Florence can surely make a girl fall in love with art!

The stars of the show: Michelangelo’s “David” at the Accademia Galleria, and   Boticelli’s “Birth of Venus” and “Primavera” at the Uffizi.
(Photo credit: Google images)

The Duomo:  What a gorgeous structure, but it’s impossible to get a good view of it…  You can barely see the red tiled dome in the background.

For those of you who have taken Prof. McGinn’s STS 101, do you recall his lecture about the role of technology in constructing buildings?  Can you even imagine labourers carving away marble on site?!

Besides art, Florence is also great for shopping – especially at the vintage markets and shops.  I bought two vintage fur stoles for dirt cheap.

I found a thrift store in Italy, which is the backpackers’ Holy Grail!  Not only is everything under 5 euro, but most items are Italian made.   Thrift stores are a great way to swap out your old clothes for “new,” because lord knows the US Dollar betrays me on this continent.

This adorable bustier didn’t fit me, but I did manage to find a black cashmere blazer for 5 euro and knee-length winter puff coat for 7 euro.

Vintage Givenchy frames!

During my visit to Berlin in early October, I had the opportunity to visit Tacheles – an art center that house dozens of artist studios.  It was once a department store, then converted into a Nazi prision, and eventually taken over by artists after the fall of the Berlin wall.  Not a single square inch of that building is not covered with layers and layers of art.  Tacheles was easily the highlight of my Berlin stay.

A piece that was actually commissioned by Nike during the World Cup

Some other street art spotted around the city: an original Fafi!

After seeing Italy with my own eyes, I finally get where The Sartorialist gets his inspiration from.  Italian fashion is f a b u l o u s.  Unabashedly fabulous.  Especially in Rome, where every other car is a Beamer or Benz, and no woman dotes a non-designer bag (authenticity debatable).  I tried my hand at street fashion photography, but to be honest, I don’t have the courage to blatantly ask someone if I can capture their portrait unlike Tommy Ton and Scott Schuman.  So if someone’s outfit caught my attention, I would just hold my camera in a nonchalant position and try to aim at the subject without looking at the viewfinder.  Sometimes this results in more creative composition that I myself would have created, and sometimes (most of the time) I flat out miss the person and take a crooked picture of a wall or lamppost.

Nonetheless, I have amassed at least a few pictures that I feel capture Italian street fashion.  Italian women and men age beautifully like wine – I feel the more mature they are, the more delightful and thoughtful their clothing choices are.  Especially the men!  I of course have a personal bias towards women’s fashion, I would say the men outshine the women here.  I have never seen such a high concentration of men doting classic wool suits. When I hear click-clack on the sidewalks, the sound comes from not high heels, but men’s dress shoes.  The great thing about Italy is that it isn’t “fashion forward,” but is rather deeply rooted in sartorial tradition.  People invest in quality staples that transcend from season to season, like a three-piece suit, brogues, or wayfarer sunglasses.

Lastly, the best thing about Italy?  The flea markets and antique stores!  They are truly the backpacker’s holy grail.  Where else can you find Italian cashmere coats and Givenchy frames for cheap?  More on this later, but I indulged in two jackets and a rabbit stole from the antique market in Florence.

I loved the combination of seagreen gingham, straw, navy blue, and his salt & peppered hair!

I was unfortunately only able to capture her from behind.  This woman was probably in her fifties and she was working it!

The funny thing is that these men came strutting down the street just like in the opening scene of “Reservoir Dogs.”

This woman was definitely at least in her seventies!  Python pants, elbow-patched sweater, little pink sneakers (not pictured).  And below in the pink sweater is her husband!  I only hope to be so fun and daring at that age.

The number of luxury vehicles in Rome is incredible.  A black BMW and cobblestone roads are not a bad combination!

Berlusconi’s men outside the Parliament building

I just wanna know this man’s story…  Once I asked a seemingly grumpy elderly man for directions, and in return he gave me huge beaming smile, a wink, and treated me like family.  Gosh, I miss Italy!

Antipasto

This antipasto was decent, but it tasted exactly like what it looked like: prosciutto, arugula, mozzarella, and cherry tomatoes.  I love it when my food surprises me, when the first taste is unexpected and cannot be predicted by what I see on the plate.  I’ve seen people order something as simple as sliced tomatoes drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and moan in pleasure at first bite!

Bruschetta is a perfect example of a dish that presents an unexpected end result, despite being made of very simple ingredients.  I guess this is like Aristotle’s saying, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”  Tomatoes, bread, olive oil, basil – they make it seem so effortless!

Technically not an antipasto, ribollita is a traditional Tuscan soup made from lentils, vegetables, and bread.

Also not an antipasto, I tried farinata while I was Cinque Terre, a flat bread made from chickpea flour and pepper.  I could eat this everyday!

Primi Piatti

Cacio e pepe
Handmade square spaghetti with pecorino cheese and black pepper.  This minimalist pasta is nothing like mac and cheese.  It was so tempting to keep ordering this every time I saw it on a menu, but I stopped myself to at least give other regional dishes a try.

This tried this penne in Bolognese sauce at a highly recommended restaurant in Florence.  I thought it tasted exactly like Hamburger Helper!  I’m not sure if this is knock on the restaurant or a compliment for Hamburger Helper…

Vegetarian ravioli served with creamy walnut sauce.  The description sounded awesome, but I was hoodwinked!  This dish was terribly mediocre.

Secondi Piatti

Cuttlefish cooked in its own ink, with a side of polenta.  It looks like a pool of mud with two slices of Sara Lee pound cake, but it was d e l i c i o u s.  I really wanted to try its sister dish, Spaghetti al nero di seppia, but the polenta was an excellent alternative.  After halfway through, I really couldn’t eat anymore cuttlefish and polenta (they are too similar in texture), so I packed it away and it was just as yummy the next day.

Roast veal at Mario’s, a family-run eatery in Florence, where you can barely even grab a seat at their shared tables.

Trippa alla Florentina
I had this at the same place I ate penne Bolognese in Florence, but this was the redeeming dish of the night.  A gigantic plate of tripe might sound dizzying, but I came to this trattoria with a friend, so the tripe plus the penne Bolognese plus a 1/4 liter of red wine were perfectly split.  After a long day trip to Siena, this warm, hearty meal was very much appreciated!

Seafood “Cecio” Risotto
The absolute BEST thing I have eaten in Europe!!!  I was in Cinque Terre with a new friend and we were desperately looking for a quality trattoria to compensate for all the bad tourist food we ate in Rome.  A local recommended Cecio to us.  The trattoria was perfect.  It sat along the Ligurian coast, and we sat down at around sunset.  THIS was the view from the restaurant terrace ⋁⋁⋁

The seafood risotto was the most delicious thing I have eaten in who knows how long.  The waitress brought out a gigantic ceramic pot with the risotto and shellfish bubbling at the bottom.  I took my spoon, scooped a little bit of rice into my mouth, and moaned “Oh Jesus Christ.”

…I have no idea how to describe this dish.  Buttery, shellfish-y, risotto perfectly al dente… The flavor just hit me hard!  I could just tell from the first taste that the chef delicately prepared the risotto with a masterly control and love for cooking.

The risotto was followed by grilled bass.  The waiter came over and carved the fish right in front of us, leaving behind not much meat after he took the carcass away.  It was simple, fresh, and reminded me a lot of the fish my Mom makes back home.

 Dolci

@ Gelateria Vivoli, widely argued as the best gelato in Florence.  Mini budino, rum and raisin on the left side, amaretto on the right side.  The amaretto was awesome.

@ Grom, a chic gelato chain all over Italy and now New York and Tokyo.  This place was actually shockingly good!  The line to get into Grom is always ridiculous, so I took every opportunity to go whenever it was short.

The first night in Venice, I tried salty caramel and Cassata, a Sicilian desert made from dried fruits.
The second night I tried white nougat and  Crema di Grom, which is their trademark flavor made from cookies and chocolate chips.
They were all excellent!

@  Gelateria Artigianale.  This was my favorite, most memorable gelateria.  Albert and Christina, a sibling duo, run Gelateria Artigianale in Corniglia, one of the five towns in Cinque Terre.  After eating lots of blah gelato in Rome, their honey gelato was heavenly.  Plus, they make a lot of their flavors from local delicacies, such as the gourmet honey sold all over Cinque Terre.

The next morning, I couldn’t help but go back and have the pistaccio gelato for breakfast!
I would give them all my pocket change if I could.

@ Caffe Sant’Eustachio.  Granita – a light coffee dessert made from sugar and ice

@ somewhere in Venice.  DO NOT EAT THIS PASTRY!  It was gross, hard, stale, tasteless.  A waste of my 2.80 euro!  I should have known when I read the English translation on the sign: “Typical Venezian Pastry.”

Aperitivo and Cicchetti

For only 5 euro, I had a glass of white wine and unlimited snacks!  Probably the best deal I have had in Italy.

Occupy Rome

I picked a tricky time to travel Europe.  For the past few weeks, I have been in Germany, Austria, and Czech Republic, but the weather was freezing, so I hopped over to Rome to enjoy the Mediterranean climate.  I’ve actually been having an amazing time in Rome, until yesterday, anti-austerity protests made their way to Rome.  Thousands gathered around the Colosseum to “occupy Rome.”  The protests then quickly turned violent and riots spread throughout the city.  During the day I only saw small groups of people chanting, so I assumed it was still safe for me to be walking around alone.  After dinner, however, I made my way back to the train station and the entire metro system was shut down.  I was led around by Italian signs pointing to a substitute bus line, but I never found such a bus and eventually just had to walk across town back to my hostel in the dark with some other lost tourists.  I then tuned into BBC that night, and finally saw the news.  Violent riots had broken out near the Colosseum.  Some protestors even turned to smashing banks and tearing apart ATM machines.  Later as I spoke to a local about the incidents, she explained the violent rioters, equipped with black bloc gear, come from an extremist group with no political affiliation but an affinity for causing disruption.

Then the next morning after leaving my hostel, I saw bits of broken glass on the streets.  Right across the street, I saw a bank with its windows smashed in, similar to an image I had seen on BBC the night before.

Photo credit: BBC

ATM machines were ripped apart, computer screen shattered, keyboard missing.  Huge splatters of red paint covered the walls.  Entire strips of buildings covered in “Riot!” and “Anti-Austerity!” and the anarchy symbol.  Two adjacent cars were burnt to a crisp.  Nothing left but the metal frame of the vehicle and the metal springs of the car seats.  The entire street smelled like burnt rubber.  It is days like these that I really question my decision to backpack through Europe alone.

Some pics of the aftermath

After spending the last two months in Bangladesh and India, I step foot in Europe for the first time yesterday.  My first destination: Munich.  Oktoberfest was a novel experience, to say the least.  Great food, great steins of beer, candied nuts, bratwurst, live cover bands, dancing on tables to “Que Sera Sera.”  Attend largest hot mess festival in the world?  Check!

My brother and I arriving at Munich airport

Having a traditional Bavarian breakfast at the Hippodrom Biere Garden.  Wheat beer, 2 sausages, a pretzel, and honey mustard dip.  Apparently you cannot eat this after 12 or else you’ll be made a fool!

Those people aren’t standing… they’re dancing on tables.

Apparently the waiters earn $15,000-20,000 in these two weeks – NOT including tips.

I tried so hard to catch a photo of the waiters in action, but they move seriously fast!  They carry 10-15 liters of beer in glass steins, bulldozing through crowds of drunks.  The most impressive waiters were the short, stout women in hiking boots and skirts, keeping the beer nestled in their double-D’s.  I can only imagine how much they earn in tips.

 Good chinese girl!