This summer, Aperol Spritz has been flowing from the counters of the most enchanting venues in New York City, from the rooftop of the Independent Art Fair in Tribeca to the flamingo-themed new bakery on my Brooklyn block. In Singapore, you can take an Aperol Spritz bar crawl, and in Paris, it's now a fixture at most cafes next to the local pastis and kir.
It seems that aperitivo (Italy's cherished pre-dinner drink) has become the new happy hour. And yet, the current popularity of Aperol Spritz leaves us Venetians slightly perplexed. How did a drink that, until 20 years ago could only be found in our region's humble osteria (tavern) and cheap local bars, conquer the world?
Concocted in about three minutes with half a glass of prosecco, a third glass of bitter liqueur, ice cubes and a splash of seltzer – added in this order, so that the bubbles naturally burble up – and garnished with a big, juicy olive or an orange slice, the Venetian aperitivo was recently voted Italy's favourite pre-dinner drink. It is so popular that Italian minister Eugenia Roccella deemed it responsible for a population crisis saying that young couples now choose between "drinking spritz and having kids". In the US, it's become so fashionable that Star Wars actress Zendaya, among others, wears Aperol Spritz-coloured nail polish inspired by the summery orange hue of the drink.
The original spritz wasn't orange though. Its history goes back to the 19th Century when Austria occupied Venice in 1797 and ruled it for decades; the Austrians had no taste for the heavy Venetian wine, Malvasia, and imported their tradition of "Spritzen", adding a splash of sparkling water to a glass of white wine. The idea to use the local sparkler, prosecco, instead of wine and mix it with a bitter liqueur came much later, when, according to Giuseppe Zanon, bartender and co-owner of the historic Al Mercà café (Campo Bella Vienna, 213) by the Rialto Bridge, Venetians decided that watered-down wine was too light and started to add Aperol, Select, Campari or Cynar (listed in order of sweetest to most bitter).
Aperol – now by far the most popular spritz liqueur around the world – was invented in the nearby city of Padova in 1919 by brothers Luigi and Silvio Barbieri after seven years of experiments, macerating sour orange peels, gentian root, rhubarb and spices in their father's distillery. It was first advertised in the 1920s to drinkers who wanted to stay fit because of its low alcohol level (11%), and to women in the 1930s with the slogan, "Signora! Aperol keeps you thin". By the '80s, it was dirt-cheap and appreciated by regulars at every local bar in the Veneto region, creating a sort of spritz archipelago in the Po Valley, where the cities of Padova,
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For years now, there have been attempts to place the city of Venice on UNESCO’s list of endangered World Heritage sites. On one hand, it would bring more attention to the fact that climate change and mass tourism continue to threaten the city. On the other, it could deter travelers, something local government fears since Venice’s economy depends almost exclusively on tourism. Most recently, even though a UNESCO world heritage advisory body recommended Venice be placed on that list, a committee of representatives from 21 countries voted against it.
Kia Karjalainen and her sister were vacationing in Greece when things took an unexpected turn. “We were in our hotel room, and I suddenly said to my sister, ‘It really, really smells of smoke. Is something burning?’”
If you are a tennis fan now is the season to get some quality time with some of the world’s best players. The Grand Slam season is over for 2023 but you can still find excellent training experiences, clinics and drills with players such World No. 3 Danil Medvedev in far-flung places such as the Maldives. Look to sharpen both your tennis and pickleball skills with Sam Querrey in Turks & Caicos or tune into a new wellness regimen with Maria Sharapova in Thailand. Here’s the latest on where to go for the ultimate tennis training experience.
If you are a tennis fan now is the season to get some quality time with some of the world’s best players. The Grand Slam season is over for 2023 but you can still find excellent training experiences, clinics and drills with players such World No. 3 Danil Medvedev in far-flung places such as the Maldives. Look to sharpen both your tennis and pickleball skills with Sam Querrey in Turks & Caicos or tune into a new wellness regimen with Maria Sharapova in Thailand. Here’s the latest on where to go for the ultimate tennis training experience.
From harbor-front Hong Kong glam to old-school European luxury, a just-released list of the best hotels on the planet offers a handy guide to traveling the world in high style – or at least assembling a list of dream accommodations.
As the summer travel season comes to a close, one airline is giving travelers a reason to start planning next summer's vacation. Delta Air Lines announced it will be operating its largest trans-Atlantic flight schedule ever, debuting just in time for summer 2024. The airline will be adding new destinations including Naples and bringing back service to Shannon, Ireland. According to Delta, next summer it will operate 260 weekly flights to 18 countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). This includes a new flight from JFK to Munich three times a week that will start on April 9, 2024, and a daily nonstop flight to Shannon, Ireland that will begin on May 23, 2024. The carrier will expand its existing service to Italy — it already flies to Milan, Venice, and Rome — with a new daily service to Naples. It will also resume service between Atlanta and Zurich, Switzerland, four times a week, which had originally been cut in 2019.
I have 24 credit cards right now, and it's getting hard to justify continuing to pay for the annual fees for all of them since the costs continue to skyrocket (ahem, The Platinum Card® from American Express).