I'm going to Italy next week.

Pacomc79

and I'll be there for 10 days. (with a nice long layover in Gatwick)

Any favorite spots for you guys in Venice, Florence or Rome?

We're taking the train in between. I'm planning on enjoying and studying food, wine, art and history without question. Anything else I should do?

Any good Serie A matches coming up close to those cities?

Thanks,

P.

chime

Don't know about the rest of it but the new Serie A season doesn't start until the end of August

JordyWordy

im in venice at the moment, staying in a campsite just outside it (name = mestre)..i like it, pool, bar, food etc.

hotels and hostels are quite expensive in Venice island itself. its july and prices for everything are quite high to be honest. Be prepared to have to walk A LOT on the island. its a mile or so deep, and the streets are very confusing.

its beautiful though. just walking through it is an experience. bring a good camera.
Rome & Florence ive never been too, so no help there

hope it goes well!

brainofPJ

awesome!!!

my wife and i went to Italy in March. we did the whole tour thing. so we hit all the major cities...and at times, unfortunately, the touristy stuff. well, maybe not
'unfortunate' but next time we go we will steer clear of certain things. like the leaning tower, vatican city. specifically Pisa...it was about a 45 minute to an hour ride from Florence where we were staying and once we got there we took some pictures and were ready to go.

i would definitely stop by San Gimignano! awesome little side-trip outside of Florence. up in the hills, lots of shops, the leather is cheap compared to the streets of Florence.

The Amalfi coast was just amazing. south of Rome, it was definitely my favorite part of Italy...i believe we stayed in Sorrento or just outside. everything seems to be built right out of the side of the mountains/cliffs, right on the coast.

when are you going? i'll have to put some pictures up for you to look at.

libragirl

Im jealous...that is great, I wish I could go away :(

small town beck

Florence is AMAZING!!! There was a little bakery down from the main train station that had the BEST cannoli!! We did the hop on, hop off bus and I have to say it was fun and a cool way to see the city.

If you get a chance to go to the Cinque Terre on the coast I would highly suggest it as well.

Verona was another highlight but without PJ I am not sure it would be the same

As said I too would skip Pisa.

HushBull

I heard they have good pasta....

StateOfLoveBoatCptn.

libragirl wrote:

Im jealous...that is great, I wish I could go away :(

thought you were making a trip to Dallas or something lol

Heineken Helen

brainofPJ wrote:

i would definitely stop by San Gimignano! awesome little side-trip outside of Florence. up in the hills, lots of shops, the leather is cheap compared to the streets of Florence.

Absolutely it's beautiful... although Florence was definitely my favourite city (I've never been to Venice though). Florence is still the most beautiful city I've ever been to. Go to michelangelo and you're looking down over the city, it's gorgeous.

I actually liked Pisa but I agree that other places are better... Siena, Lucca (both in Tuscany also) are well worth a visit. Siena's a medieval town and lucca's surrounded by its renaissance walls.

I MUCH preferred anywhere in tuscany to Rome. Rome's ok but has that capital city arrogance of most capitals... I didn't find that in Tuscany... and the food's a MILLION times better in Tuscany.

BUT if youare in Rome... or even further south, you should really do a day trip to Pompeii.. I thought it was well worth it.

libragirl

StateOfLoveBoatCptn. wrote:

thought you were making a trip to Dallas or something lol

ha...you don't want my miserable ass there...lol...

Urban Hiker

A co-worker's sister is there for summer school and reported that a glass of orange juice cost her $12! :eek: Can anyone confirm this or anything similar?

If it's true, Italy just became a place I'll never be able to afford to visit.

decides2dream

never been to venice or rome, unbelievably really....but ahhhhhhh, florence! fantastic city! it's about 18 years since i've been there ...but man, i LOVED it! definitely check out the uffizi and also michelangelo's museum, sooooo worthwhile! and just walk, walk, walk everywhere! florence was the first city i ever visited in italy, a 2 week study-trip during college.......bellissimo!


urban - europe in general IS very expensive for americans at the moment with the shit exchange rate, but sure while pricey, still doable. dunno about the $12 glass of OJ, but hey even if true, can't ya just go w/o drinking OJ for a week or 2? there's always a way if you want it.

?ing my education

Hey Pac, glad to hear you are taking a trip there.

I was in Europe back in April with some friends. We went to both Venice and Rome. We spent two days in both cities. We had no tours planned and basically just got a map and walked around all day in each city and had a complete blast and saw so many things.

I personally enjoyed Venice much more than Rome. Like someone else said, Rome just has this different feel too it. So many people and so much to see. Venice was absolutely gorgeous. Everything about it. Rome was beautiful too and so many more sites to see.

Regardless of what you do, you will enjoy it very, very much. The currency exchange will bitchee though. It kicked our asses but had a blast nonetheless.

Enjoy and take a TON of pics!

MrBrian

Tell me that you will rent a Ferrari for at least 1 day while in Italy. you must. i'm serious...

civ_eng_girl

I loved Rome... but i'm a big city girl. I'd recommend getting a pass for the hop-on hop-off double decker tour bus. It's an easy way to get around such a large city, and travel between neighbourhoods easily and quickly.

The Roman Forum was the most breathtaking for me... when you realize that the ground you are standing on is the very same as was walked by Julius Ceasar etc., you realize just how old it is....

IMO, i'd skip seeing the inside of the Colloseum. It's the exterior that is most interesting.

You can't not see the Sistine Chapel. It's busy, and crammed full of people... but seriously.... it's the Sistine Chapel. My mom had to drag my out by my arm. I didn't want to leave.

The area around Piazza Navona was nice.....

oh! and find the Jewish Quarter.... faboulous food... deep fried artichoke? mmmm.....

In Florence, don't forget to see "David" at the Accademia. The nearby orphanage is interesting, as well as this fantastic baroque cathedral called Santissima Annunziata which holds a shrine to a painting of the annunciation which was rumoured to have been completed by an angel.

Venice is a maze. it fun just to try to follow a map!

Make sure you go to St. Mark's Square at night time (as well as in the day)... it doesn't look like much during the day, but when it's lit up, and the orchestras and cafes are in full swing, it really is charming.

If you're looking for a cheap gondola ride, take the "traghetto" between S. Salute and S. Marco. it's the longest ride, and you get the most bang for your buck.

pearljamjen

Heineken Helen wrote:

Absolutely it's beautiful... although Florence was definitely my favourite city (I've never been to Venice though). Florence is still the most beautiful city I've ever been to. Go to michelangelo and you're looking down over the city, it's gorgeous.

I actually liked Pisa but I agree that other places are better... Siena, Lucca (both in Tuscany also) are well worth a visit. Siena's a medieval town and lucca's surrounded by its renaissance walls.

I MUCH preferred anywhere in tuscany to Rome. Rome's ok but has that capital city arrogance of most capitals... I didn't find that in Tuscany... and the food's a MILLION times better in Tuscany.

BUT if youare in Rome... or even further south, you should really do a day trip to Pompeii.. I thought it was well worth it.

YES all that historical stuff is nice. But the FOOD! Mama mia!

I had gelato twice a day sometimes. And OMG everything was so gooooood! Luckily you do SO much walking that you can burn it off those. And some of those bell towers that offer breath-taking views, well, you have climb about 500 steps to get there.

Yay! I love Italy! I spent 3 weeks in Florence and a week in Rome studying Renaissance philosophy and art, and also have been to Cinque Terre a few times as well as Venice. I would love to explore more though!

Oh yeah, and what Helen said about Tuscany!
I'm so jealous! Have fun!

Pacomc79

Thanks for the tips guys. The exchange rate is what it is. I know it's going to be rough but I'm pretty thrifty.

Everyone says Florence is absolutly fantastic. It's pretty high on my list to visit Michaelangelo's up in the hills and look back towards the city. I'm hoping to get to Pompeii as well.

Mr. B. A friend of my sisters who lives in Modena and her parents work for Ferrari if I can find a clear country road and a 250GT I'm all over it. Probably too expensive for this trip though sadly.

San Gimignano and Cinque Terre sound excellent I will try to make the side trips.

I've heard pisa is really not worth the effort. I can see that, and I'd actually rather see the countryside anyway.

This is going to be a lot of fun. I'm pretty excited.

Heineken Helen

?ing my education wrote:

Hey Pac, glad to hear you are taking a trip there.

I was in Europe back in April with some friends. We went to both Venice and Rome. We spent two days in both cities. We had no tours planned and basically just got a map and walked around all day in each city and had a complete blast and saw so many things.

yeh, I think the best way to see most places is to walk and walk... apart from Venice I'm sure

Oh also, you'll probably go to the Vatican during the day... but also go at night cos it's all lit up and gorgeous

Heineken Helen

pearljamjen wrote:

YES all that historical stuff is nice. But the FOOD! Mama mia!

I had gelato twice a day sometimes. And OMG everything was so gooooood! Luckily you do SO much walking that you can burn it off those. And some of those bell towers that offer breath-taking views, well, you have climb about 500 steps to get there.

Yay! I love Italy! I spent 3 weeks in Florence and a week in Rome studying Renaissance philosophy and art, and also have been to Cinque Terre a few times as well as Venice. I would love to explore more though!

Oh yeah, and what Helen said about Tuscany!
I'm so jealous! Have fun!

Yeh, I'm not so much into historical stuff myself... probably why I wasn't so impressed with Rome... but I'd imagine if you're even HALF interested, it's definitely the place to go. But in Rome, every corner you go around has something historical of interest... it's just not as picturesque as Tuscany

Heineken Helen

Pacomc79 wrote:

Thanks for the tips guys. The exchange rate is what it is. I know it's going to be rough but I'm pretty thrifty.

Everyone says Florence is absolutly fantastic. It's pretty high on my list to visit Michaelangelo's up in the hills and look back towards the city. I'm hoping to get to Pompeii as well.

Mr. B. A friend of my sisters who lives in Modena and her parents work for Ferrari if I can find a clear country road and a 250GT I'm all over it. Probably too expensive for this trip though sadly.

San Gimignano and Cinque Terre sound excellent I will try to make the side trips.

I've heard pisa is really not worth the effort. I can see that, and I'd actually rather see the countryside anyway.

This is going to be a lot of fun. I'm pretty excited.

I'm excited FOR you and quite jealous too, lol. Sounds like a great trip you have planned... just don't try to cram too much in at once. Italy's such a relaxing country... you should just enjoy it. You definitely have to drive in Tuscany anyway... unless you're just planning on doing day trips to each city. I was lucky in that I've a friend FROM Pisa so I stayed with her and she drove me all around and showed me the great places.


OH... I forgot... I don't know if this ties in with your dates... but it looks like it definitely does:

http://www.puccinifestival.it/eng/categorie.asp?idcat=1

I went to see Turandot at the Puccini Festival in Torre Del Lago (in Tuscany) where Puccini's from... it was an open air opera on a lake and was absolutely beautiful. I just thought I should go to an opera when I was there but wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it or not... but it was amazing... and DEFINITELY worth a shot if you're even a TINY bit interested in Opera this is the place to go That guy singing Nessun Dorma was probably one of the best moments of my life.

Tickets cost from 33euro... but WELL worth it.

I mean... just LOOK at this picture:

http://www.worldwideticketing.com/images/special-events/puccini-festival-stage.jpg

Hinny

Palio di Siena seems all kinds of awesome, but you would've just missed it.

xscorcho

i like cinque terre

Pacomc79

Heineken Helen wrote:

I'm excited FOR you and quite jealous too, lol. Sounds like a great trip you have planned... just don't try to cram too much in at once. Italy's such a relaxing country... you should just enjoy it. You definitely have to drive in Tuscany anyway... unless you're just planning on doing day trips to each city. I was lucky in that I've a friend FROM Pisa so I stayed with her and she drove me all around and showed me the great places.


OH... I forgot... I don't know if this ties in with your dates... but it looks like it definitely does:

http://www.puccinifestival.it/eng/categorie.asp?idcat=1

I went to see Turandot at the Puccini Festival in Torre Del Lago (in Tuscany) where Puccini's from... it was an open air opera on a lake and was absolutely beautiful. I just thought I should go to an opera when I was there but wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it or not... but it was amazing... and DEFINITELY worth a shot if you're even a TINY bit interested in Opera this is the place to go That guy singing Nessun Dorma was probably one of the best moments of my life.

Tickets cost from 33euro... but WELL worth it.

I mean... just LOOK at this picture:

http://www.worldwideticketing.com/images/special-events/puccini-festival-stage.jpg

nice, a certain band would look pretty nice on that stage too

Heineken Helen

Pacomc79 wrote:

nice, a certain band would look pretty nice on that stage too

yeh, I was thinking that earlier. Seriously though, if you even find opera tolerable... go. My friend was with me and she absolutely hates it and even she was in tears at the end of nessun dorma

fanch75

Pacomc79 wrote:

Any favorite spots for you guys in Venice, Florence or Rome?

We're taking the train in between. I'm planning on enjoying and studying food, wine, art and history without question. Anything else I should do?

Impressive, Pac.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/23/19-travelling/

Stuff White People Like
#19 Traveling
January 23, 2008 by clander

White person travelling can be broken into two categories - First World and Third World.

First world is Europe and Japan, and man, this travel is not only beloved but absolutely essential in their development as white people.

Every white person takes at least one trip to Europe between the ages of 17-29. During this time they are likely to wear a back pack, stay at a hostel, meet someone from Ireland/Sweden/Italy with whom they have a memorable experience, get drunk, see some old churches and ride a train.

What’s amazing is that all white people have pretty much the same experience, but all of them believe theirs to be the first of its kind. So much so that they return to North America with ideas of writing novels and screenplays about their experience.

Upon returning home, they will also find an affinity for a particular beer or liquor from a country they visited. They use this as an excuse to mention their travels when at a bar. “Oh, I’ll have a Czechznlishiyush Pilsner. You see, that was my favorite beer when I was travelling through Slovenia and the Czech republic.”

The second type of white person travel is Third World. This is when they venture to Thailand, Africa or South America. Some do it so that they can one up the white people who only go to Europe.

But like with Europe, white people like to believe they are the first white people to make this trip. As such, they should be recognized as special and important individuals.

That’s right, by going to a country, riding around on a bus or train, staying at a hotel or hostel and eating - they are doing something important for the world.

If a white person shows up in your country, you can make them feel fantastic by saying how you’ve never seen a white person before, and that you are amazed by their iPod - “a device that plays many songs? impossible!”

They might give it to you, then you can sell it for profit. Repeat as necessary.

fanch75

double post

Heineken Helen

That must be the 378th time I've seen that :rolleyes:

don't you have your own words fanch?

fanch75

Helen, go cook some meat or something.

Heineken Helen

fanch75 wrote:

Helen, go cook some meat or something.

Ahhhhhh... now it makes sense why you'd use somebody elses

if that's the best you can do

Anyway... Italy! Don't expect a crazy nightlife either... well ok there's a club scene I think but the pubs were disappointing... there's not much of a pub culture.

pearljamjen

Heineken Helen wrote:

Yeh, I'm not so much into historical stuff myself... probably why I wasn't so impressed with Rome... but I'd imagine if you're even HALF interested, it's definitely the place to go. But in Rome, every corner you go around has something historical of interest... it's just not as picturesque as Tuscany

Oh it is. And I am. The only thing I didn't like about Rome was the buses. But it was SO AMAZING for me to see everything.


But the FOOOOOOOD MAN! Can't get enough

Pacomc79

fanch75 wrote:

Impressive, Pac.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/23/19-travelling/

Stuff White People Like
#19 Traveling
January 23, 2008 by clander

White person travelling can be broken into two categories - First World and Third World.

First world is Europe and Japan, and man, this travel is not only beloved but absolutely essential in their development as white people.

Every white person takes at least one trip to Europe between the ages of 17-29. During this time they are likely to wear a back pack, stay at a hostel, meet someone from Ireland/Sweden/Italy with whom they have a memorable experience, get drunk, see some old churches and ride a train.

What’s amazing is that all white people have pretty much the same experience, but all of them believe theirs to be the first of its kind. So much so that they return to North America with ideas of writing novels and screenplays about their experience.

Upon returning home, they will also find an affinity for a particular beer or liquor from a country they visited. They use this as an excuse to mention their travels when at a bar. “Oh, I’ll have a Czechznlishiyush Pilsner. You see, that was my favorite beer when I was travelling through Slovenia and the Czech republic.”

The second type of white person travel is Third World. This is when they venture to Thailand, Africa or South America. Some do it so that they can one up the white people who only go to Europe.

But like with Europe, white people like to believe they are the first white people to make this trip. As such, they should be recognized as special and important individuals.

That’s right, by going to a country, riding around on a bus or train, staying at a hotel or hostel and eating - they are doing something important for the world.

If a white person shows up in your country, you can make them feel fantastic by saying how you’ve never seen a white person before, and that you are amazed by their iPod - “a device that plays many songs? impossible!”

They might give it to you, then you can sell it for profit. Repeat as necessary.

But I've already drank Czech Lager (Budwiser) and hell Miller Lite is European Pilsner. I don't have an Ipod, mostly becasue the man won't let me have one. White People... geez.

Not sure I'm doing something globally important, but I am enhancing my own cultural awareness. So I'll put that in my pipe and smoke it.