Saturday, 21 October (Day Thirty-four)
This morning we’re up and ready to go when Esmeralda has a nasty surprise. Her wallet is missing. We keep faith and look and look but no, it’s gone. Possibly left on the train, the last place she saw it.
It’s unbelievably hard to figure out what to do next. The sites don’t have much in the way of information. We aren’t sure what to do first but logic tells me you go first to the train company. That would work well if there was a contact point. There just isn’t. And after some phone calls that end in no information, and a vain attempt at an online chat, it’s pretty clear the only option is to go back to the station.
Once there, the queue doesn’t seem long but it takes a while to get to the front. The customer service rep isn’t there at first. Once he is, each customer takes a long time – we can only hope he’s as patient with us. Our turn next but first the rep takes five minutes or so to tidy his desk. The day is marching on.
Our turn consists of Esmeralda explaining that she’s lost her wallet on the train, the rep asking if it contains her ID card, her answering yes, and the rep telling her curtly to go the police office on platform One.
She fills in an elaborate form. The police are polite and friendly and tell us it’s 50/50 if the wallet will be found and returned. No idea, then? We think we’ve done all we can and head off to the market
First we stop at Al Bicerin. It’s in the Quadilatero and it’s the place the drink, bicerin, was invented somewhere in the 1700s.
We order a bicerin (not as thick and sweet as I remember, surely) and a zabaione and share them both. Delicious!
Esmeralda and I wander through the market but first we share some fritto misto while sitting on a stone step beside the market square. It’s a cloudy day and we’re both feeling tired with worrying about the wallet.
We find a great farmers market stall that sells Chinese vegetables, including ginseng, a real find.
Next we wander over to The Balon before that market closes. It’s still going fairly strong and this time I think carefully about whether I’ll succumb and buy a Barbie one of these Saturdays.
After a quick break, we’re off again – back to L’Acino. It’s the usual well cooked dinner. We have another soufflé, a bowl of local mushrooms with garlic, some tortelloni filled with meat – these were definitely homemade, they were so tender – and some bonet and some poached pears. Those pears were amazing!
Krish meets us for a walkabout and tonight we find some lovely porticoes and indoor shopping arcades.
Torino is beautiful by night and I’m glad we made the time to come out to see it. We walk through the Quadrilatero and back to through the market. I’ve never seen it so full of rubbish!
It’s an extremely foggy night and Esmeralda has yet to see the hills or the Superga.
