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Deb and everyone here who travels a lot, have you checked out National Geographic Traveler?I read a copy at my sister's and it seemed quite good.
I see Amazon has it for only $10 subscription. The regular price is $40.
Richiesheff Wow ! That sounds like a dream vacaction, Richiesheff.
A private chef ! That's the life.
Susan, that's the way to have a conference ! Lucky you.
Deb, I've never been to Italy. I've only dreamed of it. But from what I've read the Amalfi Coast is supposed to be the most beautiful place in Italy.
My sister went to Italy about two years ago. She couldn't believe how expensive it was. A bottle of water was $5.Have the prices come down ?
Things can be expensive. When we saw water going for that $5 range, we went somewhere else. There was a kiosk outside the Colisseum in Rome where the price of water was something like 3 Euros. You could mostly find better prices if you turn a corner. The problem that I ran into was that I forgot to pack my Ibuprofen and ended up with headaches -- too much wine and then I came down with a cold. You don't find a CVS or Walgreens around every corner. You have to hunt for these tiny store called the Farmacia. You would see them as you drove down the street in the bus but when you were out walking they were nowhere to be found! The moral of the story is to make sure you pack everything that you own. I ended up with too many clothes, of course. But all was well in the end. Florence and the rest of Tuscany were breathtakingly beautiful. There were 6 people in our tour who were traveling together and they were going to be staying in a villa in Tuscany after our tour was over. Sounds like the group mentioned by Richiesheff. I heard nothing from them about a private chef however. That would be wonderful.
Alias Reader wrote: "My sister went to Italy about two years ago. She couldn't believe how expensive it was. A bottle of water was $5.Have the prices come down ?"
She talked about how expensive Soda was but how cheap in comparison that the wine was. I think she said the group went thru about 30 bottles of wine. I am sure they all hd fun.
The place where they stayed, they could order a chef thru something and she sent back pictures of what the guy fixed. I dont know if they had the same guy or different people. She just did this last month, and with her working we have not gotten together yet to hear all of the details. When she did Paris and 1 other country she made us a book of different oictures she took, so I am hoping she does the same. I know the lady who planed the trip had her birthday while they were there, along with my daughter.
Susan there villa was in Sienna. It looks like beautiful country and the took a bus to Florence. Flew to Rome and took a private car to Sienna.
Now there are websites that you can create your own bound book of vacation photos. My niece did that. They are really lovely and I don't think they cost a lot. She also had one made up of her daughter college graduation photos.
Actually, water in Rome is not a big problem because you can stop at the public fountains and refill a bottle for free. When I was there, it was incredibly hot (July of last year) and the sun was intense. The water is clean and very cold - there was sometimes a bit of a line, but it moved quickly. I picked up a bottle of water at Heathrow during my layover and used it throughout my time in Rome.In Florence, not so much - though I understand there is free filtered water available at one of the piazzas, so it is worth checking out whether that's true.
One of the things I liked most on my trip was the gelato! It's everywhere and so tasty.
Tuscany (including Florence and Siena) is so relaxing - very green, with rolling hills and vineyards. The wine and the food are amazing.
The water can be free, that's true. The problem is only that we were being very careful of public water. Perfectly safe of course but we wanted to err on the side of caution so stuck with bottled water. The wine was wonderful and we enjoyed it immensely but I didn't want to drink wine all day long while visiting the sites so the bottled water is to keep you hydrated safely. Tuscany was simply beautiful and exactly as you see it in pictures & movies. I would really have loved to visit Sienna but it wasn't on our list. We did visit a hilltop town called San Gimigano (not sure of spelling). Just gorgeous. Another side trip that was unbelievably gorgeous was to Tivoli outside of Rome. The villa that we visited was once the property of the D'Este family who were incredibly wealthy throughout the centuries. This villa features beautifully terraced gardens with literally hundreds of fountains. I've never seen anything like it.
I don't think there's a bad view or a bad meal to be had in Italy, no matter where you go. We don't travel all that much, but we've returned to Italy again and again and still haven't seen all we want to see. In part because there are some things we just HAVE to see one more time. If you get to go again, don't miss Orvieto in Umbria. It's between Rome and Florence and has a wonderful, gold leafed duomo. Get a local guide and he will help you pick out the personalities depicted inside and out and break the code of the paintings for you. Too many highlights to name. What was your absolute favorite thing? I think mine was finding a 5 star restaurant in a centuries-old building in little piazza in one of the hill towns - can't remember now which one, but I could look it up if anybody cares. We ordered everything on the menu, met a large family from NJ, and crawled out of there as full as we've ever been.
I step away from the computer & return to Italy! It's nice to read all the posts & read experiences of others there. We have only been once & that was in '93, i believe. Loved it & decided that next time we will get an apartment to linger a couple of months. Heck, the Vatican alone would take me a couple of weeks, between the art, the history and their massive museum. (I suppose that's what comes from being raised Catholic.)Our visit featured 3 cities, Rome, Florence and Venice. The quiet of Venice was welcomed after experiencing the upcoming All Soul's Day (or was it All Saints? i've forgotten now) holiday in Florence. Our hotel was in town & things got loud. Part of our package was one day car rental, so we visited Pisa from Florence and the ancient port of Ostia Antica, which is now several miles inland. I really liked OA & have some good photos of the remaining buildings and features. It was one of our best days, probably because it was somewhat unexpected. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostia_An...
On the drive there we also stopped at a catacomb and Caracalla's bath. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baths_of... Once we were out of the city driving was fine but oh! the traffic in Rome!
We relished the cheap wine, of course. As we were on a tight budget (had yet to get the kids through college), our dining experiences were limited. Next time, right!? Nonetheless, i learned about several dishes which i now associate with Italy, even though they aren't necessarily theirs, including grilled, cold zucchini and a cold cous cous salad. The latter dish we found at a McDonald's, where we rested each day after our morning travels, as it was in our hotel building. They had all sorts of good salads, which refreshed us for the rest of the day. LOL--imagine that!
Although Italy is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, I've read a couple of books about Italian justice lately -scary. One is The Monster of Florence, and the other was about Amanda Knox. I just heard recently that several experts who had failed to predict an earthquake had been sentenced to six years in jail. I would not want to be relying on the Italian legal system.
Michele, i too read The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston, just this year, actually. It was a horror story and we (DH read it, too) dismayed at the Italian justice sentence. When i heard about the earthquake experts sentence of 6 years, my first thought was the Preston book. Awful.
Italy...my absolute, without a doubt favorite country. Hope it's not advertising to say that it is such my favorite country that my best friend and I actually wrote a travel memoir about our zany time there.I love Florence...spent three months there many years ago, and of course, did the requisite falling in love with an Italian man...mamma mia!
Other favorites are San Gimignano, Siena, the island of Capri (a veritable gem). I live in Germany now, and one of the places on my TO GO LIST is a German/Italian town called Bolzano that is part of Italy, but has a strong German influence as it is in the north of Italy. Also, want to see Portofino. I think I would feel like I'd died and gone to heaven there.
Stephanie, I was in Bolzano last year, and enjoyed it very much. We also went farther up the Tyrol to Merano, which is REALLY German in culture. I hope you get a chance to visit both (easy by train), and maybe swim in the many pools of the fantastic spa in Merano. There are many lovely hikes through that Tyrol region, and lots of castles.
I've never been to Italy, but I do enjoy books byTim Parks. Two favorites of mine are
Italian Neighbors
Italian Education
Stephanie wrote: "Italy...my absolute, without a doubt favorite country. Hope it's not advertising to say that it is such my favorite country that my best friend and I actually wrote a travel memoir about our zany t..."Not at all, particularly since we are on the topic!
We are presently deciding where in Italy to visit after we
deb
Hey Deb,Thanks, I was a little worried about putting the book thing in, but it also didn't seem right to have to pretend it does not exist.
What to do? What to do? Dang, I am not sure what to say, but will tell you what I know.
Staying on the east coast...my thoughts. In the book, my best friend Debra and I mentioned going to Rimini to two people...one an American (tho her luggage tags revealed her to be Lady Isadora...???)...the other an Italian...neither of whom knew each other. I cannot describe the looks of distaste that settled on both their faces...like smelling dog poo maybe...lol. Tacky is the verbal description that comes to mind. Lady Isadora likened it to the Jersey Shore, years before the Guidettes became famous. On the other hand, I would like to see San Marino, since it is its own little country in the middle of a country. But when I look at the map, that's about it. Of course, there could be undiscovered areas that I am not aware of.
One place that I am determined to go to is on the east coast, in Le Marche province. I just happened upon it by accident. A young American couple run a hotel and cooking school that looks absolutely ab fab.
http://www.latavolamarche.com/html/
So, if you stay on the east coast, this could be a great place to overnite.
Going to the west coast immediately...there you have Forte dei Marmi and Viareggio to the north (little gem beach towns), Lucca and San Gimignano (the second of which is a walled hill town not to be missed) a bit more southern, and Sorrento, Amalfi, Pompeii, Capri (do not miss this idyllic island!!!) more to the south.
So, I didn't exactly know what to tell you at first, but now that I've thought about it and looked at a map, I would say to hightail it to the west coast.
Hope that helps
stephanie
Deb: I also looked at a map, having never been to Ravenna. Last time we were in Italy, we went to the Lake Country. We took a high speed train from Milan to Venice, then traveled by car along the south side of the Dolomites through Brescia, Verona and many other incredibly beautiful and unknown (to me) little towns, on our way back to Milan to fly home. We were torn about which way to travel because there is not a square inch of Italy that doesn't have something beautiful and historic to look at. So check out the Veneto, Bologna and some of the hill towns in the east if you have time. I don't know if you have to wind up near Naples, but if you can, take the slow route across the country and you will find some incredible sights no matter where you decide to stop. Jealous.
Thank you both for your thoughts, which i'll share with my husband. I'm a Big Fan of walled cities, so San Gimignano calls to me, Stephanie. San Marino calls to DH but that's because he is a stamp collector and so many are from there. He was there in the late 50s with his G.I. family, so i don't feel as though i need to go there.Michele, your trip sounds dreamy. I've not much considered the Lake Country, Dolomites and such. Like you, however, i doubt a person could go wrong traveling in any inch of Italy, so historic and gorgeous is it. We do not have to end up in Naples at all, as our flight to Cairo leaves from Rome.
I'm copying both posts & emailing them to my husband so he can see the details, which i'm likely to forget. Again, i appreciate the insights you both shared. You are making me excited for the Italian leg of our journey, what had previously been the weakest part of the 6 week adventure. Thanks.
deborah
OMG. 6 weeks! Just one more thing to say about Italy. Wherever there are hills, there are beautiful walled towns. There are Roman ruins in many places, including huge amphitheaters still in use. The first time I went, I was surprised to find that Italy appears to have been frozen in time all at once, so that every hilltop has its medieval walled town and duomo. As if time stopped in these places and progress stopped on an appointed day. When u get back, tell me if you feel that way.
And there are lots of hills - bring comfy shoes! We went to San Gimignano toward the end of the day (after Siena)and it was very hot, so ... I had gelato! The smaller towns/cities are fantastic, though, and San Gimignano, in particular, is a great place to buy gifts or mementos.
It's the ruins of ancient times which draw me to Italy and Greece, so the countryside is best. However, on our sole previous trip i had to see certain "standards". And this is why the next trip is the one i want to go slower. Glad to hear there are many walled towns, as that will just make my days. Thank you for the trip...don't be surprised if i return a gelato freak.
We had a day trip to San Gimignano and the gelato is quite the thing there. We were there the first week of October and it was still a hot day. Our guide warned us about the gelato. There is 1 place that claims to have the "World's best gelato". But our guide said that this is a fakeout. The other gelato store is the "Award Winning Gelato" and to tell you which one is which is tough. There is a square with a fountain with streets running off of the square. The "fakeout" gelato store sits on a corner of 1 of the streets and the square. The Award Winning gelato store is not on a major corner but it is VERY busy. But you don't have a long wait. And it is worth every second of the wait.
Lori, thanks for the great tip. We'll be there in February but we're not going to let the lack of hot weather deter us from Gelato Mode!
Lori wrote: "We had a day trip to San Gimignano and the gelato is quite the thing there. We were there the first week of October and it was still a hot day. Our guide warned us about the gelato. There is 1 plac..."I Know exactly the fakeout one on the corner you're talking about. Been there, and the gelato was good...but I am no afficionado, I admit. It all tastes like heaven to me!
As for guides...I take everything they say with a grain of salt...wouldn't be surprised if they get kickbacks for every poor rube they send to a business. Cripes, I am cynical, aren't I?
LOL--funny you know that corner, Stephanie. As for cynical, you sound like my kind of travel companion. DH was in Europe as a kid, in the late 50s & early 60s, so he seems a bit more gullible. Whereas i first went in my 40s, so came with the baggage of late century cynicism to bolster my innate doubt.
LOL! I can't believe gelato and cynicism are in the same conversation. Gelato just seems so ... pure and untainted. It's challenging my basic belief system!
Madrano wrote: "LOL--funny you know that corner, Stephanie. As for cynical, you sound like my kind of travel companion. DH was in Europe as a kid, in the late 50s & early 60s, so he seems a bit more gullible. Wher..."What I didn't say is not only do I know this fakeout gelateria, but there's a funny scene in my book which involves it! When Lori mentioned it, I was flabbergasted.
Yeah, I tended to be quite gullible, even tho my first trip to Europe I was 38. I was so ecstatic to finally be there, I had no clue. But I was pretty much cured of that during my time in Italy. My best friend and I had such odd experiences with people that we would have had to have been in a coma not to see the cons, and the craziness was what drove us to write. Well, actually, sometimes we only recognized the cons as such afterwards...and that was also part of the absurdity.
Yeah, gelato should be untainted and sacrosanct, but I have my doubts. The only thing that might be holy in Italy...for the men anyway...are their mamas...lol.
During our three weeks in Italy, i heard the expression "Mama Mia!" only once. Spoken by an older woman, i think i'll add. I expected to hear it more often, as that's almost the extent of my own familiarity with the language. (In Spain i heard only one person say, "Ay Caramba!" She was around 5 years old, enchanted with a very small carnival/street art setting up. While i know much more Spanish, it was the awe & speed in which it was spoken that allowed me to hear it.)Just thought i'd throw that in. For me, these were neat moments just because i realized i wanted to hear them spoken, even though i wasn't aware i wanted to hear it until i did. I suppose next i'd like to hear "Gesundheit" in Germany.
deb
The whole gelato connection goes on. My husband is in the ice cream business here in Ohio. So all things icy cold & creamy are of high priority whenever we travel anywhere. We ate gelato and did scientific studies of the flavor, texture, color, consistency etc of all the deliciousness. We have tough lives. Here in Ohio the claims of companies to have the "best" ice cream are thought to be telling truths, always. Does anyone else read the "Best of" lists of hamburgers, steak houses, ice cream et al?
Lori wrote: "The whole gelato connection goes on. My husband is in the ice cream business here in Ohio. So all things icy cold & creamy are of high priority whenever we travel anywhere. We ate gelato and did sc..."Definitely. I love Best Of Lists. Last time I was in the States, I had the Best Fried Chicken List (okay, I'm Black. What did you expect? lol), and one of the places was Brooklyn, where I was gonna be.... Pies 'N' Thighs is the name. I couldn't wait to get there.
Now, I have to tell you the best fried chicken I ever had was not at a restaurant. The uncle of my ex-husband can fry chicken that makes you want to scream louder than when you're having...well, you know what I mean.
Anyway, I made it to Pies n Thighs and I have to say, I was not impressed. The chicken was a tad dried out.
So, next time I am home, I will continue on my quest for the best commercial fried chicken...my next try will be Momofuku Noodle Bar...in my experience, Asian restaurants make some of the best fried chicken on the planet!
It's fun, isn't it?
Lori wrote: "Does anyone else read the "Best of" lists of hamburgers, steak houses, ice cream et al? ..."Lori, i'm envious of "having" to taste all those cold products. My personal favorite ice cream is Blue Bell's Homemade Vanilla. I'd rather have a superior vanilla than any other ice cream. http://www.bluebell.com/IceCreamFlavo... While i didn't grow up with this, once i tasted it, my mom made sure there was a tub of it in the freezer when i visited with my kids. I've seen offers of mailing it but it was around $30 or 40 for a half gallon. Other than my dead mother's homechurned ice cream, none would be worth that.
ANYway, Food & Wine creates "best of" lists, which can be fun. http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows... I got tired of clicking on each place but i noted several chicken & waffle places. This was a new-to-us concept when we moved back to Texas but apparently the south has quite a tradition of that combo.
Honestly, i'm almost always let down by "best of" lists. Clearly, it is literally a matter of taste. My favorite fried chicken is still Church's. Maybe it needs to be divided into take-out & sit-down? The skin/crust of Church's has never been topped to my taste buds, mouth, fingers.
I have my personal lists of favorites, which i'm willing to share but i just noticed this isn't even the food thread! LOL! I'll start another.
deb, drooling at the thought of all my favorites
Book Nook Cafe
Books mentioned in this topic
Italian Neighbors (other topics)An Italian Education (other topics)
The Monster of Florence (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Tim Parks (other topics)Douglas Preston (other topics)
-- If anyone takes a trip either home or abroad, do share with us !
message 98: by Lori
My September reading was cut short by my vacation in Italy.
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message 99: by Madrano
Italy! Any particular spot or all of it? I hope it was delightful.
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message 100: by Alias Reader
I am green with envy, Lori ! I would love to visit Italy one day.
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message 101: by Lori
Oh it is delightful all right. Everyone should go. And after seeing Venice, it seems as if everyone IS in Italy. We traveled from Rome to the Amalfi Coast to Florence to Venice. A few side trips to various not to be missed places. My favorite was the Amalfi Coast with the side trip to the island of Capri. Too beautiful for words. Took hundreds of pictures -- well my husband took those. Everyone asks to see the pix but I warn them about the huge number. It's all fun though.
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message 102: by Madrano
DH wants to visit the Amalfi Coast next. Well, after our cruise, where we arrive in Venice next February. While i want to, i'd also like to wait until we can spend more time there, not a shortish visit. Ah, so many places to see!
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message 103: by Susan
I went to Italy last year - Rome (for a conference) and Florence, with a side trip to Sienna. I adored Florence, as it was very comfortable and walkable. Just a lovely part of the world.
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message 104: by Richiesheff
My daughter just spent 10 days there. Rome, Venice and Tuscany. They spent 3 days in Rome and then rented a Villa in the Tuscany region and took day trips from there. Lots of wine and a hired private chef to cook them authentic meals. There were 6 of them and one of the ladies paid for all but her airfare. Wonderful friends. She used her Delta miles and on the way home was upgraded all the way to Atlanta.