A simple artichoke soup

It was 2012, and I had been living in Italy for five years when I decided to get an annual public transport ticket. At the time, this ticket was available only from a special office at Termini station in Rome — where, caught in the labyrinth of some construction work, I came out of the wrong exit, crossing the turnstile that led to the piazza outside. On the wrong side of the turnstile, I noticed a respectable-looking Italian man in his late forties, wearing a handsome navy suit similar to