Photo Diary: Treviso, Italy

Every once in a while, my mind would wander to the obscure corners of the world The Dutch and I have explored together.  I found myself reminiscing about this little known town in the Veneto region of Italy, next door to Venice.  This was also the home of Prosecco and the fabled home of tiramisu.  Unfortunately for us, we found neither. We arrived around 2pm and of course, we forgot that in most parts of Italy, the entire town practically shuts down after lunch.  We also hoped to catch the fresh market, but again, we were too late.  Nonetheless, we still had a great afternoon on our on-the-fly afternoon in Treviso.

There are a multitude of canals around Treviso which actually gave it a Holland feel.  There were many small bridges that were oh-so charming!

We eventually found a place to have lunch at!  Still no Prosecco and if we did order tiramisu, I really don't remember.  Which isn't a totally good sign, right?

Treviso was an easy stop on our way to Venice.  We just had enough time in this small Italian town for a meander, a meal, some Italian bath product shopping for me and a haircut for the The Dutch!

Postcards from Chateau de Versailles

I've been looooonging to post about my whirlwind weekend in Paris, but unfortunately, this pest of a cold won.  I was indisposed for all but one and a half days, but still, it's a harsh blow for my superwoman tendencies.  So I have made arrangements to see my nutritionist to see how I could avoid catching an inconvenient cold upon a return from three days in Paris, not to mention the crazy flight back via Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles, and straight on to the office bright and early on Monday morning upon landing. I think I know what he will say, but it's not easy juggling my 9-5 and jetset dreams.  Anyway, enough of that ramble.

It was a week ago already that I was in Versailles!  After a flight across the pond via Boston, I landed in an empty Charles de Gaulle at 7:30 am (Air France was on strike, after all) and hopped on my RER train to Paris.  Paris!  Je suis rentree!

A quick coffee at our neighborhood in the 3eme, a quiche avec lardons (the best ever), and we were off to Versailles.  

Versailles was the palatial home of King Louis XIV (also called the "sun king" - there would be emblems of Apollo on the door knobs and furniture inside the palace) built in the 1670's.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and if only for that, one should see it.  It is massive, superlative, and filled with opulence and luxury within.  

It was a warm day, rare in late September, so we sat outside on the steps facing the gardens, eating our baguettes.  I contemplated the wealth of the French monarchy then to be able to afford such a grand and luxurious living space.  The palace grounds extended as far as the eye can see.  It is said to have seven hundred rooms.  It was gargantuan with a retained elegance and quietness, yes.  But ultimately, the French would not stand for it so they toppled the monarchy in 1799 during the French Revolution.  

Galerie des Glaces or Hall of Mirrors is perhaps one of the most photographed rooms in Versailles.  There are three hundred fifty seven mirrors lined up on a seventeen arches on a wall opposite an equal number of windows.  The dazzling effect is startling.  Hung on the ceilings of this long hallway are chandeliers. The paintings on the ceiling demonstrate the history of Louis XIV.  

And here it is.. a room fit for a King.  It was here that King Louis XIV died.  All that gold and gilt look very impressive, but it looks really stuffy and uncomfortable to sleep on.  But that's just me.  

The other sensational resident in this palace is Marie Antoinette, of course.  However, because of our limited time in Versailles, we were unable to visit her estate, which is about a mile away from the Chateau.

This is my third time in Paris but I've never been to Versailles prior to this visit.  This short field trip to Versailles allowed me to witness the ostentatious wealth of the French monarchy that drove France to the brink that eventually dissolved the monarchy and birthed the French republic.  Paris has too way too many things going on for me for me to really delve into its rich history, but this field trip to Versailles, albeit short, has allowed me to piece together a little bit of what made Paris the way it is today.   

Five Experiences That Made Me Gasp in Bologna (Italy)

If there was one town in Italy that pleasantly and endlessly surprised me and The Dutch, it would have to be Bologna.  The city would probably ring a bell for some people because of "baloney", but really, it is rather an insult to reduce Bologna, one of my favorite cities in the world, to sandwich meat.

Bologna is the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy which lies in the bellybutton of the country, immediately north of Tuscany.  If Emilia-Romagna is dubbed as the food capital of food-crazy Italy, Bologna is the capital of that capital.  Perhaps it is no coincidence that Bologna has gained the nickname "la grassa", the fat one.  Ragu bolognese, anyone?  Bolognese literally means from Bologna.

We left Florence early to make our way to Bologna.  Not having an itinerary, and our guidebook, being completely silent about this city, our first natural stop was the tourist information center for a map.  The map was awesome enough to have an English section on "Three Hours in the Heart of Our City".  Perfect.

Five Experiences that Made Me Gasp in Bologna

1.  Quadrilatero, Bologna's Old City Market

Fred Plotkin, author of the extensive food guide (that I most highly recommend!) called "Italy for the Gourmet Traveler", calls Bologna the best food market in Italy.  We ran right into it after we've gotten our map and it was such a pleasant and special sight, although I am not sure why.  The old alleys were narrow, clean, and bustling with activity centered around food.  And I guess this was so exhilarating for me because this is Italian life happening before me.  This is what I traveled to Italy for!

If you manage to go, don't miss Tamburini, an obvious old-timer with an enormous selection of what's special locally. 

2. Il Cibo...  Food!

One of Bologna's many specialties is the mortadella, which is a thinly sliced ham with bits of fat and sometimes, pistachios.  This is my absolute favorite, even more than prosciutto!  Bologna is also popular for tortellini, tagliatelle, and ragu Bolognese.

Lunch of various specialties at Zerocinquantuno - highly recommended!

Mercato di Mezzo, a collection of local eats under one roof.  Don't miss it if you go!

I don't have pictures, but we brought home some chocolate from Majani and it must have been the best chocolates I've ever had.  They were not too sweet and came in a multitude of varieties.  One bite tells you though that they were made painstakingly and with great care.  It's no surprise they've perfected the art of making chocolate.  They've been doing so since 1796!  Majani's website can be found here.

3.  Torre di Asinelli 
There are a lot more towers in Bologna.  In the middle ages, towers symbolize a family's power. Torre di Asinelli and Torre di Garisenda are the two most symbolic ones in the city, with the former being the taller.  One can climb all 498 steps to the viewing deck, but I would only recommend it for those who are somewhat fit and are not acrophobic.  Once you make it, the views are spectacular!

Counting the steps to the top

Majestic views once you get to the top!

4.  Santo Stefano

L: Unassuming church exterior, R: Holy Sepulchre, inside of which holds the remains of St. Petronius

This church is remarkable since it supposedly was erected in the 1st AD as a temple to Isis.  As with all temples that survived Christianity, it was later on converted to a church.  That is about 2,000 years of history right there.  What I also found fascinating is that in this church, despite its history and importance, most of everything is accessible.  There are no ropes barring access to certain areas, nor were there thick crowds.  In other words, this felt like a true church, a real place of worship, as opposed to the mega churches in bigger cities of Rome and Florence.

Inside the medieval Basilica of St. Vitale and St. Agricola,

Pilate's Courtyard, still inside the Santo Stefano complex

5.  Walkability
We had a rental car in Italy, but we parked it outside the city center and walked all over Bologna.  It was the best way to see the city any way especially since Bologna is very pedestrian-friendly.  The lack of tourists was also noticeable, which for us, was a huge giant plus.  At one point, I was trying to find a postcard which I finally found at one place.  One.  

Bologna at every turn was just beautiful and the people we've encountered were as well.  We had barely a day in Bologna and it was enough for us to be enamored with it.  So much so that we decided that our next itinerary to Emilia-Romagna will definitely have to include more than a few hours in Bologna.  Until then, La Grassa!

Roaring to go? 
Here are a couple resources to help your trip planning:
1.  Bologna's Official Tourism Website:  http://www.bolognawelcome.com/en/
2.  Blogville Emilia-Romagna, a confedration of bloggers all over the world sharing their experiences about their travels in the region:  http://www.blog-ville.com/tag/emilia-romagna/

Postcards from Venezia (Venice)

"So now, thank God, Venice is no longer a mere word to me, an empty name, a state of mind which has so often alarmed me who am the mortal enemy to mere words". 

So wrote Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in the late 1700's in his travel diary which is now published as a book called "Italian Journey".  I had loaned this book from the library months before we left for Italy and it struck me how travelers from the world over through the centuries have been drawn to Venice.  And one can see why.  It is just magnificent. 

We nearly skipped Venice on this Italian trip and on hindsight, I am thrilled that we didn’t.  I’m not one for hyper-touristy places.  To me, a thick crowd of tourists, and the ensuing trade that bend themselves backwards to cater to these money-spenders, dilute an authentic experience.  I did not travel all the way across the pond so I can buy tacky souvenirs or eat the way I do back home, thank you very much.  I jumped on a transcontinental flight to experience something refreshing and real, to be fascinated by something foreign and unknown, to be astounded to learn something I did not know yet.  But Venice, tourists notwithstanding, was magical.  Cars are not allowed in the city and in their stead are boats and gondolas.  If you really pay attention, there is a kind of a hush in Venice.  Like the rest of Italy we have seen on this trip, it is old, yet has retained its beauty and elegance. 

Yes, Venice is a madhouse for tourists.  I read an article on National Geographic how the local population is dwindling and that the locals are being driven out by tourism.  It is a sad, sad affair and it makes me remorseful that I did not take a snapshot of an old Venetian man we met at a courtyard close to the Casino di Venezia.  He must have been eighty years old and he was out walking his dog.  He stopped me and The Dutch, and in Italian, gave us unsolicited directions on how to get to San Marco (which we were not trying to find).  As if longing for conversation, he then immediately volunteered in Italian that he was born in Venezia (“Io nato qui”) while motioning to an old building nearby.  I had to resist that urge to snap up a photo of him, his tawny face, leathery with age, because although the locals were facing extinction, I couldn’t muster up the audacity to treat them as if they were already in a diorama.  If I spoke a little bit more of Italian beyond the rudimentary, I so wanted to invite ourselves to his house and make him cook Venetian supper for us.  But I did neither.  Should I have? 

I had half a day to myself and I did what I always tend to do when I travel:  amble around aimlessly and get lost.  And in Venice, it was the best way to discover local life where it still exists!  Venice is one of those cities where it is perfect to do this sort of thing, you see.  The main sections of Venice are like little islets connected by bridges.  You literally could walk the entire city if you wanted without the fear of getting lost.  It is compact and if you ever feel the need to orient yourself, it is quite easy to see where you are relative to Ponte Rialto or San Marco.  Or jump on one of the vaporettos (water taxis) to take you there.  Seriously, anyone could figure it out.            

The narrow sidestreets,  signs of local life – these are what makesVenice magical for me.  In my wanderings, I peeked into a restaurant just wrapping up lunch hour.  It looked my type of place so I did not hesitate to snag a table.  The waiter was so impressed with my Italian, however little it was, and my bravado to go about on my own, he kept coming back my table to make conversation, and if he had a camera phone, I swear he would’ve taken a photo of me as though I was THE relic. 

I mainly walked about on the Cannaregio and San Polo districts, away from San Marco.  It was beautiful at every turn!

The Dutch and I converged later in the day and we wandered on nameless streets, got lost in alleys.  We walked by an enoteca and we were lured in.  We shared an Amarone (one of the best and expensive wines that come from Verona, another region in the Veneto) and later, cicetti (traditional Venetian counterpart of the Spanish tapas) at a place he recommended away from the crowds.  We shared another glass of red wine which we sipped while standing outside, following the lead of the locals around us.

One of the things I loved most about Venice is that we did not have any desire here to do anything than just be.  No museums to go to (although for next time, I wouldn't mind the Peggy Guggenheim Museum and the Opera), no sightseeing on the agenda.  At one point, we sat on one of the canal banks with our gelato, writing postcards, shooing away pigeons, and just basking in the beauty of everything around us.  It is these rare moments of calm when traveling that offer a respite from the whirlwind the past two weeks and allow for attention and observation, watching gondolas cruise by, watching young Italian boys try to decode locks on a bridge.  

Caught in the act!  An Italian boy decoding a lock!

  

Venezian rush hour

Local life in the San Polo neighborhood

I am not sure I will ever see another place like Venice in my lifetime and find myself echoing von Goethe's sentiments. Before, I only knew of Venice having heard of other people's travels or shamefully, Hollywood. And I would have been content with the vicarious nature of acquainting myself with Venice.  It is a place like nothing I imagined.  It does not come close to the vignettes of all the films, even if you amalgamate every single one of them.   And now that I am not a stranger to it anymore, like a timeless Vivaldi masterpiece, it does feel like Venice has wrapped itself around me and I cannot quite disentangle myself - the sound of water following you everywhere, the echo of yourself when you find yourself in an empty corner among old buildings, the muted colors speaking of history and many many more stories untold.  Nor do I want to.