Released on = December 16, 2005, 4:31 pm

Press Release Author = John Riggin

Industry = Entertainment

Press Release Summary = With more than 900 hours of Winter Olympics coverage
reaching the world in two months, the very best of the Piemonte region and the city
of Torino will be showcased before millions. From the Italian Alps to the quaint
baroque streets and unique culture of Torino to the unforgettable wine country and
world-famous Slow Food of the Langhe region - Piemonte is poised to shine on the
world\'s biggest stage. Here\'s why


Press Release Body = Turin, Region of Piedmont, ITALY (December 16, 2005) - With
just two months until the 20th Winter Olympics Games begin in Torino, the world's
attention soon will be on Italy's Piedmont Region, where skiers, skaters,
snowboarders and more than one million spectators from around the globe will gather
for the quadrennial celebration of winter sport.
American travelers - for whom Torino and northwestern Italy is an unknown corner of
Europe, often overlooked in favor of Paris, London and Rome - are in for a pleasant
surprise. The Piedmont Region offers several world-class attractions: from
outstanding ski slopes to the first-rate cuisine to the many opulent castles and
mansions of the Savoy royal family. Following is a brief introduction to the region.


Winter Sports
With magnificent ski resorts mixed in with traditional mountain villages, all
surrounded by unspoiled woods and forests, the Piedmont Alps is set to captivate the
world as the setting for the 2006 Olympic Games. The region offers winter sports
enthusiasts more than 1,200 miles of ski runs, spanning from the Maritime Alps to
the Monviso and the Susa Valley to Monte Rosa. The Olympic Mountain's renowned ski
resorts all are located within 60 miles of Torino, including Sestriere, Sauze
d'Oulx, Claviere, Cesana Sansicario, Bardonecchia, Prali and Pragelato. Nestled in
the snow-drenched area nicknamed "the Milky Way," these resorts offer varied options
including dynamic downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, heli-skiing,
nighttime skiing, ice-skating, ice climbing and dog sledding with Siberian Huskies.

Culinary Delights
To experience the Piedmont Region is to experience culinary delights that can be
found nowhere else in the world. With meals made of impeccably fresh ingredients,
dug from just over the next hill, or picked from the field just outside the kitchen
window, it's no exaggeration to say the people of the Piedmont region live to eat
and drink: as the saying goes, in Piedmont baby\'s comforters are dipped in wine!

Piedmont is home to the Slow Food Movement, a global organization founded in the
small town of Bra. Heralded as the "cure" for a distressingly fast-food world, slow
food promotes the sanctity of taste, taste education and food preservation with
fairs, events and educational programs and also produces food and wine guides.

Piedmont also is home to tuber magnatum pico, commonly known as the white truffle, a
fungus coveted by gourmands around the world. Piedmont now is in the height of white
truffle season (late October through early December), and a pound of the tubers can
go for more than $2,000.
The region boasts cheeses subtle and sharp, creamy and dense, crafted in equal parts
by favorable natural conditions and human ingenuity. Stars include the Toma of
Piedmont, among eight Castelmagno regional DOP cheeses whose quality is recognized
and protected by the government.

Piedmont's divine Tonda Gentile, hazelnut, a uniquely sweet variety so special that
it has been award European Union Protected Geographic Indication status - a sort of
food patent that separates it from inferior imposters. It is the centerpiece of
Nutella, the hazelnut and chocolate spread that has become a worldwide favorite, as
well as the central ingredient in the regional hazelnut torte - not to mention ice
creams and other confections.

Piedmont also nurtures the grapes that make the region one of the world's best wine
producers. Of Italy's 20 regions, Piedmont leads the pack in number of wines that
meet the exacting standards to be awarded DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata
e Garantita) status, including bold red Barolos and Barbarescos and complex, dry,
Gattinaras and Ghemmes and sweet, lighthearted white Astis.

Year-Round Beauty
Piedmont's Lake District provides breathtaking vistas and rejuvenating waters. The
great Lake Maggiore, the smaller Lake Orta, both just 90 minutes from Torino,
shimmer like the most exquisite precious stones. The lush loveliness of gardens,
trees and scenery are fitting backdrops to the splendor of the lakes, while
perfectly preserved villas, luxurious modern resorts and charming fishing villages
that have changed little over the centuries.
Piedmont's stunning parks and mountains, and the region's wide, untouched valleys,
lakes and rivers, offer world-class hiking, mountain climbing, kayaking, rowing,
cycling, paragliding, horseback riding and five of the top ten golf resorts in
Italy. The Alpine valleys close to Torino - Lanzo, Susa, Chisone, Germanasca and
Pellice - are ideal for both day hikes and lengthy treks, taking visitors as far as
the Gran Paradiso, Italy's oldest national park
(http://www.parks.it/regione.piemonte/Eindex.html#Torino).

The Olympic Mountain Range is a lush paradise for sports enthusiasts and amblers,
with tough rock faces for climbers. Other outdoor activities include canoeing,
rafting, hiking scenic wooded trails, lush valleys and pristine lakes. Piedmont's
dramatic wilderness also stretches far beyond the greater Torino area, with parks
such as Alpe Devero (http://www.parks.it/parco.alpe.veglia.devero/Eindex.html)
inviting visitors to hike through pastures and grasslands to the Devero Lake,
nestled in a mountain basin shaped by glaciers in the northern part of Piedmont,
near Switzerland.

Culture and History
The Piedmont Region is the intersection of many critical moments in Western
civilization and offers several museums and attractions that serve as windows to the
past. Following are just a few of the cultural landmarks in the region, with their
web site addresses. For a complete listing of cultural and historic landmarks in the
Piedmont Region, visit www.SeeYouInPiemonte.com

Egyptian Museum in Turin - http://www.museoegizio.org/

Chapel of the Holy Shroud in Torino -
http://sindone.torino.chiesacattolica.it/en/welcome.htm

The Royal Palace of Venaria - http://www.reggiavenariareale.it/index_eng.htm

Museum of Contemporary Art in the Castle of Rivoli, Torino -
http://www.castellodirivoli.it/

National Cinema Museum in Turin - http://www.museonazionaledelcinema.it/

Getting To the Piedmont Region
The Piedmont Region is served by two airports: Torino International Airport (TIA,
http://www.aeroportoditorino.it/EN/voli/default.php) in Caselle and Malpensa 2000
Airport in Milan (http://www.sea-aeroportimilano.it/). TIA is one of the most modern
and functional airports in Europe located 16 miles from downtown Torino. Easily
accessible and congestion free, it can handle over 3 million passengers annually.
Seventeen airlines operate over 450 weekly scheduled departures linking Torino to 25
destinations, 15 of which are international. Intercontinental links are provided
through Malpensa 2000, one of Europe\'s largest hubs with easy connections from
Paris, London and the United States. Malpensa is a popular arrival point for U.S.
passengers, with direct service from most major airlines.

All of the major car rental firms have counters at both airports. If you plan to
travel outside the downtown area, a rental car is highly recommended. Six different
motorways connect Torino to major European cities: Milan in 60 minutes, Genoa in 90,
Nice and Geneva in two and a half hours, Lyon in three hours and Zurich in four.

Five railway stations, two of them international, make access easy from all of Italy
and bordering countries: four pairs of high-speed trains travel between Torino and
Paris in little more than five hours. http://www.trenitalia.com/home/en/index.html

Region Piedmont Web Site
The Region Piedmont in northwest Italy has launched a comprehensive new web site
http://www.SeeYouInPiemonte.com which provides a wealth of timely information
tailored for the American travel consumer, on what to see, what to do and where to
go in the Piedmont Region.
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The Region of Piedmont is located in northwest Italy, sharing alpine peaks with
neighboring France and Switzerland. The Po River, Italy's largest, crosses through
the region, with capital city, Torino (Turin) in the valley. Piedmont is a region
rich in cuisine, culture and beautiful natural landscapes, from snow-capped peaks to
vineyard-covered hills to clear mountain lakes. History is well preserved in the
region: Turin, after being the capital of the Savoy reign for 300 years became in
1861 the first Italian capital, It hosts the second most important Egyptian Museum
in the world, after Cairo, the Holy Shroud, the famous self-portrait of Leonardo da
Vinci, the opulent palaces of the Savoy royal family and the National Museum of
Cinema. Torino (Turin), the region's capital, is host to the 2006 Olympic Winter
Games; visit www.torino2006.org for more information.
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