Palladio Card…Stunning Veneto…again!!!

Damn, this summer has escaped her and in this heat and humidity, she is just pinning away to get back to Veneto and get her PalladioCard and see the Festa della Ceramica in Nove, near Marostica and Bassano del Grappa. If anyone is planning on being near Venice, Verona or Trieste, you must go get your PalladioCard and visit the villas in this area.

Having passed Palazzo Barbaran www.cisapalladio.org in early April or was that late March…anyway the bug was planted from that day on. Every time she traipses through Veneto, she has eyes only for those fabulous (not just the big villas) Palladian agricultural magnate’s homes…the working “farms” per se. The richness of those homes, landowners, working ranches; just the crumbled site of these places makes her go insane. She craves a fabulous Palladian home…the simplicity of the windows, the elegance on the exterior and balance.

Have you ever really “looked” at a window in the Veneto? The fact the storm doors or shutters are inset from the line of the house meaning, the window opening is at least a foot and a half in depth so the glass portion of the window is nearest the interior followed by the shutters but still within the frame of the window opening of the building (in the photo left, there is an example of inside the window opening and outside, the lower windows). Then on the outside of the opening is the decoration and thus, you have an ultra refined system of closing off the glass portion to keep out the elements out without destroying or detracting from the finesse of Palladian elements on the exterior. God, it is stupendous! She has got to find a house with these hinged (4 panels) shutters allowing one to open them in quarters and to fold them back so elegantly against the window opening without disturbing the “eye candy,” if you will.

Here are a few links just to whet your appetites and while looking and planning, you must find a way to catch a show at the Teatro Olimipico, what a sight!! VILLA_BADOER


Villa Contarini, Villa Emo, Villa Godi, Villa Poiana, www.comune.caldogno.vi.it , Villa di Maser, Villa Pisani, Teatro Olimpico

Roma, Bellissima!

It has been way too long since going back to Roma, such an amazing city, so full of history and architecture. The Roman women are very unique in their style; American guys looking for a hot woman, you need to check these out, so different from the Milanese lady. Rome is not far from Napoli so it has quite a strong southern influence; the driving is insane but not quite as bad as Napoli (although not far from matching it if not surpassing Napoletan drivers). Taxi drivers are still arguing in the streets at the taxi stand at Roma Termini (the pirates vs the legal taxi drivers), and waiters and owners are still hawking business from the sidewalks in front of their activity or on the plaza square. Prices are horrendous in all the cafes and pizzerias (terrible food in the tourist zones...I mean how can you screw up a pizza???). There is trash alongside the curbs, not just cigarette butts, even though trash cans are frequent and visible; again I realize man is the only creature who shits where it eats and sleeps.

Nonetheless, Rome breathes a different air, the sidewalks are wide and easily walkable compared to Milano, the architectural eye candy is astonishing, the spirit of the Romans transports you to another time. They are packed with pride about their city as well as, packed with fire and personality (watch your pockets however) ready to talk, to argue, to actively engage in just about anything; Rome truly bustles with life. I can see why Alessia (swimmer representing Italy in the World's these last weeks, but from Rome) loves her city and why she is proud; and my love/hate affair with this crazy country continues. How can one not love this world of history and wonders?

Su questo blog...About this Blog

English translation below

In questo blog, abbiamo l’intenzione di parlare di piacere; mangiare e bere sono per noi due atti che non devono essere semplicemente l’ingestione di sostanze alimentari. Mangiare e bere del buon vino, è e deve essere una faccenda culturale completa, a 360 gradi. Oltre al gusto, deve essere un’esperienza che deve dare piacere per mezzo anche degli altri sensi; un'esperienza completa dove anche l’ambiente ed il contesto, devono fare parte di ciò che stiamo facendo.

Non vogliamo però prenderci troppo sul serio, altrimenti che piacere sarebbe? Parleremo quindi anche di piccole avventure legate alla tavola ed ai nostri giri enogastronomici in Italia, in Europa ed anche al di fuori del vecchio continente. Solo un’altra piccola nota: per quanto riguarda i Ristoranti, citeremo solo quelli che ci sentiamo di consigliare senza riserve a chi avrà la pazienza di leggerci. I prezzi medi dei singoli locali, saranno citati, ma non avranno influenza per quanto riguarda il giudizio finale. Fare un'esperienza gastronomica di un certo rilievo, ci sembra valga qualche piccolo sforzo nell’usare il portafoglio, no? GP

The intention of this blog is to talk about pleasurable things, which for us, is about eating and imbibing well; two conscious acts not just the ingestion of food. Eating well and drinking good wine brings us full circle culturally. Besides flavor, this must be an experience giving pleasure to all the other senses; where the senses participate in what we are doing thus creating the total environment. We do not wish to take ourselves too seriously either otherwise, what kind of pleasure would that be?

We will also present small adventures tied to our gastronomic and enological escapades in Italy, Europe as well as, away from the Old World. As a side note, we will only cite restaurants we feel compelled to discuss limitlessly for those who have the patience to read about them. Prices will be listed but in no way will the price influence our final judgment of the locale. After all, a little extra effort from the pocket-book for a gastronomic experience is usually worth the effort, right? SW
There will also be some naughty stories, sex jokes, sensual recipes, sensual cooking, romantic and romance, Italy, history, passionate, travel, languid days, languid kitchens, soft lights, sexy settings, romantic settings, hot, steamy ideas.