Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

We walked out of our hotel down to the nearby basilica, which improves on further study. The mosaics inside are wonderful. It was an active church. There were confessionals, a mass, and a private ceremony by a priest in one of the chapels. I took quite a tour of it while waiting for Ira to take care of our train details. I perused the basilica for 90 minutes. Ira stood in line for train tickets for the same time. Ira's a saint.

Later in the day we sat in a cafe and watched the sun set behind the basilica while we relaxed after our touring. The gelato was mediocre, however, the price tag attached made up for that by being ridiculous. At least the view was good? Below I've placed some random pictures of artworks from within the basilica. Enjoy!

ROME!

The plane took off! The plane continued on to Roma! We're actually here! Volcanos can't keep us from Europe.

We're just here for a day. We'll take the train to Venezia tomorrow. Right now we've checked into our room early. We're staying at the Merulana Inn Residence mostly because it's near the train station. It turned out charming, however. The decor is smart and modern, with beautiful floral drapes and a modern color scheme. There's free Internet and all the mod cons. As I said, they let us check in early, even insisted we have breakfast. If you're looking for a convenient place in Rome, Merulana Inn Residence is terrific.

I put up a picture of the E.U.R. building. I can't remember the name, but it's called the square colosseum for obvious reasons. I saw it a few years ago and it was under "restauro." We drove by it on the cab ride in from Fiumicino so I thought it would decorate this post nicely. (If you want to see it featured in a spectactular movie, check out Julie Taymor's Titus. She uses it to great effect. (Plus it's a dynamite movie.)

MOMA and Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn

Headed off for MOMA, just a mere four blocks from our place in midtown. Ira had seen the William Kentridge exhibit and loved it. I shared his enthusiasm over the incredible videos, drawings, and mechanical stage sets. Another standout at the museum was Marina Abramovic. She was there in a piece called "The Artist is Present," in that big main room. She sits at a table all day and museum goers can sit in a chair opposite her. Then they both stare at each other for 15 minutes without speaking. Of course, Abramovic does this repeatedly all day. It was OK, but going around the museum it was fun to check in to see who was seated across from her. At one point it was a woman in full burka, with only her eyes showing as they stared at one another. Upstairs, actors portrayed one of her other "hits." A naked man and woman stood in a narrow doorway, and to get in, you had to brush by them. I'd heard about it, but was unprepared for how powerful it was, daunting to brush by, and just seemingly "wrong."

Then we got on the R train and headed for Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, located at the bottom of the island just across from the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Ira grew up there so we walked by his old house and took in the neighborhood. The storefront where his father had a pharmacy is now a diner. Ira reminisced about the changes and the things that stayed the same. Mostly everything has changed of course!

At night we went out for a lavish Indian food dinner, we had lamb and spinach, shrimp in a fiery red curry, and vegetables (including pineapple) in a green curry sauce. Then we headed across the street to see Vincere, a fiery Italian film about Mussolini's discarded mistress to prepare ourselves for the trip. The movie was magnificent, full of sexy, dark performances and passion leading to madness

Some pictures to add color...

Justin Bond at Joe's Pub

Now this is cabaret. Justin Bond is a drag performer whom you might know better as half of Kiki and Herb. Justin has an expressive voice, but it's a complete package with her stage presence, banter, stories, and soulful schtick. This being New York, you don't get where Justin is by just having a personality that can fill a room; there's a lot of talent there. (And a great backing band too; the guitarist was supposed to be London but was delayed by the volcano.) There was a whole scene with the volcano as part of the natural disasters that surround Justin.

The music was pure cabaret, in fact, one of the highlights of the evening was Kurt Weill's "Alabama Song." I don't think I've heard a better version and I've heard plenty. The other standout cover was a version of Kris Kristofferson's "Sunday Morning Coming Down." It wasn't just covers, however. The best song of the evening was an original composition called "New Economy." (I've linked to an earlier version on YouTube. Another great song was called "The Golden Age of Hustlers. Enjoy, but go see Justin Bond next time he's in San Francisco, probably at Cafe du Nord.

Neue Galerie

NY has some of the best large museums in the world, MOMA, the Met, but its small museums are world class as well. I generally go to the Neue Galerie when I'm in NY. It's best known for the Klimt painting, sold for more money than any other painting in history. (It's nice to have Daddy Lauder as a patron.) But besides that glitz, it consistently curates high quality shows that feature less famous German Expressionists artists such as Kollwitz and Schiele.

Otto Dix is renowned, but apparently has never had a show in the United States. Well, it was a great one. He combines all the great qualities of expressionism, intense and focused, combining "un amour de la boue" with the talent that comes from a rich cultural history. Dix was a machine-gunner in WWI and developed some left-wing views after viewing and participating in the incredible carnage. He published a seminal book called War, that sketched some of the atrocities. Here's a YouTube slideshow. Careful, some of these images are beyond disturbing.

After the Neue, we walked down Madison, then 5th, saw a Greek Independence parade, then rested up for the night. More late, plus some pictures, although I'm having problems with my camera. The settings are off and I need to tweak them.

Show and dinner

We got in to see Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson! It was a struggle. First we were put on the waiting list earlier today. Then we showed up. I ended up buying a scalped ticket from some hapless guy outside. His date didn't show up, he didn't realize he had a hot ticket on his hands, so I ended up with a $70 ticket for $40 bucks. When I pulled out a wad of cash to pay for it, the guy said, "maybe I should have asked for more money>" Ya think? But Ira still needed a ticket. I sat in the second row. Ira squeaked in at the last minute and sat farther back. But he'd already seen it earlier in the week.

It was an emo musical about populism and Andrew Jackson, with lots of contemporary political dialog about our own brand of populism, plus lots of Indian arrow attacks and hard-driving pop songs. Ira thought Andrew was a major babe. I liked Calhoun myself.

The show ended near midnight and all the restaurants close up around then. We tried to hail a cab and got no bites. A limo pulled over illegally and offered to take us for $15. I told Ira, "that's too fucking expensive" and we looked away. The guy sat there and said, "OK, ten." That was our price and we took the limo to Pastis, yet another McNally-run eatery. There was a huge crowd milling around outside and I feared a long wait, but we got seated immediately in a charming banquette near the back. We shared a plate of malbeque oysters, very salty and unlike the sweetwaters we usually get on the West Coast. Then Ira had the steak tartare and I had a light and fluffy fish and chips, which was excellent. Ira finished the meal with chocolate mousse, me with cheesecake. We had a convivial time, sitting next to foreign speakers, Spaniards on the left, Portuguese on the right. Ira said, "I can't wait to get to Venice so we can hear some English!" Time for bed now, more tomorrow.

New Museum Day

After checking in we went back downtown on the R and got off at Prince Street. Ira wanted to take me to the New Museum to see Skin Fruit: Selections from the Dakis Joannou Collection, curated by Jeff Koons. The show caused a bit of controversy because Joannou is a trustee of the museum and that apparently crosses some sort of Chinese wall or something. Well, f&^% that, the show was terrific.

Highlights of the show were:

Touba Auerbach, Crumple VI, 2008—a simple painting of black dots on a white background. From a distance, you could see that the painting looked creased. Walking towards it, it starts to strobe and make your eyes squirm. Close up, the dots look perfectly regular, except in your peripheral field of vision, they're dancing around like they're about to eat your optic nerve.

Liza Lou, Super Sister, 1999—lifesize model of a '70s black power chick, done in elaborate beadwork. Best part was the fringe on her Levi's hot pants.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Masters of the Universe, 1998–2000—the artists as cro-magnons in lifelike 3-D. They were like your typical National Geographic representation, but with faces of individuals, so you got the feeling that these prehistoric people were people and not just abstractions.

If you like contemporary art, you could do worse then to look up these people, see what else they've done!

We took the Q uptown, had some Pellegrino and took a rest. Tonight we're going to try to see Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson a historical rock musical that Ira just saw and wants me to see. Unfortunately, it's sold out for the weekend, but we're on the waiting list. If we don't get in we're going to E. 6th Street for some Indian food.

90 minutes to go from downtown to JFK, pick up our bags, then another cab back to midtown. It must be some sort of cabbie record. The bags were waiting for us, so at least we'll hav clean clothes for New York! We're going to have lunch, then go down to New Museum. More later.

Well, we're in New York! I've adjusted to spending a bit of time here. Hopefully, we'll be getting on a plane for Rome on Tuesday. X your fingers, please.

Dinner at Balthazar was fantastic. The hostess and waitress were all smiles and they enjoyed our dramatic telling of our travails and treated us with extra kindness.

The table of course was small, which made for a perfect mood as we wanted to be cozy. The folks at the next table were all young restauranteurs, so they were appreciative of the food, fun and noisy, but still not obnoxious.

Oh, and the food. I started with grilled squid, which really hit the spot. I prefer the little leggy pieces but all were tender and smoky with arugula and roasted potatoes. Ira started with brandade de morue, a garlicky smooth cod concoction that went down smoothly.

For the mains, I had a terrific branzino with fennel, charred skin blending with the tender fish perfectly. Ira had the bar steak and fries, which—frankly— was mediocre. The fries, of course, were first rate. Ira had wanted to try the bouillabaise, which was perfuming our table from next door, but they had just run out.

Desserts were marvelous. Ira had a deep chocolate pot de creme, strong and forceful the way he likes it. I had a banana tart, with a seared top and creamy pudding inside.

This was an ideal way to get over our disappointment at not winging our way to Venice. Just a quick 3-block walk home and sleep.

OK, Delta sucks, let me get that out of the way right now. American came through with what is now Plan B, which means Ira and I stay in NY until Tuesday. Then we fly American to Rome (insh'Allah and God willing and a shoutout to Pluto who's been causing so much trouble in Iceland). Then, we'll spend a night in Rome, take the train to Venice, bag Florence (with profuse apologies to Don, Alexa, and Olivia), then pickup the trip as previously scheduled. Of course, this could all change, so same bat channel, etc., etc.

Well, the airline took our baggage, then cancelled the flight. So we schlepped ourselves and our carryon to Manhattan. We're spending the night at the Mercer Hotel and we'll figure out what the f$&@ to do. At least for tonight we're downtown and we're having dinner at Balthazar.

Here are some random photos: The Mercer, outside and in, and Ira relaxing in the room.

Venezia e ciuso!

Ira's already in New York. I will join him briefy at JFK on Friday before we take the overnight plane to Venice. It's going to be a grueling day of travel, but worth it for the food and fun that awaits.

OK, since this is a travel blog with an ending, I'm going to post a list of links so you can follow the trip from the beginning.

LONDON
* Itinerary--List of hotels (Sept. 29)
* Crossing the Pond--quick London tour and Indian food. (Sept. 30)
* London Bestiary--Allison Lapper in Trafalgar Square and the War Room after a thorough drenching. (Oct. 1)
* Hakkasan--Chic underground Chinese food at a hefty price. (Oct. 2)
* Perspective and Slaughter--Uccello at the National Gallery and Titus Andronicus at the Globe. (Oct. 2)
* It's Good to Have an Empire--British Museum and Norman Foster's Great Court. (Oct. 4)
* From Gherkins to Wrens to Moderns--Swiss Re, Wren's Monument to Fire of London, St. Stephen Wallbrook, and the Tate Modern. (Oct. 5)
PARIS
* L'Ambroisie to the Louvre--Three-star magnificence, the Louvre, and a sunny meal in the Tuileries. (Oct. 7)
* Simply Sensational Sensing--Just-opened restaurant, Nuit Blanche, Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, and the Canal St. Martin. (Oct. 8)
* Cyrano de Bergerac--Magic at the theater. (Oct. 9)
* Quai Branly--Another Jean Nouvel triumph (and some thrilling art) and a strangely exciting day at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs. (Oct. 10)
* Le Grand Vefour--Much that was delicious, including another three star and two of the most sumptuous rooms on the planet at the Musee Carnavalet. (Oct. 13)
BORDEAUX
* When Did Bordeaux Get So Fancy?--Monument aux Girondins, Entrepot Laine, and my old stomping grounds, Cafe Regent. (Oct. 13)
* Fine Dining in Wine Country--Pavillon des Boulevards et La Tupina. (Oct. 14)
BARCELONA
* Barcelona in Bloom--Jean Nouvel, Mies van der Rohe, and--of course--Antonio Gaudi. (Oct. 16)
* Great Barcelona Architecture Continues With Gaudi--We get invited inside. (Oct. 17)
* We Go to Vic--A short train trip to Jose Maria Sert paradise. (Oct. 17)
* High and Low Eating--Drolma, Romesco, a great breakfast time at Mercat Boqueria, plus a trip to the Picasso Museu. (Oct. 18)
VENICE
* Wandering in Venice--Getting to know a favorite city all over again. (Oct. 19)
* Aqua Alte--Guidecca dining, Al Gondolieri, and Peggy Guggenheim's art. (Oct. 20)
* La Bienniale di Architettura--Architecture as art, chivalry lives, opera in Italy, and another fine meal at al Covo. (Oct. 23)
* Wading to Torcella--We dine barefoot and I get a bird's eye view of the lagoon. (Oct. 24)
* Harry's Bar--Still no substitute for perfection... (Oct. 26)
RAVENNA
* Mosaics in Ravenna and more Palladio--Vicenza, more Palladio, and our introduction to the glories of Ravenna. (Oct. 26)
AREZZO
* From Ravenna to Arezzo--Foliage along the way, our favorite hotel, the Vogue in Arezzo, and a ridiculously lavish meal at Lancia d'Oro. (Oct. 28)
* Greatest Painting in the World and the Tartufi Shack--Along the Piero della Francesca trail, we find white truffles, direct from the source. (Oct. 28)
* Over the Hills to Umbria--Deer hunting and a drive to Urbino. (Oct. 29)
* A Day of Superlatives--Orvieto, Pienza, and the Loggia Vasari lunch. (Oct. 30)
FIRENZE
* Holiday in Firenze--Pitti Palace, Giorgione, and rabbit. (Nov. 1)
* Don and Alexa and... Sostanza--My favorite people, and restaurant, in Firenze. (Nov. 1)
* Beccofino and a Tour of Tuscan Gardens--Best rabbit ever, plus Villas Medici, La Balze, Castello, and Gamberaia. (Nov. 2)
* Locals Only--Market day and another trip to Sostanza. (Nov. 3)
* Alluvione and Art--Flood anniversary, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria Novella. (Nov. 5)
ROMA
* Roma and an Evening to Remember at Centopoveri--Osteria Centopoveri, Hotel Senato, Ara Pacis. (Nov. 5)
* Street Art and an Invitation to the French Embassy--Ciesa Saint-Louis, Piazza del Popolo, tomb of Augustus, the Farnese Hercules, and Da Pancrazio. (Nov. 6)
* Convivial Dining and the Appian Way--Il Convivio Troiani, Galleria Borghese, Appian Way, EUR, and Rosetta. (Nov. 8)
* Arrivederci Roma and Hello US of A--Stroll across the Tiber and Da Pancrazio again. (Nov. 9)
NEW YORK
* And So to Home... Thanks for Reading--"The Little Dog Laughed," "Company," and the Russian Tea Room. (Nov. 16)

Ten Best Meals of Our Trip...

And so to home... Thanks for reading...

Thanks for all the messages of interest. We're glad you stopped by or followed along. It's been such a fun trip. I'll have some housecleaning posts to end the trip, some basic top 10 stuff, but that's mostly for the archives. Let me give you a quick rundown on what we saw in New York.

Last night Warren and I went to see The Little Dog Laughed, which has just moved to Broadway. (Ira decided to take a break and rest up for the return trip home.) It's broadly hilarious and definitely the play belongs to Julie White, whom you might remember as the predatory funeral home executive Mitzi from "Six Feet Under." She makes the play with her Mephistophelian Hollywood agent.

The night before it was Sondheim's "Company," a musical about a guy whose friends are all married and who's contemplating the big step himself. I thought the material was dated, but the production was top notch, with a tremendously sharp cast and the terrific production of John Doyle. He's the one who reimagined "Sweeney Todd" two years ago that we also saw and loved. Basically, his schtick is to play with a stripped-down stage and then give the singers instruments to play. This gets the stage closer to the audience, since there's no need for an orchestra pit. Plus, it gets rid of a lot of useless posturing by the actors. They have their hands full with acting, singing, and lugging around and playing a tuba! Of course, it doesn't work without an insanely talented cast. Luckily, this is New York!

Talk to all of you soon when we get home! Happy holidays to come. And we look forward to hearing about your vacations.

Across the Wild East River...

Made the leap into full hipsterdom by meeting Brad in Williamsburg, he and Joe's temporary HQ. Their railroad flat had all the initial charm of a Polish laundry, but inside it looks like home.

We saw some of the sights on a stroll around the neighborhood, pausing at the East River to admire the soon to be luxury-condo views. There were two examples of site-specific art there. One was the sidewall of a tire surrounded by a nimbus of discarded and sodden work gloves. Given the rampant construction going on, it was poignant and fitting.

Next to that was a small chainlink fence with plastic bags attached to the face, mostly the small types but with a few large trash bags. The breeze coming off the river made them swell and fill, kinda looking like the "East River whitefish" you might find just at the shoreline. Again, evocative of time and place. What more do you want in art?

Of course, I could have taken photos, but I've freed myself of the chains of my camera for the rest of the vacation.

We had lunch at a marvelous little cafe, whose name I will fill in when I nag Brad to go back. St. Helen Cafe! Its walls and ceiling are covered with pressed tin. The main attraction were the paired axes on the window. Nothing says fine dining like weaponry. Our waitress was charming and helpful, even when we skeptically asked to see the menu before committing ourselves. I had baked eggs with parmesan and red pepper, which was just about perfect. My cranberry and orange tea completed a perfect small meal on a cloudy day.

Hopefully I'll get to come back in the spring.

Last night we saw Voyage the first part of Tom Stoppard's "The Coast of Utopia" trilogy of plays. Thoroughly dramatic opening, with a stunning special effect of waves crashing on the stage got me to sit up in my seat. It was long and wordy, no surprise for Stoppard, but I was mesmerized. It helps to have read some Turgenev, to understand how modern ideas of the self came to Russia really at just the wrong time. To our eyes and ears, the Russians seem almost laughably naive, but they were struggling against a thousand years of groupthink, and needed time to adjust to seeing themselves as individuals in a modern setting. I hope to get back to see parts two and three next year.

Tonight it's off to see the new David Hare play, "The Vertical Hour." Review to come tomorrow.

Arrivederci Roma and Hello US of A...

I've slacked a bit on the blog... and the trip. Yesterday was relatively lazy. I took some pictures, but you won't see 'em here till New York. We wandered around, looked at some churches, strolled across the Tiber.

Dinner was even a repeat. We went to our favorite place in Rome, Pancrazio, and ate almost exactly the same meal we had before. I substituted the Caprese salad (tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella di bufala cheese) because their bufala blew me away two years back. It's so good I'm thinking of stabling a bufala in the garage in S.F.

Travel day today. Through Heathrow. Should be fun. Manhattan tonight. More later.

Convivial Dining and the Appian Way...

First the food. Last night we had a white-tablecloth fine eatin' experience at Il Convivio Troiani.

First, the wine we chose was excellent. Ira picked an Ischian red because of a good summer he spent on that island decades ago, and it was a triumph of nostalgia, a 2000 Ischian rosso Casa d'Ambra, dedicato a Mario d'Ambra. Deep without being too strong for the fish and fowl we were to eat, it was tasty from beginning to end.

The waiter gave us an amuse-bouche of deep-fried mullet and artichokes, spicy and subtle at the same time, just a tiny portion to get us started. We then both ordered the same appetizer, mozzarella cheese layered with fried zucchini flowers. It was on a bed of anchovy paste, which really set off the blandness of the cheese. I'm going to add anchovies to the Caprese salad next and see if that works. Oh, and they gave us a sweet red-pepper sorbetto after that dish to reinvigorate the palate. It worked! I loved the slight hint of hotness and the slightly bolder but still light sweetness of the dish.

For our first real course, I had the mezze pasta, which is like a short, thick tube. The filling was quail and chicken and porcini mushrooms and it just got richer. The taste seemed to develop the more that I ate.

We split the last dish, a partridge cooked in citron sauce and then placed over a red wine sauce. It was the red wine sauce that added a delicious complexity to the game bird, but once again, the wild fowl was tasty. So far this trip I've eaten pigeon and guinea fowl, now partridge. A good year for the hunters.

OK, just quickly on to the art and culture. The picture you see at the top is of the Appian Way. We had a driver take us out there and the effect of someone's leaf fire was outstanding. You can still see the ruts in the ancient cobbles. The other photo was taken at night, of the Pantheon--certainly my favorite building in Rome.

In the morning we'd visited the Galleria Borghese, which is stuffed with statues from Bernini and a legendary Canova. You notice so many details you can't get from a picture when you can circle around a statue!

I've talked enough and I haven't even mentioned Rosetta, another fine meal that is literally two minutes from our hotel. The waiters were a bit too frenetic but the seafood is top notch. We ordered the special seafood appetizer, which is actually about 8 separate dishes. I'll leave it to your imagination, but imagine plate after plate of tender, succulent, often raw seafood, each tastier than the last. By the time we got to the main meal, it was really an afterthought, though I did get the scallops covered in bottarga. Delicioso!

Street Art and an Invitation to the French Embassy...

We're staying at the Piazza della Rotunda and so we go into the Pantheon when we leave the hotel and when we return. Here's the view from tonight. You can't really tell, but the sky was a lovely shade.

Our first trip was the Ciesa Saint-Louis, one of the French churches in town. It houses the Contarelli Chapel, with its lovely Caravaggio paintings. I've included a picture I took, but it might be more helpful to click on the link and see what Wikipedia has.

Our next trip was to the Piazza del Popolo for more incredible art in churches. (All the museums are closed on Mondays.) The first painting was a Nativity by Pinturicchio. It's not on anyone's must-do list, but it was so lovely. Packed with incident but with a calmness that kept drawing me back.

On the stroll back to the hotel, we ran into some terrific street art placed on the pillars surrounding the tomb of Augustus. I took pictures of all 33, but you'll have to wait for the wholeness of it. Here's a shot of the artist. He gave me one of his art works since I expressed an interest.

After lunch, we had an invitation to the Palazzo Farnese. OK, not an invitation, but we reserved a tour of the art. The building is gorgeous. You can tell why the French snapped it up for their embassy. (Hence the difficulty in getting in.) The best sculpture is huge, called the Farnese Hercules. It's almost grotesquely muscled, but somehow the sculptor makes it work. You're left with an impression of power in repose, as Hercules is deep in thought.

Our tour guide was charming. She was French but gave the tour in Italian. She struggled over some of the architectural terms, but there was plenty of help, which made her blush each time. Terrific tour, even if we didn't get an invitation from the ambassador!

OK, one note about food. We dined sumptuously last night at a place recommended by the Michelin. There's a reason this guide is so popular, as we found all three courses we had delectable.

Da Pancrazio has two dining rooms, one under Pompey's theater with an impressive classic barrel vault. We'd eaten there two years ago so we opted for the more modern 18th century room this time. Our food was exquisite. Ira had the prosciutto melone, followed by the spaghetti all bottarge, which is a salty fish roe that you will have this winter as we bought some to take home. For the final course, he had the vitello tonnato, solid as usual. I started with the prosciutto di cervo (deer) that was rich and spicy. I followed with the ravioli carciofi, which may have been one of my favorite dishes of the trip. I'll be eating a lot more artichokes this year!

My last course was a fritto misto of calamari and shrimp, which was terrific. Not as good as al Covo in Venice, but so crunchy and light you almost forget it's deep-fried. We will try to go back, it was that good.

Tonight we go to a fancy place, so stay tuned for that meal.