With days to go before bidding the city addio (goodbye in Italian), consul general of Italy Damiano Francovigh paused to reflect on his years in Calcutta on the sidelines of a farewell party at the Taj Bengal poolside.

Thoughts on leaving Calcutta...

It is always difficult to leave a city you have made your home for four years and made friends in. But it is a part of our career. And parting with friends is less painful these days with technology and modern devices bridging the geographical gap.

The best thing about Calcutta...

Its people. Calcuttans are so simple and welcoming that it is easy to start friendships here. Though we always moved here and there, compared to my previous postings I made more friends here. One thing that makes the movement less sad is Calcuttans like to travel to Italy so I hope to see them soon in Rome.

Highlights of your stay...

We organised Italian food festival four times — twice at the consulate, once in a star hotel and another time in a showroom of high-end designer products to give people a feel of Italian food along with the ambience.

Your favourite haunts for Italian cuisine in Calcutta...

Of course, there’s Ottimo at ITC Royal Bengal started last year by chef Vittorio. La Cucina in Hyatt Regency is also good. Fire & Ice makes good pizza. So does La Fabbrica della Pizza. But for the real experience you should come to Italy (smiles).

On the local food...

I did not expect good culinary experience in India based on what we had as Indian food in Europe. But once I tasted Indian food in Taj (Bengal), where I was staying before I found a place to stay in, I realised the difference between Indian food abroad and Indian food in India. My favourite is Chingri Malai Curry.

One regret...

In my first year in Calcutta I had a friend whose company was a sponsor of Atletico de Kolkata. He used to invite me to accompany him but I never went. So I never got to see a football match here, though I know the real passion of India is cricket.

One abiding memory...

It was April 2016. I had just reached Calcutta and was sleeping in my room at the Taj when I was woken up by so much noise that it seemed there was a revolution! When I made my way down to the reception, I realised the West Indies cricket team was coming back to the hotel after winning the T20 World Cup and they were being welcomed by a screaming crowd. It immediately made me feel at home. It would have been the same after a big sporting event in Italy.

Kaushik Saha