Torino, Italia
It was off to Vision Hair this morning. It was time to get Mary’s hair conditioned. I had looked at the map before heading out but got one turn wrong. We added an extra mile to the trip, and she got to the appointment 30 minutes late. Good thing Italians aren’t known for being on time anyway.
After dropping off Mary, I walk back to the Macelleria Pavese Enrico on Via della Rocca; Serra’s butcher. I met Serra and Amadea there and we picked up the turkey for Thanksgiving. Then we walked to Piazza Madama Cristina, where the vegetable market is, to get all the vegetables for Thanksgiving. Although there are no cranberries (called mirtilli rosso in Italian). That’s ok because George brought some canned cranberry sauce from Kansas City. Well, living in Italy you can’t have everything.
We then walked past Panificio Ficini Valter, the really nice bakery, and stopped at Orso-Laboratorio Caffè for a cappuccino and brioche. The brioche with marmellata di albicocche was very good. We had just finished up when Mary texted Serra that she was done and heading back to the apartment.
Apparently she had texted me, but I was ignoring the texts because she wasn’t supposed to be done until 12:30 and it was barely 11:30. Anyway we met up in front of Macelleria Pavese Enrico and headed back to Serra’s. We got to Piazza Vittorio Veneto just before 12:30. Serra went on her way home and we decided to have lunch.
We decided to have lunch at Trattoria Toscana on Via Vanchiglia just down from our apartment. It wasn’t quite 12:30, when they open for lunch so we walked back to Piazza Vittorio Veneto and walked down Via Po to Boutique Cristianini Cappelli.
Cristianini Cappelli is a famous artisanal hat maker in Torino. The shop was founded in 1919 and is still in the hands of the Cristianini family. The make men’s and women’s hat in various materials. It is a small but very interesting shop. They take great pride in the design and manufacturing.
Today I was looking to replace the red hat I wear so Mary can find me when we are out and about. Not looking for a red one, necessarily, but something distinctive, so she can easily find me. We probably tried on a dozen or more, but I finally found a green cap made of leather, and lined, which I liked. We bought it!
After that we went to lunch at Trattoria Toscana as planned. We got there just before 1 and there was barely a table available. We got one however. We got a bottle of Cedro Chianti Rufina and some bruschetta. This was followed by spalla di maiale arrosto e patate al forno for me (roast pork shoulder and leg roasted potatoes), and Mary has the spaghetti with ragù. Both were very good. For desserts we got a crème caramel and profiteroles. The crème caramel was just the standard thing. The chocolate profiteroles were served in a drinking glass. An interesting presentation but apparently very good.
After lunch we walked the mile back to Piazza Madama Cristina looking or hoping to get some grapes for the appetizer for tomorrow. Unfortunately it was too late and the stalls had all closed. So, we walked up to Latteria Bera, it was a mile in the other direction.
Along the way we stopped by Rao Abbigliamento, a men’s clothing store, to look for a suit for Harry V, who will be working in New York this summer, but they were closed for lunch. We walked up Via Roma to Rinascente so Mary could look for Ugs. Her feet are getting cold. She got a pair. We continued walking up Via Roma, through Piazza San Carlo and ended up neat Piazza Castello.
Latteria Bera is on a small side street (Via S. Tommaso, 13) a block or so off of Piazza Castello. The sign in the window says they open at 16:00 (4 PM). The shop is a small little place with lots of goodies. They are a latteria in the best sense of the word, selling latte, burro, formaggi, uova and the like.
Serra wanted some very specific things. Rarmigiano vacca rossa (3 etti) and panna for six people. The last one confused me. Panna is cream. She insisted this was the best anywhere. Confused. So, there is panna da montare, aka whipping cream, panna fresca, aka fresh cream and panna montata, aka whipped cream. Serra told me to ask for enough for six people.
Well, it turns out that they sell all of these, and some other versions, but what Serra wanted was panna montata – already whipped cream. I explained to the lady behind the counter that it was for eating with pie (torta). She seemed to understand. We ended up with 6 etti (600 grams). Interesting to buy already whipped cream, but who am I to argue.
From here we headed back to Serra’s. Mary was going to watch Lulu while Serra & Pietro took Amadea to get her passport photo. I opted out and headed back to our apartment. We both ended up the day with over 21,000 steps, nearly 15 km (just less than 9 miles).
You can probably guess that bed came early.
Buonanotte e Ciao, Enrico e Maria
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