Mole

Yesterday I spoke at a conference at the Univ. of Torino, on undocumented migrants in the US and Europe. I certainly learned a lot about the high immigration rates in southern Europe, the informal economy, and the many "regularization" drives that have legalized the undocumented here. Interestingly, there are many Romanian "illegal" immigrants here but when Romania joined the EU they magically became "welcome" and even have the right to vote!

This section of the university is in the neighborhood of the Mole Antonelliana, a 19th century synagogue with a 167-meter tower (PHOTO, view of the tower and the Via Po). At night an art-installation by the artist Mario Merz creeps up the spire, a series of illuminated-red numbers (very quickly understood as a mathematical progression, even by this math-dummy: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13...etc.) The building now houses the national museum of cinema.

Dinner after the conference at a restaurant, Sotto la Mole (under the Mole) with colleagues, learned about Italian academic politics, especially clientism, though that is beginning to change. A flan made of goat cheese with a piquant marmalade-like sauce; followed by risotto with asparagus and cheese. Risotto is *the* Piedmont dish, creamy and less dry than what you get in the U.S. For dessert, a pistachio gelato, specialty from Sicily (where the pistachio comes from)--stunning flavor, including a slight saltiness, just like eating the nut. Amazing! And little chocolates by the famed choco-maker Guido Gobino, a creamy chocolate-hazelnut concoction. I'm off to buy a case of it today to bring back.

PS. I figured out how to post larger photos so corrected the postings from the Cinque Terre. See earlier postings for full appreciation.