Bellinis and Bellini – a cocktail of peaches and prosecco, and the family that laid the foundations for some of the finest art the West has produced. They are both found in Venice, where I had gone to celebrate a milestone birthday with my husband and daughters.
The city is a masterpiece. I love places out of season and Venice in winter exudes a chill beauty. The crowds have disappeared, and with skies dark as ink and the buildings gift-wrapped for Christmas in swags and baubles, there is nowhere like this city.
The Doge's Palace maintains its historic, theatrical presence while a lightshow showers the Renaissance clocktower with electric snowflakes. The cold is so crisp, your breath steams, spiralling upwards like smoke.
We kept warm with frequent mugs of
hot chocolate, topped with quiffs of whipped cream from Florian and
other welcoming cafes. The Italians can't be beaten when it comes to
sandwiches. Soft, freshly toasted tomato and mozzarella paninis;
piadinas, warm, folded flat bread filled with grilled vegetables; and
tramezzini, crustless triangle sandwiches stuffed with the likes of egg
and prawn.
The Milan Cathedral intemperate at Piaza del Duomo (Photo by Curtis Poe )
Critics claim that eating a meal grown from a vertical farm is as likely as Leonardo da Vinci flying in a helicopter built from his own designs. 
The way that you suddenly come across a rare Leonardo da Vinci, Lady with an Ermine in the Czartoryski museum – established in 1800, all worn-oak floors, 
gallery of his shameless, colourful appropriations of Disney, Leonardo da Vinci and everyone in between right in the middle of the Lincoln Road mall. 
In a city like Vancouver, with its thinly supported cultural scene, where many people would rather sail or hike than tour the stunning Leonardo Da Vinci
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