Drinks – A True Love of Mine

What Katie Did in Japan – Robot Restaurant

Think of the craziest show you’ve ever seen and then multiply it by a million. You will have something halfway close to the insanity that is the Robot Restaurant in Tokyo. Firstly, a disclaimer: this is not a show that draws on some ancient Japanese culture. It is purely for entertaining tourists. If you’re happy to join the ranks of Australian and American tourists who are out for a night of joyous calamity that embraces the quirky kawaii of comic book culture, this is the thing for you. If you want zen gardens and authentic ancient samurai swords, move along.

Robot Restaurant is situated in the heart of Kabukicho – a suburb of Shinjuku known for its bright lights, pachinko parlous and host/hostess bars. It is essentially a night life district but far safer and cleaner than Kings Cross or equivalent districts in other nations. It is easily accessible and only a short walk from Shinjuku station. You will need to pre-book your tickets online and collect them from the ticket counter opposite the restaurant around half an hour before the show begins. Don’t worry if you’re discombobulated by the bright lights and loud music, there are plenty of staff wandering the street, ready to point you in the right direction.

Once you have collected your ticket, you will proceed to the restaurant entrance, go down some stairs decorated in a style that seems like (trucker hat designer) threw up his most audacious designs and enter a waiting room decked out in a mix of porn star’s boudoir and Liberacci.

Here you can cash in your free drink ticket and relax in a luxuriously cushioned nautilus shell

and be serenaded by a pop singer and her band of musical robots. I’m not kidding.

Then comes the show itself. I can only really describe it as one of the most joyously neon lighted robotic nights of my life. The show is filled with crazily kawaii dressed dancers that twirl and flip and scream HAH! At what seem to be random intervals, then, when it couldn’t get any more random of crazy, the robots enter. The dances and robots seem to change from season to season but the theme and quality seems to remain the same.

There will be a sweet robot dancing number, a fight to the death involving pretty Japanese girls and robotic dinosaurs or similar giant creatures, and an upbeat dance and song number to round out the show. A short interval punctuates the brain overload and gives you a little bit of time to catch your breath (and purchase quite outrageously priced food/souvenirs) but really, the show is all colour, all loud, all of the time.

At the end, I had huge sequin envy, huge neon envy and seriously considered trying to learn to dance so that I could join the ranks cast members who seemed to be having the times of their lives. Have you been? Did you enjoy it? Could you understand what on earth was going on? Leave me a comment!

What Katie Did in Venice: Bellinis at Harry’s Bar

I’m going to say something that I know most of you probably won’t like. I didn’t really rate Venice. I was pretty excited to visit but I hated the feeling of being in a tourist trap. I hated the way I couldn’t seem to escape the hot summer sun beating down on me as I got more and more lost in the twisting streets. I hated getting lost every. single. time.

BUT

I am also willing to concede that first impressions are often wrong. So i’ve picked out the few things I really enjoyed while staying in Venice and thought i’d save some space in my head and my heart for a second visit. First up is the necessary pilgrimage to Harry’s Bar to have a Bellini with the ghost of Hemingway. I know that I just complained about being in a tourist trap but this one the one overpriced experience that I was willing to be a part of.

The exterior was so unassuming that I wasn’t actually sure we were there. It did seem like the kind of hidden bar that someone like Hemingway would want to hide in. Trust the Venetians to have sweet security bars on their windows though.

Cute menus!

Harry’s Bar was opened in 1931 by bartender Giuseppe Cipriani after he was lent some money by a wealthy American, Harry Pickering after whom the bar is named. The interior of the bar reminded me of a salty seafarers haunt with the dark wood and low ceilings. Despite being surrounded by tourists, I could imagine the ghosts of rough bearded men in worn, cable knits and canvas pants, their elbows heavy on the tables as they filled up before their next voyage. That’s probably not at all how it was, but it’s how it all played out in my mind!

The signature drink at Harry’s Bar is the Bellini, made of peach nectar and prosecco and is lovely and sweet and refreshing. Apparently Cipriani named it after a painting by Giovanni Bellini because he thought the colour reminded him of a toga worn by one of the subjects. One of these will set you back more euros than you want to spend but I had budgeted for this particular expense. Also, the olives that came as part of the apperitivo were huge and briney. Delicious! Unfortunately, they didn’t replenish the olives like they do in most bars. I think this is because

1. they’re a bit tight

2. it’s actually quite a small venue and they want to move people through quickly

So we came, we drank, we soaked in the atmosphere and we left with lighter wallets. I enjoyed the experience but I can see why many would baulk at the expense. If you’re a fan of Hemingway though, it’s probably worth a visit. (Wikipedia will tell you there were a host of other famous people who frequented Harry’s but Hemingway was the only one I was really interested in. Sorry!)

HARRY’S BAR
Calle Vallaresso 1323
30124 San Marco
Venice, Italy
Open: Daily 10.30am – 11.00pm
Website: http://www.harrysbarvenezia.com/

What Katie Did in Milan: High Society at 10 Corso Como

After rubbing shoulders with the rich and fabulous at the Teatro Alla Scala we had a bit of a taste for the high life. The next day we decided to take a look at 10 Corso Como, a trendy mix of fashion and design with a sprawling garden bar where you can escape the heat of a Milanese Summer. Opened in the 90’s 10 Corso Como is the brainchild of Italian Vogue editor Carla Sozzani and houses some of the most exciting and outrageous fashion and home decorating pieces i’ve ever seen. It’s the kind of place that only people who are Croesus-rich could shop at and I had so much fun imagining the kind of person who could wear velvet loafers studded with gold spikes of varying lengths, sporting a four figure price tag. If you’re on a budget (like we were, after splurging on the opera!) but still want a keepsake, there is a huge range of fashion photography and biography books. Some are in Italian and many are in English and there are also some cookbooks in the mix too. I ended up buying a cookbook of Milanese recipes written in Italian so that I could keep practising my language skills.

If you’re far too broke or don’t want to use up valuable baggage kilos on a heavy book, you might just want to chill in the garden with a cool cocktail.

Cue picture of two delicious, icy cocktails!

I had a ginger and lime with dark rum and hubs had a gin fizz. I think it’s a bit of an Italian trait that the gin cocktails come with a maraschino cherry on top. Not that i’m complaining! The drinks came with the standard generous bowls of aperitivos which were salted nuts and chips. Not quite the olives I was hoping for but again, i’m not complaining!

We were also joined by a little sparrow guest who kept us entertained by hopping around on all the tables and fluttering through the surrounding greenery.

10 Corso Como is a short walk from the Garibaldi metro stop and also quite close to Eataly which is why we didn’t eat more when we visited. If you want to get out of the very busy center of Milan, this is a lovely, quiet district to wander through. You can also indulge in a little people-watching as you relax.

10 Corso Como

Address: 10 Corso Como, Milan
Nearest Metro: Garibaldi
Opening Hours: Friday – Tuesday 10:30am -7:30pm, Wednesday and Thursday 10:30am – 9pm

What Katie Did In Milan: Bar Luce

After leaving overcast Berlin it was a relief to touch down under the clear, blue skies of Milan. Italy was where hubs and I were to spend the bulk of our trip and I have so many things to share with you all! Once we had checked in to our hotel, we were right back out the door to visit one of the most anticipated stops of our whole trip. The very first thing we did was hop on the underground to go to Fondazione Prada and get a drink at Bar Luce, a bar designed by my hero, director Wes Anderson. If you’re not already a fan, the films to watch are Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, Rushmore just to start you off. Anderson’s aesthetic is wonderfully quirky and beautiful. I was super excited to be in a place designed by him and feel like a character in one of his films.