Greece. Or? (Also Italy beta)

[Wrecked]

Having a great trip, will do a photo dump and TR once we are back.

Quick update though: we spent a week in Tuscany, mostly around Lucca. Barga was awesome, so was Bagni di Lucca and a little town N. of Castlenuevo (Silica IIRC). The food and wine was amazing. Few tourists. Great hiking and vibes

We are staying in Cannaregio.

Fuck yes!!

[old goat]

Just walking around Venice is as good as any particular site. Take the vaporetto over to the church in the middle of the lagoon.--San Giorgio Maggiore.
Eat at a tourist trap along the Grand Canal. It's Venice.
If you don't want to spring for a full gondola ride take one of the cheap gondolas that cross the Grand Canal.

[altacoup]

The Guggenheim in Venice is a nice small museum and surprisingly off the beaten path. Tourists basically walk one route from the train station to St Marks. Walk anywhere else and it’s quite surprising how few people there are. Doge’s palace is pretty awesome to.


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[Iowagriz]

https://www.grottapalazzese.it/

Opposite end from Venice (near the boot heel), but adding this as I stumbled upon it last night. It would be an amazing place for a meal.

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[old goat]

The Guggenheim in Venice is a nice small museum and surprisingly off the beaten path. Tourists basically walk one route from the train station to St Marks. Walk anywhere else and it’s quite surprising how few people there are. Doge’s palace is pretty awesome to.


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Forgot about the Goog. Several Pollocks and other contemporaries.
The Jewish quarter--the original ghetto--is particularly uncrowded. (Maybe the fact that I was there on Yom Kippur had something to do with it.)

[Tech Tonics]

Fol
The Jewish quarter--the original ghetto--is particularly uncrowded. (Maybe the fact that I was there on Yom Kippur had something to do with it.)

Yeah, that’s Cannaregio, where we are staying the next 2 nights, currently on the train traveling to Venice

A few pics.

[Tech Tonics]

The last pic is in the Alpi Apuane, a small range in NW Tuscany. Solid limestone

[Benny Profane]

Nice

[The AD]

I'm taking a cruise with a few stops in Italy this fall. Does anyone have any recommendations for Naples? Right now I'm thinking of the Mt Vesuvius hike and Pompeii. Ship gets in at 8 am and departs at 6pm, so not a huge amount of time there.

[Benny Profane]

Pompeii. They keep on finding new stuff.

Naples is one of the few places in Italy where I would say, stay on the tour bus, don't wander. Probably because I'm watching Gomorrah right now.

Edit: Do a little research and try to find a really good pizza place. Naples is still considered the best pizza in Italy, therefore, the world.

[skaredshtles]

Pompeii. They keep on finding new stuff.

Naples is one of the few places in Italy where I would say, stay on the tour bus, don't wander. Probably because I'm watching Gomorrah right now.

Edit: Do a little research and try to find a really good pizza place. Naples is still considered the best pizza in Italy, therefore, the world.

Ima agree with this fool. Pompeii and pizza when visiting Naples.

[The AD]

I thought Sorrento looked pretty nice, but on the other hand this is a Mediterranean cruise. There will be plenty of other beautiful seaside locations to see.

[plugboots]

Yeah AD, I was going to say, you’re going to Naples, go on a food mission to seek out a certain type of food, and that’ll get you around the town and then you’ll get to see some of the historical sites. There’s better places to hike, (like the Dolomites).

[Tech Tonics]

Fuck yes!!

Yeah dude. Your mention of Barga was spot on.

The area around Lucca and North to the garfgnana valley was so so so amazing. The food. The wine. The people. So good.

Also, rented a road bike and rode the ultra-classic Monte Serra loop from Lucca.

[The AD]

Yeah AD, I was going to say, you’re going to Naples, go on a food mission to seek out a certain type of food, and that’ll get you around the town and then you’ll get to see some of the historical sites. There’s better places to hike, (like the Dolomites).

In general I'm not terribly interested in food, but I may make an exception for Neapolitan pizza.

Yeah, I realize Vesuvius probably isn't the greatest hike, but it's there. I feel like I've got to do it. Although if the weather sucks I'll probably opt for something else.

[skaredshtles]

In general I'm not terribly interested in food

What does this even mean?

And why are you going on a Mediterranean cruise if you aren't interested in food?!?

[old goat]

Yeah AD, I was going to say, you’re going to Naples, go on a food mission to seek out a certain type of food, and that’ll get you around the town and then you’ll get to see some of the historical sites. There’s better places to hike, (like the Dolomites).

Before we took a trip to Rome my brother sent me a list of all the Caravaggios in the city--the point being both the art and the search. (We also found one of my partners, who I didn't know was in Rome, who was killing time waiting for the documents he left on the roof of his rental car to be replaced--passport, credit cards, the whole catastrophe.)

If pizza is not in AD's wheelhouse, trying to find the best gelato in Naples would be a worthy plan B. (Never been to Naples; I don't think it's particularly known for gelato--that would be Milan--but there have to be plenty of good places to find it.)

[Tech Tonics]

In general I'm not terribly interested in food,

We couldn’t possibly be more different.

[skaredshtles]

We couldn’t possibly be more different.

I mean... there's a lot of cool shit in Italy, but it all kinda pales when compared to the food and wine.

[The AD]

Honestly I'll eat whatever is available. I enjoy food, but it's very low on my list of things I care about on a vacation.

[skaredshtles]

Honestly I'll eat whatever is available. I enjoy food, but it's very low on my list of things I care about on a vacation.

[Benny Profane]

Yeah dude. Your mention of Barga was spot on.

The area around Lucca and North to the garfgnana valley was so so so amazing. The food. The wine. The people. So good.

Also, rented a road bike and rode the ultra-classic Monte Serra loop from Lucca.

Rental details, please. Shop, bike, how much, and did you come away satisfied enough for a good Yelp/TGR review? Were you following a paper map or a Garmin?

[plugboots]

No food? Wow.
OK the cool old railway museum? Prolly up your alley.

Museum Pietrarsa
+39 081 472003
https://goo.gl/maps/bbPpSmE4AQSHjvW16

Great bar next door, on the water.

Il Binario Borbonico

[old goat]

No food? Wow.
OK the cool old railway museum? Prolly up your alley.

Museum Pietrarsa
+39 081 472003
https://goo.gl/maps/bbPpSmE4AQSHjvW16

Great bar next door, on the water.

Il Binario Borbonico

I'm pretty sure AD does plan to eat, just not spend a lot of time finding just the right restaurant. I've never had a bad meal in Italy; some better than others.

[Tech Tonics]

Rental details, please. Shop, bike, how much, and did you come away satisfied enough for a good Yelp/TGR review? Were you following a paper map or a Garmin?

Hey man

Yeah it was definitely a good experience.
I rented from Chrono Bikes (https://www.chronobikes.com).

€50/day for a super nice Pinarello Paris. Carbon everything, disc brakes, looked new. And got to keep the 2 water bottles.

They just gave me a Google-map loop. It was sorta hard to follow as I couldn’t figure out how to load it into my navigator as a route, so I kept having to stop and look at my phone. That was only to navigate in-and-out of Lucca. After the pass I hooked up with a few Austrian guys who I rode into town with.

I would have loved to ride another day, it’s total crazy how different the road riding is there. Narrow and steep pavement that goes nowhere and ends up in little villages. The bikes get respect on the roads and the culture is just so different.