Top Travel Destinations: Ortigia Island, Historical Center Of Syracuse, Sicily

From a New York Times online article:

In Syracuse, taking a passeggiata, or evening walk, around the perimeter of Ortigia island, is a popular activity.CreditCreditSusan Wright for The New York TimesA passeggiata, or evening walk, around the perimeter of Ortigia reveals many notable structures and stories. Start from the Parco Letterario Elio Vittorini, on the eastern side, and head clockwise. As waves crash against the rocks below the sea wall, you’ll pass crenelated lookout points and the chiseled facade of the 17th-century Chiesa dello Spirito Santo, before finding yourself in the palm-planted gardens of the 13th-century Castello Maniace. 

Founded by Greeks around 734 B.C.,ortigia sicily map Ithe southeastern Sicilian city that Cicero called “the greatest and most beautiful of all Grecian cities” achieved a size and status in the ancient world that made it a rival of major powers like Athens and Carthage. Takeovers and makeovers by Romans, Byzantines, North Africans, Normans and others left their marks as well, influencing everything from religious art to the region’s distinctive savory-sweet-sour cooking style. Much of the ancient city has crumbled since Cicero’s day, though the ruins can still be explored in Syracuse’s celebrated archaeological park and museum. But the main attraction today is the historical center of Syracuse: Ortigia island, a maze of narrow streets, ornate Baroque churches and centuries-old palazzi.

To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/travel/what-to-do-36-hours-in-syracuse-sicily.html

Top Science Podcasts: Persistent Antibiotic Resistance And Modeling Hot Cities (Nature)

Nature PodcastResearchers have identified how Salmonella ‘persister’ cells can spread antibiotic resistance genes in mice intestines. 

Cities are generally hotter than their surroundings, but what are the causes of these ‘heat islands’?

In this episode:

00:46 Antibiotic resistance reservoirs

Researchers have identified how Salmonella ‘persister’ cells can spread antibiotic resistance genes in mice intestines. Research article: Bakkeren et al.

08:12 Research Highlights

Bright barn owls stun prey, and the evolution of dog brains. Research Highlight: Zip-lining owls reveal what really scares their preyResearch Highlight: A dog’s breed is a window onto its brain

10:13 Urban heating

Cities are generally hotter than their surroundings, but what are the causes of these ‘heat islands’? Research Article: Manoli et al.

16:54 News Chat

A cryptic Russian radiation spike, and India’s moon mission gets closer to touchdown. News: How nuclear scientists are decoding Russia’s mystery explosionNews: ‘The most terrifying moments’: India counts down to risky Moon landing

 

Top Museum Exhibitions: “Gorham Silver – Designing Brilliance 1850–1970” At The Rhode Island School Of Design

From a RISD Museum online exhibit:

RISD MuseumEstablished in 1831, the Gorham Manufacturing Company adeptly coupled art and industry, rising to become an industry leader of stylistic and technological achievement in America and around the world. It produced public presentation pieces and one-of-a-kind showstoppers for important occasions, as well as tableware for everyday use. Its works trace a narrative arc not only of great design but also of American ambitions. In this volume, insightful essays are accompanied by gorgeous new photography of splendid silver pieces along with a wealth of archival images, design drawings, casting patterns, and company records that reveal a rich heritage of a giant in decorative arts and silver manufacturing.

Produced in collaboration with the RISD Museum, which has the world’s most significant collection of Gorham silver, this major new book casts new light on more than 120 years of grand aesthetic styles in silver, innovative industrial practices, and American social and cultural norms.

Website: https://risdmuseum.org/art-design/projects-publications/publications/gorham-silver-designing-brilliance-1850-1970

Books Worth Reading: “Quichotte” By Salman Rushdie Is “Fiction Telling Truths We Can’t Get At”

From a London Review of Books online review:

Salman Rushie Quichotte NovelQuichotte opens with a brilliant parody of Cervantes’s first sentence: ‘There once lived, at a series of temporary addresses across the United States of America, a travelling man of Indian origin, advancing years, and retreating mental powers.’ The temporary addresses are a fine revision of Cervantes’s pretending not to remember the name of the place where Quixote lived – literally, he says he doesn’t want to remember. But in spite of this and many other echoes, Quichotte is not all that close to the original Don Quixote in style or mood, and doesn’t seek to be. The leading character chooses his pseudonym because a recording of Massenet’s opera Don Quichotte was his father’s favourite LP, and echoes of the musical Man of La Mancha, with the obligatory ‘impossible dream’, are all over the place.

Cervantes tells us that Don Quixote lost his mind because he read too many romances of chivalry, not all nonsense, as many critics assume, but not models of realism either; yet there are indications, as the novel develops, that Quixote has learned to play at madness, like Hamlet, because it seems to work, because a functioning pretence of knighthood is better than staying at home. Quichotte largely follows the romantic reading of the knight as idealist, whose madness consists of his nobility of spirit and his refusal to believe that the pragmatically possible is an acceptable limit to human behaviour. Rushdie is both mocking and celebrating this posture, and his Quichotte is genuinely ridiculous as well as heroic. He has other sources too, he tells us in his acknowledgments, and both Pinocchio and The Conference of the Birds play a considerable role in the plot. It’s good to see Jiminy Cricket speaking Italian.

To read more: https://www.lrb.co.uk/v41/n17/michael-wood/the-profusion-effect

Top New Travel Videos: “The Coast Of Cornwall” Produced By IKWAI (2019)

Cornwall. Less Agatha Christie and more Poldark, you’ll stumble upon secluded fishermens’ villages and dilapidated copper mines perched on gustcliffs. The sea is never far. Seagulls’ cries echo wherever you go.

The Coast of Cornwall travel video by IKWAI 2019

And sheep decide to block your way on some lonesome road outside an unpronouncable town. Of course, there’s fish and chips (too much fish and chips). It’s pure bliss.

The Coast of Cornwall travel video by IKWAI 2019

Music: Tony Anderson – Younger

Website: https://vimeo.com/ikwai

 

Top European Cities: Cadiz, Spain Features “Delicious Andalusian Cuisine”, Ancient History

From a New York Times online article:

The neighborhood of La Viña is packed with open-air restaurants.CreditSebastian Modak The New York TimesOne of the reasons the province of Cádiz is on this year’s 52 Places list is food, as chefs in the area are innovating with pork and fish, the base ingredients here. I tried out a few of the white-tablecloth joints, but came away remembering the noisy, cheap tapas bars that have been around forever.

What makes Andalusian cuisine so delicious are the ingredients, and sometimes less is more. Why go crazy with reductions and infusions when freshly caught sardines sprinkled with olive oil are enough to elicit moans?

Cádiz, the province and city on Spain’s southwestern edge, is an underdog — and I’m among the many travelers who have spent years overlooking it. I know Andalusia, the southern region it is part of, well. For years, it’s been a meeting point for my family who has just as much wanderlust as I do and is spread across the world.

To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/03/travel/cadiz-an-underrated-corner-of-spain.html

Trends In Food: 5th Annual “Blended Burger Project” Celebrates Five Winning Chefs On Oct. 23

From a JamesBeard.org release:

James Beard Foundation Blended Burger ProjectThis year, the Foundation is pleased to once again partner with the Mushroom Council to host the Blended Burger Project*, which encourages chefs to create a healthier, more sustainable, and tastier burger that can be enjoyed by consumers across the country, while also educating diners about the many benefits of The Blend and the future of food. 

Through our Impact Programs, the James Beard Foundation has become more involved in the conversations around health and sustainability in our food system. The Foundation is proud of its work on the Blended Burger Project™ along with our other programs including the James Beard Foundation Food Summit, the annual Leadership Awards, and the Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change.

The five fabulous winners of the 2019 contest are:

  • Meredith Manee, Ritz-Carlton’s Burger Shack, Kapalua, Kapalua, HI
  • Justin Medina, Playalinda Brewing Company – Brix Project, Titusville, FL
  • Robert Repp, Hops at 84 East, Holland, MI
  • Eric Rivera, Vintage Year, Montgomery, AL
  • Jacqueline Sampson, Pompano Grill, Cocoa Beach, FL

Blended Burger GraphicTo read more: https://www.jamesbeard.org/blendedburgerproject

 

Health Studies: Poor Oral Health Leads To Cognitive Loss And Dementia

From a Journal of the American Geriatrics Society release:

Geriatrics SocietyIn our study, we found significant associations between baseline teeth symptoms and change in episodic memory. Deficits in episodic memory (ie, ability to retain new information) are most common in older adults with mild cognitive impairment making them more likely to progress to Alzheimer’s disease dementia.30 Furthermore, changes in episodic memory are often reported in older adults several years before the onset of dementia. 

Our findings point to the importance of assessing oral health symptoms in this population. Developing policy measures aimed at ameliorating health and improving cognition in this high‐risk fast‐growing population in the United States would need to include oral health preventive and dental care services. Medical and dental care providers can identify problematic oral health symptoms as risk factors of cognitive decline. Outreach programs that target older adults to improve the awareness of these problems can then be developed. Dental care community outreach programs should focus their information on practical ways to prevent oral health problems and provide information on accessible treatment options.

To read more: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jgs.15748

 

Best New Home Design: “Granholmen” From Swedish Architects Bornstein Lyckefors

From a Curbed.com online article:

Granholmen www.bornsteinlyckefors.seDuring the summers, the northern Swedish island of Kallaxön is bright for nearly 24 hours a day, which means the windows that wrap the house are put to good use. Inside, the house is clad entirely in pale timber.

The main living spaces are downstairs, while a lofted bedroom is accessed by a ladder. Residents access the toilet and shower from the outside—a true testament to indoor-outdoor living.

Designed by Bornstein Lyckefors, the facade of the gabled cabin looks like it was painted with a pint of mint ice cream. The roof, made with an oxidized copper, blends right in, creating a monochromatic look.

https://www.bornsteinlyckefors.se/

To read more: https://www.curbed.com/2019/9/4/20848180/modern-cabin-mint-green-sweden

Culinary Destinations: Mexico City Food Markets, “Great Food Everywhere”

From a CityLab.com online article:

Juana Lomeli at Jamaica Market. Clemente Dadoo LomeliThe city’s great unifier and appeal is its cuisine, especially the street-food: corner quesadillas, fast food tents outside of subway stops, stews served over hand-made tortillas, deep fried chicken tacos, tacos topped with rice served from street stands or a make-shift diner in the back of a van. In Mexico City, one can find great food everywhere at any price-point and at any time of day.

Among the hundreds of markets in Mexico, every person finds the one best attuned to their needs and desires. In 52 years, I have visited my markets hundreds, perhaps thousands of times. In that time, my father passed away, as did the fisherman from the now defunct El Barco in San Juan, and, recently, the woman, who sold me lush, grainy yellow morel mushrooms. When I told my daughter about her passing, she too felt a pang in her heart. She can crystalize her image from memory; the tight, white braids, the rebozo she used to lay out the mushrooms and the fact that if those mushrooms made their way into our supper, she knew exactly where they came from. I courteously called her “La señora” for so many years that I now question if I knew her name to begin with.

To read more: https://www.citylab.com/perspective/2019/08/mexico-city-travel-food-market-cuisine-taco-best-cdmx/597034/?utm_source=newsletter&silverid=%25%25RECIPIENT_ID%25%25&utm_campaign=citylab-daily-newsletter&utm_medium=email

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