an unusual lens flare. You can decide. Here’s another photo, without the “UFO”:

Mole Antonelliana Tower, Turin

Mole Antonelliana Tower, Turin

There’s nothing mysterious about that building, though. Built in the 1800s, that building was originally intended to be a synagogue. However, the architect/developer kept running up the costs, and after the estimate had more than doubled, the Jewish congregation said enough. They built a different synagogue in a different part of town instead:

Synagogue, Turin, Italy

Synagogue, Turin, Italy

The city of Turin took over the construction of the Mole, and today it houses a film museum, as well as an elevator to the top. The elevator has windows on all sides, so you can see that you’re approaching the dome as you go up in the elevator, which is a little bit odd, even though you know that there is an opening that the elevator can go through.  It’s kind of like the scene at the end of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory where the elevator goes up and out through the roof of the factory. At least that’s what I thought of as our elevator approached the inside of the Mole’s dome; I’m happy to report that although we didn’t fly over the town, we also didn’t actually crash through the glass like in the movie.

But I digress.  When you get to the top on a sunny day like last Monday, you are afforded with a view of the surrounding mountains:

Mountains near Turin Italy

Mountains near Turin Italy

No mystery, just truly spectacular. ;-)

—-

P.S. Also not really a mystery, but the scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where the kids step into the chocolate garden — where everything is edible! — is magical. Here’ s the clip, with the wonderful Gene Wilder singing Pure Imagination.

Trivia point: I have tagged this post as one containing a Broadway song. However, technically, the clip is from the version of the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory made in the 1970s which was not on Broadway prior to the movie being made.  However, it is coming to Broadway in 2017. So, technically, this is now about to be a Broadway song).

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