Wednesday 21 August 2013

Bikecentric Prague "Bitten by the bike bug"

I have to thank Sven Czatska from Enthusia.cz and my dear Betka that took me recently to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon on an inspiring bike tour offered by Bikecentric Prague. Let's premise that among the offer of bike tours in "Praha" this is definitely an alternative one; that is probably why I enjoyed it so much at the point to decide to revitalize this longtime-dormant blog. Because this was definitely a great experience.


We met our Bikecentric guide Karel along the Vltava (Moldau) riverfronta cozy place reminding to me Donaukanal in Wien or Quais de la Seine in Paris. In fact the meeting point is at Baykazyl Naplavka, which is an alternative place for cyclists and, according their advertisement, it is at the same time: Action Bar / Bike Workroom / Bike Rental / Guerrilla Point / Music Stage

As reported on the Bikecentric leaflet we had a glance before, Karel was very nice but frank about distances, time and difficulties to deal with along the ride. And I appreciated his honesty, passion and easy-going style.


The tour lasted for about three hours and we were taken to discover lots of interesting places like abandoned industrial buildings, sections right-now under transformation to become posh districts (here Amazon has installed its Eastern Europe headquerter)We also hit a couple of works by David Černý, a Czech provocatory and dissacrant artist that I did like more than a bit. Last but not least we had a break in another Bajkazyl point in Žižkov, a very nice spot where one can find a cafè with old-style bicycles hanging upside down from the ceiling, used bike parts in a warm atmosphere and bike pro tools to fix up your 2-wheeled dudy. And we played a bit in it. At the end we realized that we got definitely bitten by the Czech variety of the famous bug that is spreading around.






I would recommend these tours as a nice complement to the visit of the most popular spots to everyduddy who's passionate for cycling and with the will to discover a Prague definitely "out of the beaten paths".

Sunday 8 April 2012

Spring is Green: Telli's "Risotto all'Ortica"

(leggi tutto per la versione italiana)
Hey all! Spring is back, as the swallows birds are showing up again. I want to wish Happy Spring to all of you with this recipe I go crazy for.

[ENG]
Ingredients:
400gr. white rice (if possible "Vialone Nano" kind),
3 handful of fresh buds(leaves) of stinging nettle (Urtica Dioica L.),
1 onion,
chicken broth q.s.,
a spoon of extra vergin olive oil,
salt,
a knob of butter,
1/2 glass of white wine
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Friday 2 March 2012

Italian Views: Roma Celeste




Roma Celeste from Fabio Gentili on Vimeo.


Riccardo Pocci (Concept, Subject, Photography)
Ezram Vambè (Editior and Director)
Fabio Gentili (Camera Operator)
 Gianluca Misiti (Original Soundtrack)


I have been thinking for a while about an "Italian Views" section...And today I have got the "go-ahead" when visiting www.riccardopocci.com where I have found this video. The reason is that I know that it is incredibly difficult for curious foreigners to understand our country and its inhabitants. But sometime I feel like it is even more difficult for us to explain it. An artist eye can help in opening a trail along that way, expecially on these days of "shaking foundations" for the beliefs of many Italians...
and I think Rome is the right place to start a path (+ I am going there in a few days to start my season)

E' da un po' di tempo che stavo pensando a come inziare una sezione "Italian Views"...E oggi mi è stato "dato il LA" visitando www.riccardopocci.com dove ho trovato questo video. Il motivo è che capisco bene la difficoltà degli stranieri più curiosi a comprendere il nostro paese e i suoi abitanti. Ma talvolta sento che ancora più difficile è per noi spiegarlo. Il punto di vista di un artista può aiutare ad aprire un sentiero in questa direzione, specialmente in questi giorni sembrano vacillare le fondamenta su cui molti italiani hanno contato...
e penso che Roma sia il posto giusto per iniziare (+ ci andrò trapochi giorni ad iniziare la mia stagione)

From Riccardo Pocci
Ciao Marcello, grazie!!
Sono contento che ti sia piaciuto il video. In fondo è un piccolo
racconto ma chi mi ha aiutato è veramente bravo.
Un saluto da Roma
Riccardo

Monday 23 January 2012

Anna's Ciambella [brah-tzah-deh-lah]



( leggi tutto per traduzione italiana)en
tra
Ingredients:
3 eggs
300g white flour
300g sugar
200g milk
1cup seed oil
15-18g baking powder (dose 500g flour)
a pinch of salt
grated lemon peel
(chocolate powder optional)

Sunday 15 January 2012

MARKED! (SECURE?)

(















(leggi tutto per traduz. italiana)

On a Wednesday afternoon (it is the only possible time to go for it) I went to the Tanari Parking where Comune di Bologna offers a service of bike security marking with SecureMark® system for (only) 5 Euros. This is in order to allow the identification of who's the bike owner and supposedly it would discourage bike robbery.

Saturday 7 January 2012

Long May You Ride!

Photo (and book suggestion): cosmicabc.blogspot.com

"It's All About The Bike" by Robert Penn
(Italian Edition "Ciò che conta è la bicicletta")
An inspiring book. Robert Penn likes breaking his perfect-bike-quest travel around the world to tell us about men and circumstances that made the bike as it is. "Long May You Ride!" to you, the Umberto Eco of the bicycle!

Un libro di grande ispirazione. A Robert Penn piace interrompere la sua ricerca-della-bici-perfetta viaggiando attorno al mondo per raccontarci le vicende di uomini (anche qualche donna, ma poche) e circostanze che hanno fatto la bici come è. "Long may you ride!" anche a te, Umberto eco della bicicletta!

Author Video Presentation: http://youtu.be/qo2EodFXJPg

Robert Penn (facebook)
Marcello, thanks for this, and for your kind comments about the book. Aye, many reasons... Long may you ride too. 

Sunday 25 December 2011

The Kitchen Trail - Pumpkin Tortelli (Reload)


Even if in Bologna we do not have this kind of filled pasta as a tradition, somehow I changed trail...As the first 4-eggs Sfoglia (the Dough) did not come out very well...that's why "Tagliatelle" are up there. I will try to get the recipe, but you woun't need just the homemade pasta, but the filling and the sauce. And those are kind of a secret in every family. What I can tell is that you need to choose the right "Mantua" pumpkin. Many Thanks for the big round one I got last month at the Agriturismo "L'Albero del Latte", Bagnolo San Vito(MN) - (Great Food!)