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For Lauren - re Italy

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Pandora II

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Hi Lauren,

I was staying near Biella which is in the Turin area. It has great food and wine - but it's not very picturesque!

I lived in Como for 2 years - and had a bf who was from Venice, so I know Northern Italy very well. I then lived in Arezzo in Tuscany for 6 years.

I would really recommend going to Lake Como - it's really beautiful at this time of year. You can pop over to Switzerland for cheap chocolate - 20 minutes drive...

You can get a train to Milan in 30 minutes - and you are about 3 hours from Venice. Another gorgeous place between the two is a little town called Sirmione which is on Lake Guarda. You

I would recommend flying into Venice and spending a few days there. Then take the train to Sirmione and stay a night there. Then go onto Como and base yourselves there. You can spend some time in Milan, go on a trip round the lake - Cernobbio and Bellagio are beautiful (although I find Bellagio a bit over-rated and touristy). You can take the Funicular railway up to Brunate where there are great views and easy "mountain walks" with lots of little bars en-route that serve wild-boar stew and similar. You are also not that far from Bergamo which is worth a day-trip.

Tuscany is better later in the year. I loathe Florence personally (as do a lot of Italians), but places like Siena and Montepulciano are gorgeous - but better in May - September.

If you want any other ideas or recommendations on places to stay/eat - let me know. I found an amazing hotel in Como called In Riva Al Lago - which is literally 20 metres from the lake - basic but very nice and clean rooms - for 55 euro a night: www.inrivaallago.com

I took FI to loads of places in Italy, including everywhere I have lived over a few holidays, and of everywhere we went Como was his favourite.

Here's a pic of the town:

como03.jpg
 
Don't mean to butt in here, but Lauren, if money is an issue you may also want to consider flying into Milan. I assume you're coming from the states and since it is a bigger airport my experience is that the flights are considerably cheaper from the US into Milan vs. Venice. It's not too bad of a train ride from there to Venice or any of the other places Pandora mentioned.

And Pandora-I lived for a year outside of Turin too! In a small town named Vinovo.
 
Oooh, what were you doing over there? I don't know the town as I only ever really went to Biella in Piedmonte (for fabrics - all the big woollen mills are there, and I specialised in men's suiting.)

The other thing to do - not sure if it's cheaper - is to fly into London and then get a Ryanair flight to Italy. FI and I paid $90 for both of us for return flights - including taxes!
 
Date: 3/1/2008 8:29:21 PM
Author: Pandora II
Oooh, what were you doing over there? I don''t know the town as I only ever really went to Biella in Piedmonte (for fabrics - all the big woollen mills are there, and I specialised in men''s suiting.)


The other thing to do - not sure if it''s cheaper - is to fly into London and then get a Ryanair flight to Italy. FI and I paid $90 for both of us for return flights - including taxes!

I was a foreign exchange student in high school actually. I loved it there and went back as recently as a few years ago to visit my host family. I can''t wait to take my hubby to Italy...he''s never been and it is one of my favorite places in the world!
 
Allora, dovremmo communicare in italiano!
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Certo, anzi a me mi fa anche piacere. Ho trovato settimana scorsa che il mio italiano fa abbastanza schiffo doppo quattro anni! E di accento, ma non ci si parla....

Devo dire, che ho imparato in giro, allora non ho mai imparato scrivere - secondo me si vede anche!

Tu, di dove sei in Italia?
 
Sono nata in Turriaco [circa fra mezzo Venezia e Trieste]. Sono una decina d'anni che non lo parlo e una ventina [o piu!] che non lo scrivo! Ma, l'italiano e la mia madre lingua.

Sono arrivata negli stati uniti nel 1956. Ma, negli anni 80 ho fatto molto consulenza [strategia e operazioni] per la Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Agip, ecc. - ogni mese, 10 giorni in Italia! E anche, quando ero giovane, ogni estate e stat spesa con i nonni in Monfalcone [e alla spiaggia a Sistiana] e i cugini in Varazze e Milano.
 
Date: 3/1/2008 10:38:56 PM
Author: DiamanteBlu

Sono nata in Turriaco [circa fra mezzo Venezia e Trieste]. Sono una decina d''anni che non lo parlo e una ventina [o piu!] che non lo scrivo! Ma, l''italiano e la mia madre lingua.


Sono arrivata negli stati uniti nel 1956.

Quanti anni hai?

Deborah
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Date: 3/1/2008 10:38:56 PM
Author: DiamanteBlu
Sono nata in Turriaco [circa fra mezzo Venezia e Trieste]. Sono una decina d'anni che non lo parlo e una ventina [o piu!] che non lo scrivo! Ma, l'italiano e la mia madre lingua.

Sono arrivata negli stati uniti nel 1956. Ma, negli anni 80 ho fatto molto consulenza [strategia e operazioni] per la Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Agip, ecc. - ogni mese, 10 giorni in Italia! E anche, quando ero giovane, ogni estate e stat spesa con i nonni in Monfalcone [e alla spiaggia a Sistiana] e i cugini in Varazze e Milano.
Bella quella zona! Io preferisco il nord d'italia per vivere. E molto piu cosmopolitan - Toscana invece e come vivere dentro una scatole, bella per una vacanza ma si rimane parrechio tempo diventi matto. Sicuramente si tornara in futuro mi piacerebbe vivere di nuovo a Como - magari quando Io e FI siamo pensionati!

Quando ai lavorato per la Fiat, eri basato a Torino per lavoro o in giro per Italia?

Eh, per uno che non ha parlato o scritto per cosi tanto tempo - non ai fatto mica male per niente, io sicuramente fra vent'anni avro dimenticato tutto - si vede che non ti perderesti mai la madra-lingua!
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I just found this thread, and wow! Thanks so much for all of this wonderful information!

We have it squared away - we''re flying into Rome, staying there a couple of days, spending a few days in Positano, then one or 2 in Naples, driving up to the Florence area as we just found (and booked) a villa in a 1,000 year old castle. We''re staying about 20 km from Florence, 60 km from Pisa, and we''ll do day trips from there to Bologna, and Modena.

Then back to Rome and home!
 
Date: 3/1/2008 8:29:21 PM
Author: Pandora II
Oooh, what were you doing over there? I don't know the town as I only ever really went to Biella in Piedmonte (for fabrics - all the big woollen mills are there, and I specialised in men's suiting.)

The other thing to do - not sure if it's cheaper - is to fly into London and then get a Ryanair flight to Italy. FI and I paid $90 for both of us for return flights - including taxes!
We're flying into Frankfurt on US Air, and the next day, taking a 30 EU one way flight to Rome.

Flights are CHEAP on Ryanair. I'll know this for the next trip we take.

I lived in London for a year, so DH and I are skipping it this trip.

Thank you so much for your insight! Como sounds lovely!
 
Pandora -- I am not Lauren but thank you for posting this info!! FI and I having a weddingmoon and can''t decide between Italy or Ireland, although Italy is winning.

I''m curious why you and many Italians do not like Florence? I''ve not been but from what I''ve seen I don''t have any desire to visit that area.
 
Date: 3/5/2008 5:59:08 PM
Author: scm1012
Pandora -- I am not Lauren but thank you for posting this info!! FI and I having a weddingmoon and can''t decide between Italy or Ireland, although Italy is winning.

I''m curious why you and many Italians do not like Florence? I''ve not been but from what I''ve seen I don''t have any desire to visit that area.
It is odd, but nearly all the Italians I know loathe Florence.

I just find it really dirty, overpriced and you can''t move for tourists. I lived 30 minutes away for 6 years and apart from changing trains I probably only went there about 30 times.

The only possible reason I can see for going there is to see the Duomo, the Uffizi and the Antica Farmacia Santa Maria Novella.

Fiesole on the hill behind is much nicer and has amazing views.

If you are going to Tuscany there are so many other places that are so much nicer to visit - Montepulciano, Cortona, Siena, Arezzo, Montalcino etc with better food, views, charm etc

Really, I only ever went to Florence to go to Pitti Uomo (menswear tradeshow), shop at the Antica Farmacia and to buy my pythons! I took FI last year for an afternoon when we went over for a wedding in Siena, and it was his least favourite place of everywhere we have been in Italy.

If I wanted to do a mega shop I just went up to Milan.

Florence has none of the charm, atmosphere and romance of Rome or Venice - it''s like Milan but less cosmopolitan.

I''m sure people here will disagree with me though.
 
Thanks for the info, Pandora.

We definitely don''t want to fall into the tourist trap. We are getting married in late September -- what areas do you recommend at that time of year?

We''d want to get married shortly after arriving and then spend 2 weeks or so enjoying ourselves.
 
Main advice - don''t try to do too much, you''ll end up exhausted! Italy isn''t going anywhere so you can always go back in the future.

I have to confess that I have never been further south than Rome - when you live somewhere you are always so busy at weekends, and I always went abroad for holidays!

So, my top 3:

1) Fly into Venice, spend 3 days there; take the train to Sirmione, stay a few nights, take train to Como. Base yourself somewhere on the Lake for 8 days - visit Milan for one or more of those days. You could opt to stay 6 days and take the night train down to Rome for the last two days.

If you use RyanAir it''s very easy to fly into one airport and out of another, so may be worth flying into the UK and changing there to save money. Never tried this myself, so may be wrong.

2) Fly into Milan, travel down to Rappallo, travel down the Cinque Terre staying in Monterosso sul Mare, Sestri Levante and others. Eat loads of pesto and seafood. Mmmmm

3) Trip round Tuscany - you will need a car to do this!

Italy will still be pretty hot in September.
 
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