Photos: Top Gelato in Venice

Given that it's summer and I just returned from a trip to Venice, here's a list in my humble opinion of the best gelato we tried in Venice.

#1 - Pear



#2 - Chocolate



Both from:
Gelati Nico
Dorsoduro, 922 - Zattere

Hands down the best gelateria in Venice that we tried and if you do a quick search for best Venice gelateria, it will be on the list and rightfully so. The pear gelato just tastes like you're biting into a real pear. The chocolate was a close second as it also tastes incredibly like a smooth bar of chocolate. If you can only make one stop in Venice for gelato, this is it. (In fact, we stopped by here every day we were in Venice....)

#3 - Watermelon



Gelateria Alaska
Santa Croce 1159, Calle Larga dei Bari

Alaska is known for the fact that they use fresh ingredients in their gelato. While for the most part we could tell that the actual ingredients were used, the flavors weren't as rich or deep as Nico. For example, the ginger had strings of real ginger, but it wasn't quite "spicy" enough for me. I did, however, quite enjoyed the watermelon gelato (in case you're wondering, Nico didn't have watermelon). One taste of that gelato made you think about warm summer afternoons lounging around biting into the deep flesh of a watermelon.

#4 - Dark Chocolate



Grom
Campo San Barnaba
30123 Venice - Italy

We stumbled across this gelateria on our meanderings through Venice and really liked their dark chocolate gelato. There was a good balance of the sweet and bitter that is dark chocolate.

#5 - Lemon



Gelateria Paolin S. Stefano
Campo Santo Stefano 2962, San Marc

We weren't too enthralled with the gelato here. M described the strawberry as "melted Starbursts" and reluctantly I have to agree as it has that overly sweet and fake taste to it. However, the lemon flavor was quite good. It tasted sweet and light, and except for the scoops that were tainted be the strawberry, quite enjoyable.

Okay, as you can tell, I won't be a food critic any time soon, but maybe the photos themselves will give you a good sense of what it might taste like. Or just make your mouth water. =) -- more --

Yunnan - Day 1: 丽江古城

On arrival at the Lijiang airport that afternoon, we were greeted by our driver sent by our hotel. As you can see, there were a slew of drivers waiting for other tourists.



The hotel we stayed at this first night was called Zen Garden Hotel. They have two locations both near Old Town Lijiang (one smack in the middle - Wuyi Branch - and another up on the hill - Lion Hill Branch). We ended up staying at both and did notice the price difference of 880 RMB (Lion Hill) versus 500 RMB (Wuyi). For example, the water pressure at Wuyi was much weaker probably due to its location in the middle of the Old Town. Both rooms were clean and comfortable.



One advantage of the Lion Hill Branch was that we had a view of the Old Town from just outside the steps of the hotel. We dropped off our stuff and went down the hill to explore the Old Town.



As a late lunch, we sought out the 过桥米线 ("crossing bridge noodles"), which is the hallmark noodles of Yunnan. Frankly, they were okay at best and we opted to try other noodles for our later meals.



This is the famous waterwheel at the north end of the Old Town. There is generally always a throng of tourists clustered around it - lots of tours use it as a meeting place.



On the way through the Old Town we went through 四方街 (Square Market).



A canal runs north-south through Old Town and goes through the edge of the Square Market. It's said if you are lost in Lijiang that you just need to follow the canal upstream to find the Old Town.



Through the streets of Old Town are many stores selling "local" trinkets. One common complaint by our non-Han guides was that the area has turned very commercialized and been invaded by Han Chinese. Thus, the "local" products being sold are not actually made by locals any more.



We headed towards 木府 (Mu's Residence), which is a modern reproduction of the local ruler's home from centuries ago. There are plenty of signs scattered through the Old Town that direct tourists to it.



The buildings were rebuilt in the late 1990s (although I forget why they needed to be rebuilt). I recall there are seven buildings that progress up a hill and from the last building there is quite the view of the city.



After we were done, we grabbed dinner at one of the local restaurants. We were looking for a place that had some sort of a view.



The food was nothing to write home about, but the view wasn't too bad.



As night fell, the streets lit up with lanterns.



And that ended the first day of our trip. -- more --

Photos: Bangkok

Went to Bangkok last month for a quick weekend getaway. M and I primarily went to three spots: the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, the Chatuchak Market, and the Grand Palace (along with the surrounding Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Pho). Mmm.... mango sticky rice. =)



As I've noticed in many of the places, the tourbooks are always warning you against hiring random drivers to drive you from the airport. Luckily, there's quite an orderly process in Bangkok that costs an extra 50 Thai baht (about US$1.50). You tell the person behind the booth your destination and they write it in Thai for you. This last part is quite important and makes getting to your place much, much easier.


The vehicles on the road in Bangkok were different than what I expected - they were not only quite colorful, they were also quite "green" as a number of them looked to be powered by CNG.



Along the way to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, which was a good 110 km away by car (about a 2 hour drive) from downtown Bangkok, we saw a number of fields being harvested. We were later told the fields were yielding salt. (Our driver told us it was for soap, but couldn't convey to us exactly what it was. We thought it might be grain, but it wasn't rice or barley.)


At the Floating Market, our driver dropped us off at one of the motorized canoes. It ended up being like sitting in an SUV on the water compared to one of the manually-rowed boats. We unfortunately didn't follow this posting's advice ("Do not get suck in by the boat tour operator at the bus station. They want "Standard" price of $1000 B for one hour long tail boat tour. Instead, walk outside the parking lot and turn left to town. A short 10 - 15 minutes walk and you will arrive at the bridge over looking the floating market. You can then hire a non-motor boat tour for $100 - $200 B at the floating market."), which was right on the money. Anyway, at least we were able to go quite quickly:


Versus ...


In the actual market, the waterway gets quite crowded (alternatively, we realized you could actually get into the market area and just walk around on foot if desired).


Boats were used for all sorts of things, including cooking WITH REAL FIRE!?!


Back in Bangkok, we took a ride on the BTS Skytrain to get to the Chatuchak Market.


This bypassed a lot of the traffic that dominated the streets.



At the Chatuchak Market:





At Wat Phra Kaew:




Notice the rules for entering Wat Phra Kaew and Grand Palace! (Basically, you have to wear proper attire which means no sandals or shorts.)


As evidenced at how the cultures in the region are so intertwined, there was even a miniature model of Angkor Wat!


The Emerald Buddha:

(Okay so not such a good shot, but they wouldn't let amateur cameras inside.)

Outside the Grand Palace:


At Wat Pho there was a different entrance for Thais and visitors. One required a ticket.


Inside the Wat:


And with that, the weekend was quickly over!
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