Susan & Arnie Travel

If everything has already been said about Venice, not enough has been said about Naples. At least, not enough good. We prepared for Naples as if we were going to a semi-war zone. We read about the tricks used by thieves in the train station. We had our strategy of sticking together to ward off the Mongol Hordes. We had inner pockets, inner purses, hidden money belts, etc. It was all for naught.

The street scenes were haunting but in no way menacing. There are more thieves and beggars in the Florence train station than in Naples. In fact, the Naples train station (at least the upstairs section) was more beautiful than the stations in both Florence and Venice. Every taxi driver was honest and accommodating. We did not have one negative experience. I won’t count the hour long taxi ride to our lunch restaurant on our last day because that was the fault of the America’s Cup race and the closing of one entire artery of traffic. Even that experience was entertaining since we saw 6 lanes of traffic merge into 1. Our taxi driver got on my phone when I called our lunch restaurant and explained our situation in great detail, then he wrote down the fish that we should order. We also saw a traffic accident where a poor girl’s bumper was nearly torn off by a motor bike who just zipped away.

Our hotel, La Ciliegina (http://www.cilieginahotel.it/en/), was centrally located, close to the harbor and close to the old city center. We had a nice modern room and a roof top terrace with great views of Vesuvius and the harbor. It was lovely to sit there at the end of the day, have a refreshment, and plan the evening. We went to Naples with our Palazzo friends and we are all looking forward to returning. Two nights were not enough.

There is so much to see in Naples. This is the Farnese Bull, so named because it was owned by the Farnese Family and currently housed in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. It is the largest single sculpture ever recovered from antiquity. There is some controversy over whether it is a first century BC original or a second century AD copy. It is carved from just one whole block of marble and was imported from Rhodes to Rome. The statue was unearthed in 1546 during excavations by the Farnese Pope Paul III in the hope of finding ancient sculptures for his family's palatial residence in Rome. He lucked out.

It was breath taking to see all of the detail of the ancient myth of Dirce who was tied to a wild bull by the sons of Antiope to punish her for the ill-treatment inflicted on their mother. Pretty nasty stuff.

The bull is the most dramatic of the ancient sculptures in the collection but there is so much more to see.

There is an entire floor of frescoes taken from Pompei. There are no words to describe the beauty.

The ancient mosaics are amazing. We particularly liked this one because it depicts an alligator and our great-niece Rosalie has a thing for alligators.

It could take several days to seriously examine all of the ancient sculpture and frescoes and mosaics in the museum so after just 2 hours we felt like we did run-by art viewing.

After a brief lunch we went to the Capodimonte Museum to take in a few more modern (15th-17th century) pieces from the Farnese collection. I guess it was really good to be Pope in those days. This is a Caravaggio that was the highlight of our visit. The museum is situated in an old Palace, on top of a hill overlooking Naples, surrounded by acres of gardens and green space. The park was filled with families and children of all ages and lovely to see.

Another day, another museum. The Certosa di San Martino is a former monastery complex, now a museum, located next to Castel Sant’Elmo and is the most visible landmark of the city, perched atop the Vomero hill. We wanted to go mainly for the views.

Unfortunately, it was a hazy day and it wasn’t possible to see clearly either Mt. Vesuvius or Capri. We decided to be adventurous and take the Funicular to the top of the hill and then walk to the monastery. I thought the Funicular would be more like a ski lift with great views but it was more like a subway car going up through rock. The walk from the Funicular station is about 10 minutes and we followed the signs to the monastery but noted that there were no accompanying signs pointing back to the station. Instead of leaving bread crumbs I took pictures of every corner where we made a turn to have a digital picture record for our return. That was a good idea in theory but after taking over 50 pictures at the top I never did go back to our photo map. We made it back all the same.

The monastery was beautiful and the views, even with the haze were spectacular. We didn’t have time to go to the castle next door, that will be for our next trip. Also, there was a lovely restaurant near by with a large outdoor terrace that would be a great place for lunch, if only we had the time.

There is an abundance of famous art scattered throughout the churches in Naples but we only had time for the Duomo. The French-Gothic altar is a bit over the top, but hidden inside the Duomo are Greek, Roman and early christian ruins including the oldest surviving baptistery of its kind in the western world.

While we were wandering the streets and museums of Naples, the America’s Cup was conducting its World Series races. We didn’t get to see any of the races in person, but the restaurants had the race on TV so we saw it on the big screen. There was a big party atmosphere at the harbor, but interestingly, no commerce that we could see, so we don’t have any hats or T-shirts.

What is Naples without food? We had some great seafood meals and tried to order those things that we couldn’t get elsewhere, like really good langoustines, and octopus and calamari.

And, what is Naples without pizza? The pizza in Naples is very different, I am told, because of the water and the near by San Marzano tomatoes. I don’t know what in the water changes the dough, but it really tasted great. The pizza was softer than we are used to and we saw the Neapolitans folding it instead of cutting it, as the Florentines do.

All in all it was a wonderful adventure. I just could not edit my pictures beyond what you see below. I hope that you will eventually have time to see them all. I strongly encourage you to make an effort to see these sights live and in person.
Give Naples a chance!

Chow Napoli http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633300718425/

Wandering Naples http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633473336940/

National Archaeological Museum http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633475904746/

Capodimonte Museum http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633460866447/

Duomo http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633461000011/

Certosa San Martino http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633461137345/

America’s Cup http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633314993689/

Getty Images photographer Marco Secchi (www.marcosecchi.com) took this picture of us at the end of our Venice Photography Walk, in the same courtyard where we had lunch the previous day. The walk was the highlight of our Venice trip.

I learned about Marco while trolling the Slow Travel Italy forum, http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a/frm/f/862600685 (the hosts of this blog). In doing additional research I learned that his walk had made it to #1 in the top 10 things to do in Venice on TripAdvisor. I certainly learned why. Also, Marco has a Venice Tour app for that was very helpful in planning our trip. I highly recommend this walk even if you use a disposable camera. I just have a Canon point and shoot and I was happy with my results. Marco also has an iPhone Photo Walk. What is this world coming to??

Marco took us to places we are unlikely to have found on our own, like this exterior staircase. The wealthy owner was apparently tired of having to run into his staff on the interior stairs, so he built the exterior staircase to isolate himself from the “great unwashed.”

Here is another example of a hidden gem in plain view. This shot of San Marco is taken from the same angle as a famous Venitian painting of several hundred years ago. Again, notes would have been good. I don’t remember the artist (a famous Venitian) but Marco said that the scene has not changed. However, in order to get the picture I had to sit on the ground in a certain spot, something that I NEVER would have tried on my own or even thought of. Getting up was not a pretty site.

I can’t remember the significance of the bronze statue on the left (notes?) but Marco thought that the juxtaposition of the Medieval statue with the iconic portrayal of Dodge Foscari kneeling before the Lion of St. Mark was interesting. I agree.

This photo was shot on my knees. There were lots of tourists jostling to get a picture of the 16th century Bridge of Sighs so it was a bit rushed. Luckily, the gondola came at the right time.

This was the last picture taken from the ground. I think Arnie and Marco got tired of pulling me up. However, it did give me a different perspective of the gondolas and is one of my favorites.

From St. Mark’s Square we took the water bus to the Castello district then walked back to the Rialto Bridge. The first stop was the Arsenale that was the dockyard in the 12th century when Venice was building the ships for the crusades. The significance of this shot is that it is the only angle from which to get a distant picture of the structure without having a telecommunications tower blighting the view. Who would have known?

We learned from Marco that the lion statues are Greek originals, liberated from Greece by the Venetians, and recently found to have Viking carvings on them. Marco attended the press conference the day before and the researcher was still hard at work photographing the almost invisible carvings during our visit. (You can see more lion statue photos on the unabridged Photo Walk link below)

One of our favorite photos. You’ve got to love the juxtaposition of Jesus and the Communist Party office. Marco had this shot published in the NYT. Instead of an elderly communist in the frame, I believe he caught a nun.

You can see the abridged or the unabridged photos below. It was truly a great experience and we were lucky that Marco’s schedule coincided with ours to make it available. The 3 hours rushed by and it was time for lunch before we knew it.

We ended the photo walk near the original restaurant choice of the day before so we gave up the opportunity to take interesting shots of the Rialto Bridge and went to eat instead. Vini di Gigi, Cannaregio 3628/A, is considered one of the best seafood restaurants in Venice. It is part of the Buona Accoglienza Restaurant Association and now affiliated with our first dinner restaurant. We started with the seafood platter of Venetian specialities (notes, I’ve got to start taking notes!). Then I had the tuna and Arnie had the squid, cooked in squid ink. It was a wonderful meal and a wonderful end to our brief stay in Venice. We look forward to our return next year.

Best of Venice Photo Walk  http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633251930503/  

Unabridged Photo Walk http://flickr.com/gp/susanarnietravel/h5Hm9j/http://flickr.com/gp/susanarnietravel/h5Hm9j/

You can check out Marco’s blog at http://goo.gl/EIdu4

View Venice in a larger map">
View Venice in a larger map

There is nothing new to be said about Venice. There may be a few new things to say about arriving in Venice during a water bus strike. As we all know, Venice is surrounded by water. The railroad station is at the most western edge of the group of islands and there are a gazillion bridges to get from almost any point “A” to any point “B”. So, when one can’t take a water bus to ones hotel located only a little over 1 mile away the walk over the gazillion bridges and dead end alleys with luggage is very unpleasant to say the least.

We finally arrived at the Hotel Galleria,http://www.hotelgalleria.it, (the pink building on the right) at the Accademia Bridge, just 1 1/2 hours after starting our trek. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining so I guess we should have been happy about that.

Our room was the biggest of the 9 rooms in the hotel. The hotel website states that Robert Browning and his sister were guests in 1878. I don’t think much has changed since then.

The view is the highlight of the hotel. Complete silence on the Grand Canal was one of the benefits of the water bus strike. An unforeseen detriment of the strike was missing one of our 5 Venice meals.

A visit to the Palazzo Grassi, Campo San Samuele, was one reason for going to Venice and it happens Monday afternoon was our only opportunity. So, we ate an adequate pizza next to the hotel (that in California we would consider very good) and went to the museum.

The Palazzo Grassi is owned by François Pinault, who has one of the biggest collections of contemporary art worldwide. He is reportedly worth $11.5 billion, so, why not have a Palazzo or 2 in Venice?

The entire 54,000 sq. feet of the Palazzo was devoted to an exhibit by Rudolf Stingel. The brochure described the exhibit as, “The groundbreaking project, ..., where carpeting based on an oriental rug, covers the entire surface of walls and floors.” Truly, 54,000 sq. feet of carpet on every wall and every floor. Because, as the brochure states, “the carpet is a medium through which painting relates to its architectural context.” One painting by the artist was hung in almost every room but some rooms remained completely bare other than the carpet. Arnie would have to explain the significance of the exhibition, it was lost on me.

Would I rather have had my body enriched by a good late lunch and skipped the exhibit or my soul enriched by the cultural experience? Interesting question.

We made it back to the hotel before the rain started and had a quiet lie-down before dinner.

There were multiple options on our list for dinner but because of the strike we changed course to stay close to the hotel. Then, we changed course again due to the rain and went to the restaurant closest to the hotel. (not the lunch Pizzeria) It turned out to be fortuitous.

Ristorante Agli Alboretti, Dorsoduro 882 Rio Tera' Antonio Foscarini, 30123 Venice, 041 5229937, is steps away from our hotel. It has always been part of the “Buona Accoglienza” Restaurant Association, similar to a “Slow Food Movement”. However, it was a mere step-child in the sense that no one whom we asked knew anything about it. Although the restaurant was on our original long list, we did not know that it was under new management and they were part of the family with one of the best restaurants in Venice. Everything was delicious from the seabass ravioli to the wasabi panna cotta. Service fell down a bit at the end of the meal, as it often does in Italy, but it was a lovely experience.

The next day was beautiful and sunny. A perfect day to wander and go to the top of the bell tower in St. Mark's Square to take pictures. I am told that the view from the top of the tower of the church of San Giorgio Maggiore, on the tiny island across from St. Mark’s Square, is the finest but I was happy with the photos that I got. (even thought I had to wait in line to take the elevator to the top, and even longer to take the elevator back down.)

Although I had a long list of restaurant choices I asked the hotel owner for suggestions for lunch. As luck would have it, his first choice restaurant was closed on Tuesday so we had to resort to the back-up. I’m usually pretty particular about where we eat, especially when we only have 5 meals in a city. However, we threw caution to the wind and followed what looked like blind alleys to the Campiello Remer. The restaurant was charming but they served a lunch buffet and that is never my favorite. It was very good and a very good price, but not a memorable gustatory experience.

The setting couldn’t have been more charming and the courtyard in front of the restaurant is one of the more charming in Venice, so that alone was worth the visit. In fact we returned the next day with photographer Marco Secchi on our Photo Tour. The rest of the day was spent wandering the alleys of Venice.

It is just as well that we had a modest lunch since dinner was the blow-out meal of the year. Riviera Restaurant, Dosodoro 1473, 30123 Venezia, was something to behold. It is situated along the Guidecca Canal. We had an early reservation and I was glad because I was able to request the table next to the only window. We watched the colors change across the canal as the evening progressed. It was extremely civilized and once we saw the menu (I mean prices) we understood why. In fairness to the restaurant we did choose all of the specials of the day and we knew what we were getting into before we started, but looking at a bill that is similar to a small car payment is still staggering.

We started with the fish carpaccio, otherwise known as sashimi. Each fish was described in great detail (including where it was caught and the temperature at which it was maintained) and had a different flavoring on top, be it an herb, spice or fruit. I honestly can’t remember which was my favorite; I should have taken notes. The carpaccio was followed by a take on spaghetti with clams but in their version the spaghetti was made with squid ink and there was something magical that they did with the clams.

Pasta was followed by an entire seabass baked in salt, presented at the table, then the salt crust was hacked off with great effort. The end result was a delicious, moist fish served with beautiful grilled vegetables

Why stop when one has gone this far. We chose the desert medley and each bite was better than the last. But, the best, and I mean the very best, was the tiny square of caramelized guanciale (pork cheek). It is the little square at the far end of the plate on the right, sitting on top of panna cotta. Think the best bacon ever, caramelized. I could have snacked on that all night. On our way out of the door we were presented with a corkscrew of our very own. Arnie says it is now the most expensive corkscrew that we own.

We waddled off to bed to be ready for our next day’s photo tour with photographer Marco Secchi.

Link to all of the Venice Wandering Photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633258133029/

Link to all of the Chow Venice Photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633251930503/  

Here's the link to the rest of the Rudolf Stingel exhibit pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633355529369/

Link to my Venice Google Map https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=214591024992202800324.0004d967c90417d895598&msa=0&ll=45.435924,12.332239&spn=0.031258,0.075102

To Blog or not to Blog, was not really the question, it just happened that I didn’t. I start the trip with a fantasy that I will do a short blog entry every day. And then... Sometimes life takes over.

Maybe it was the weather; this was the wettest March in over 50 years. Maybe it was preoccupation with my dad’s health; he’s better now. Maybe it was internet issues; not totally resolved but better ( I have to upload pictures at my friend's apartment). Maybe ??? Who knows.

We did do a lot worth writing about in the last month.

We had our Pilgrimage to Panzano. I had my annual squeeze by Dario.

Then we ate our fill of meat.

We had lots of great home cooked meals. At Beverly’s we always had fabulous food and a beautiful table.

At Skai’s we had pasta with chicken and vegetables. This was a major event since Skai is a scientist and not a cook.

We found a truffle at the market and that grew into a lovely dinner.

We continued our tradition of cooking rabbit for Easter weekend.

Then we had lots of great meals at restaurants, including our usual Easter lunch at Belcore.

We were happy little piggies when we came home from that Easter lunch.

We also had lots of cultural events including concerts at the theater and at the San Lorenzo Cathedral. We found a small wooden crucifix newly attributed to Michelangelo in the Bargello museum.

We went to a Dali exhibit that was OK, not great. We went to the Ferragamo museum to see their tribute to Marilyn Monroe that was way more interesting than I expected, especially since the physical structure of the building is so beautiful.

We had a tour of the back rooms of the Farmacea di Santa Maria Novella.

We had a private tour of the restoration of the frescoes of the Cathedral of Santa Croce, that involved going up to the ceiling in an elevator then walking down the various levels of the scaffolding.

It was wonderful to be up that high and to see the frescoes that close.

And then there was Venice.

Photographer Marco Secchi took this picture at the end of our Venice photo walk that was a real highlight of the trip. It will take a while for me to distill the Venice trip but I don’t have much time since we go to Naples on Wednesday, and that should be wild.

So, I guess the answer is, To Blog.

Here are the albums uploaded to Flickr:

Panzano http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633237999124/

Dinners at Home
http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633232993403/

March Restaurant Meals
http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633232323783/

Cultural Events
http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanarnietravel/sets/72157633238392825/

As I lie awake from 1am to 6am I ran through the best food that we ate in the past week.

The Arista (roasted Cinta Senese pork loin) from San Michelle all' Arco (via del Oriuolo 1/r) was right up at the top of the list. The restaurant is new; just 6 months old. They are the purveyors of the Cinta Senese pork products that we buy from our pasta guy, Christian. Last year I bought the pork loin from him that was one of our most memorable home cooked meals.

The salumi appetizer at Trattoria Antico Fattorie (via Lambertesca 1/3r) was on the list.

The pastas at the same meal were also memorable; linguine with seafood, and, pici (Tuscan round pasta) with pork sausage and olives.

However, nothing compares to the meals that we had at home. There is no extravagant preparation, just the best ingredients treated with respect. An indescribable spring sensation is a salad of fresh baby fava beans with the freshest Pecorino cheese and Cinta Senese salumi thrown in for good measure. I can get good fresh produce at home, but everything else is uniquely Tuscan.

I didn’t take pictures of other home cooked meals of fresh pici pasta with Cinta Senese pancetta, spring garlic and fresh peas; or, the fresh tagliatelle with pesto and a side of boiled spinach that was sautéed with Sicilian cherry tomatoes and served with fresh burrata cheese. Sometimes you just have to eat without a camera.

So, when our neighbors rang our door bell at 5:15pm to announce that we were having a communal meal I was happy to forgo my nap. Skai was in charge of shelling the fresh peas and took ours to add to Beverly’s for the fresh pasta that she just bought ( and that was just made). Arnie went up to Beverly’s to get her fava beans to add to ours for the salad.

We all gathered at Beverly and Gianni’s at 7pm with a few bottles of wine and the feasting began.

What is unique about this picture? Skai (the tall red head) is helping Beverly (the shorter blonde) cook the pasta. Skai is a scientist and not a cook. However, for a good meal she is willing to do what must be done.

Everyones efforts equaled an exquisite impromptu meal. How can you go wrong with fresh pappardelle pasta tossed in crisp sautéed pancetta, spring onions, fresh peas and cream?

We were all happy campers. Sorry I don’t have a close-up of the pasta. Did I mention we had some wine?

The view from the Gossen’s apartment topped off the evening.

No one counted the empty wine bottles. No one wanted to know.