Monday, 6 November (Day fifty)
Today I decided to try to go out. My bus pass will be working so I’m confident that I can abort the outing at any time.
The rain has been a bit annoying but there is a silver lining. The view from the window today was almost crystal clear. The hills and the Alps look fantastic.
We walk for quite a while in the end. Krish is looking for a hardware store that he saw on our last walk to the Pietro Micca museum area. First we go to the Bialetti store but, although we see some nice things, everything is made in China so that’s a no-go for Krish. Then we don’t find the other hardware store, but it’s good to be out.
There are some interesting things along the way as we explore.
As we walk along on the way home we think about getting some pasta somewhere. And then we saw a restaurant with a queue outside. People are waiting to get into a restaurant space. We can see inside that every table has an interesting basket of bread, ready to go. We bounce it back and forth and then decide that if the locals are so keen to go in, we will too!
Yes, another disappointment. The bread is OK. A server comes to explain the menu but it’s very difficult to understand so she sends over another server to talk to us in English. He’s not a lot easier to understand but we sort of do know what to get and what to do. We each order a pasta and we get one fish main. We get some sparkling water and refuse any wine.
First they bring a little starter. It’s a very small bowl of polenta with one sprig of broccoli, soft enough to cut with a fork. Not bad. The pasta, though, is very al dente. It has a creamy tomato sauce with a few pieces of eggplant and fish. It’s chewy and there’s far too much of it. Neither of us eat more than a half. The fish comes with some sweet potato, more eggplant, and a few pieces of pineapple. It’s not bad. We decide to leave without eating the dessert and Krish goes to pay the bill. I go to the bathroom and meet Krish outside.
He’s flustered. The bill was thirty euros and he hovers between laughter and dismay. Although we haven’t eaten everything on the fixed menus, we’ve been charged full price for this. Oh no! The only thing to do is carry on and try to let it go.
But there is a nice touch to the day. The Alps are now even clearer and the view is stunning even from the centre of town.
We have a quiet evening!