Psychophant's Rants
5.4.10
Food (and drink) in Venice
This time, besides the obvious requirements of sustenance, I decide to experiment a bit, as I do not need to agree on food with anybody else. So I decide to look for local food, or unusual one. Breakfast was included at the hotel, Italian style (Cappuccino, red orange juice, and croissants and local muffins).
Lunch the first day is a bit anticlimatic, as there is too much people around (a Sunday), so I just get a sandwich (panino, bresaola e rucola) and a double ice cream at Majer, away from the crowds, enjoying the nice weather in Campo San Giacomo. Good bread, good place, excellent ice cream (white chocolate and banana). Something like 7 €. My usual drink, espresso macchiatto, was between 0.9 and 1.5 euros, and I had many of them spread during my stay.
The evening it was difficult to find some place not full, specially as the hour change had pushed many people to dine late, getting into my usual Spanish hours. And I do not feel confident enough to dine in an empty place when others around are totally full. You cannot help but wonder why it is empty, or if it is just the luck of the first customers and then the herd attitude. I note the Malibran restaurant, close to the theatre of the same name, but I am not willing to wait an hour, so I end up in Taverna San Lio, a nicely modern, tastefully decorated restaurant, and that thanks to being alone, so requiring only a small table. The prices are a bit steeper than what I planned, so I exchange wine for beer and enjoy excellent house-made ravioli (ricotta) with menestra (fresh vegetables) and a typically Venetian Sepia al nero con polenta, cuttlefish on its ink with polenta. The polenta does not really have a taste, but the aromatic ink sauce more than balances it (I am sure there was cardamom on it), and the polenta had an excellent texture, creating a well balanced mix with the cuttlefish. Filling, however, so I skipped desert for a espresso. Even so, at 42 €, the most expensive meal of the trip. It was worth it, however.
Monday lunch time found me in Giudecca, so I went (with a crowd of Italian students) to an"osteria" to have the traditional Venetian aperitive, Spritz, with some snacks, cicchetti, sardines, a shrimp kebab, you know, point and get food. Felt like home. 9 €.
During the afternoon I had some hungry pangs, walking around Dorsoduro, when suddenly I found the Venetian branch of my favorite Italian ice cream, Grom, at Campo S. Barnaba (easily recognized by all Indiana Jones fans). Green tea and buttermilk really confirm how good is their ice cream (3.5 €).
The evening I decide to try my luck with Trattoria Malibran, over the hotel with the same name and that uses the first Court of the Million (in homage to Marco Polo's book, The Million, as the Polo house was in what is now the second court of the Million) as their own garden. Great location, as the weather was nice, and affordable prices. Inside it was crowded, as in Sunday. Continuing the local food aspect, I tried the pasta e fagioli soup, as I was a bit cold after an hour riding the vaporetto, and it helped warm me up and stay outside for the rest of the meal. It is simple, a meat broth with quashed beans to make it thicker, with more beans and pasta. Then I had Baccalá mantecato with grilled polenta, desalted salted cod reduced to a paste with garlic and oil. The grilled polenta was not great, as it compared unfavourably with the previous evening. However the fish was certainly something worth trying. I had also a half bottle of Valpolicella red and a correct pannacotta, followed by my compulsory espresso macchiatto, all for the quite reasonable price of 35 €. The menu was much cheaper but I was on a testing mood.
On the last full day in Venice I wanted to return to a place I had discovered my first time round, now that I felt I had made enough effort on the specifically Venetian food, Pizzeria All'Anfora , excellent priced pizzas and good alternatives if the pizza is not your love. As I was planning to dine Italian-Jewish at the Gam Gam, it had to be lunch, which was a good idea as I spent the morning just on the other side of the Canal Grande. It was empty when I arrived, but being already familiar with the place (it was right besides our previous hotel, and we ate there several times), I felt no concern going in. Soon I was sitting by the window (it was a rainy day, so no garden), eating an enormous 4 sins pizza (mozzarella, tomato, onions, sausage, ham, anchovies), and drawing people in from the rain (once again the herd spirit, though many were also regular customers). Service was excellent, the discussion on the virtues and disadvantages of pepperoncino by itself or in oil as a pizza taste enhancer was enlightening, and the mainly Italian customers made it all just as I remembered . The day was young, so only water, and no place for a dessert, so just coffee. 12 €.
Unfortunately I had to change my plans, as the day was the first day of Pesach, for Jewish passover, and during dinner the community would light the Yom Tov candles. It did not feel right to intrude (and the menu choices were severely limited) so I had to go with my reserve option.
Since the first time in Venice, I had been attracted by the Osteria La Zucca (The Pumpkin), but it was a vegetarian restaurant and I have always been a shameless meat eater. However after the sinful (and filling) lunch, it was a great opportunity to try the place. You should reserve, as the city was mostly empty and the place was booked up. I could eat because I was alone and promised to finish in one hour. The menu has some great looking meat dishes (and according to my neighbours, great tasting), but they are much more expensive than the rest, and the waitress-owner made me feel more appreciated by choosing only vegetable options, though they include milk and eggs. The house specialty is the Flan de zucca, covered in smoked ricotta, a great opening to the meal, soft yet complex tasting. Then I had whole wheat trenette (pasta) with artichoke pesto and pecorino cheese. The artichoke makes the pesto subtler, and it was also very good. I had a half a liter jar of the house wine, a local Tocai white wine (actually Sauvignon vert), excellent, dessert (Bavarese de fragola, strawberry bavarois, quite good), coffee, and all for 30 €. I got slightly drunk and ended up with a Martini Dry at Harry's Bar (17 €), so I cannot be objective, but certainly the meal I enjoyed the most, though the best quality, however, was Taverna San Lio. So money does mean something. ¶ 11:01 PM
This time, besides the obvious requirements of sustenance, I decide to experiment a bit, as I do not need to agree on food with anybody else. So I decide to look for local food, or unusual one. Breakfast was included at the hotel, Italian style (Cappuccino, red orange juice, and croissants and local muffins).
Lunch the first day is a bit anticlimatic, as there is too much people around (a Sunday), so I just get a sandwich (panino, bresaola e rucola) and a double ice cream at Majer, away from the crowds, enjoying the nice weather in Campo San Giacomo. Good bread, good place, excellent ice cream (white chocolate and banana). Something like 7 €. My usual drink, espresso macchiatto, was between 0.9 and 1.5 euros, and I had many of them spread during my stay.
The evening it was difficult to find some place not full, specially as the hour change had pushed many people to dine late, getting into my usual Spanish hours. And I do not feel confident enough to dine in an empty place when others around are totally full. You cannot help but wonder why it is empty, or if it is just the luck of the first customers and then the herd attitude. I note the Malibran restaurant, close to the theatre of the same name, but I am not willing to wait an hour, so I end up in Taverna San Lio, a nicely modern, tastefully decorated restaurant, and that thanks to being alone, so requiring only a small table. The prices are a bit steeper than what I planned, so I exchange wine for beer and enjoy excellent house-made ravioli (ricotta) with menestra (fresh vegetables) and a typically Venetian Sepia al nero con polenta, cuttlefish on its ink with polenta. The polenta does not really have a taste, but the aromatic ink sauce more than balances it (I am sure there was cardamom on it), and the polenta had an excellent texture, creating a well balanced mix with the cuttlefish. Filling, however, so I skipped desert for a espresso. Even so, at 42 €, the most expensive meal of the trip. It was worth it, however.
Monday lunch time found me in Giudecca, so I went (with a crowd of Italian students) to an"osteria" to have the traditional Venetian aperitive, Spritz, with some snacks, cicchetti, sardines, a shrimp kebab, you know, point and get food. Felt like home. 9 €.
During the afternoon I had some hungry pangs, walking around Dorsoduro, when suddenly I found the Venetian branch of my favorite Italian ice cream, Grom, at Campo S. Barnaba (easily recognized by all Indiana Jones fans). Green tea and buttermilk really confirm how good is their ice cream (3.5 €).
The evening I decide to try my luck with Trattoria Malibran, over the hotel with the same name and that uses the first Court of the Million (in homage to Marco Polo's book, The Million, as the Polo house was in what is now the second court of the Million) as their own garden. Great location, as the weather was nice, and affordable prices. Inside it was crowded, as in Sunday. Continuing the local food aspect, I tried the pasta e fagioli soup, as I was a bit cold after an hour riding the vaporetto, and it helped warm me up and stay outside for the rest of the meal. It is simple, a meat broth with quashed beans to make it thicker, with more beans and pasta. Then I had Baccalá mantecato with grilled polenta, desalted salted cod reduced to a paste with garlic and oil. The grilled polenta was not great, as it compared unfavourably with the previous evening. However the fish was certainly something worth trying. I had also a half bottle of Valpolicella red and a correct pannacotta, followed by my compulsory espresso macchiatto, all for the quite reasonable price of 35 €. The menu was much cheaper but I was on a testing mood.
On the last full day in Venice I wanted to return to a place I had discovered my first time round, now that I felt I had made enough effort on the specifically Venetian food, Pizzeria All'Anfora , excellent priced pizzas and good alternatives if the pizza is not your love. As I was planning to dine Italian-Jewish at the Gam Gam, it had to be lunch, which was a good idea as I spent the morning just on the other side of the Canal Grande. It was empty when I arrived, but being already familiar with the place (it was right besides our previous hotel, and we ate there several times), I felt no concern going in. Soon I was sitting by the window (it was a rainy day, so no garden), eating an enormous 4 sins pizza (mozzarella, tomato, onions, sausage, ham, anchovies), and drawing people in from the rain (once again the herd spirit, though many were also regular customers). Service was excellent, the discussion on the virtues and disadvantages of pepperoncino by itself or in oil as a pizza taste enhancer was enlightening, and the mainly Italian customers made it all just as I remembered . The day was young, so only water, and no place for a dessert, so just coffee. 12 €.
Unfortunately I had to change my plans, as the day was the first day of Pesach, for Jewish passover, and during dinner the community would light the Yom Tov candles. It did not feel right to intrude (and the menu choices were severely limited) so I had to go with my reserve option.
Since the first time in Venice, I had been attracted by the Osteria La Zucca (The Pumpkin), but it was a vegetarian restaurant and I have always been a shameless meat eater. However after the sinful (and filling) lunch, it was a great opportunity to try the place. You should reserve, as the city was mostly empty and the place was booked up. I could eat because I was alone and promised to finish in one hour. The menu has some great looking meat dishes (and according to my neighbours, great tasting), but they are much more expensive than the rest, and the waitress-owner made me feel more appreciated by choosing only vegetable options, though they include milk and eggs. The house specialty is the Flan de zucca, covered in smoked ricotta, a great opening to the meal, soft yet complex tasting. Then I had whole wheat trenette (pasta) with artichoke pesto and pecorino cheese. The artichoke makes the pesto subtler, and it was also very good. I had a half a liter jar of the house wine, a local Tocai white wine (actually Sauvignon vert), excellent, dessert (Bavarese de fragola, strawberry bavarois, quite good), coffee, and all for 30 €. I got slightly drunk and ended up with a Martini Dry at Harry's Bar (17 €), so I cannot be objective, but certainly the meal I enjoyed the most, though the best quality, however, was Taverna San Lio. So money does mean something. ¶ 11:01 PM
4.4.10
I wonder why everyone says Venice is romantic...
Maybe it is the way I think, that justifies coming alone to Venice. But I do not see anything intrinsecally romantic in the city. Yes, travelling with someone you love is usually a fulfilling shared experience, if everything goes well, or if there are shared strong experiences, and it does not go too badly...
However travelling can be a source of stress, and that stress is a real love damper.
I consider Venice to be a quite stressful place, with a lot of opportunities for arguments and disagreements, and without the adventure opportunities that forge a stronger link.
Consider: there are crowds in all the famous places, and even the vaporettos (public transport ships) are usually full. Even the supposedly romantic gondola trips are expensive, with people always around, close to a water that nobody sane would touch and that goes from smell to stink depending on the heat. Unless you know where to go, food will be overpriced and nothing special (andindeed it was in restaurants where I saw most of the Romantic arguments, besides the vaporetto).
By its structure Venice moves at a slow pace, whether by long queues, slow boats, crowded narrow streets, winding ways to reach whatever place you want to go... Maybe you are lucky and share exactly the same personal rythm and interests, though in that case you will always be at ease with each other. Otherwise there will have to be compromises, which are a fact of life for well established couples, but that I believe may be too much for a recent couple.
I did enjoy a previous week in Venice with my wife, but I have to confess that I profited more from three days at my own speed, focusing on my own interests (Venetian military history, wells, Corto Maltese links, staying out of the main tourist areas, traditional Venetian food) than one week of agreed experiences. It was not bad, but we both felt it could, should, have been better.
My advice? Take your spouse, a long term partner, but don't take a new lover, unless you really want to test if you are really compatible. ¶ 8:31 PM
Maybe it is the way I think, that justifies coming alone to Venice. But I do not see anything intrinsecally romantic in the city. Yes, travelling with someone you love is usually a fulfilling shared experience, if everything goes well, or if there are shared strong experiences, and it does not go too badly...
However travelling can be a source of stress, and that stress is a real love damper.
I consider Venice to be a quite stressful place, with a lot of opportunities for arguments and disagreements, and without the adventure opportunities that forge a stronger link.
Consider: there are crowds in all the famous places, and even the vaporettos (public transport ships) are usually full. Even the supposedly romantic gondola trips are expensive, with people always around, close to a water that nobody sane would touch and that goes from smell to stink depending on the heat. Unless you know where to go, food will be overpriced and nothing special (andindeed it was in restaurants where I saw most of the Romantic arguments, besides the vaporetto).
By its structure Venice moves at a slow pace, whether by long queues, slow boats, crowded narrow streets, winding ways to reach whatever place you want to go... Maybe you are lucky and share exactly the same personal rythm and interests, though in that case you will always be at ease with each other. Otherwise there will have to be compromises, which are a fact of life for well established couples, but that I believe may be too much for a recent couple.
I did enjoy a previous week in Venice with my wife, but I have to confess that I profited more from three days at my own speed, focusing on my own interests (Venetian military history, wells, Corto Maltese links, staying out of the main tourist areas, traditional Venetian food) than one week of agreed experiences. It was not bad, but we both felt it could, should, have been better.
My advice? Take your spouse, a long term partner, but don't take a new lover, unless you really want to test if you are really compatible. ¶ 8:31 PM
3.4.10
Ritual
In the morning, while packing, I also performed one of my pre-travelling rituals. I should do it more often, like every week-end, but unfortunately I am too lazy. But before any trip of more than one day I feel the need to clean up the shoes I will be taking with me. Usually I clean more, to pick and choose.
The technique I use comes from my military service, the long gone draft, sixteen years ago. Nothing like the actual risk of arrest if the boots are up to review standards to make sure you learn to clean them. Another factor was the limited time we had to ready ourselves in the morning.
When I finished my tour of duty my boots were in excellent shape, except for the soles. After that, I have used the same technique on all my shoes, if much less frequently. I do not claim this is the best way, it is just my way.
It is simple. A big brush, with long wiry bristles, that fits comfortably in my hand. A beeswax based cream (or other waxy creams). First brush off the dust, then rub some cream in a side of the brush and brush it in with a heavy dose of elbow work. Softly at first to spread the cream, and then fast to shine up the leather. Long bristles are able to reach anywhere in the shoe, and the rubbing will cover the leather in wax, which is the best kind of protection.
There are two additional advantages. It is gratifying to see something improve through your actions, and even better if it takes place in minutes rather than hours or days. Second, I find moderate physical activity relaxing, and this is quite moderate.
Probably the most useful skill I got from my military experience, as I have not had to shoot a firearm, troubleshoot MS-DOS 3, jumpstart a military flight simulator, or keep up a Paradox database since. ¶ 4:51 PM
In the morning, while packing, I also performed one of my pre-travelling rituals. I should do it more often, like every week-end, but unfortunately I am too lazy. But before any trip of more than one day I feel the need to clean up the shoes I will be taking with me. Usually I clean more, to pick and choose.
The technique I use comes from my military service, the long gone draft, sixteen years ago. Nothing like the actual risk of arrest if the boots are up to review standards to make sure you learn to clean them. Another factor was the limited time we had to ready ourselves in the morning.
When I finished my tour of duty my boots were in excellent shape, except for the soles. After that, I have used the same technique on all my shoes, if much less frequently. I do not claim this is the best way, it is just my way.
It is simple. A big brush, with long wiry bristles, that fits comfortably in my hand. A beeswax based cream (or other waxy creams). First brush off the dust, then rub some cream in a side of the brush and brush it in with a heavy dose of elbow work. Softly at first to spread the cream, and then fast to shine up the leather. Long bristles are able to reach anywhere in the shoe, and the rubbing will cover the leather in wax, which is the best kind of protection.
There are two additional advantages. It is gratifying to see something improve through your actions, and even better if it takes place in minutes rather than hours or days. Second, I find moderate physical activity relaxing, and this is quite moderate.
Probably the most useful skill I got from my military experience, as I have not had to shoot a firearm, troubleshoot MS-DOS 3, jumpstart a military flight simulator, or keep up a Paradox database since. ¶ 4:51 PM
2.4.10
Rush again
Following this one there will be several chained posts. This time it is not the influence of a book, but the effect of spending four days in Venice with only a notebook to talk to. I intended to take a computer holiday, which was a good idea but left me even more isolated. Then the environment in Venice helps to be self-reflecting, and the long periods riding ships also help to have words coming out.
The rythm will be irregular, however, as my notes are hard to read, cryptic in the best of cases, and often in different languages, depending on what language I was using at the time, even changing in the middle of a sentence if someone changed my track.
Here we go. ¶ 4:31 PM
Following this one there will be several chained posts. This time it is not the influence of a book, but the effect of spending four days in Venice with only a notebook to talk to. I intended to take a computer holiday, which was a good idea but left me even more isolated. Then the environment in Venice helps to be self-reflecting, and the long periods riding ships also help to have words coming out.
The rythm will be irregular, however, as my notes are hard to read, cryptic in the best of cases, and often in different languages, depending on what language I was using at the time, even changing in the middle of a sentence if someone changed my track.
Here we go. ¶ 4:31 PM
