TRIESTE AND THE MEANING OF NOWHERE

TRIESTE AND THE MEANING OF NOWHERE

By Stanley Sobari

By Jan Morris (2001) “It is not one of your iconic cities, instantly visible in the memory or the imagination,” writes Morris of the unprepossessing Adriatic haven of Trieste, overlooked by travelers-but not by history.

LONDON PERCEIVED

LONDON PERCEIVED

By Stanley Sobari

By V.S. Pritchett (1962) Punctuated with Evelyn Hofer’s striking photographs, this book evokes the landscapes, lore, and legendary characters that have kept London endlessly fascinating.

Where is Your AWAY?

Where is Your AWAY?

By Stanley Sobari

#Go RVing has everything you need to find your  AWAY and the RV that’s right you-from RV dealer and campground locations all over the U.S., to road-worthy recipes, stories from RVers, and much more. Visit GoRVing.com to be one click closer to finding your AWAY. Find your AWAY GO RVing.

Local Flavor |Italian Scoop

Where to get your gelato licks in Rome

By Stanley Sobari

#the daily queue for gelato at Come il Latter | during the G8 summit in 2009, Malia and Sasha Obama made blackberry and banana gelato in the kichen of Giolitti. Opened in 1890, the gelateria is one of Rome’s oldest.

IN ITALY, A LAND of such strict culinary customs that sprinkling Parmesan on your pizza is practically a crime, only one food is excepted from the no-eating-while-walking rule: gelato. On warm evenings, Rome’s locals stroll the cobblestoned streets, cones and cups in hand.

However you eat it, gelato means Italian tradition-one that differs from industrial, American-style ice cream. Gelato contains less butterfat and less air and comes 10 degrees warmer.

About 2,000 gelaterias exist in Rome. Most use additives, thickeners, and synthetic flavorings-yes, even those that call themselves artigianale (artisanal). To gauge a gelato’s quality, ask to see the list of ingredients, says Claudio Torce, the mastermind behind one of the city’s best gelaterias. “Count how many additives there are. Because true gelato doesn’t have a single one.”

Torce’s Il Gelato features creative concoctions like balck sesame and chili-and-chocolate. Natives also flock to Fatamorgana, where all-natural flavors include combinations such as pear and Gorgonzola. For molto rich gelato, head to Come il Latte, whose name (“like milk”) says it all-fresh cream accounts for two-thirds of each scoop. Top off your Sicilian pistachio with melted chocolate or zabaglione-flavored whipped panna (cream).

A Tip for Your Next Cruise

Original words by Christopher Eliot, adapted By Stanley Sobari

I’m going on a cruise. How much should I figure for tipping? You might not have to figure anything. Many major cruise lines now add a gratuity of around $12 per passenger, per day. The latest to take the auto tipping route, Royal Caribbean, quietly made the switch last spring. Today, the problem isn’t really how much to tip; it’s more a question of what to do if you don’t want to tip. After all, for some of us old-timers, a tip is earned. “Passengers can go along with the cruise line’s suggested tipping guidelines,” says Stewart Chiron, an industry-watcher. “Depending on the level of services, passengers can adjust up or down.” You can visit the guest service desk and request that the tip be lowered or eliminated if you think the service was awful. But requiring passengers to opt out of tips is as absurd as it sounds, and fortunately, the auto-tipping practice may be taking on water. Proposed U.S. legislation would put cruise line practices under tighter government control, and it might require cruise lines to remove the “optional” gratuity from your bill.

I bought some biltong at the Johanesburg airport and was told I could take it into the U.S. But it got confiscated at customs. What gives? Good thing you declared it or you could have risked a fine of up to $10,000 in addition to the confiscation of the biltong. (For the uninitiated, biltong is a dried, salted snack made from beef or exotic game meats such as impala). Alas, bringing fresh, dried, or canned meat from most foreign countries into the U.S. is generally not allowed as it could carry diseases, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy and foot-and-mouth disesase. And please, never trust the airport vendor to give you agricultural importation advice. For the official word on whether your meat is allowed into the U.S., visit www.cpb.gov (then click on “Travel).