Los Angeles Chinatown

 On a cloudy day, I avoided weekday traffic going downtown by driving in mid-day, away from the crush of cars that happen before 9, after five, and any time between eleven and one when the lunch-time diners head out to the great eateries in Chinatown, Little Tokyo, or Olveira Street.  It's a weird of way of thinking about one's day, in terms of peak times for traffic, but this is LA, and one is licensed to exist between worlds that don't normally exist anywhere else. 

Farmer's Market, Southern California

Although I enjoy food in Italy and the Italian relationship with food, my visit to a farmer's market in California (where I'm from) this weekend was a reminder that in terms of food, California still holds a very special place in my heart (or stomach).

Meknes, Morocco

Apologies for the lack of updates folks, but unfortunately this month I find myself staying very little in Italy.  I will still be updating, but I will be posting about the things I found or will find myself within the next few weeks.  First, Morocco.  I went to Fez, but its tendency to harass its tourists into submission (not merely by having no tourist infrastructure, which would be great, but for having a rampant cottage tourist industry with all that the term "cottage" implies) makes me not have much interest in talking about it.  But only 40 kilometers away is Meknes, another imperial city whose shorter time in the limelight compared to Fez made it have much less name recognition and thus more latitude for enjoyment...

Graffitti Fridays: Fes, Morocco

Graffitti Fridays: Cassis

Marostica Flea Market

Marostica itself is a nice town to visit at any other time, but on the first Sunday of every month the town is taken over by stalls selling everything from vintage clothing, paintings, war memorabilia, and the ubiquitous kitsch.  Not only is the market a nice place to get your local acquisition of random useless stuff, but the setting itself is also perfect: sit in a cafe and people watch, walk around with a gelato, and maybe even hike all the way up to the castello superiore.

Pasubio: Cima Palon, Dente Italiano, and the 52 Galleries

Although its beauty and its height--it is the tallest chain of peaks in the Prealpi mountains--are reasons enough to hike to the top of the Pasubio Mountains, it is really the remnants of the battles fought here during the first world war that are the real reasons for visiting these mountains.  Everywhere are reminders of the terrible battles fought here, from crumbling barracks, networks of underground tunnels, rusted shrapnel and bits of artillery, and even human bones.