Roaming for ramen, craft beers and Van Gogh

Sun, clear skies, and 60°F temps. It’s been long in the waiting, but on yet another one of those all-too-rare occasions where “the kids” remain at home, we snuck off to Milan for an art exhibit/lunch date/shopping spree in that order. With spring pretty much here and summer not too far away, we’ll soon be up to our ears in garden work.

Van Gogh Alive

Quick question: when you hear the name Vincent van Gogh, which of his paintings come to mind? I’ve always associated him with the vase of sunflowers, so it was really something to see many of his works projected onscreen in high-definition. At first it felt silly viewing the images on big screens, but together with the coordinated music and animation, the whole experience of Van Gogh Alive was just that – an encounter that brought the dutch painter to life through sight and sound. Short clip included at the end.

Ramen, oishii!

Handmade noodles in a bowl of steaming broth. It’s the latest food fad to invade meneghino territory, and I, for one, am a happy camper. It’s been said that the true measure of a good ramen is the broth itself, and proof of that were the empty bowls after having downed it all to the last drop at Zazà Ramen. Choose your broth (shoyu, shio or miso), noodles (soft wheat or stone-ground wheat), and topping combos. I had the duck and kabocha; Moth had the seafood. Mine was better, especially with a cold bottle of Coedo Shikkoku. Total bill for 2 ramen, 2 Coedo beers and a serving of gyoza (good but I wouldn’t get it again) came to 55.50€ – not exactly a cheap date kind of place, but worth the splurge.

Duck and green squash ramen, seafood ramen

Shopping Scandinavia

Haandbryggeriet craft beer from Norway, smoked reindeer sausage, smoked salmon, pickled foods, cheese, jams, and lots more. This isn’t Ikea, it’s Björk Side Store on via Panfilo Castaldi.

What started out as a need for lussebulle (sweet saffron rolls) for a proper swedish Santa Lucia celebration has now grown into destination Norway and all things Swedish or anything from around that area. A cruise on Hurtigruten would be the ultimate experience, but until that happens, it’s nice to have a place to purchase foods from Northern Europe.