piran café

On an early summer morning in 2003, I spotted a copy of Jan Morris’s Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere in the bookshop of the Newcastle train station. I was heading to Trieste in a very roundabout sort of way, due to arrive at 2:05 am the next morning. I bought it and spent the rest of the day –on trains, in small airport lounges and uncomfortable budget carrier planes– reading her fascinating memoir of the once mighty northern Adriatic port city, one she had often characterized as her favorite. There was a strong sense of melancholy exuding from the pages; there was simply no other way for Morris to remember a city that history had since chosen to relegate to the sidelines, one that is now simply trying to live out its uselessness.

Just as I finished, two whistle stops from the Centrale station, I experienced part of what she was talking about. Without explanation or warning, the train came to a halt and we were told to step off and travel the remaining 28 kilometers by bus. By the time I arrived at the station she so vividly described, I was an hour-and-a-half behind schedule, missed my ride to Portoroz just across the border in Slovenia, and was forced spend the next four hours trying to explain –no, not justify– the George W. Bush doctrine to a stoned and hysterically giggling French-speaking spitting image of Bob Marley who was out walking his unkempt scrawny mutt. I had arrived in Nowhere.

The moral? Choose your travel reading carefully.

But much has changed in those ensuing five years. At least as far as the station is concerned. I used it regularly during the year I lived in Piran, and while hints of its past glory were evident, you had to look well beyond the grit to find them. It’s gotten a complete makeover since; the main entry looks terrific, there are a few new shops, a large airy cafe, and a very convenient grocery store. Morris would probably approve.

Related: The €100 million renovation at the massive Milano Centrale, my favorite Italian station, continues. The new moving sidewalks/escalators are finished and functioning, and new artworks –one-fifth of the total budget was earmarked to restore “areas of high artistic value”– appear during every lay over. No word on completion date.

Trieste Station, originally uploaded by pirano.

Earlier this year, a convenient, fairly popular and reasonably quick Ljubljana-Venice route was sliced from the timetables. It was Trenitalia that wielded the scalpel, choosing to use the tracks in the late AM hours for local traffic.

So now the only option with a reasonable departure time is routed north through Villach, Austria (where you change), and then back south via Udine. Aesthetically, it’s a much nicer ride; the downside is that the old 3 hr 20 min trip is extended to just under 5 1/2 hrs. Another upside is that you arrive about two hours earlier than with the old option, opening several more options if you’re connecting onwards from Venezia-Mestre.

Dep Ljubljana 08:05 – IC 310
Arr Villach Hbf 10:00
Dep Villach Hbf 10:37 – OEC 31 / EC 31
Arr Venezia Mestre – 13:18
Arr Venezia Santa Lucia – 13:30

With at least seven day advance purchase, price is as low as 15 EUR one-way. Much less than the cost of parking your car for an afternoon in Venice.

Ljubljana-bound from Venice:

Most practical is the same route with a mid-afternoon departure, travel time 5 hrs, 4 min.

Dep Venezia Santa Lucia 14:44 – EC 30
Dep Venezia Mestre 14:56
Arr Villach Hbf 17:40
Dep Villach Hbf 18:04 – IC 311
Arr Ljubljana 19:48

If you don’t mind a much later arrival, you can leave Venice in the evening, no change, and spend less time traveling (4 hr 24 min).

Dep Venezia Santa Lucia 21:27 – EN 241
Dep Venezia Mestre – 21:40
Arr Ljubljana 01:51

Some more info on the SLO Rail site. As always the first place to look for connections in all of Europe (EU and non-EU) is Bahn.de.

Discovered this Italian singer from Putomayo’s Music From the Winelands compilation. Simply Fabulous.

Here’s an interview with Capossela with NPR’s All Things Considered last January.

“I have an attitude about the grotesque in my shows,” Capossela says. “I like to scare people a little, but then make them feel safe again, and go home hugging each other like friends.”

This is Si è spento il sole, roughly, The Sun has been Extinguished.

[Official Website] [tour schedule]

Meant to post this months ago, but there’s still a little time:

If you’ve watched old Hollywood crime films from the 1930s and 40s, you’ll have seen plenty of Speed Graphics in action, those bulky cameras with large bulbs that could light up a dark alley at night. Among the most widely regarded real news photographers of the day was Weegee, whose street beat work in New York City set the news photography standard.

Born Usher Fellig in Ukraine, he earned his non de guerre from the Ouija board, given his knack to be first on the scene, whether a fire, riot, ghastly car accident or grisly murder. The right place at the right time. He would often sleep in his car –where he had a portable darkroom set up– and was the first photographer given permission by the police to listen in on police band short wave radio.

Those tabloid newspaper street scenes are well represented among the 100+ currently on display at the Palazzo della Ragione in Milan, but the best work is that which goes beyond the screaming headlines. He shot everything, from the good to the bad, but apparently enjoyed focusing on the bad. He spent a lot of time examining the racial tension, the class divide and general anxiety of the city between the Great Depression and immediate post-WW II era. Some of the best shots are opposite of the event he’s there to witness, capturing onlooker’s reactions. I was captivated watching other exhibit visitor’s reactions.

Unknown Weegee, Palazzo della Ragione, a block away from Duomo square. 7 EUR. Thru 12-Oct.

And if you won’t be in Milan over the next eight days, The International Center for Photography, who own some 18,000 Weegee images, has a slide show of the exhibit.

weegee in Milano, originally uploaded by pirano.

Hotel Luciani
Via Milazzo, 8
00185 Rome, Italy

Luciani is one of the dozens (or perhaps hundreds?) of little hotels that appear in every nook and cranny near Rome’s Termini (main) train station.

A tiny room, Spartan bed, old bedstand, barred windows and rickety closet gave this place the feel of prison chic. But looks can be deceiving, since you are allowed to come and go as you please and you don’t have to share a shower. Breakfast –a pile of bread washed down with coffee from a cheap machine– lends itself nicely to the incarceration theme.

In fairness, you can’t expect much more in Rome these days for 50 EUR/night to enjoy 2-star comfort.

Upside? It’s less than a five minute stroll to platform 6 at the Termini station. Wifi is available, 5 EUR/6 hrs.

I will not stay here again.

Luciani – Rome, originally uploaded by pirano.

Cityhotel Central Station
Via Giovanni Battista Sammartini 15
Milano, Italy

True to its name, this place is a five-minute stroll from Milano Centrale Station. As you can see, I had a fairly large room, with a big window overlooking a boulevard through which I learned, among other things, that Milanese streetcleaners are particularly loud at 3:30 in the morning.

On the plus side? Free wifi (that doesn’t work everywhere) and the parakeet in the lobby with a firm command of English, Italian and Mandarin Chinese. And a decent and relatively inexpensive sushi joint a few doors away.

59 EUR/night for a single, w/private bath.

I’m never one to say never, but I shall (probably) not return.

Cityhotel Central Station – Milano, originally uploaded by pirano.

Monopole
Via Fabio Filzi 43
20124 Milan

Stayed one night, 27-Nov-2007

Great location, just about a five minute stroll from the Centrale station. Roomy, nice, comfortable; breakfast left a bit to be desired, but best of all, I got it through venere for just 35 EUR/night. Free wi-fi in the public areas and several rooms.

I shall (absolutely) return.

A distinct possibility, according to popular Italian blogger and political activist Beppe Grillo.

Ricardo Franco Levi, a confidante of Prime Minister Romano Prodi, authored a draft law which would mandate all bloggers to register their blogs, pay taxes and submit to government regulation. Italy’s Council of Ministers approved the draft on 12 October.

Writes Grillo:

The Levi-Prodi law lays out that anyone with a blog or a website has to register it with the ROC, a register of the Communications Authority, produce certificates, pay a tax, even if they provide information without any intention to make money.

Besides China, is this happening, or being proposed, anywhere else? 

Via boingboing

Goethe 2 (Friday 13th of Jul 2007), Villa Borghese, Rome, originally uploaded by pirano.

On more quick Udine follow-up…

This week marks the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of Caporetto (Slovenia’s Kobarid) aka the ‘Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo’, the last of the battles on the Izonzo front (Soška fronta), and the one immortalized by Hemmingway in A Farewell to Arms. Lasting 17 days, it was a bloody romp of Italy by Austria and the assisting Germans, leaving 11,000 Italian dead, another 20,000 injured, with an astounding 270,000 taken prisoner.

Listening to an anniversary newsblurb was a reminder that I forgot to mention Prigionieri Della Guerra (Prisoners of War): Caporetto e Dintorni, a photo exhibit now showing at the Udine castle. I find field photography from World War I utterly fascinating, particularly of the battles on the rugged Soška fronta. I will definitely head back to check this out. Through 06-Jan.

now showing, originally uploaded by pirano.

Udine briefly revisited: I’m not really a voyeur, but it was fun taking this pic, selected a few days ago as the popular travel blog Gadling’s Photo of the Day. Gadling had a major overhaul yesterday, by the way, so check it out.

If you happen to know this couple (shot was taken at 16:42 CET on Friday 12-Oct across from Udine Castle), let me know.

Udine 04, originally uploaded by pirano.

I had but one regret when I finally visited Udine last weekend: that I hadn’t made it there before.

The center of northeast Italy’s Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region, this charming town of just under 100,000 has a lot going for it. Its historic center is well-preserved and maintained; it’s missing lots (most?) of the grit that is common in many Italian cities; great food is a way of life; pretentiousness seems to be a foreign concept; and, oh yeah, it’s in the heart of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia wine country, and its Slovenia name is Videm.

From relatively narrow confines –beginning at the the sprawling Piazza Primo Maggio (May 1st), up and over castle hill, through the Piazza della Liberta and ending at the airy Piazza Matteotti– there is something for everybody. Some buildings date back to the late 12th C., and 15th C. Venetian influences are nearly as common as restaurants and wine bars. One solid recommendation is the Caffe Contarena, next to (or part of?) the 15th C. Logia del Lionello at the Piazza della Liberta. Not cheap but not outlandish either; I can still taste the polentina and the mushroom-stuffed ravioli. Ambiance is incredible, worth a visit just to enjoy its art deco interior (the right half) and the arch-shaped wine bar (left half).

Castle Hill (castello) is a must. The castle itself took its present shape in the latter 16th C. after the 1511 earthquake and it houses a nice little art museum (admission 1(!!) EUR) and Parliament Hall, one of the oldest such rooms in Europe.

Vino: I lost track of the few dozen wines I tried and note-taking was not usually an option. A few stellar standouts (semi) permanently etched into memory:

- Edi Keber Collio Rosso 2004 – Intense, big, well-structured, and packs a tasty wallop. Plenty of berry, leathery notes, and will certainly improve with age. Of course, there is a Slovenian connection here, not a particularly big surprise in wine-producing terms, where political boundaries mean nothing. Keber is from Zegla (Collio), a village a few hundred meters from the Slovenia’s Medana.
- Livio Felluga Vertigo 2005 – A cab sav/merlot blend, light leather and pleasant cherry notes. Like many wines already on the market these days, this is still quite young, and has the backbone and elegance to live on quite nicely.

This is primarily white wine country, and you can’t go wrong with the local masterpieces produced from the local Tokai Friulano (new EU regulations have forced producers on the Slovenian side of the border to change the name of the grape), a bone dry, elegant white.
- Mullino delle Tolle Tokai Friulano 2005. I can’t say enough about this wine, so I’ll keep it simple. From its light gold color to it wildflower aromas to its savory and delicate almondy taste, this is a nothing less than the wildest of fantasies in a bottle pleading to be uncorked. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

Getting there: There are regular rail connections via Trieste and Venice/Mestre, nearest airport is Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional (aka Trieste or Ronchi, about a 30 min drive), and it’s a leisurely two hour (160 km) drive from Ljubljana.

Plenty of Udine pics here.

Udine 19, originally uploaded by pirano.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

“Serbia to Tokyo.” Seen atop castle hill in Udine, Italy, 12-Oct-2007. Perhaps I’m just over-analyzing?

A new political movement?, originally uploaded by pirano.

Hauled these bottles home from a recent visit to Rome, and humbly seek your suggestions, comments, notes, etc. on any and all. Thanks!

- Bigi Aliatico di Gradoli (vini Liquoroso), N/V
- Bersano Barolo 2003
- Vigneti la Selvanella Chianti Classico Riserva 2001

- Cadis (Cantina di Soave) Amarone della Valpolicella 2004
- Prunotto Dolcetto D’Alba 2006
- Nino Negri Inferno Valtellina Superiore 2004
- Mastroberardino Radici Fiano di Avellino 2005

Stella
Via Castelfidardo 51
Rome

Stayed three nights, 11-14 July 2007.

There’s no shortage of relatively cheap places to lay your weary head in the Italian capital. There seem to be hundreds of hotels and pensions just within a four or five block radius of the main Termini station. That’s always most convenient for me, and that’s where I look.

The Stella (60 EUR/night) is a leisurely 10-minute walk from Termini, close enough for convenience sake and just far enough to escape the loud bustle. Clean, if somewhat small rooms, polite and helpful staff (although they’ve yet to master the difference between Slovenia and Slovakia). The shower is tiny. You can check your email for free in a room next to reception. Breakfast is >very< basic, but enough to get you moving. The closest metro stops –Repubblica and Termini– are about a 10-minute walk away. There’s a decent pub next door, and a terrific “African” (read, Ethiopian) restaurant just around the corner.

I shall (probably/maybe) return.

Stella’s Venere.com page.

A big problem facing young couples everywhere, including here in Slovenia is the affordability of apartments; here in Ljubljana, rents are high and buying is getting outrageous. So many either choose to or are forced to live with their parents.

And with that come other problems, like stealing some time and finding a place to get away to be alone. Those couples don’t need my advice for that; I’m sure they’ve managed just fine.

Nonetheless, here’s an idea for some dreamy entrepreneurs who don’t know what to do with that piece of land they’ve inherited from their grandparents: instead of selling the farm to British weekenders, why not create a love park?

That’s what Giuseppe Foggetti did for those pining for some private time in Bari, Italy.

My idea was to create a place for those who want to spend intimate moments together without thinking whether someone would be shocked if they saw it.

According to this site, there’s a proverb in Bari that goes something like this:

U prime vase vene arrebbate, u seconde vene denate or, The first kiss is stolen, the second is given.

But for the budget-minded, keep track of what you’re being given because the meter is running. Initial entry is 3 euro, with each additional 30 minutes setting you back another 1.50.

Thanks to Eva at Gadling for clueing me in.

* (Edited to add: No, I can’t take credit for the post title. Apparently Metro.uk beat me to it. Damn!)

Quick trip to Venice (2 1/2 hr drive from Ljubljana) the other day; the working plan was to check out Picasso: La Joie de Vivre at the Palazzo Grassi. Unfortunately the closest we were able to get to the exhibit was to take this picture of what I think is the coolest exhibit placard I’ve seen anywhere this year. It’s showing through 11-March, so another trip is in order. With some tickets reserved in advance.

All was certainly not lost; the afternoon was beautiful, sunny and with an invigorating chill in the air. And in the company of two beautiful women, I was able to live out at least part of my latent James Bond fantasies. Both are artists, both are cunning, and both were armed and quite trigger happy throughout the afternoon. (I’d post links to their websites, but they still aren’t up and running yet.)

A few more pics:

The new moon just opposite the Palazzo Grassi; a guy hustling just around the corner from Piazza S. Marco, and a nifty sculpture in a gallery courtyard.

Sleepy town, a Milanese suburb about 35 minutes from Milano Centrale. Not much here, but I did find these cool hands in the main square.

Here’s a few shots from around Rome’s Olympic Stadium. Still looks good 46 years later.

ROME — So, yeah, I rode in a scab cab. I didn’t know it though, when I got in. It was a relatively long ride, 20 to 25 minutes or so, but it didn’t really get interesting until we began to weave our way around a small roadblock on the road parallel to the Circus Maximus. The obstruction consisted of a handful of cabs, a half-hearted attempt at best.

“Signore, is there supposed to be a strike?” I asked the driver.

“Yes,” he said, “will be big problem.”

That came as we approached the Piazza Venezia, the enormous square filled with massive marble structures that celebrate the glory that was Rome. There were lots of cabs, hundreds perhaps, blocking roads on every side of the square, while drivers stood in small groups chatting, smoking, drinking coffee, and making plans for more glory.

Until my driver tried to to get through one of the roadblocks.

That was when the taunting began, at first playful, before the anger amplified. Pretty soon things were being said about my mother, my grandmother and her mother.

“We go another way,” the driver said.

Yup, brilliant idea.

He slowly wormed out in reverse, but the glares continued in our direction, so clearly visible despite the darkness of night. We wound up several blocks out of the way, weaving in and out of narrow streets, barely squeezing by cafe tables and walking drunken merrymakers. Several tapped our hood along the way.

When I finally reached my hotel 25 euros later, the driver wasn’t particularly at ease, but did seem relieved. As I got out, two young American women, dressed for clubbing, approached.

“Sorry,” the driver said, “he was my last ride.”

ROME — Got into the Italian capital earlier this evening, a day after reading about Rome’s basement in the current National Geographic. Unlike its northern cousin Venice, the Italian capital has steadily risen over the centuries, with new being built atop of old.

From the story, describing a speleologist’s descent into one of the countless “caverns” that make up the world’s largest undiscovered museums:

“Despite his optimism, the blackness emits a sickening aroma: a melange of urine, diesel, mud, the rotting carcasses of rats. In short, it smells just as you’d expect a 2,500-year-old continuously used sewer to smell.”

It doesn’t stink where I am at the moment, at my cheap hotel on the Via Nazionale, a stone’s throw from the Piazza della Repubblica, itself a few stone throws from the Termini rail terminal. But it is hot. A subterranean stroll –minus the stench of a two-millenia-old sewer– would be nice.

Shock! Silvio Berlusconi, with an estimated worth of $12 billion the richest man in Europe, is in trouble again. Besides the soccer match-fixing scandal that involves his team AC Milan (decision to be handed down on Friday), he’s also been ordered to stand trial for tax fraud and other charges involving his media company.

My prediction? He’ll survive. Just like the age-old sewers I’m sitting atop of now.

Enovit Vinoteque
Dr. Streiter-Gasse 30/Via Dr. Streiter 30
39100 Bozen/Bolzano Italy

I’d like to be able to say that my absence on this blog of late was due to yet another visit to this delightful, energizing wine bar in the lovely setting that is Bolzano. But it wasn’t; unfortunately, life sometimes gets in the way of life’s most important pursuits, such as the exploration of wine bars.

I found out about Enovit the evening I arrived, the night before New Year’s Eve. “But they might be closing by now,” my hotel’s receptionist warned me. “Well, I’ll have to do my best to convince them to stay open,” was my reply.

The night was bitterly cold; thankfully, the doors to the warm, inviting vinoteque were still open, and soon the latest irritating addition to my long string of Italian train delays became a distant memory.

For winos, what’s most intriguing about Italy’s Alto Adigi (Südtirol in German), and many other wine-producing areas that haven’t quite achieved the international acclaim they deserve, is that the vast majority of the wines produced here, stay here. And Enovit’s charming proprietor Lisa Anderle is eager to share these local treasures. There’s no “wine by the glass” list; Lisa does things a little bit more simply. On any given day, she has 20-30 wines that she pours, providing a sampling that will match the most stringent demands of field researchers.

I left everything in her hands; I simply asked for local reds. One variety I’ve never tasted –indeed, never even heard of and still can’t pronounce properly– is lagrein, a very dark purplish-red that really deserves more attention among wine scribes. The better ones have a strong hint of bitterness, but with plenty of ripe fruit on the palate to lend a sweet and long first impression. The better ones, Lisa said, will improve in bottle for at least a decade. Greiser’s 2004, a citrusy offering with luscious strawberry notes, is definitely among those. A terrific wine.

The night began with a pair of pinot noirs –pinot nero, to the locals– that were amazing surprises. Winemakers admit that pinot noir is among the most fickle grapes and most difficult grapes to work with. More often than not, these on-the-spot tastings are disappointments. But one mus persevere, and I’m glad that Franz Haas has. I tried a pair of his 2003s, one a reserve, and one a “regular” bottling. Both were phenomenal, with the reserve still a tad young, but nicely-balanced for drinking four or five years from now. (Among other things, wine has taught me patience in certain situations.)

I stopped taking notes when a conversation with a few customers turned to George Bush –many Europeans are intrigued by how he could have been elected AND reelected, and oftentimes seek answers and I happily oblige– but the few others wines I tasted, various cabernet sauvignon-merlot blends, were quite tasty as well.

Enovit is quite roomy, its layout elegantly hip. The bar sits in the center, with enough room on all sides to cater to customers. There is an adjacent room with several cozy tables for overflow.

As Lisa was shutting down for the night, I promised to come back the next day to make a few purchases. “Tomorrow, there will be lots of people,” she warned. She wasn’t kidding. The early afternoon New Year’s eve crowd poured into the street, glasses in hand. Walking out with a case of wine proved to be quite the chore.

Here’s what I hauled back home from Enovit, along with a few bottles I picked up at the restaurant that put up with me into the week hours on News Year’s Eve:

- Stiftskellerei Neustift/Abbazia di Nova Cella 2004 Gewurztraminer
- Kellerei/Cantina Tramin 2004 Gewurztraminer, Alto Adigi/Sudtirol
- Aristos Eisacktaler 2004 Gewurztraminer, Alto Adigi/Sudtirol
- Weingut Gottardi 2003 Blaubergunder (pinot noir), Alto Adigi/Sudtirol
- Franz Haas Pinot Nero 2003 (pinot noir), Alto Adigi/Sudtirol
- Franz Haas Pinot Nero 2003 (pinot noir) Riserva, Alto Adigi/Sudtirol
- Happacherhof Merlot Cabernet 2002, Alto Adigi/Sudtirol
- Abtei Muri, 2002 Lagrein Riserva, Alto Adigi/Sudtirol
- Kristan 2001 Egger-Ramer Lagrein Riserva

I didn’t even taste the gewurztraminers, but have always been intrigued by the good dry ones. There’s a nearby village called Tramin, supposedly where the grape originated, so leaving without a few would have been a grave sin.

Like just about everything in Bolzano, Enovit isn’t exceptionally cheap. And neither are the wines by the bottle. The ones I bought ranged from about 8 euros (for a gewurzt) to 32 euros for the Haas reserve. The lagreins ranged from 12-18 euros, while there were others that were significantly more. (Wine, I like to rationalize, has also taught me restraint.)

I visited Enovit Vinoteque on 30 and 31 Dec 2005

A couple nights ago I got together with a few colleagues for a belated New Year celebration, and over a few bottles of wine and shots of grandma’s slivovec, we reminisced about some of the places we’d been to in the past year. Our chosen profession means we all spend quite a bit of time on the road. The notion seems romantic to some but more often than not we don’t get to see and experience these places nearly as much as we’d like. Sometimes not at all. Sometimes I spend more time getting there and leaving there than I actually spend there.

I usually do make an effort to get out and about, but haven’t kept particularly adequate notes. [That will change this year, now that I've finally begun keeping real journals.] This past year was nonetheless brimming with little mental post cards that will be filed away for some time. Some of those, in no particular order:

August: Zurich. Continued feeding my Van Gogh habit at the Kunsthaus, home to his Thatched Roofs near Auvers, one of his last paintings, and the well-known Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe. Realizing how much I’m beginning to relate to this guy –besides his religious zeal– is beginning to scare me. Nice street music in the afternoon and evenings along the Zurichsee just beyond the Bellevue tram stop.

July: Kanegra Beach, Savudrija, Croatia. My first nude beach. Just a long stone’s throw from my old place on the Slovenian coast, but it was a transcendental experience. I will never –ever– swim clothed again.

February: Donetsk, Ukraine. This southeastern Ukrainian city is hardly a tourist Mecca, but it was my first trip to the former Soviet states, so it’s got to make the list. The timing was good as well, just a few months after recently-elected president Viktor Yushchenko’s face started peeling off after he was fed some poisoned soup. The women there are absolutely stunning, adding more ammo to my historic crossroads theory. Surprise! February is cold there. Surprise 2! There’s lots of good, and cheap (to westerners) vodka.

August: Tallinn, Estonia. I was only here for about five hours, and those came on the tail end of two solid weeks of ass-busting work. But it was enough to really want to go back and spend some time. Medieval Europe comes alive here, seemingly a world away from other former Soviet Republics.

March: Over the course of a few late winter days, saw my first Stradivarius at the Palacio Real in Madrid and spent an afternoon following in the footsteps of James Joyce in Trieste. The violin was an absolutely gorgeous piece of work; the Joyce walk was beautifully interrupted by Julia, another absolutely gorgeous piece of work.

August: Brussels. Getting there involved sharing a cheap flight with The Village People. Once I got there, I ran into a suspected fruit cocktail bomber on my favorite tram ride ever.

September: Berlin. I visited the German capital three times in the space of a month, and it’s quickly becoming my favorite European city. Precisely why is difficult to pin down. I always feel like a minor character in a Wim Wenders film there, and it’s a good feeling to be able to blend into one of his long, deliberate pans. Most taxi drivers here don’t care much for George Bush, making drives around the city a particularly pleasant experience. I was never one for fashion photography, but the exhibit, A Gun For Hire, at the Helmut Newton Museum, helped change my mind. A little bit.

August: Helsinki. First visit to the Finnish capital, a place that appears to be home to more drunks per capita than anywhere else I’ve ever been. Despite the price, it’s mind-boggling how much Finns can drink; one recent conservative estimate puts it at about a bottle of hard booze per week per capita. I added the The Ateneum, the Finnish National Gallery, to my museum list.

July: Paris. Caught Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent at the Centre Pompidou, a phenomenal attempt to describe the soul of a vast indescribable continent. I spent nearly two hours lounging in a chair of a makeshift typical urban “African” bar –part of the exhibit, or course—next to an old-style jukebox gushing with 60 CDs worth of amazing music. [Here's a link to the same exhibit but earlier in London.]

July: First visit to Oslo. Besides being one of the most expensive cities I’ve ever been to, it was also one of the nicest. Friendly folks, lively street music and night life into the wee hours. The night I arrived coincided with U2’s show there. No, didn’t fork over a huge pile of cash for a ticket, but did enjoy the street musicians jamming U2 tunes until dawn. Visited the Munch Museet –once home to The Scream before it was stolen in August 2004. It’s next to the Toyen Park, a sprawling lush botanical garden.

June, July and August: Piran, Slovenia, home for most of last year. More specifically, concerts in the courtyard of the 700-year-old Franciscan Monastery. I attended two small ensemble classical performances and a solo classical guitar concert, all of which were so soothing, so relaxing, that I definitely felt at home.

Bolzano, ITA – I’ve long ago accepted that the old town centers in many of Europe’s smaller cities have evolved into little more than glorified shopping malls, if of the open-air variety. With dozens upon dozens of boutiques -many very pricey- lining this city’s narrow cobblestone streets, the same certainly holds true for Bolzano.

But the feel, despite the sometimes-exorbitant price tags, is anything but strictly commercial. It’s real. In so many places these days, whether in European city centers or in gentrified U.S. downtown shopping areas, you feel as though you could be anywhere. Here, you know you’re somewhere. You’re just not sure if it’s Italy, Austria, Germany or Switzerland.

With the jagged Dolomites and steep mountain vineyards providing a stunning backdrop in each direction, the location is spectacular. Obviously, you’re in the Alps. But the confusion begins when you open your ears. You’ll hear more German spoken in Bolzano (Bozen, to the locals) than Italian; indeed it’s the region’s first language. Locals proudly point out that the area’s southern Alpine origins are firmly rooted in Austria and Germany; after all, Sudtirol didn’t become Italy’s Alto Adige until after the First World War. It still doesn’t feel particularly Italian today. Walther Platz, the city’s main central square, is dominated by a statue of Walther von der Vogelweide, a German medieval poet.

But the city’s oldest and arguable most famous resident predates Walther and political boundaries that began to evolve since the Holy Roman Empire. His name is Ötzi, aka The Iceman, he was apparently wealthy, and was an unknown commodity until a pair of German tourists found his 5300-year-old mummified remains on a nearby glacier. He’s the oldest mummy in the world, wasn’t particularly tall, had dark hair and blue eyes, decent teeth, and didn’t clip his nails regularly. He’s on ice and on display at Bolzano’s South Tyrol Museum of Archeology. Admission 8 euros. Worth a visit.

Notebook:
There’s a lively outdoor market lining the streets leading to and from the Piazza Erbe; typical offerings are the delicious local cheeses, mushrooms (porcinis aplenty) and Alpine pastries.

Like much of northern Italy, Bolzano isn’t cheap. Typical hotel offerings were rarely priced at under 85 euros (US$ 102) for a single. Although I didn’t actively seek one out, I didn’t see a hostel, or an advertisement offering one, anywhere. Camping is available in the summer months.

Obviously, skiing is plentiful here; I didn’t have the time, opting instead for some quick wine research. That’s coming soon, but suffice it to say that Alto Adige’s offerings are quite delicious if not as bountiful as in other parts of Italy. With more limited production, much of its wine stays here –which is why I left with nine bottles.

Getting there: There’s a small regional airport, but don’t bother. This is the heart of the Alps so rail is the only way to go. Go north from Verona (2 hours or less, depending on the connection) or south from Innsbruck through the Brenner pass (2-2 ½ hours) and treat yourself to some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. The rail station is about a five minute stroll from the central Walther Platz. Check the South Tyrol Tourism Office’s site for more.

A few more pics here on flickr pages and a few more Bolzano-related travel links here.

An opportunity to spend New Year’s Eve in Bolzano, Italy, just knocked, three star hotel included. I’ve never been, so who am I to say no? Train leaves tomorrow morning at 10:28, so some quick research into this Alpine town, nestled in the shadow of the Dolomites and just south of the Austrian border, was in order. Among the things I learned:

– The city’s tourism office doesn’t have a website, at least not one I was able to locate quickly. The Trentino–Alto Adige region does, but it’s only in Italian and German. (By the way, the province’s Office for Bilingualism and Foreign Languages does have an English language website, and it employs at pair of Dinocrocs named Hocus & Lotus to teach languages to children.)

– Bolzano’s South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology is home to the famed Iceman, an extremely-well preserved specimen from the copper age, whose frozen remains were accidentally discovered on a nearby glacier by a pair of German tourists in 1991. Among the things learned from the discovery was that man wore underwear 5300 years ago. His name is Ötzi and he was apparently wealthy. I’ll have to pick up a book or two. Here are a few pics, but don’t look if you’re easily offended by graphic images of naked mummies.

– Construction on the city’s gothic Duomo (cathedral) began in 1292, and wasn’t completed until the 16th Century. Maybe they were waiting for Ötzi to show up for work?

– It’s apparently the most Austrian city in Italy, with German spoken as regularly as Italian. Besides a few choice words, I don’t speak either.

– REM played there last January the night before their gig in Ljubljana.

– A local saying goes like so: Pane e vino fanno un bel bambino. “Bread and wine make a beautiful baby.” I’ll have to add that to my List of Things I Wish I Had Written.

– The wines produced her are primarily white. The Trentino–Alto Adige region accounts for less than 1% of the country’s wine production, but for 10% of its total grappa output. Most of the best wines from the northern part of the region, the vineyards nearest Bolzano, are primarily sold locally and in southern Austria. That might mean bringing an extra bag for souvenirs.

– The forecast is nearly ideal for late December, ranging from 0-7 C. (32 and 42 F.) between Friday and Sunday, partly sunny to sunny, with a chance of rain on Sunday. The latter isn’t a big deal, since I’ll be on trains for 7 1/2 hours that day, sipping wine and reading about Ötzi.