Postby jjdon4453 » October 12th, 2010 11:04 pm
We just returned from Italy 5 days ago - my third trip, my wife's 4th. We stay with relatives in a small town on the Italian Riviera - Verazze - that is 10km below Savona and some 30km from Genova. We see Portofino in the distance from our house. This trip we went to Rome for 4 days and had an overnight trip to Venice. We've also been down to Pisa and then across Toscana to Rimini and points in between. Plus 4 days in Milan, last year, and uncounted small towns, too. Quickly: Rome is wonderful, as are Firenze, Milan and Genoa. Assisi is a wonderful, beautiful place. IMO, there's no reason to go to Pisa except to see a crooked tower swarming with tour groups. I hated Venice for the same reason, but that's just me. If you like venerable old places that have been turned into tourist attractions, then Venice is for you. Same for Cinque Terra.......
My suggestion would be to ~~go~~ to Italy, as we do. Sure, we looked at the Colisseum and saw the Sistene Chapel. After that we go out walking the streets, finding great little restaurants and shops where the tourists generally don't go. We travel with our Italian relatives and speak Italian as well as we are able. Hint: It's Italy. They speak Italian. That's why we are here, on ItalianPod. If you are in a place where most people speak English then you are in a tourist-oriented place. There are those who think a tour bus is the way to go, but that's not us. We walked into a little ceramic shop in Albisola one afternoon - met the owner, he took us in the back and showed us some new inventory. Had a great time, met new people, all that. Largely because I speak the language to a degree as they spoke zero English. Italy isn't just monuments, it's a whole country - don't forget that and you'll enjoy it a whole lot more... One afternoon we went to a tiny little mountain town - i forget the name, near Sassello..... They had a fungi feast with polenta and porcini gravy, dancing, wine. As Italian as you can be and some of them may have never seen an American. The real Italy......