Form and Function

Saw this nifty wine rack in a bistro style bar (Leon D’Oro) in Udine yesterday.

It takes a great design brain to come up with a wine rack that really looks nothing like a wine rack – just a bunch of bottles going rock climbing. That’s really thinking outside the box.

But, the question is, does it work? I mean, it looks like the bottles stay there okay, there was no evidence of shards on the floor below. But, isn’t wine, especially posh restaurant wine, supposed to be kept at a horizontal angle (or is that an oxymoron too) ?

But it’s a pretty clever, simple system. Here’s a close up.

 

 

Sheldon Cooper would have something to say about this I’m sure.

 

Anyway, it appears the Udinesi are not the only ones to get creative about their wine displays (by the way, though the bar served the most fabulous proscuito – not difficult being so close to San Daniele – the food and wine were not so great. So only recommended for a quick snack before moving on…)

 

Apparently in the Radisson Blu Hotel lobby at Stansted airport there is an amazing illuminated wine tower. Waitresses/ somelliers/ trapeze artists ”fly’ up to the top of the tower, grab your wine, fly down again, plonk it on your table and then whip back up again. At least that’s what it looks like in this video.

Which begs a few questions for those of us who would never dream of staying in luxury accommodation anywhere near Stansted: is the wine at the very top the most expensive? Does the ‘wine angel’ only do her thing if someone orders a bottle, or does she go up and down (and around and around) regardless? In other words, what, if anything, is the relationship between the performance and the object and..does it matter?

Thoughts on a postcard please..

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The Napoleonica

Also known as Strada Vicentina but I’ve never heard it called that. Apparently Napolean’s troops opened it (but there seems to be little evidence to back this up). It’s a beautiful gravel (is that an oxymoron?) path that leads from the Obelisk in Opicina to the edge of the village of Prosecco, with the brieze-block like triangular church of Monte Grise looming over it from above, and the picturesque ports and beaches and passagiate of Miramare way down below. If there is a fabulous sunset, this is where you should see it.

And seeing the sunrise here sets you up for the working day. I walked along it recently in the dark with the moon shining.

It was also the final leg of our long day’s bike ride from Cividale del Friuli back to Opicina – a gruelling 80+ km, but most especially a final 20k+ of  the very steep ups and downs of the Carso through Slovenia. Joggers love it because it is a do-able 3.7 k in one direction and 3.5 (obviously) back and there is a gentle gradient that can push those calf muscles further. Rock climbers love it because at the Prosecco end there is a sheer rock face that amateurs and professionals (and kids) alike practice on all day long.

But I have always loved it because it is so easy and at the same time, exhilarating. Any time – in the freezing cold, with the famous Bora blowing, even in the rain.

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