Thursday, October 10, 2024

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Torino, Italia

Good morning. Busy day today. Today will be a little different. Damilia came by at 09:00! The three of us walked to Visionhair on Corso Cairoli near Luisa’s old house on Via della Rocca. Mary has a 09:30 appointment. In true Falk style we arrive just before 09:30. First you aren’t fifteen minutes early you’re a half hour late.

In equally true Italian style, the shop was supposed to open at 09:30. They did open at 9:45. Damilia went in and explained what Mary wanted to have done, then she and I walked down the street and turned on Via Massini and made our way to Torteria 40 for coffee & brioche. We talked with the people there and enjoyed our coffee. Damilia chose cookies over brioche.

It was interesting because it was a combination of Damilia’s good Italian, my bad Italian and there good Italian and bad English. But it was fun, and I am really starting to pick up more and more Italian. Understanding it fairly good, forming complex sentences bad. However people are generally willing to wait for me to try before they get frustrated. After coffee we headed to Panificio Ficini Valter. A Panificio is a bakery. Pasticceria is a pastry shop.

Before getting there we stopped in a small hardware store because we need a rubber mat for our shower. It is just too smooth without one, very concerned about slipping. Not that there is really anywhere to fall. They hardware store directed us to another store in Piazza Madama Cristina. That store was closed but there was an Acqua & Sapone next door.  We went in and there was a clerk restocking the shelves right near the entrance. Damilia asked him for a shower mat, and he led us to where the one they had was. It seems a bit large, but there is a pair of scissors in the drawer which can fix that. We got it and moved on.

Panificio Ficini Valter is the bread store Luisa’s family uses. It is just under 2 km from our apartment, and about half that from Luisa’s old house on Via della Rocca. That should give you an idea of how good the bread is. We picked up what I thought was a lot of bread. A couple different styles. Some white, some whole grain and some seeded. We will learn later that I could have bought twice as much and still probably not had enough.

Just around the corner from the panificio is the open-air vegetable market at Piazza Madama Cristina. This is a typical Italian open loggia. A loggia is open on four sides. Basically, a roof under which people set up shop. It several thousand-year-old tradition in Italy. Damilia and I filled up several shopping bags. Lettuce, two types, bell pepper, tomatoes, potatoes and Romano green beans. I took out at 50 euro note thinking it was going to cost off of that. It was less than 15 euros.

We then headed back to the hair salon where Mary was. Mary was going to be an hour and a three-quarters and only about an hour had passed. So, we decided to stop at the  macelleria and pick up the meat for the dinner. It is a small shop, but one where Luisa’s family has been shopping for quite awhile. There were a couple people ahead of us, so we waited. When it was our turn, Damilia told him she was Pietro’s mother. He could have cared less. Then she explained we were Luisa’s grandparents. This is understood. Simply called Pietro Luisa’s papa. He cut us some steaks, Italian style, which he said were Luisa’s father’s favorite cut.

In Italy it is normal of have steak cut think like you would fillet a chicken breast. Maybe a centimeter or two in thickness. The meat is very lean. He instructed up on how to cook Luisa’s father’s steak. Put it in flour then in a hot pan for 1 minute, turn it over until you see the juice. Then it is done. That is what I did for dinner, it was almost perfect.

After the macelleria we walked to meet Mary. Mary’s hair had lost its “sparkles”. She was very pleased. From here we walked back to Luisa’s house and dropped off the shopping. It was now lunch time so we walked over to Caffeteria Antonelli. After lunch we went back to the apartment. Mary went to Luisa’s to help take care of Amadea while I took a nap.

At 17:30 I met Damilia, and we went to Luisa’s. There we fixed dinner, all the things we had bought on our shopping trip. We ate dinner at 20:00. Afterwards we cleaned up and left for the night.

Buonanotte e Ciao, Enrico e Maria