If you're in need of a bit of wholesome news this Tuesday, then allow me to tell you the story of a tourist who forked out £172 for a lobster in a restaurant before promptly setting it free.
To be clear, the lobster was still alive. She didn't just chuck a fully prepared meal into the sea:
The kind gesture took place in Sardinia, where a tourist was visiting the posh restaurant of Gente di Mare on the coast of the island.
The restaurant serves lobsters selected from its water-filled tank on the site, which are then served either alongside spaghetti or 'alla Catalana', which involves boiling and garnishing the lobsters with a sauce made up of tomatoes, onions, lemon juice, black pepper and salt.
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It might sound like quite a nice dish to any seafood fans, but this particular Swiss tourist wasn't interested in eating a lobster after she spotted them in the tank at the restaurant's entrance.
Antonio Fasolino, who owns the restaurant with his brother, Gianluca, told The Telegraph: “The lady came into our restaurant and was straightaway struck by the aquarium that we have at the entrance.
“She asked me if she could free the lobster and release it into the sea. At first I thought she was joking, but then I saw she was serious. I said, ‘for me that’s no problem!’”
Fasolini plucked the lobster from the tank and put it on some scales to weigh it. It was the largest lobster in the tank, and would set the tourist back €200 (£172).
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It's enough to feed a family for a week, but it was obviously a price the customer was willing to pay for the lobster's freedom.
She agreed to hand over the money in return for the lobster to be delivered to her table in a bucket, uncooked and unharmed.
After it arrived at her table, the customer insisted that she be the one to liberate the lobster.
“She wanted to do it as a sort of good deed," Fasolino said. “We placed it in a bucket and the lady released it into the sea while her husband took a video to record the moment.”
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The restaurant owner said the customer seemed 'very touched' after pulling the lobster from the container, at which point she appeared to stroke it and say a few words.
The tourist then placed the lobster into the waters of Golfo Aranci, a bay in the north of Sardinia located near to the island’s exclusive Costa Smeralda coast.
As soon as the creature hit the water, it swam away.
Afterwards, Fasolino said the tourist gave him a hug to celebrate the moment.
Topics: Travel, Animals, Food And Drink, Money
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Emily Brown