And the 61 worse places?
A relative pointed out to me that Tripadvisor ratings put Osteria da Luca as #1,195 of 1,256 in Venice. This means there are 61 worse places to eat in the city...
Not a great start…
So the great experiment of "numero chiuso" (limited access) was put into practice for the opening of Venice's Carnival yesterday evening. It's what people have been demanding for years now - and not just for Carnival. It doesn't seem to have gone well. The inaugural...
Orientalism lives… Update on the Osteria da Luca.
It turns out that the manager of the restaurant who overcharged the Japanese students is an Egyptian, Kazi Babar. Although he runs the restaurant the premises are sub-let to him by a Chinese, Zeng Chegyi, who, in turn, is renting it from a Venetian, Professor Franco...
Lasciate ogni speranza…
The case of the Venetian restaurant that charged a group of Japanese students 1143 euros for four steaks, a plate of mixed-grill fish, two glasses of wine and a bottle of mineral water has made it onto the front page of most of the world’s newspapers. A glance at...
LOCATIONS OF THE FOUR HORSEMEN. 4. FONTEGO DEI TURCHI
Chapter 17: "The Fontego appeared through the mist on our right, with its long line of slender arched windows. It had presumably once had an equally elegant ground floor, with a line of wider arches along the canal, but a ramshackle set of smaller shed-like buildings...
LOCATIONS OF THE FOUR HORSEMEN. 3. PALAZZO QUERINI STAMPALIA
Chapter 10: “We made our way towards the little square behind the church, the codega providing a damp luminescence in the mist to guide our footsteps. This feeble light proved unnecessary by the time we reached the little bridge that crossed the canal to the Querini...
THE LOCATIONS OF THE FOUR HORSEMEN. 2. THE TETRARCHS
Chapter 2, p. 11: "We were forced to stand with our backs to the crowds and our hands behind our heads, staring at the four mysterious porphyry figures set into the corner of the treasury, while we waited for the sbirri to come." Every guidebook now indicates these...
Book presentation with Philip Gwynne Jones
I'm very happy to share a link to the blog of my friend Philip Gwynne Jones, who gives an account of our joint book-presentation last Saturday at Laguna Libre in Cannaregio, Venice. My opinion of his novel, The Venetian Game, can be found in my blurb for it: "A...
Interview on History Girls website
I'm very grateful to Michelle Lovric for once again hosting me on the History Girls website. This time we talk about the 18th century, some Venetian terms, the Fourth Crusade, and a few other matters connected with The Four Horsemen. Oh, and Byron comes into it...
The Locations of Ascension. 5. Santa Maria del Giglio
"We leaned against a shop front just in front of the church's facade; the pompous statues and curious bas-reliefs were dimly visible in the moonlight." (Chapter 22) Santa Maria del Giglio has one of the most extravagantly grandiose church-facades in Venice, perhaps...
The Locations of The Four Horsemen. 1. Sant’Elena
Sant’Elena has definitely changed since the 18th century. The most obvious change is that you can now walk to it. In the novel Alvise has to hire a boat to get there. The map at the back of the book shows Sant’Elena as a small island some distance from the easternmost...
The Locations of Ascension. 4. Sant’Isepo
Chapter 12: He [Bepi] was staring across the canal at the façade of the church. It is not one of Venice’s most famous buildings but it has a charming bas-relief of the Adoration of the Magi over the doorway. Sant’Isepo (Venetian for San Giuseppe or St Joseph) is...