Mission Gelato--Best Gelato in Italy?

Getting daily dosage of gelato is a must when traveling in Italy. Determined to savor the best of the Italian gelato in cities we were visiting, I did an obsessively amount of gelato research before our recent trip.

Armed with my own gelato map that I made in Photoshop, we meandered through the maze-liked streets with high hope. I have to confess that a few gelaterias on my map came highly recommended by an article from well-established newspaper, who shall remain nameless here. Perhaps our anticipation was heightened by the warm weather and the hardship of locating the gelateria, our taste buds became more discriminating and demanding, and we left those gelaterias unsatisfied. After consecutive disappointments, we decided to toss the map and rely on our intuition.

To make our mission more successful, we made some mental notes of "what not to do". We decided to skip the gelateria displaying large mount of ice cream in the style similar to what you see in Coldstone. This turned out to be a good strategy because we later learned that many of those places carried mass-produced gelato from large ice cream manufacturers. Dodging tourist trap is another key--we avoided the tempatation of trying gelato in major tourists areas, or places with prominant signs in English. How did we know that those places were no go? Dehydrated, sweaty, and out of desperation, we had gelato at a few major city squares, and we were sorry that we even went there.

After many trials and errors and tasting of some bad, mediocre, good, and exceptional, the one gelateria that tops our list is Gelato Zeno e Cioccolato in Verona. Not only does Roberto Bonato, its owner and creator, insist on using only fresh seasonal ingredients, he went one step further to use only locally produced ingredients--"low carb" as it's called, meaning low carbon emission. Here's a short video clip from CBS on Gelato Zeno e Cioccolato.

What are the flavors to try? Let Roberto be your guide. Because the flavors change with seasons and the availability of local ingredients, be adventurous and your taste buds will thank you.

Possible the best gelato in Italy, certainly the best of the ones we tried during our trip, it is probably one of the greenest ice creams out there.

Gelato Zeno e Cioccolato
Piazza San Zeno 12a, Verona


Couple more bonuses... Gelato Zeno e Cioccolato is located in Piazza Zeno, where St. Zeno Basilica is located. We were there on the third Saturday of May, and were happy to find a local flea market bustling with actions.

Juming Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

I love that Ju Ming's sculptures leave a lot to the imagination--the abstract men, women, boys, and girls were created by the sculptor in what seemed to be effortless manipulation, whether by a slight dent or twist of the metal as in the exhaust pipe figures, or a few chistles to create the sculpture series know as the Tai Chi Series, and the stories among the characters were left to the beholder's interpretation. What seemed effortless, and the less is more approach, is never accidental, and most achieved with deliberation or via subconscious force that is the second nature of the seasoned artist. On our recent trip to Taiwan, Juming Museum was our favorite destination. Located just outside the City of Taipei, it is the only outdoor museum in Taiwan.

Martin Puryear at SF MOMA

We were lured by SF MOMA's banners around the City featuring sculptor Martin Puryear's work, and were absolutely delighted. Below is an excerpt taken from the website of San Francisco MOMA on Puryear's work:

"Made from a variety of natural materials — including wood, tar, rawhide, and stone — Martin Puryear's distinctive sculptures combine modernist geometry with international craft traditions. Influenced by woodworking, basketry, and construction techniques, the pieces at times resemble familiar objects. By blending cultural references, however, Puryear avoids fixed associations of time and place. This major retrospective charts the artist's career from his first solo show in 1977 to the present. SFMOMA's presentation includes a special installation in the Haas Atrium including Ladder for Booker T Washington (1996), made from a 36-foot-long split sapling, and Ad Astra (2007), a 63-foot-tall work that rises to the museum's fifth-floor bridge."

This exhibit ends on January 25, 2009.

Photo credits from top to bottom:
Douglas Parker
Richard P. Goodbody
David Wharton
Richard Barnes

Hidden Gem--First Church of Christ, Berkeley

Designed by Bernard Maybeck, the First Church of Christ Scientist in Berkeley is a well-known architectural gem among the design community in the Bay Area, yet it is often overshadowed by Maybeck's Palace of Fine Arts.

This is a little known wedding venue for those planning a wedding in the Bay Area. Fans of the Palace of Fine Arts and the Swedenborgian Church in San Francisco will probably find this church enchanting. Built in 1910, the church is a concrete and heavy timber structure and a manifesto of architectural elements found in Romanesque, Byzantine, and Gothic architecture that somehow coexist in harmony. The first 10 feet of the structure was concrete, as Maybeck was concerned about making a fire resistant building. The main sanctuary is grand and splendid, yet the scale is very human, a common thread found in Maybeck's designs. The side chapel, more commonly known as the Sunday School, has a more intimate feel.

Public tour of the church is organized by the Friends of First Church and takes place on the first Sunday of the month at 12:15 pm. Additional public concerts and events information can be found at Friends of First Church, Berkeley.

Art Meets Geometry--Origami

It is amazing what a piece of paper could be given life to become a three dimensional creation--and origami artists have mastered this art form. I came across this postcard in Japantown, which led me to visit the origami exhibit at the National Japanese American Historical Society located at 1684 Post Street. One of my favorites is the "Peace Sphere" by artistLinda Mihara. The sphere is formed by connected origami cranes, all of which folded from one piece of paper with strategic cuts to leave the negative space between the cranes. An additional origami exhibit is held concurrently at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch at 100 Larkin Street. The last day for both exhibits is December 31, 2008.

Arne Quinze's Cityscape--Brussels, Belgium

Discovering Arne Quinze's Cityscape in Brussels at 6 o'clock in the morning was a pleasant surprise after the long transatlantic flight. We were on the way to look for the hotel we had reserved, but made the wrong turn after getting off from the Metro at Place Louise station. The structure was beyond impressive, seeing it was like a wake up call, a dramatic greeting. The photos were taken before we left Brussels, during mid day amidst the hustle and bustle of the city. More of Arne Quinze's work can be found on www.arnequinze.tv, which includes a recent publication of "Cityscape", showcasing the making of wood sculptures similar to the one in Brussels.

7 Million Bulbs at the Keukenhof Garden, the Netherlands

We'd been waiting to visit the Keukenhof Garden for months! Famed for its blooming bulbs and accessible for two months each year, it is the largest garden in the world.

It was a gloomy late March day. We had the first-hand experience of the "Dutch gray sky" so famously depicted in early Dutch paintings. It started to drizzle as we arrived. My spirit was dampened when I found that few tulips were in bloom. There were plenty of crocuses and daffodils--the earliest bloomers. Nonetheless, most bulbs had germinated, helping to foretell the amazing patterns that they would compose on the lawn.

As the temperature dropped in the afternoon, it started to snow. A veteran horticulturist told us that it's a rare sight to see emerging tulips in snow, and it had never snowed in March. Counted as a mixed blessing, we continued meandering through the garden. At last, I got to see oceans of tulips in a greenhouse showcasing the varieties used in the garden--they were amazing and some were larger than life. Few are bigger than the span of a pair of sunglasses! Unbelievable! In addition to the bulbs, Keukenhof is known for its sculptures. A pair of oversize bulbs is my favorite. Upon seeing the photo, a dear friend mistakenly identified them as a pair of ducks' rears (presumably with the ducks' heads submerged in water). Well, there is some resemblance.

Naturally, we took a lot of photos. The trade off of stumbling upon a gloomy day was that visitor traffic was light. The Keukenhof Garden is not to be missed for those who plan to visit the Netherlands in the springs. We'd love to go back, not in March, but in April to catch more tulips.