PlanetEye

Wondering around in Padova for an afternoon is easy to do. The streets offer a lingering stroll through a city that has retained much of its "Authentic Italian" feel despite the proximity to Venice, which is a huge tourist draw, and Vicenza, which is the location for the US Army base. The streets offer a unique look at this mid-evil town and have a lot of hidden jewels that are tucked away down the countless side streets in the Ghetto (old Jewish neighborhood) and around Il Duomo.

While wondering around searching for a place to grab a pizza for dinner, I stumbled across Pizzeria Medina on via Barbarigo. This quaint little pizzeria is truly amazing and offers countless pages of different types of pizza. Although there aren't many tables, 15 or less, it can cater to large parties of 6 or 7 or intimate 1 on 1 seating arrangements. The kitchen is open and easily viewed from the entire restaurant and I found it interesting to watch as the Mara, the man preparing the pizzas, tossed the dough into the air and then stretched it on the edge of the counter without it breaking. The oven is wood burning which makes for the perfect pizza crust so I'm told. The owner is Dominico and is always present, sometimes preparing a pizza himself or pouring beers at the bar. His wife, Mara, is the head waitress and will put anything on a pizza that you ask for or have a question about. 

The pizza was amazing! I had a diavola with salsiccia and cipolle (spicy peperoni with Italian sausage and onions) and a large beer (which turned out to be 1 liter). The price was really affordable, less than 20 Euro for pizza, beer, and limoncello as a dessert. For my money, this is the best pizza in Padova and as far as a digestivo of Limoncello, it was smooth and didn't burn like some of the cheaper brands.

I suggest calling for a reservation on Friday and Saturday night if you are going to be there later than 7:30pm. If Sunday was any indication, you'll need it because the place fills up fast and people were waiting on the street. To see photos click here and then click on the Photo gallery link.

Address:

Via S. Barbarigo, 18
35100 - Centro Storico (PD)

Telephone: +39 049 654-597
 

After the marathon had finished, or at least until I saw my friend Giacomo finish in a triumphant celebration as he passed my viewing point on via Roma, I decided to enjoy some of the beautiful day and explore Padova more thoroughly. I wandered back towards the main center of town and found myself standing in front of a Caffè Pedrocchi.

Caffè Pedrocchi is in the heart of Padova, near Piazza Bo and the University. The ground floor is divided into three different rooms, a green room, a white room, and a red room...all signifying the colors of the Italian national flag. It was built between 1826 and 1831 in pure neo-classic style. It is from this that, in 1938, next to the South entrance "The Pedrocchino" was built in strict neo-gothic taste in order to house the confectioners shop for making all of their own pastries. On the upper floor there are magnificent rooms, each one furnished with a different theme. There is the Herculaneuan Room, the Greek Room, Renaissance Room, and my personal favorite the Egyptian Room. There is also a great ballroom dedicated to Rossini, who was a friend of architect, Jappelli.The caffè immediately became the hub of city life. It was frequented by professors and students from the University that was nearby in Piazza Bo and was the hub of the Resorgimental uprisings in 1848.  

The interior is classy. The center white room is where you will find the bar and there are tables surrounding the open air space. The drinks are a little expensive but well worth the indulgence. In the evenings it becomes more of a wine bar for the upscale patrons of Padova, but students are also welcome and not turned away. They employ a DJ that usually has a mix of house, reggae, jazz, and fusion playing in the background. The drinks are served with a wide variety of things to nibble on at the bar.

If the weather is nice, it becomes the caffè without doors and is completely open-aired. There are also some tables seated outside on the patio area between the entrances with the Lions. At any rate, this is a quick stop that must not be over-looked when you are visiting Padova. It's great any time of day.

This week the weather has been absolutely terrible. A solid week of being inside was just about to drive me crazy, so last Friday night I decided I was going to go out. Since the weather was terrible, I thought that I could enrich my sense of culture by attending a concert that I had heard about through small conversations on the street. I knew that the concerts were limited as far as actual concert dates go, so I bought my ticket for La Musica ai Tempi di Goldoni "Music From the Times of Goldoni" in Piazza San Marco a couple days early.

The concert has two concert dates a month and focuses on the music composed at the time of Carlo Goldoni, which is the 17th century. The concert is like that of a greatest hits concert of today. There were a number of different composers represented by the program from Vivaldi, Handel, and Mozart. However, some of the music from Mozart was specific excerpts from his operas. This type of selection also held true for a couple of selections from Galuppi and Haydn, but still good selections. 

There is also a short narration before each selection to help the audience understand something more about the piece and the composer. The pieces that were presented on the night that I attended were not well-known by me, but were rather different from the usual, mainstream, classical selections that can be found on every CD in every record store. As a fellow musician I found it refreshing and entertaining.

The price is a bit high for the minimalism of the concert but not a bad deal considering it's a cultured evening out in Venice.

Where: Carlo Goldoni's House

           San Polo 2794,
           30125 Venezia

Tel. +39 (041) 275-9325
Fax +39 (041) 244-0081

Email:  mkt.musei@comune.venezia.it

Tickets: General Admission €20, Reduced €15 (students under 29, and Senior Citizens over 65)

You can buy tickets at the Goldoni House or The Vivaldi Store, located at San Marco 5537. Tickets can be bought during the hours of operation until the day of the concert when ticket sales end at 6pm. 

Concert Dates (as of Today): April 25, May 16 and 30, June 6 and 27

All concerts are at 6pm.

Venice boasts many exhibitions throughout the summer varying from art and music, to the world of invention. For many weeks I’ve been planning on visiting the exhibit of the interactive machines of Leonardo reproduced from his drawings. If you’re a movie buff, you’ll find this exhibition in the church that was featured in the third Indiana Jones film in Campo San Barnaba.

The exhibit presents over 30 models of mechanical, building, flying and war machines. The “machines” have been made of wood, metal, and fabric on a scaled down version for things like flying machines and boats for war to life size exhibits that deal with light, all produced by skilled and qualified Florentine artisans under expert engineer’s supervision. Some of the models are interactive and can be handled by the public, others that are more fragile have a strict “Do Not Touch” policy, but for the engineer in all of us it becomes an interesting walk through the pages of Leonardo’s notebook, but may not be perfect for younger children. You don’t need very much time to visit the exhibition, maximum of an hour. The information for each model is presented in Italian, English, and French.

Some of the models include The Glider, Cam Hammer, Air Screw (forerunner of the helicopter), Helical Gear, The Bicycle, and Archimede’s Screw for lifting water.

Where: Chiesa di San Barnaba

           Campo San Barnaba

Cost:    Aduts €6,00
           Reduced €4,00
           Schools €2,50

When: Open everyday from 9:30am – 7:30pm

          From Now until December 30, 2008

Public Transport: Vaporetto Line #1, Ca’ Rezzonico Stop

Info: Gianni Tarchiani

Via Pescine, 39

 50010 S. Donato in Collina (Firenze)

Cell: 335-537-9071

Email: giannitarchiani@virgilio.it

The weather has finally turned to the feel of springtime in the Veneto. It may not last because of the old saying “April Showers bring May Flowers”, but I sure wasn’t going to let an afternoon slip by where I could enjoy a relaxing afternoon in the Piazza. While I was contemplating exactly which piazza I would like to spend my afternoon in, I realized that more that anything I wanted to be where the action was…so Piazza San Marco was the obvious answer. There are many places to sit and enjoy the weather, however in Venice most of these places are a café, bar, or restaurant with seating outside. So since I had already eaten lunch, and really wasn’t in the mood for a coffee, I opted for a Bellini (which is Prosecco and peach juice) invented by Hemingway in 1948. But where to go? Then I remembered Harry’s Bar.  I had always read about this place in the guide books, and many people said that they had been there and had a nice time. So I thought, why not? If it’s good enough for Ernest Hemingway, Katharine Hepburn, and Robert DeNiro, then it’s good enough for me.

Harry’s Bar is a short walk from Piazza San Marco, no more than 5 minutes. The outside wasn’t all that alluring and it didn’t appear to be an awful place, so I went in. Inside I found myself terribly underdressed, although I thought that a pair of nice pants and button down shirt was more dressed up than I needed to be for a bar. I finally ordered my drink and was overwhelmed by how long it took to get the wait staff to actually acknowledge that I was there, and after, how they simply preferred not to look at me. I honestly didn’t feel as if I was welcome there and that the sooner I left the better. For this reason, as well as the price, I decided that dinner was not an option.

The bar was crowded and everybody had the same look on their face as if to say “What the F---?! What was I thinking? The writers of my guide book should be drug out into the street and shot!” The bar itself had no atmosphere, at least no Venice atmosphere and there are barely any tables to enjoy yourself. If you do get the chance to sit at one of the tables and actually order something…BUCKLE UP because the food and the drinks are HIDIOUSLY overpriced (15 Euro = $23 for one drink) and to be honest, not that good either. I can get the same foofy drinks at a number of any other bars and pay less than half of what I did at Harry’s. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll happily pay an exuberant amount of money for a nice glass of wine, ask any of my friends, but I won’t pay that much money for no atmosphere and a glass of dishwater with an orange wedge dangling on the side of the glass. FYI for wine drinkers: Harry’s Bar doesn’t serve ANY wine.

Ignore all of the guidebooks and stay away from Harry’s if you want to experience “The Real Venice”. However, if you want to sit and waste a lot of time AND money being waited on by the most unfriendly waiters Venice has to offer while waiting for celebrities that will never show up…then be my guess. When you leave I’ll be waiting for you around the corner at the authentic Venetian bar.

I have not rated this bar because I think that 1 Star is giving Harry's Bar too much credit.

Overall, the atmosphere was great and the service was acceptable. The prices were moderate and not as trendy as the place seemed upon first notice. This small bar at the end of the main piazza boasted a wide variety of clientele. There were the elderly, Italian ladies in their diamond rings and Gucci bags, but also the younger crowd that ordered Coke’s and sandwiches wearing Levi Jeans and sporting baseball hats. It was the perfect place to stop in the evening for a relaxing drink and some wonderful outside atmosphere.

While having lunch with a friend of mine the other day, I ran across a hidden little place in Dorsoduro, Trattoria da Silvio. This cozy and wonderful restaurant offers a small breath of fresh air from the hustle and bustle of "tourist Venice". Hidden near the University on a back road it boasts a wonderful variety of typical Venetian dishes as well as the traditional pastas and pizzas that you can expect while visiting the area. The inside is warm and comfortable, but the best part of the restaurant is the back patio that has plenty of room to give you and your dining partner some room to breath after a long day of cramped Venice streets.

I had a wonderful dish of penne all'arrabiata (penne with a spicy sauce made with bacon and onions) and my friend had the fried calamari which was also delightful. The wine list is complete enough for a light lunch or heavy, filling dinner and is quite complete with a wide variety of wines from different regions. We tried a lovely bottle of Montepulciano, not too strong but not too weak either. The house wine is good for a hot summer day as it is slightly chilled when served. This restaurant is perfect for the budget traveler but is elegant enough to support that special night out. The friendly and fast service almost made our heads spin. The price is right and the portions are a plateful! Don't pass by if you are in the neighborhood.