Enrico Maso, translated into English by Ruth Stephens
Chapter 6 – Too Perfect A Plan
The idea to go to the Zattere stop proves to be a very good one. Perhaps too good, thinks Alberto when he sees that the queue there is even longer.
A lot of other people have had the same idea and the pier is completely packed..
“Get yourselves into the queue – I’ll be back in a minute,” one of the girls says and disappears.
“With so many here, it’s going to be a long wait,” observes Alberto, who is beginning to get worried. First the plane, then the train, then oversleeping and now this! There seems to be a jinx!
The girl comes back with some sort of ice cream which she gives to everyone, including Alberto.
“Don’t say you’ve never even heard of ‘il gianduiotto’!”
“But isn’t it a speciality of Torino?”
“Alberto, you haven’t lived! This is the Venetian gianduiotto – a block of chocolate with gianduia, smothered in whipped cream. Try it!”
She’s right. The gianduiotto is so good that Alberto forgets his misfortunes for a while and the wait doesn’t seem so long. When the vaporetto arrives people surge into the entrance. Some push, others protest, but in the end they all manage to get on, even if they are all packed together like sardines.
Fortunately, the journey to the Lido is a short one. When the vaporetto docks, all the passengers alight at once and for a few minutes total confusion reigns on the quayside.
There are tourists, photographers, journalists, and all seem to be heading in the same direction. But Alberto, one of the last to emerge, is hesitant. Looking around him on the quay he realises he is on his own. There’s no sign of any of the DAMS students. So what is he going to do now?