http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/forums/show/47.html JForum - http://www.jforum.net Pasta Bolognese, Old School Posted by Slavito in Bologna on 05/Sep/2008 Don't know about you, but I've always thought Italy was a bit of a scam as far as food is concerned. You go there, you eat, you get exited - ecstatic even, you scribble the names of your new favorite dishes on any and every scrap of paper, you bring the scraps home, you go to your local Italian restaurant and then.. you realize it's just really not the same. At all. While I can't offer a real solution to this, I might be able to point you to somebody who can, at least when it comes to pasta dishes and Cucina bolognese in general. This is not one person but rather a group of individuals who run a small tourist-friendly cooking school called "La Vecchia Scuola Bolognese" (Bologna's Old School)... Read the rest of: "Pasta Bolognese, Old School"» http://www.sitebits.com/2008/vecchia_scuola_bolognese.html]]> http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/1123.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/1123.html GMT Valencia Beaches Going Wireless Posted by Slavito in Valencia on 05/Sep/2008 If you're the type who just can't leave their work behind, even on vacation, Valencia may be the right place for you. Since July, the municipal government is running WiFi access points on two of the city's beaches - El Cabanyal and La Malvarrosa... Read the rest of: "Valencia Beaches Going Wireless"» http://www.sitebits.com/2008/valencia_beaches_going_wireless.html ]]> http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/1122.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/1122.html GMT If At First You Don't Succeed, Try It Again In Berlin Posted by Slavito in Berlin on 22/May/2008 I generally dislike articles that sound like advertising, especially when they are written about foreign cities. You know the type? Like, how everything is good in XYZ and people are nicer and girls/boys are prettier and things are cheaper and nobody works and everybody's happy. A couple of years back I felt it was appropriate to comment on the much promoted virtues of Buenos Aires. Right now, I feel the same way about Berlin, except I can not claim to have lived there myself, so I only have my scepticism to go by... Read the rest of: "If At First You Don't Succeed, Try It Again In Berlin": http://www.sitebits.com/2008/try_it_again_in_berlin.html]]> http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/1104.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/1104.html GMT http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/1083.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/1083.html GMT Cinque Terre Posted by Alban in Italy on 21/Nov/2007 Cinque Terre is situated in the Ligurian coast and without exaggeration, it's one of the most beautiful places I've seen in Italy. What's more, people are nice, the food is good and the scenery is fantastic... Read the rest of "Cinque Terre" http://www.sitebits.com/2007/cinque-terre.html ]]> http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/1058.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/1058.html GMT Glühwein in the Crisp Air Posted by Andrea in Austria on 16/Nov/2007 Winter travel is popular for people looking to escape winter, or for those in search of a ski resort, but rarely do people travel to winter for the sake of winter itself. Coats, boots, scarves and mitts are cumbersome to carry, another suitcase in and of themselves. Besides the clinical advantages of off-season prices and less tourists to contend with, what could be interesting about travelling in winter, if not for sport, that couldn’t be done with less baggage in another season? Glühwein, mulled wine. Now, does it sound more interesting? Read the rest of: "Glühwein in the Crisp Air": http://www.sitebits.com/2007/gluhwein_in_the_crisp_air.html ]]> http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/1057.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/1057.html GMT Montepulciano -- definitely a town that gets my highest recommendation. Smack dab int he middle of Tuscany, surrounded by vineyards, and the first thing we saw when we entered the town walls was a store in a cave stuffed with nothing but cured meats, cheese, and Italian wine. we stayed at a place right near the entrance of the city, called Albergo Il Marzocca (http://www.albergoilmarzocco.it/): http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/378582046/ This was the view out our room window: http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/384296811/ and this is some of the stuff around town (I only just now started uploading stuff from this trip to flickr, so there are only a few): http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/384296828/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/384296826/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/384296822/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/384296803/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/378582065/ There's an old wine cellar in Montepulciano called Contucci (http://www.contucci.it/) -- take the tour, drink the wine. It is bold and will knock your socks off. Nothing subtle about it, but that's Italy. There is also a famous cafe called Caffe Poliziano that is well worth a couple visits for food and drinks and dessert: http://www.valdichiana.it/expo/caffepoliziano/index.uk.html. From there, we drove to Siena but did not stay the night or nights there (mistake). Instead, we pressed on to Florence and stayed at a place called...ah crap. I can't remember. But honestly, we only stayed there because they had a parking lot. The place was OK, but you could do better. Lonely Planet now has a hotel booking site where you can book rooms at places they have reviewed. It's new, so I have not used it yet, but it looks pretty good: http://haystack.lonelyplanet.com/ and there seem to be some nice deals in Florence. I think I mentioned that if you hit the Uffizi Gallery, have your hotel guy call and get tickets for you in advance. Otherwise, it's like a two hour wait in a courtyard with Machiavelli staring at you the whole time. I also highly recommend the Museum of Science (http://www.imss.fi.it/), just a few blocks away. It's pretty awesome, with lots of Renaissance science stuff. Oh, this was our room: http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/212258793/ Bidets, baby. You'll learn to love them. Going back to toilet paper alone was harsh. After that, we ditched Venice because of the sewage problem and blizzard and just booked at random, so I can't help much with suggestions as I don't know the names of most of the places. I might have them scrawled down somewhere on some lost sheet of paper, so I will keep looking. But here are the cities we stayed in: Pisa: this is an afternoon, not a city to stay in. However, we did have one of our best meals here. But basically, you see the Tower and that's pretty much it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/212258795/ Cinque Terre: a definite must hit spot. There are no real hotels per se, just guest apartments that you sort of pick at random. Because this was sort of an impromptu thing and we got in late, we ended up staying at a hotel in La Spezia, once again because they offered free parking. You can catch the train to Cinque Terre from here. It's a short ride. I recommend taking it all the way to the last town then working your way back. A hiking trail connects all the towns, and you wander up and down terraced lemon and olive groves with the Mediterranean below. Hikes are a bit strenuous in spots, but worth it in my opinion, even if you just do one. http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/212260968/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/212260974/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/212260973/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/212260972/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/212260971/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/teleport-city/12581071/ Lucca: another great walled town. The way toward the town is a network of earthwork ramparts and bunkers, and the wall itself is made so you can rent a bike for a few Euros and ride around on top of it. We stayed at an awesome place called Piccolo Hotel Puccini (http://www.hotelpuccini.com/intro.html) which was really cute and romantic and all that. Also, we ate some of the best pizza I've ever had (outside of New York, anyway). Town is awesome, but the only drawback is that to eat somewhere other than a pizza stand, you need to book ahead. Easy enough. Let the guys at the hotel took care of you. There are only a few restaurants and since they are only open a couple hours, they fill up quick, making reservations a must. Also, Lucca has had a standing feud with Pisa for like six hundred years now, and the big duomo in the center of town still sports "Lucca merde!" vandalism graffiti from like 1610. Volterra: Another absolutely fabulous Tuscan hill town. It's home to some ancient Roman ruins and baths, and also the Museum of Medieval Torture (closed when we were there). Stayed at a place called Albergo Nazionale Volterra, which was dirt cheap at the time and one of the most awesome rooms we had. http://www.hotelnazionale-volterra.com/index.asp. We got a balcony overlooking the valley and perfect for sunsets and wine. The hotel also has it's own restaurant, which was good. We stayed in Volterra a few days because 1) it was pretty, 2) I found free parking outside the city walls, and 3) it was central to taking day trips to other towns. we went to San Gimignano, which is a must-visit and also has a museum of medieval torture, which was also closed in mid November. They have a bunch of old medieval towers all over the place, good food, and a cool market if you are there at the right time. After that, it was Rome, and I can't help you there because we got shuffled away from the place we originally booked and placed somewhere else. It was a pretty good hotel, and the guy who ran it was some affable Middle Eastern guy with a huge gut and a tendency to laugh heartily and talk like a con man. But we had nothing but fun, and it was across the street from some comic book store where they sold reprints of old Italian comic books like Diabolik, as well as lots of porno comics like "Creamy Wanton Housewives." All of the cab drivers in Rome are crooks. Coliseum was awesome, but it was closed because they were having the MTV Europe Music awards there that night. Still, we got to hear Franz Ferdinand and Kylie and I'm sure Robbie Williams, which was pretty boss. The Vatican museum is a must-see. Blew my mind. And they have lots of Egypt stuff. We got lost in the middle of the night down by the Forum and stumbled upon some massive palace that had been converted to an archaeological museum. Lots of famous stuff there. And we got lost int he Vatican museum because the thing is massive. Sistine Chapel is worth weaving your way through the maze. We were sort of tired of Italian food by Rome, so we ate at a Chinese restaurant down the block from where we stayed, and it was tasty. And that was Italy. I might even have the names of the restaurants we ate at, but we pretty much just asked for suggestions at the hotels or picked at random. Two weeks and dozens of meals, and we only had one bad one (it was lunch). Drink wine. Drink lots and lots of wine. Any day I wasn't driving, I spent tipsy, and it was awesome. Bottle of wine on the terrace in Volterra at sunset? Nice. And pick me up a bottle of Brunello di Montepulciano. It's expensive here. It's expensive there, too, so maybe forget about it. A liquor store in Florence is where I bought my first bottle of real absinthe. Oh -- and eat lots of gellato. It puts the crap in America to shame. I'll upload more photos to Flickr and put them in a set this weekend.]]> http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/974.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/974.html GMT http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/941.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/941.html GMT No Winter for Europe Central Europe is experiencing its warmest winter in 500 years and the Alps haven't been this warm in over a millenneum. Ski resorts are suffering, as are the bears.  http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,453041,00.html]]> http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/940.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/940.html GMT Sun and Sea in Saranda Posted by Ree in Albania; Beach on 28/Sep/2006 With $300 in our collective pocket, my future husband, his little brother, and I chased down the dawn bus from Tirana to Saranda, the southernmost city in Albania. After traveling 40 miles in 8 hours (which tells you something about Albanian roads), I finally realized the strange noises coming from the back of the bus were coming from a (live) duck in a plastic bag carried by a respectable looking gentleman (which tells you something about Albanian buses). I took this in stride, in part because I have the blessed talent of being able to sleep on public transport and because, after all, the best way to travel in Albania is with an Albanian watching over you. Or two. For the next 10 days we alternated between staring at the sea and staring at the sky, taking a break for a well-earned lunch... Read the rest http://www.sitebits.com/2006/sun_and_sea_in_saranda.html]]> http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/765.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/765.html GMT http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/868.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/868.html GMT http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/838.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/838.html GMT Nothing's Coming Up Roses Posted by Ree in Catalonia; Beach on 19/Oct/2006 An unfortunate foray was made by yours truly into Roses, in response to its overly simplistic bus connection to Figueres - a mistake that will not be made again. This beach town on the Costa Brava has a lovely name, and a long and lovely sand beach, and little else of charm. It is for the most part a package-holiday paradise for French pensioners and young families, with newly built condominiums dotting the shoreline, and many more sprouting nearby. In effect, it is exactly the opposite of what I look for a in a coastal escape... Read the rest: http://www.sitebits.com/2006/nothing_is_coming_up_roses.html ]]> http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/837.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/837.html GMT Dallying with Dali in Cadaqués Posted by Ree in Catalonia on 07/Oct/2006 Somewhat inaccessibly located on the Costa Brava, this small fishing town is the perfect escape from the heat of Spain's major cities, a place to dally for days on end. Some hippies have been dawdling here for decades, and their presence keeps the town from developing into a full-blown designer village, à la Martha’s Vineyard or the Hamptons. I can imagine this place becoming a more obscure “south of France” for celebrities, and get the sneaking suspicion that some of the hippies fishing off the rocks might in fact be celebrities incognito. Cadaqués is famous for being Dali's home, but my husband and I came for the beaches and stayed for the food and the slightly off-kilter atmosphere... Read the rest: http://www.sitebits.com/2006/dallying_with_dali_in_cadaques.html ]]> http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/795.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/795.html GMT http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/744.html http://www.sitebits.com/dsb/posts/list/744.html GMT