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I would recommend buying the "The Miracle of Castel di Sangro" by Joe McGinniss.
Great book about an outsider embracing italian football (soccer) in a small Italian town. Part Fever Pitch, Part Godfather. It will get you in the mood to embrace Italy.
Nice hotels where I have stayed:
Florence and Rome: The Excelsior (Westin)
Nice: The Negresco
Hotels are expensive, but comfy, and cheap european city hotels suck.
Restaurants in Florence that are inexpensive and very good: Aqua al 2 (Due); Alle Murate
Don't miss these. The crowds are young and Italian. The price is right. The food is quality with nice portions.
In Rome, I have heard good things about Crudo (never been, but my friend, who spends a lot of time in Rome, swears by it. (She's a model)
When in Naples, definitely take a hydroboat over to Ischia. The place is magic and all the tourists flock to Capri
Dinner in Florence: Enoteca Pinchiorri. Stunningly good.
http://www.enotecapinchiorri.com/
How does the cruise line get you to Florence? With only one day, stick to the turist spots: It is hard to do these cities in one day, but it would be a shame to visit Rome and not see St. Peter's or The Colosseum;) Don't forget to throw a coin in the Trevi FountainQuote:
Originally Posted by Twoplanker
My wife and I were in Italy in April on our honeymoon. Of the cities you listed we only visited Florence. We flew in and out of that city and spent only one night on each end there.
The only real advice I can offer is this: If you want to visit the big museums (Accademia for David or Uffizi) look into buy tickets in advance or a tour that includes them. We did a walking tour of the city that ended with Accademia. We waited for about 5 minutes to get in. The line for people not on tours was a least and hour long. This was April, a slow time of year.
Siena is cool too. If you’re heading there PM me and I can send you .PDFs of self guided walking tours. We unfortunately forgot them but I think they would have been good to have.
Trip Advisor is a good site. It’s basically all traveler reviews and opinions.
Here is my gallery of Florence: Florence photos
And the rest of the trip, including Siena, if you care: All Italy Galleries
I was in Italy, France and Germany 3 years ago.
Rome is amazing, spend as much time here as you can. The only other Euro city I went to that compared was Berlin (I'm big on the WW2 and Cold War stuff). Better than Paris in nearly every way, IMO. Don't miss the Ancient Roman stuff (Colluseum and area), or the Vatican. I'm not Catholic either, but it is an amazing place and will be apprecieated by everyone. The ceiling of the Sistine Chappel.... no words for it.
Florance is nice, but not rome nice. I went to florance before Rome, probably a good thing because as far as museums, art, history, and archetecture go, Rome is better. That said, it still beats pretty much anything in North America. It has a different feel than Rome too, much more laid back and less metropolatian
For food, look for ma and pop places in the basements and main floors of appartments. They are usually better and cheaper than visable resteraunts around tourist places. The resteraunts on sidestreets are usually better than those in the middle of plazas.
That's the second recommendation for that restaurant. I just wish I could figure out how to operate their website.Quote:
Originally Posted by Buster Highmen
Looks....pink.
Anything Relais & Chateaux has to be good. I have stayed/ate at their places in Lech and Berwang, Austria. Both were exceptional!Quote:
Originally Posted by Twoplanker
Try this cite: http://www.relaischateaux.com/enoteca/
Parc Guel by Gaudi, and anything else by Gaudi including the chuch, the museum, and the buildings he designed. Take lots of water to park, and bring a lunch picnic. If I had one mission only, it would be Gaudi.Quote:
Originally Posted by Twoplanker
Be sure to spend an evening in the Gothic quartier, drinking wine and eating tapas. The Spanish move from one bar/restaurant to the next, having one drink and maybe tapas and moving on. Eventually, they might park for dinner, at around 11-midnight. Then it's club time.
The aquarium and surrounding area (shopping mall) is nice, but designed for tourists. It's at the end of Las Ramblas, and not very Spanish.
Las Ramblas is worth a look, and if you read Orwell, you might recall that the revolution was taking place there.
If you can make it up to Les Fugeures (sp?) see the Dali Museum.
Olymipic Park is not much to see, but a nice view.
Picasso museum is alright, but less than I expected.
A note on Barcelonian art: it is worth a look. If there is an exhibit in town that looks interesting, and it will be advertised all over the city, go to it.
Enjoy it.
Info like this is very valuable!Quote:
Originally Posted by Buster Highmen
Go to Slovenia. It is the nicest country in Europe. The coast is killer (but small). When in Italy, head to Trieste and then Piran, Slovenia, from there. Have fun.
Hmn, enjoy yaselfs mangs.
No help for you really, but...
Barcelona is (was) supposed to be a very druggy city.
So you might want to try getting ahold of some weed (or, well Heroin, if that's your poison. Plenty there) and get Blasted before checking out the Gaudi stuff.
Nice ? Pricey.
Man, hit the beach. You gotta get an eyeful of all the rich bitches with there tits hanging out. Your wife will prolly like it too. No dirty old men, well, apart from you, that is :wink:
:eek: Nearly forgot.
Are you becoming a Canadian when you get to Yurp ? :fmicon:
Some suggestions for Nice:
I'm not sure where the cruise boat will be letting you off - I assume the harbor. If so, there are some nice neighborhoods on that side of town. Someone mentioned the hill - the ruins on top are the chateau d'Nice. Very nice walk, nice views.
http://myspace-761.vo.llnwd.net/0085...53748761_l.jpg
The harbor is on the East side of the hill, the Vieux Nice (old town) is at the bottom of the hill on the Westside. there are two paths down, one takes you into the old town.
http://myspace-265.vo.llnwd.net/0085...53750265_l.jpg
Narrow streets, old shops, tourist trinkets. there is also a flower market early in the morning every morning, except one day each week when there is a flea market instead.
The other path takes you down to the promenade des anglais.
http://myspace-634.vo.llnwd.net/0085...53765634_l.jpg
The promenade runs along the baie del'angles.
http://myspace-800.vo.llnwd.net/0085...53746800_l.jpg
It is one of the things to do. Even in February, there are topless women (and men in speedos). The promenade itself is quite nice for an early morning run or a late evening stroll.
On the way back, there are some nice seafood restaraunts not far off the promenade. Can't recall the name or exact street.
Enjoy yourself, there are some beautiful places out there.