Gil Hildebrand

Now that’s what I call a Capitol view

I’m such a nerd.

Venice was our least favorite place in Italy. It is extremely wet and damp. There are throngs of tourists and very few locals. As a result, there is no local culture. Prices are extremely high, partially because of the tourists and partially because everything has to be boated in. We’re talking $29 plates of pasta and $10 glasses of wine.

The romance of Venice is best found in photos like the ones above, which we worked very hard to frame. Visiting Venice is not advisable, but if so you can get a feel for the place by only staying one night. Anything longer is a travesty. Much more pleasurable experiences can be found in small towns and back streets in other parts of Italy.

Whereupon I taste perfection in a grilled sea bass.

An hour outside of Florence, there is a lovely little town called Lucca. Fortified by gigantic walls, it emanates a tranquility that can only come from a place where no invader in history dared attack. Easily the most peaceful place I have ever visited. I look forward to coming back, perhaps staying a night or two. A refreshing pit stop on an otherwise chaotic leg of our trip.

Magnificent views from the Boboli Gardens in Florence. These gardens were essentially the backyard of the Medicis, the powerful merchant family that funded much of the Renaissance. 

Coffee in Italy isn’t better than America. Just different.

Where we prefer our full-cup drip coffee, the Italians prefer a more condensed espresso. Typically, the morning is started by heading to a nearby caffé and ordering an espresso (80 cents) or cappuccino (1.20 euro) while standing at the bar.

In Italy, because the coffee is measured in shots, there is no concept of tall, grande, or venti sizes. You can ask for doppio (double) caffé or doppio latte (milk), however.

The little coffee maker shown above makes a brew called Moka. It produces a slightly different flavor, one that I (any many Italians) prefer after lunch or dinner. 

American drip coffee is clearly better in the winter. A big cup of hot drip coffee keeps you much more warm than a quick shot of espresso.

You will usually be served in a ceramic cup, unless you specifically ask da porter via (to take away). The Italians assume you’re there to enjoy the experience, not just the product. How classy.

Master photographer at work.

Dissected prototype based on Leonardo Da Vinci’s sketch of a battle tank. 

Fine meat and cheese selections at the Mercato Centrale in Florence.

Red orange juice for breakfast. Not quite as sweet, but very delicious.

Prêt a Manger is one of my favorite fast food options in NYC. And Chipotle isn’t bad. Here’s to making quality fast food ubiquitous, from London to Rome to New Orleans.

jayparkinsonmd:

I just got off the plane from London and ate at Pret a Manger at Heathrow. It’s hard to imagine that McDonald’s owned this chain from 2001 to 2008. But you can clearly see they didn’t have the same DNA, especially when McDonald’s “oatmeal” has 21 ingredients, when in fact, oatmeal is an ingredient.

When I was a kid, fast food options were bad and worse. Now it’s Le Pain Quotidien, Pret a Manger, Panera Bread, Chipotle, and the like. Given the capitalist system that is the United States, we’ve got to fight capitalism with capitalism. And, I for one, am super optimistic that healthy capitalism will win. 

From lost bags to jammed doors, stopped trains, never ending restaurant seatings, bad directions, and lazy taxis, the service industry in Italy can be summed up in one word: indifference.

Workers are never quick to help, and advice is always reluctant, frequently wrong, and sometimes unavailable.

The Italians have a saying: dolce far niente. The sweetness of doing nothing. Apparently that applies to folks on the job just as often as those on siesta or holiday.

But it wouldn’t be an authentic Italian experience any other way.

Still, I yearn for good old fashioned American capitalism, where the service industry includes service, folks love to work, or at least pretend to love it.

On Tuesday we were scheduled for a nice relaxing vacation in the gorgeous beach towns of Cinque Terre. We took a train, which was 30 minutes behind schedule, from Florence to Pisa. Then another train to La Spezia, just a short 20 minute hop from our final destination. In La Spezia it was pouring down rain and the station was total chaos. We waited for our final train, but it never seemed to come. 

After a few hours of lugging our bags up and down stairs, always anticipating the next train, we finally realized there was a major problem. The information booth was jammed, but some locals informed us that there would be no more trains this night. We called our hotel who informed us that the road was also closed, making bus or taxi rides impossible.

We walked around in the flooded streets for hours trying to find a hotel. When we finally found one with a room available, the service sucked and my girlfriend was locked for 45 minutes in the bathroom. The key didn’t work, and the front desk guy was indifferent about it until I motioned that I was going to kick it down if they didn’t do something fast.

Then a Nun who manages the hotel came up. After messing with it a while, she had her throw the key out the window, where it was caught 4 floors below by the nun. After 20 more minutes of fussing, it finally opened, and the Nun left us in peace.

Today, we woke up and the situation did not change, although we still had no clue why everything was shut down. Disappointed, we went back to Florence. Only then did we discover the true problem: massive flooding in Cinque Terre. Had we arrived a few hours earlier, we would have been stuck right in the middle of all the craziness. 

My new favorite pizza: mozzarella, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, sausauge, and (yes!) anchovies.

meganinasia:

View of Shanghai from the 100th floor of the Financial Center. Glass floors on the observation deck = sci fi. Photo stolen from George Kellerman. My iPhone had died. (Taken with instagram)

I regularly have nightmares about being this high in buildings. My only fear. Yeeesh.