Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler OT: Mr. Bear's next adventure!

My love for wine is second only to my love for beer. (Don't tell my wife!)

OK, so you made me pull out my old pix to remind myself...

Florence (Firenze)
1) Medici chapel

Pisa
1) Cathedral has stunning statues and paintings behind the altar.

Lucca
1) Make sure to try the Lucesi (spelling?) wine. Best (and cheapest) wine I had there. I'm more into med bodied reds to give you an idea. Barolo's and barbarescos are also fantastic.

Motelpulciano
Pretty cool, small, hill town, great reds.

Assisi
In addition to the St Francis Basilica, there's also a little chapel called the Temple of Minerva. I thought this had some of the best art outside of a museum in Italy.

San Gimignano is the spelling...

Craig, besides "upgrading" your wristwatch in Lucerne, the boat trip around the lake is something I thought was pleasant, if you have the time.

In reply to:

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the boat trip around the lake is something I thought was pleasant, if you have the time.

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Even though you may have stated it as unenthusiastically as possible, that actually sounds like a terrific idea!

Having been to that area, and travelled in Europe - the Napa/Sonoma ara pales in comparison.....

Lucerne is lovely. Not only should you take the boat around the lake, you should get off the boat at Mount Pilatus and take the tramway to the top. Gorgeous views.

I second that recomendation. Have lunch at the one of the resuarants at the top.

Congrats, Craig. Sounds like a great trip. I am as jealous as the rest.

We loved Lucerne. Perhaps the best part was that it made Paris seem cheap by comparison. Times have probably changed from 1993.

As I am shoveling out from the second to last blizzard of the year, I will be thinking, Craig is in Paris. KOOL, Dude.

Spiff,

sorry if this is long. I just have so many good memories from my trip to Italy.

Great suggestions from OSB re Tuscany. Frommer's Guide is great, as is their Italy for $70 a day - it includes guides for the Uffizi Gallery and Accedamia in the book, so you don't have to buy them at the museums. I agree on the food - tuscan food is so much more varied and different than what you see at your typical Italian place in the U.S. Wild Boar, suckling pig, rabbit - all worth trying (although I did feel a little guilty about the suckling pig.)

My advice is do not try to do too much. My wife and I spent two weeks of our honeymoon in Italy. Three days in Venice, 8 in Tuscany, and 3 in Rome. I am a history buff and felt obligated to visit every museum, statue, fountain, hill town, castello. After 1 marathon day of visiting Montalcino, Montepulciano and Siena, my wife told me that we would not leave the villa the next day. We hunkered down with a few bottles of wine, read books, walked around the farm, enjoyed the fresh air, etc. I was surprised that I did need a breather. the trip was much more relaxing after that when we were more selective of what to see (hopefully we'll go back again and again!)

Towns - OSB is on the money. However, I would sub in Montalcino instead of Montepulciano, especially if you are making this a wine trip. The enoteca at the castle in Montalcino has tons of Brunellos available by the glass as well as great local cheeses and sausages. The castle is also impressive on it's own with these massive stone walls which you can see for miles as you drive towards it.

Also drive up and down the 222 through Chianti - it's similar to Rt. 29 in Napa with wineries off to either side, although definitley not as commercialized as Napa.

FYI - the main museum in Florence is the Uffizi Gallery - Well worth it for the Renaissance paintings, Birth of Venus etc.

Also - Climb to the top of the Duomo in Florence if you have the time, it is well worth the effort and the view from the top is breath taking (literally and figuratively after climbing 700 plus steps).

cheers!

DL