travelswithalice
September 15, 2013
Still Birthday Week
I had my birthday candle blowing moment in London, four days late. Daniel at the Dorchester's Promenade Bar insisted it wasn't too late for a birthday cake.
And two more days later, back home in Manila, birthday flowers!
Still another birthday moment the week after- at a joint celebration at home for five September-born family members!
Turns out that wasn't the last. Another joint celebration, this one with Teena, at a party with high school classmates!
This birthday girl is one very happy old girl!
Labels: Birthday. Dorchester, Manila
September 14, 2013
Turandot at Covent Garden
After our beautiful late summer in Milan, London seemed particularly dreary. It was rainy and chilly when we arrived and our hotel room wasn't ready.
It was cold and damp when we got out, and there were precious few taxis to be had, so we checked out the nearby pubs, settling on PJ's, a cheerful bar full of convivial late nighters.
We were given a temporary room- it smelled and had a light bulb missing- just so we could change for the evening to go to the opera.
As it was our first time in London's Royal Opera House, we hammed it up at intermission, at the bar.
Things got a lot better later. The room we got back to that night was a beautiful one overlooking Hyde Park.
The opera was brilliant. We had seen Lise Lindstrom as Turandot once before at La Scala where she was very cooly received by the famously unappreciative Milan audience. But here, at this performance, she was enthusiastically applauded by a full house.
She sang with brassy authority, owning the role without hesitation. It was easy to believe she was that shrill-voiced, cold-hearted bitch, later turning into the petulant, uncertain spoiled brat, still stubbornly unwilling to concede defeat.
I fear that any Calaf's Nessun Dorma will be compared, for a very long time, to that of the late Pavarotti. I'm sure this one was excellent but I barely noticed it.
The slave girl Liu was sung beautifully and to much applause.
The staging, obsessed with images of death and blood and decapitation, was to me most memorable when dark and moodily lit by lanterns or by shafts of smoky light. This threw into focus the starkly simple costumes for the prickly princess, consisting mainly of red or white flowing silk kimonos, accessorized by a cold, white face mask and a fall of long, straight, black hair that whipped behind her like a fierce tail.
As it was our first time in London's Royal Opera House, we hammed it up at intermission, at the bar.
It was cold and damp when we got out, and there were precious few taxis to be had, so we checked out the nearby pubs, settling on PJ's, a cheerful bar full of convivial late nighters.
Labels: Covent Garden, London, opera, PJ's, The Dorchester, Turandot
September 10, 2013
Birthday week
My birthday feast:
Breakfast in Venice
Takeout lunch on the train
Prosecco at 4pm, then tapas & wine at Dehors in Milan
Ice cream on the street- crema di Grom
And that was the day that was. Beautiful!
The next day we went briefly to my fun shop of the year, Desigual. Late lunch at Il Cantinone, then a much needed lie in until newly launched Champagne Moment at La Cupola, then front row, compliments of Concierge Mario, at Woolmark fashion show (with patron HRH Prince Charles greeting all on video- goodness, doesn't he look old?) next door at Vittorio Emanuele.
Labels: Birthday, fashion, Grom, milan, Park Hyatt, Venice
September 08, 2013
The food & restaurant report
In Venice, we stuck to the out of the way restaurants in Sestiere Cannaregio, close to our hotel.
40 LADRONI
First night out was a disappointment. Although not exactly as badass as its name suggests, 40 Thieves, the food was nothing special. The garden setting was nice though.
OSTERIA L'ORTO DEI MORI
Rolled sardines in saor, sea bass, and a wonderful rich cake with folds of chocolate and cherries. Read more in Venice, Day 2 post.
AL TIMON Steakhouse & Tapas Bar,
Practically jumping with a lively Saturday night crowd.
All meat. Emphatically no, they don't serve fish. I had grilled lamb chops with potato wedge chips.
But the highlight of the evening was the 2-person band. They were good. Some boomer songs- I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Norwegian Wood, Proud Mary, but also Amy Winehouse.
We sat by the canal, where a floating barge served as a bandstand as well as a lounging area where people lay on the floor, rolled joints, and looked up at the stars.
ANICE STELLATO
When my order finally came, it was fabulous. First was seared tuna cubes encased in a nutty crust, with a tart cabbage salad. Next, a bright green vegetable, I forgot what it's called but it looks very much like wilted kale, in creamy burrata cheese. Followed by veal liver cooked the Venetian way, sliced thinly, with onion compote.
But always, before and after all the other places to explore, we return to one of the nicest places on earth:
DEHORS AT THE PARK BAR
PARK HYATT
Via Silvio Pellico, Milan
Labels: milan, restaurants, Venice
September 07, 2013
Biennale Day 2, at the Giardini
Day 2 at the Biennale started out to be more to our taste. Lunch was In a carpeted outdoor area under the trees. The exhibits here are by country, each in its own separate building.
One exhibit made my day. Finland's brilliant installation was about trees in particular. And nature in general.
I so enjoyed talking to the trees. Actually I sang to one:
I talk to the trees but they don't listen to me ...
This tree listened though; it even talked back! (It made chirpy noises.)
It was the sort of thing I hoped to find at the Biennale. Something intelligently conceived, brilliantly executed. A unique concept, a relevant subject, a sci fi edge.
Labels: Biennale, Finland, Giardini
September 06, 2013
Venice Art Biennale
On our way to the Arsenale, we took refuge from the sun at Palazzo Mora. I wouldn't have chosen to view this particular exhibit myself but I'm glad I did.
The exhibit, entitled CULTURE. MIND. BECOMING, dedicated to a group of contemporary Chinese artists, occupies the entire palazzo. It highlights the globalization of Chinese culture.
We happened on another exhibit on the waterfront. EMERGENCY PAVILION: REBUILDING UTOPIA. The SOLIDARIDAD banner outside is brashly subversive. It's a protest against fascism- political, artistic, or any other form of repression in today's world. It's a multilingual multimedia installation. Dramatically staged, sparse, and to the point.
The exhibit I was eager to see was at the Arsenale. THE ENCYCLOPEDIC PALACE, the centerpiece project of this Biennale. As a viewer who expected to be awed, I was intrigued, entertained, at times repulsed, but never over-the-moon engaged. Nothing there really spoke to my soul or made my spirit soar.
At one point, Stuart said in exasperation, I don't get it, please explain.
To which I replied:
The mere fact that you know you haven't got it means you're well on your way to getting it. Got it?
We both laughed and hurried out, fearing for our sanity. I felt it failed in communicating what should've been an overload of information and experiences. As it was, it was merely a lot of not much.
Outside, on the concourse, a red carpet was being laid for the evening's Film Festival do.
Labels: Palazzo Enciclopedico, Venice Art Biennale
Venice, Day 2
Lunch today was at Osteria L'Orto Dei Mori, on Mori Square where Tintoretto reportedly had his home and workshop. We took a table inside, away from the intense noonday sun,
in a pretty room decorated with white wire mobiles of boats and fish and floaty jellyfish, fine and delicate, like jewelry.
Lunch was delicious and just as pretty. We'll be back for dinner tonight.
Now, if we can just spirit ourselves over to Peggy Guggenheim's without having to brave this heat like mad dogs and my Englishman ...
Labels: Orto Da Mori
Venice, Day 1
This being Film Festival Week of the Biennale, we had to scramble to book a hotel on the Internet. We lucked out. The Hotel Arcadia is lovely. Right on the busy Rio Tera San Leonardo, in Sestiere Cannaregio, it's a short 15 minute walk from the train station. You'd miss it if you're not carefully watching the tiny alleyways and entrances.
Prosecco tasted exceptionally good in this beautiful moody setting. And as Luigi kept pouring, the mood turned mellower still.
Dinner was good, the hotel's recommendation, Osteria I 40 Ladroni. Making sure to avoid shellfish to which I'm famously allergic, we chose a simple fish risotto to share. Of course it had everything in it but fish. Never mind, it was good, and I have a year's supply of Itrax.
Labels: 40 Ladroni, Hotel Arcadia, Venice
September 05, 2013
Bologna
In Bologna we headed straight for the Baglioni Hotel just to see if it's still as nice as we remember from when we stayed there seven years ago. It's now run by a hotel chain but still retains its quiet elegance.
We had a salad at the coffee bar. It was prepared at our table with utmost seriousness verging on reverence. "Salt," the waiter intoned. After which he announced each ingredient that went into the making of the simple vinaigrette.
Near the restrooms are original Roman stone foundations.
The city has the calm dignity of age as well as the vibrancy of its student population.
On the train to everywhere
We've now got the hang of getting around by train. It took us a while to
find the right machine that would accept cash though.
It's the one that has the cash icon on top and the extra receptacle on the bottom for cash payments.
I have always loved long train rides. It's the getting away. But it's also the arriving.
I like being introduced unhurriedly to my destination.
I love watching the landscape changing, the light shifting.
Brescia
Verona
Vicenza
Even at the rapidissimo's speed, there's still the luxury of time, the opportunity to be alone with one's thoughts... or newspaper... or phone! The train sounds serve to muffle the intrusion.
Labels: ticket vending machine, train stations, Trains
The train from Bologna.
On the train. Smartest looking train I've ever been on. It's even got a meeting room!
I've just taken a picture of the stewardess (as I had the steward before) but she asked me not to publish it on the net. I wonder who she's running away from.
I hope the sunset won't be as camera shy.
Reggio Emilia has a spanking new station. Fabulous!
What a difference in attitude and language from Milan's Central Station! Reggio Emilia's is light and airy, while Milan's is massive and monumental. Different times, different message.
Labels: Bologna, Executive, Frecciarossa, Reggio Emilia, Trenitalia
September 04, 2013
Day 4, on the train to Bologna
I had forgotten its name and location and I've since been looking for it every time I get back to Milan.
Happily, we finally found it yesterday!
Wait a minute, this is fantastic! They're serving champagne on the train! How wonderful!
What a wonderful surprise! Salute! 🍷
To go back to the long lost restaurant, it's called Al Cantinone, on Via Agnello. I don't know how we kept missing it; it's so close to the hotel.
Now they're serving lunch too! 😍😍😍
Amazing! I love this country! 😍😍😍
Labels: Al Cantinone, Bologna, Milan restaurant, Train
Como
Having a Magnum at a caffè that claims to have been here since 1887. Music provided by a busker. Waiting for George Clooney to turn up.
Labels: Como
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