OT Vacation Plans? (2 Viewers)

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Bistecca alla Florentine was awesome! Great suggestion El Prez! I wouldn't have tried it otherwise but after you mentioned it, it has been solidly on my to-do list. Picked a great spot for our last dinner in town and it did not disappoint. That is one huge ass steak, I feel like I ate a whole cow.

We climbed to the top of the Duomo today, which was also a highlight. I'm a little freaked out about heights so it was tough but totally worth it.

Tomorrow we train to Naples for a few days. Specifically for Pompeii but we are doing Amalfi coast and their archeology museum also. I plan on getting some good clams in pasta, it was one of my favorite dishes last time in Rome. Also we will probably be eating Napoli style pizza daily while in town. I am hoping they still have some fried artichokes in season also, couldn't find any in Florence. Trip is almost over.
 
donkiez said:
Bistecca alla Florentine was awesome! Great suggestion El Prez! I wouldn't have tried it otherwise but after you mentioned it, it has been solidly on my to-do list. Picked a great spot for our last dinner in town and it did not disappoint. That is one huge ass steak, I feel like I are a whole cow.

We climbed to the top of the Duomo today, which was also a highlight. I'm a little freaked out about heights so it was tough but totally worth it.

Tomorrow we train to Naples for a few days. Specifically for Pompeii but we are doing Amalfi coast and their archeology museum also. I plan on getting some good clams in pasta, it was one of my favorite dishes last time in Rome. Also we will probably be eating Napoli style pizza daily while in town. I am hoping they still have some fried artichokes in season also, couldn't find any in Florence. Trip is almost over.
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You're having one helluva vacation. I'm jealous.
 
Shaboid said:
You're having one helluva vacation. I'm jealous.
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I really feel like we did everything we wanted to in Florence. Probably only needed a week but 10 days is great for taking it slow. I met a ton of people who rush it and are only here for a few days, it's a place that needs to be savored imo. It's a great city, could easily spend a month here and not run out of things to do. So many cities and towns in the area that deserve a few days and are so easily accessible by train.
 
donkiez said:
Bistecca alla Florentine was awesome! Great suggestion El Prez! I wouldn't have tried it otherwise but after you mentioned it, it has been solidly on my to-do list. Picked a great spot for our last dinner in town and it did not disappoint. That is one huge ass steak, I feel like I ate a whole cow.

We climbed to the top of the Duomo today, which was also a highlight. I'm a little freaked out about heights so it was tough but totally worth it.

Tomorrow we train to Naples for a few days. Specifically for Pompeii but we are doing Amalfi coast and their archeology museum also. I plan on getting some good clams in pasta, it was one of my favorite dishes last time in Rome. Also we will probably be eating Napoli style pizza daily while in town. I am hoping they still have some fried artichokes in season also, couldn't find any in Florence. Trip is almost over.
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We were thinking of doing our honeymoon on the Amalfi coast, but chose spain. We'll definitely do this trip.

This is the spot for Napoli style pizza, which is probably my favorite. This place invented it!
https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/campania/napoli/restaurant/da-michele
 
Shaboid said:
I don't think anyone has discussed an Amsterdam trip here? Anyone ever been? Red light district?
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I’ve been. Stayed in the Bulldog right on the edge of the Red Light District. They have a great bar and a cool open rooftop where they’ll serve you. We had some great meals around town and enjoyed the “cafes”. In the early evenings, you’ll see families walking through the RLD. It gets interesting after dark. I enjoyed walking through the city in the mornings. I was there during the World Cup when The Netherlands won to move into the semifinals a few years back, so it was a CRAZY late-night party in the city.
 
EL PRESIDENTE said:
We were thinking of doing our honeymoon on the Amalfi coast, but chose spain. We'll definitely do this trip.

This is the spot for Napoli style pizza, which is probably my favorite. This place invented it!
https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/campania/napoli/restaurant/da-michele
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Ok just ate there and it is really damn good pizza!

Naples is a trip by the way. Crazy ass city. I read it was but you don't really know till you are here. I read about 50% of the people love it and 50% hate it. I think I really like it so far, but it is chaos at every turn. It has kind of a charm and is very interesting, but I think by Saturday we will be more than ready to leave.
 
donkiez said:
Ok just ate there and it is really damn good pizza!

Naples is a trip by the way. Crazy ass city. I read it was but you don't really know till you are here. I read about 50% of the people love it and 50% hate it. I think I really like it so far, but it is chaos at every turn. It has kind of a charm and is very interesting, but I think by Saturday we will be more than ready to leave.
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Yeah, from the videos it seems a bit rough on the edges. I think there's a definite difference in attitude/life with Northern and Southern Italians.
 
EL PRESIDENTE said:
Yeah, from the videos it seems a bit rough on the edges. I think there's a definite difference in attitude/life with Northern and Southern Italians.
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Not just the edges, it's rough all over. Feels a little more like a central America or South East Asia experience. It's pretty interesting tho and very cheap. Kind of a culture shock from Florence, but Florence is so done over for tourists. Naples just slaps you in the face. The ally's are a maze and they have cool little bars, that are more like kiosks, everywhere.
 
donkiez said:
Not just the edges, it's rough all over. Feels a little more like a central America or South East Asia experience. It's pretty interesting tho and very cheap. Kind of a culture shock from Florence, but Florence is so done over for tourists. Naples just slaps you in the face. The ally's are a maze and they have cool little bars, that are more like kiosks, everywhere.
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Have you been to Milan? Its like the polar opposite of what you describe. Suits, businessmen, models, luxury brands and upscale living.
 
EL PRESIDENTE said:
Have you been to Milan? Its like the polar opposite of what you describe. Suits, businessmen, models, luxury brands and upscale living.
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No, it's never really appealed to me for all those reasons. Sounds way to fancy for me. Seems odd that they are even in the same country actually.

Naples has graffiti on top of graffiti. Trash in the streets and clothes hanging off every balcony. People still have style here but you can tell the money is not here. Weather is awesome though the strong sun and cool marine layer makes it feel like SoCal right on the beach.
 
donkiez said:
No, it's never really appealed to me for all those reasons. Sounds way to fancy for me. Seems odd that they are even in the same country actually.

Naples has graffiti on top of graffiti. Trash in the streets and clothes hanging off every balcony. People still have style here but you can tell the money is not here. Weather is awesome though the strong sun and cool marine layer makes it feel like SoCal right on the beach.
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Yeah, Milan is the financial hub and is a modern city, for the most part. There are some cool things to see (thought their Duomo is nicer than Florence, Sforza, the Last Supper painting, etc) and you'd probably need to go there if you are gonna check out Lake Como.

Torino is also a cool little city up north as well.
 
Just booked disneyland tix for memorial day. Meeting my bro and his family and parents there that day.

Mofo, that shit is expensive. Wanna catch the Main Street Electrical Parade
 
Wrapping things and got our negative Covid tests, flight out early in the morning. Naples is growing on me and we have been really enjoying it after our initial culture shock. It's a fun city with lots to do and many hidden treasures. Also we have kind of figured it out better, which helps. If anyone ends up here the neighborhood to stay in is Santa Lucia by Castle Ovo. That area is much more tame and relaxed, more like what you would expect in an Italian tourist city. The Centro Historico is fun to walk through but it's just too damn crazy and dirty to stay near. The rest of the waterfront and near the train station are ok but really rough around the edges. If just plan on tours and walking then they will do and you can save some money but you will likely have a lot of WTF moments. Naples itself would not be my first choice of Italian cities to visit but it is absolutely worth a visit for a few days at least. It's very unique and the pizza and seafood are out of this world good.

Yesterday we day tripped to Pompeii and the Amalfi coast, with a drive through Sorrento. Sorrento looks kind of boring and I am glad we didn't stay there, it's probably a good jumping off point for Amalfi and Capri tho. Amalfi was stunningly beautiful, but super snobby. Too many hills and stairs for me to stay there. It's also pretty expensive and over touristy. Pompeii was definitely the highlight, totally worth the trip in itself. It's so expansive and fascinating. One of the best tours I have ever done. On par with Angkor Watts and Chicken Itza if not better.
 
EL PRESIDENTE said:
Make sure you find a good spot for Bistecca a la Fiorentina (huge ass steak from Chianna Cows). I had some bad versions (in Florence) and an awesome version (in Tuscany), so always do the research.

Also recommend checking out Santa Maria Novella's main perfumery. Its just a perfume/colgone store but its pretty old school inside.

https://www.italyperfect.com/blog/florence-santa-maria-novella-pharmacy.html
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What I love about places that sell expensive perfume is all the beautiful women it attracts.
 
I'm back home. Had a great time, except for our airline travel experience both ways. The domestic portion was pretty normal but anything international and multiple connections is a mess. Lots of delays, missed connections, lost/damaged luggage, backed up lines. Plan for extra time and it still might not be enough. It's not just the airlines, the boarder controls are having big worker shortages and back ups. Also I thought Paris CDG airport would be a world class airport. It's not, it's a clusterfuck maze of apathy, I have no idea how anyone gets anything done there. I will never connect through them again.
 
donkiez said:
I'm back home. Had a great time, except for our airline travel experience both ways. The domestic portion was pretty normal but anything international and multiple connections is a mess. Lots of delays, missed connections, lost/damaged luggage, backed up lines. Plan for extra time and it still might not be enough. It's not just the airlines, the boarder controls are having big worker shortages and back ups. Also I thought Paris CDG airport would be a world class airport. It's not, it's a clusterfuck maze of apathy, I have no idea how anyone gets anything done there. I will never connect through them again.
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I planned my last trip with the stopovers in Geneva and Munich. They seemed the smallest and most organized. Heathrow is a nightmare, they only let you know where your gate is like 30 minutes before. Iberia didn't seem to know what the fuck they were doing. Hopefully all goes well, I'm usually good with logistics.

Always avoid having your first touchdown in the US be at a place other then your home airport if possible, because you have to go through customs the first spot you land, then recheck the bags.
 
EL PRESIDENTE said:
Always avoid having your first touchdown in the US be at a place other then your home airport if possible, because you have to go through customs the first spot you land, then recheck the bags.
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Unfortunately, with PDX as my main airport I am somewhat limited. They have a few options though but are usually much more expensive. I am doing the PDX direct to Frankfurt on condor air in June, it was surprisingly cheap and I can collect Alaska miles on the trip, which was a big reason I went ahead and booked it. This trip we went from NAP to CDG to SLC to PDX. We booked with a 4 hour lay over in SLC just to give extra time for customs, also I wanted to do my Global Entry interview. Our flight from CDG was delayed just over 3 hours, Delta also swapped planes on us and gave us a smaller one downgrading half the flight to basic economy, including us. It was a big mess but the CDG delay was the only way we even made that flight connection, their airport was an absolute mess. It really screwed us for the SLC connection, though. Pretty much the same thing happened in the reverse order on the way there also.
 
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Vegas this weekend. Staying at Paris. Hitting up Lost Spirits distillery in Area 15
 
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