Friday 10 November (Day Fifty-four)
Today Krish was going on a tour to Thales Aerospace and I stayed behind. It was a lovely clear morning.
I stopped by the pasta shop to buy some ravioli. I feel like my Italian has halted and I need more practice! However, at least I can buy what I want and make myself understood. It’s vocabulary and fluency that I need to build.
I’ve decided to stop by the lovely little toy shop in the Quadrilatero and also visit the Santuaria della Consalata, since I had loved it on my very brief visit earlier.
The toy shop was chaotic as expected from the window and I had a lovely (English) chat with the owner about ‘Made in China.’ Bottom line, the items made in China are about a quarter of the price of those made in Italy, Germany or Czech. That’s a huge difference.
I went in to the Consolata and again was struck by how beautiful it was. There are several domed areas and each is different. Little chapels, a prayer area with confessionals, altars, an organ, balconies… This is a real treasure and, although I prefer plain, humble churches, this one has really caught my imagination. I wander around as quietly as I can among the people praying, and I light a candle to my mum and dad and whisper a silent thank you to them.
I head over to the little square at IV Marzo and treat myself to an ice cream. I choose lemon and sage (can’t taste the sage), and Crema d’uova. It’s delicious. I took a photo to show how very small the cups of gelato are. I haven’t ever wished they were bigger. It’s just enough for me.
Up on the large dome at the Duomo that houses the shroud, I see they are hard at work, the orange construction vests contrasting with the grey of the dome and the scaffolding.
And then through the Porta Palatina, noticing the building near to the entrance. I’ve not looked at it as closely before and it’s apparently one of the oldest in the city.
Krish gets home and we have some ravioli and relax.
We’re both tired but later I say I’d like to see the Consolata at night. I remember how pretty it was from our previous visits. And while we’re over that way why not try the burger chain that we discovered at Dora Docks to see if it lives up to its description of ‘really American.’ So off we go through the narrow streets of the Quadrilatero to find the little burger place, Burgheria.
So is it ‘really American’? No, not really.
It’s got all the right things on it – that’s rare in Europe. But it’s still far too lean to make a juicy, American style burger. They’re handled it too much so it’s a bit dense and it’s rare to preserve any flavour it may have. This sort of rare burger would be frowned upon in North America and some restaurants may even refuse to cook it that way or have a disclaimer! The chips are nice, if salty. We’re not really impressed but it’s been a nice change from Italian.
We walk through the area and find some graffiti – other than tagging we haven’t seen much here at all. Then a hotel that boasts it’s the oldest in town and that Mozart stayed here with his father for two weeks once.
Through the Galleria Umberto, which finally has its lights on. And home!
