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

Just finishing up on plans for our next trek!

This one's a biggy.

NYC, USA
Lucerne, Switzerland
Tuscany, Italy
Burgundy, France
Paris, France

All in just over two weeks! (3/12 - 3/29) How much trouble do you think he can get into in all those place?

Can you tell we got the "wine bug" on our last trip?

There will of course be plenty of pictures when we return. Sharing the pics with you guys is half the fun of my trips!

Any suggestions of things we must see/do while there? We've never been to Europe before!

sounds great but not enough time though to enjoy everything.

Gahhhh! I hate you!! Damn... childless... free time... person!

What'cha gonna be up to here in the Big Apple?


Tuscany, Italy
Burgundy, France
Paris, France


My finacee are big winos. Er, you know what I mean. Your best bet is to just go to small producers' chateaus. They'll treat you well. Really - avoid the big obvious growers. You'll be practically family at the small producers... they'll sell you bottles cheaply, and if you're lucky, they'll give you a glass of the family wine (almost always made from their best crop, and never sold).

We had a wonderful trip int he Loire valley in October '03...

You don't truly have the wine bug until you make it out to the Napa/Sonoma area....

Oh, and I have a picture request: I want to see Mr. Bear fondling a pair of grapes dangling from a vine in Burgundy.

I spent 2 weeks in Tuscany in 2000. We rented a villa in Sovicille, just outside Sienna. We rented a car and took day trips to visit the hill towns. The last 3 days of our trip was spent in Florence, where I proposed to my wife. Suffice to say it was a fantastic trip.

I have my list of recs for that trip somewhere, I'll need to find it if you're interested. Granted, I don't know how much time you have in Italy though.

Highlights.
Food:
1) Drink as much wine as you can. You pay by the glass so you don't have to worry about buying the bott.e
2) Order local specialties, even if it's daring. My best pasta was a wild boar pasta. 2nd would be the fried goat at Buca San Antonio in Lucca. FANTASTIC. I also had horse in Parma, but that's another story (but good).
3) Food tends to be better in the small towns, in small out of the way restaurants. Big towns like Florence can be a rip off, just like eating at the airport or Fisherman's Wharf.
4) In Florence, try the steak, especially steak balsamico at Aqua del Due. Better than the Florentine, I even went twice. It was even shown on Rachel Ray's $30 / day show.

Towns.
1) Sienna. Great duomo (church), though you'll get more than enough in any relatively large town.
2) San Giamignano (spelling)? The "Manhattan" of Italy, GREAT white wine.
3) Asissi. Go see St Francis of Assisi, I'm Catholic, but not religious. This was very moving for me.

Sites:
1) Statue of David in Florence. It's the only thing in the museum, but worth it. It looks like real flesh.
2) The Main museum in Florence (now I forget the name).

We tend to use guides like Go Italy and Frommers. Fodor's tends to be too fuddy duddy for us.

If you want more info, PM me. I loved that trip, can you tell?

I hate you, too.

Hey, I have a 2 1/2 year old too. That was back when I wasn't married yet...

We have another coming on May 4 (boy woo hoo!) So I'm getting everything in now. Just got back from 4 days in Tahoe, 3 days of boarding. 10 days in Kauai next month. Then it'll be Disneyland for the next 5 years...

And as a local Bay Area person, I have to admit, Tuscany has MUCH better wine and WAY cheaper prices. $4 for an outstanding house bottle? You can't even get that at Costco.

>>My finacee are big winos

Oenophile is "before" -- Wino is "after"

Oenophile is "before" -- Wino is "after"

Oenophile is for Robert Parker-trusting snobs, who have lost their zest for creative wines and replaced it with "bursting with fruit" wines for everything. They're what are killing diversity in wine.

Not that I have a strong opinion on the matter, or anything...

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.

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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

Thanks for all the tips guys. Keep them coming!

i wish i could remember more when we lived in italy when i was a kid.

the town we lived in was down near the 'heel' of the boot of italy. it was called speckiola(dont know if the k is supposed to be there?). i havent been able to find it on a map, but i know it exists. my dad was stationed at San Vito AFB, but it has been long since closed down. i do remember going to pompei, and thinking that was super cool. and i remember going to get real pizza, that they cooked in the walls over real fire stones. i remember olive trees being the ugliest tress i had ever seen.. they look evil, scary as a child. i remember driving the country side and watching people actually stomping on grapes in HUGE vats with their bare feet, to make wine. i remember Fiats, and all the older men smelled funny, and all the buildings were made of marble and cut stone.

guess i do remember a few things....

bigjohn

I HIGHLY recommend a trip on the lake while in Lucerne. If the weather is warm and clear it's going to knock your socks off. The whole town is gorgeous.

I wish you were going to Austria. I'd like to see Mr Bear re-enact the I am 17 song (Sound of Music) at the Gazebo. Though, the similarity of landscape between Austria and Switzerland is such that you could put him in a dress and have him twirl around singing "The hills are alive...."

jr

How about bungee jumping from the gondola in Interlaken, Switzerland?

Not gonna happen.

I'm with you on that one, but for some reason I still really want to go skydiving.

It's called crazy. Anyone that frequents these boards already knows you're nuts.

Unless the plane is crashing, there's not good reason to jump out of one.

If you make it to Lucca in Tuscany, which has already been suggested, rent bikes and ride around the old city on the top of the walls(like a wide road). It is one of the only fully intact walled cities that was never breached. It gives you a chance to see the city in a way you can't from inside the walls. Very old as well, the Romans built on an Etruscan town before the early Italians. I think it was about 3 kilometers or so araound the city wall. Lucca is about 25 minutes drive inland from Pisa.

Assisi is really beautiful and highly recommended but is in Perugia several hours to a half day from much of Tuscany depending on whether you are in the north: (farther) Pisa, Lucca, Carrera; the middle--Florence, or father south--Sienna.

The good thing about your timing is that it is well before the tourist season which begins at the later part of June. We were in Florence right as the season was beginning and it was one of the worst tourist traps I have seen. Very crowded, noisy, the worst and most overpriced food in Italy. You have to make more of an effort there to get out of the tourist accomodations.

Craig
Sounds like your gonna have to take an "extended" trip with all these great suggestions.
I also recomend takeing bigjohns suggestion. Take a full day to take in the aroma of the smelly old men.

HA! We went during September,that was HOT. Talk about smelly, EVERYONE was smelly.

With the exception of England and Ireland, isn't most of Europe smelly ? Sure seemed that way at times when I was living in Germany. I exempt the English and the Irish because those countries get rain daily so they get washed no matter what....

jr

Different cultures, eh? I suppose we Americans "smell", w/ our scented deodarants and colognes, etc.

OK...our itinerary is coming together...

3/12 depart LA to JFK (NYC)
spend night/day in NYC
3/13 depart NYC to Zurich.

Three nights in Lucerne.
Boat on Lake Lucerne.
Day trip to Engelberg.

Train through Alps to Florence, Italy.

Three nights in Florence.
Relax. See all the art. Visit the leaning tower. Relax.


Train to Rome, One night in Rome.

Plane from Rome to Geneva, Train to Burgundy.

Four nights in Burgundy region of France. (Found a great B&B near Beaune)

Wine tour in Beaune.
Possibly some tennis on Red Clay while in France as well.

Train from Beaune to Paris.
Five nights in Paris.
Not sure yet exactly what we're going to do in Paris yet. One thing for certain is a trip to La Maison du Chocolat. Bar none, the best chocolate I've ever tasted, and I'm a chocaholic.

OK, that sounds marginally better than the day trip we have planned to the local vineyards on Saturday.

i am planning a trip to the bathroom here in the next hour or so.... i will let you know how that turns out!!

bigjohn

LMAO!

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i am planning a trip to the bathroom here in the next hour or so

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Please, no Bare photos.

HA!

Get it?

The train trip through the Alps is stunning (did it years and years ago). Get a window seat if you have to whoopass do do it.

And here is a toy (ala /.) that you might enjoy before you go. It's a map of Switzerland similar to goggle maps.

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OK, that sounds marginally better than the day trip we have planned to the local vineyards on Saturday.

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Just further away. Any trip to the vineyards is a great trip.

I just got back from San Antonio.
bigjohn probably had a better time on his trip though.

My Wifes' favorite trip is to Canada, then the United Kingdom, France then Morocco followed by Japan, back to the U.S. then on to Italy, Germany, China, then Norway and at last to Mexico.

All in one afternoon.

Every Week!-The Grandkids Agree!!
(I Don't)

Looking good, Craig. Didn't get to Engelberg in the times I was in the Lucerne area, but seems like a fine idea. Speaking of chocolate, there's a chance that you might find some in Lucerne, too. After looking for watches and other nice stuff for you or Mr. Bear at the Bucherer store, you might head over to Kurmann's to check out the pastries and chocolates(don't ask if they have any Swiss chocolate, though).

this vacations seems to be worth a nice 65" TV....hehehehehe.

Rub it in, Curtis. Rub it in!

Craig, it sounds like a wonderful trip. I took French in college, and have always dreamed of visiting France. That desire has been blunted, a bit, by the strained relations between our countries, and the alleged lack of courtesy toward U.S. residents. But, my brother said he was treated very well there. So, who knows. Have a great time.

Just remember, they aren't called French Fries OR Freedom Fries over there.

Les pommes frite!

Bren R.

Voulez-vous couchez avec mes pommes frites?

I'm not going anywhere near votre pomme frites, let alone going to bed with them. Too many crumbs in the sheets, and not all of them from the pomme frites.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...just got home from Paris. Gonna sleep, then it'll likely take me a heck of a long time to sort through the 900+ pictures we took. But a post will be along shortly.

G'nite.

I'll be he's humming La Vie En Rose in his sleep.

welcome home craig!!

i was just thinkin to myself a few days ago, "wonder where spiff has been".. then it hit me, you were in europe.

i wait with anticipation for stories of french wine, swiss chocolate, and high times in amsterdam!!

bigjohn

Too bad I'm new here but I just came back from a month long excursion in Europe last fall. It was a blast and we visited about 10 countries. And yes Peter, we did the 165m (450-500ft) bungy jump in Switzerland! What a rush that was! I have a movie of me jumping and can post if anyone cares

Jack,

Don't believe the hype about the strained relations between France and USA. We were in Paris for 3 days and most of the people were quite helpful (of course there were some unhelpful people as well). Most Europeans are able to distinguish the difference between an American and their govt. I met all kinds of people from all over the world (I have a total California surfer-boy accent) and they instantly knew I was American but were nice and didnt give us an evil eye. Heck, we even ran into two American soldiers on vacation and they also got along well with everyone.

If the opportunity presents itself, TRAVEL! You would be surprised how open-minded people are. Plus I feel EVERYONE has to visit the Louvre at least once in their lifetimes.

Welcome back Craig - dying to hear about your trip. With 900 plus pictures hopefully you will be posting a novel!

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900 plus pictures

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i can hear servers crashing all over so-cal!

bigjohn

And exactly what's taking Craig so long? Mr. Bear complaining about the photos not showing his best side?

Mr. Bear had quite a few photo shoots while in Europe and is still quite tired.

I need to go through the pics and only bother downrezing and color correcting the good ones, so it'll take some time. I'll likely use photobucket, or some other similar service, as my own server doesn't allow me nearly the space my old server did.

The trip was amazing though. Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. Tom: your suggestion of going on the Lake Lucerne boat trip was dead on! How you could possibly describe that experience as only "quite pleasant" is beyond me. I've literally never seen anything that beautiful before. (Well...there are a few porn dvd's I've got...but I guess that's a different kind of beauty. LOL)

Imagine a lake as smooth as glass. A fine mist hovering above the water, with a backdrop of snow covered alps. Holy cow.

Florence...that's an old dang city. It was amazing to just wander the streets and realize that very little has changed there in over 700 years. But if you go to florence for only one reason, it's got to be to stand before the statue of David in awe. I've seen a million pictures of it, but actually seeing it in person is truly awe inspiring.

Rome...I was sick, and we only had six hours in the city, but Roger dragged my tired, sick butt all over the city. We caught all the big things. Trevi fountain was impressive, but I couldn't help but think...Caesar's Palace. The 1,000's of tourists, and street vendors didn't help the experience any. Italy really needs to crack down on the street vendors, and litter. Standing on a street strewn with litter, and seeing three street vendor carts selling cheap plastic knock offs of their historic monuments really detracts from the experience.

Burgundy...sweet. Such a nice, calm, peaceful, and pretty place. We stayed just outside of Beaune, at a magnificent B&B. la Maison Chaudenay en Bourgogne. If you ever go to Burgundy, I HIGHLY recommend staying here. The rates were extremely reasonable, and the rooms were superb. Service was spectacular. We had breakfast every morning. Each evening our host, Bruce, gave us a restraunt recommendation, as well as driving instruction how to get there. (A must, as most of the streets didn't have sign posts!) We also took a wine tour with Burgundy Adventures...a fun and very informative trip. We visited four different vineyards, sampled their wines, toured their caves (one cave was first built in the 13th century and they were still using it today for making wine!)

From Burgundy we took the train to Paris. What a nice city. Clean, historic, easy to get around, tons of museums, a vibrant night life. Pretty much a perfect city. The Louvre get's all the press, but the Museum D'Orsay is the museum to see. Seriously, don't miss it.

PS - GET RESERVATIONS AHEAD OF TIME TO VISIT MUSEUMS IN PARIS AND FLORENCE! It's easy, it's cheap, and it'll save you HOURS of waiting in line.

Pictures to come.

Welcome home, Craig.

Sounds like a lot of fun was had.

Bren R.

Craig -welcome back! I'm really glad you had a great time. Looking forward to the details and pictures - especially the Lake Lucerne piece.

I'm sure the pictures won't do justice to the beauty we were able to see in Lucerne.

I'll get cracking on the pics tonight when I get home.

That sounds awesome. We all missed you, dude. I will enjoy the pics, I'm sure. This place ain't the same without Spiff.

Welcome home, Craig. Been thinking of you. So glad you, Roger and Mr. Bear had a good trip. I really appreciate what you've shared, and look forward to hearing more stories.

To be fair, I don't think I was the only one who advocated Lucerne. I loved walking the old city wall there. And that cool bridge. And the Lion carved in the rock. and and and...

Welcome back.

Craig, welcome back! I suppose that maybe you slept for about 24 hours straight. Actually it was me who suggested the "pleasant" Lucerne boat trip; I understated it because I didn't want to have you frothing at the mouth(or wherever)in anticipation. Hope that the weather wasn't too chilly.

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or wherever

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Now that's just sick!

Ooops! You're right John, sorry about that. But indeed that boat trip was amazing.

I started going through pictures last night, we've got some beauts, but it's taking forever! I've not even gotten through all of the Luzern pics yet.

great to see you back Craig! I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say that.

I am looking forward to seeing some of your pics because we were thinking of travelling to Europe next summer.

OK...still going through the pictures, but had to share this one.

Mr. Bear in the Alps!

How did Mr. Bear get so tied into everything? Where did it all start? He seems like the child you never had. Just asking from a curiosity standpoint.

Great Shot!

Hopefully you and Roger enjoyed the trip as much as Mr. Bear!

What do we want? Pho-Tos! When do we want them? NOW!

What do we want? Pho-Tos! When do we want them? NOW!

lol thats hilarious you actually bring the bear with you. Great pic too.

You are truly odd, you know that, don't you, Craig?

Bren R.

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You are truly odd, you know that, don't you, Craig?

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i dont think he would be craig if he wasnt..?

bigjohn

Craig
LOVE the Mr.Bear in the Alps shot!!!!!!
ITS ART.
Now get busy on the rest.

That and I just can't call him Spiff-n-me. It's pronounced too much like spiff in me.

Bren R.

DOOHHH!

OK...getting close now. I'll have a TON of pictures soon, but to keep you happy until then...one more Mr. Bear pic.

Mr. Bear in Burgundy, France

Craig, anxiously awaiting to see pictures of Mr. Bear imbibing the local vintages(or isn't he old enough to drink?).

Are you sure that's in France? It looks just like Napa!

That's a great shot of the vineyard with the bear on the wall up against the flower pot.

When in Beaune, did you get to Nuit St. George? They also have some fabulous vineyards.

On our way back from a day in Dijon we stopped in Nuit St. George. Bought a few bottles.

btw...the one of him sitting on the wall was up in Paso Robles. Sitting on the ground was in Beaune, France.

Dijon - now there's another long filed memory. I had the coldest shower of my life in a campground there in '87. Was doing the Europe/Asia 3 month backpack thing and I swear the water for that outdoor shower was straight off a mountain (although I can't remember any being that close by).

Look forward to seeing some more pics and reading the associated stories.