Un pomeriggio a Milano

Un pomeriggio a Milano, or two actually as one of our house hunting afternoons was aborted due to bad weather and missed appointments- grrr

So anyways this is a little overview of the area currently selected as ideal place of abode for our sparkling Milanese future: Porta Genova/Navigli.

I’d heard about this mythical caffè Cucchi ( www.pasticceriacucchi.it) and the famous ‘Zuccotto‘ that they make there so insisted on paying it a visit.  I can’t comment on the Zuccotto yet but will give them their due on their assortment of pastries both savoury and sweet and the delicious croissants well hidden under a rather unimpressive café exterior.Personally I think it needs a restorative refurb but I’ll probably be lynched for suggesting that…

A little stroll in this area takes you from picture-post card Milan classics to quirky new businesses. Below are the well known ‘San Lorenzo columns’. These are actually a roman ruin built around what presumably used to be a roman bath. Now the basilica takes that place and the tram runs just below them. The Milanese love to meet here and linger a while to chat or have a beer on a summer evening.

By following the road pictured below (Via Porta Ticinese) you get eventually to the main canal (Naviglio Grande) and Darsena. This area is packed with restaurants, bars and all the nightlife you could possibly want. There are also plenty of vintage clothing and accessories shops as well as a couple of huge second-hand book shops which sell foreign language books and vintage furniture shops.

Plenty of foot-bridges cross the canal, but expect don’t expect car bridges.

Along the main canal (which gets pretty smelly in the summer by the way) are so many restaurants it seems impossible they all manage to stay in business, but actually the area is usually packed with tourists and locals almost all the time.

A leafy trattoria on the water’s edge:

Traditional Milanese trattoria offering risotto alla milanese (‘yellow’ saffron risotto’ )with marrow bone

Wine bars and pizzerias are also tucked in between the roads that lead off the canal.

Culture shock Madrid

No, we weren’t taken aback by the Spanish siesta, late nights, food or anything like that.  What gave us culture shock was the sheer amount of art we saw in only 3 days. I swear I’ve never seen so many paintings in such a short space of time in my life, and to be honest I don’t want to either. By the time we got to the Goyas in the Prado I was so dehydrate and tired I couldn’t muster up half the enthusiasm I’d shown for less iconic works at the start.

Not that I don’t recommend visiting the museums in Madrid but maybe try to take your time over them or you risk spoiling the effect.

So, have a bocadillo de jamon (ham sandwich for the likes of us) and a drink of water before you enter the Prado then take a long break at the cafe while you’re in there or you risk withering before you get to El Greco.

On the same road as the Prado (so of course we visited it on the same day…) is the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum which is home to modern art and a lot of Flemish paintings which I’m not really into as everyone looks pasty and ill in them.

Also a stone’s throw from the Prado is the Caixa forum by Herzog and de Meuron. To be honest I’ve forgotten what was in it as the actual building is so cool.

The Centro de Arte Reina Sofia is a whole lot  more lively. Although it’s modern and contemporary again it’s much mor interactive with installations and a nice little garden. The glass lifts down the front of it are quite cool too and the innner court is interesting. I suppose we can congratulate mr Nouvel on it. Whatever you do don’t eat at the restaurant just opposite on the piazza as it’s dire and over priced.

The inner court of the Reina Sofia museum (or back court am not sure how to describe it)…

And finally if you still have any energy left try the tapas at La Chata and wonder round the city in the evening for a taste of true Spanish night life.

Beijing Buildings

The unusual thing about Beijing, at least to the untrained eye, is that just outside the city there’s nothing much at, all just low bush. It’s a bit like the city has sprung out of the desert, a desert caused by the  pretty extreme weather with its static, sand storms, freezing winters and piping hot summers.

When you get into the first of a series of four ring-roads, however, the scenario completely changes and you are surrounded by a tall, modern urban sprawl. We spent a lot of time travelling into the centre from our third ring. And yes, I can confirm the traffic at rush hour is pretty dull and it takes ages to get about so… GET THE TUBE!

We took the tube everyday and ok, we probably didn’t travel in rush hour (but how many tourists do?) but we found it fast, modern, clean and efficient. All the stories about huge crowds, being unable to get off at your stop due to sheer mass of people are nonsense! If you’ve been on the London Underground at rush hour then this is a breeze. It’s even air conditioned.

Third ring-road

The iconic CCTV tower

Another view from  the ring-road

View from behind the China World tower

China world tower

China world tower

China world tower

One evening we were taken for drinks to the Sunlitun area known for its bars and a huge modern shopping and entertainment complex.

We didn’t visit the more grungy drinking dens that  have made this area famous, but stayed in the smart, new patch. It was pretty much like any ‘trendy’ place anywhere in the world, but if you have an interest in buildings (or drinking!!) then it’s worth visiting.

And finally the most iconic modern landmark in Beijing- Tian an men square. We only ever saw it from the opposite side of a busy road (the side the forbidden city is on) and were not tempted to risk our lives crossing into this big, grey pretty empty space.

Travel eating by Italo Calvino

I came across this passage while reading Italo Calvino’s  ’Sotto il sole giaguaro’, a book devoted to exploring the senses through narrative.

I am reportign it because I was struck with how closely it describes our travel ethic. So thanks Calvino for taking on the onus of explainig our philosophy much better than we could ever have done ourselves ,-)

What do you think? Load of nonsense or do we have a point?

“Questa era appunto una conclusione a cui ero giunto e che Olivia aveva prontamente fatto sua (o forse l’idea era stata Olivia a suggerirmela e io non avevo fatto che riproporgliela con parole mie): il vero viaggio, in quan­to introiezione d’un «fuori» diverso dal nostro abituale, implica un cambiamento totale dell’alimentazione, un inghiottire il paese visitato, nella sua fauna e flora e nella sua cultura (non solo le diverse pratiche della cu­cina e del condimento ma l’uso dei diversi strumenti con cui si schiaccia la farina o si rimesta il paiolo), fa­cendolo passare per le labbra e l’esofago. Questo è il so­lo modo di viaggiare che abbia un senso oggigiorno, quando tutto ciò che è visibile lo puoi vedere anche alla televisione senza muoverti dalla tua poltrona. (E non si obietti che lo stesso risultato si ha a frequentare i risto­ranti esotici delle nostre metropoli: essi falsano talmen­te la realtà della cucina cui pretendono di richiamarsi che, dal punto di vista dell’esperienza conoscitiva che se ne può trarre, equivalgono non a un documentario ma a una ricostruzione ambientale filmata in uno stu­dio cinematografico).”

My translation:

“This was the conclusion that I’d come to and that Olivia had promptly embraced (or perhaps Olivia had suggested the initial idea and I’d done nothing more than rephrase it): the real journey, seen as introduction of an ‘outside’ that is different from our usual setting, implies a total dietary change, a swallowing of the country visited, in its fauna and flora and culture ( not just the different cooking and seasoning habits but the use of different utensils to grind flour or stir the pot), making the country transit through the lips and oesophagus. This is the only way of travelling that makes sense nowadays, when everything that is visible can also be seen  from the television without getting out of your armchair. (And if you don’t object the same result is achieved through frequenting ethnic restaurants in our cities: they so alter the cuisine that they claim to reproduce that, from the point of view of the cognitive experience that can be drawn from them, they are equivalent not to a documentary but to a scenery filmed in a cinema studio).”

Beijing Olympic Park- 4 years later one winter morning

On our last day in Beijing we visited the architectural wonders of the Olympic park. Four years on from the event I was surprised at how clean and well kept this space was although it is more than evident that many of the buildings have been empty for ages and that the space is a bit too vast to be filled properly.

Let it suffice to say that between one tube stop and the other we walked about half an hour.

We weren’t there long, but every day we spent in Beijing was sunny and bright. I honestly didn’t sense any of the terrible pollution although of course if you are next to one of the ring roads it’s a bit smelly. I suppose I was lucky but there you go.

The sensation of space was amazing and although there were people visiting the site and going to the winter wonderland set up for kids within the stadium it felt a bit like the moon.

The inside of the super clean stadium also known as the Bird’s Nest.

That sky is so blue it’s hard to believe tha pollution is a problem. Electric shocks from the static yes, those I did experience at a rate of about 7 a day, sigh!

Olympic seating should be a sport in itself…

There’s an amazing view from the higher levels of the stadium although the actual structure didn’t impress me that much as it felt sort of plastic-y rather than the steel giant that I was expecting.

The winter wonderland set up for kids.

Apparently the building below is supposed to look like a microchip. I suppose it does, but aside from that I rather like it. It’s been named the Digital Beijing Building.

More of the iconic landscapes from the Olympic village. Wonder what London will leave behind?

The Beijing landscape is fascinating with its mix between ultra-modern and industrial (eg the smoke coming out of that factory just behind the stadium). Kind of reminded me of Futurist paintings like the following : Sironi, Paesaggio Urbano

What do you think?

Osteria al Cappello, Udine

The Osteria al Cappello in Udine is really popular with the locals but also with tourists coming to Udine from nearby Austria.

Yes, it’s true as other reiviews have said that the owners are not particulalry polite but I think it really just boils down to being a bit snappy and if you give as good as you get the service is fine.

Inside it’s pretty dark and I’m not sure I’d recommend it unless you like that mountain restaurant style. As it was a boiling hot summer day we stood outside where some long tall tables are set up and used the little window for service.

I was obviously immediately taken by the fact that dogs were welcome and provided with little bowls of fresh water as well as encouraged to come and ask for a drink at the bar

 Even the glasses are decorated with paw-prints as well as the trademark hat.

Bruschettas and a drink are a very popular lunchtime option in Udine. You can accompany this with a spritz which in Friuli is basically just fizzy wine with water, unlike Veneto where a spritz is almost always an Aperol spritz here you do have to specify.

Osteria al Cappello

Atmosphere: Stick to the outside for a drink and aperitif Friuli-style

Food: Choice of bruschettas prepared at your choice for a quick lunch

Dinner for two: Expect to spend 10 euro for 2 people. The wine and water spritz is only 1.10 EUR

Would we go back? Yes, with Ezzie

Beijing- Meet chillies Chinese style

The Fuli Plaza (also Viva Plaza) on the third ring road was our closest stop the hotel for a quick eat. As we were in constant movement most of the time it was nice to grab a quick bite close to the hotel without actually eating inside it.

On our last day, sleep starved and over excited as everyday on this trip we visited the Olympic park and the Temple of heaven. We also got lost (things look so close on the map and then you walk for hours) and managed to fit in a trip to the Hutongs near the Information office. All this with a flight in the early afternoon makes me think it was quite good going.

Anyway because I get nasty unless I’m clean and fed we also managed to grab a bite in one of the restaurants in the Viva plaza and shower before boarding the plane.

I’ve been trying to remember the name of the hotel but really can’t quite remember either way after being served a very chinese can of coke (ke kou ke le) as I remember from my Chinese lessons!)

We ordered a ‘mild’ dish.

Now, all the red in this dish served in the black wok complete with wooden spoon are chillies. Their seeds are all over the rest of the food. How can this be mild??!

To be honest we should have known, Having been treated to Sichuan cuisine throughout the week we’d got the inkling that in China spicy means spicy. I now post this as a reminder to ask for completely bland version of everything next time I’m over!