Pope Francis, a great lover of classical music, was surprised leaving a record store in the center of Rome, a special gesture of affection for the owners, long-time friends.
It was a new escape for the Argentine pontiff, made without notice, as he has done on other rare occasions, to visit the Stereosound store on Tuesday, around 7:00 p.m., a few steps from the famous Pantheon.
"It was a quick, immense, great, human, wonderful visit. I have no other words, I really can’t find them"Tiziana Esposito, daughter of the owner, confessed excitedly to AFP.
"It was his wish to come visit us. It was a privilege that you chose us. Something wonderful, that does not usually happen"he added.
The Spanish journalist Javier Martínez-Brocal, a reporter for the Rome Reports news agency, who was near the scene, captured the images of the pope as he was leaving, causing the news to go viral.
The unexpected departures of the Latin American pope, who has confessed that he suffers from not being able to walk down the street like anyone else, are almost always for very personal reasons.
In 2015 he went to an optician on the Via del Babuino, in the heart of Rome, to change the frame of his glasses and in 2016 he went to the Fisioitop orthopedic, not far from the Vatican, to buy new shoes.
– The love for vinyls-
On this occasion he wanted to fulfill a promise made after his election and indirectly pay tribute to a store and an emblematic sector, which suffers from piracy, the internet and massive downloads and which nevertheless still stands, with many second-hand vinyls, almost hidden among restaurants and tourist souvenirs.
"The album is a sector for passionate people, it always has been"says Esposito, who works with her husband, Danilo Genio, and her mother, Letizia Giostra, who opened the record store in 1971.
"The pope is also a great lover of tango, a tanguero. It is that he is a simple person and at the same time special"says Tiziana.
The friendship with the owners of the store was born before being elected pontiff in 2013, because the pope stayed in a residence for religious near the Pantheon and used to buy classical music records.
The pontiff, who spent about twenty minutes in the store, took some classical music records as a gift.
"He came as bishop, as archbishop and as cardinal to buy classical music, for himself or as a gift. He is a lover of music, of opera, of voices. Loves Wagner in particular, that is known"Esposito explained.
"We give you a case of records", he assured without specifying the content.
The small store, which has been attacked this Wednesday by the press, was renovated by the same owners who changed the floor and painted it white since it is located in a very touristy area.
The pope blessed the place, which exhibits vinyl records by Maria Callas, a collection of concerts by the Deutshe Grammophon and even the legendary Beatles record. "Don’t let me down" at the price of almost 70 euros (almost 80 dollars).
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