Italy Trip.

[chobochobo]

Thanks for the suggestions. We plan to hire a car in Emilio Romagna but haven't decided when exactly, probably after Modena.

 

[Britalian]

If you want to avoid crowds, Milan Expo starts on May 1. Many other cites are having Expo-related events too . It's got a strong food-related theme this time.

 

[chobochobo]

Yup, we'll be leaving from Milan so will be in the throng. We want to go to the Gelato festival specifically.

 

[chobochobo]

Had a great trip to Italy. Not everything was about food, but it was a great way to meet and chat.

Rome - a bit disappointing foodwise in the sense that the old favourite Trattoria Perilli is now stuffed full of tourists. A bit ironic, but you don't really want to hear American accents on pretty much every other table. Carbonara is still great but secondi were a bit meh. Flavio (also in Testaccio) was a bit underwhelming and again, full of tourists. Day time casual/ street eats were much more fun.
Bologna - Trattoria Meloncello was great - the gramigna al ragu will make me go back;. Amerigo is a bit of a trek but made me realise how good crema latte with extra vecchio balsamic can be.
Modena - this place is pretty quiet (ie dead) during the week but really gets busy at the weekend, or it could be just a coincidence that there was a vintage car meeting. Osteria Francescano is amazing. The trattoria at Pedroni is great rustic food and we bought tons of balsamico. Even the touristy Europa 92 was a good experience. Giusti is definitely worth trying your best to get one of the four tables.
Zibello - we stayed at three places (sleep off the dinners): Trattoria da Ivan - Ivan is an amazing host, truly. Antica Corte Pallavicina - a bit touristy but a great experience - fun to get a cookery class in the actual kitchen, and the gratis bike ride/ tour of the cheese factory and pig farms were really enjoyable; I preferred the more casual Cavallino Bianco to the main restuarant. Finally, Trattoria al Buca, had a great meal and met Miriam, had a chat and coffee with her and she is a wonderful woman. I have more culatello than I know what to do with.
Milan - a few above average but touristy places for dinner (I guess like Rome, it's difficult to find places without tourists in the centre) but a few locally recommended places for lunch were great. And spent a day at the Expo, which was actually quite enjoyable and I'd be open to going back again if my schedule allows.

 

[hopkins_student]

Clearly you avoided the Italian hospital system. I'll try that next time.

 

[chobochobo]

Enjoyed or avoided, I'm not sure I get what you mean

 

[hopkins_student]

I just returned from Italy and had an unfortunate encounter with their health system.

 

[nootje]



I just returned from Italy and had an unfortunate encounter with their health system.

Sounds like par for the course there.. I know of two people who had something like that here. One fell of his bike and got treated for a sore knee, but they missed the broken hip. The other was in a motorcycle accident and was so badly managed that the hospitals here where busy with him for 3 months longer(their estimate).

So with that out of the way, what happened?

 

[hopkins_student]

My mom had a stroke while we were in Florence. The nature of the stroke was such that if it happened in the US we would have reopened and stented her carotid. They did nothing other than put her in a bed, provide minimal nursing care, allow her to become dehydrated and the stroke to worsen, so that by the time we got her back to a first world health system the stroke was nonsurvivable.

It should be embarrassing to any society with a majority of its roads paved that they couldn't do a better job than that.

 

[nootje]



My mom had a stroke while we were in Florence. The nature of the stroke was such that if it happened in the US we would have reopened and stented her carotid. They did nothing other than put her in a bed, provide minimal nursing care, allow her to become dehydrated and the stroke to worsen, so that by the time we got her back to a first world health system the stroke was nonsurvivable.

It should be embarrassing to any society with a majority of its roads paved that they couldn't do a better job than that.

Damn.. My sympathies, don't know what else to say..

 

[chobochobo]

Sorry to hear that. That's terrible.

 

[chobochobo]

Okay, I'm in Turin for two weeks at the beginning of December. I'll need to be in Turin itself for the first week, but then I can travel around for the second week. I was in Emilio Romagna just six months ago and whilst I'd go back to Modena just for Osteria Francescana, they're fully booked up already. Any recommendations please? I've not been in this region west of Milan before.

 

[Toperone]

I was for 14 days in Toscana this month and to be honest nothing was making me as happy as sitting in the hot evenings, eating Italian food and tasting different wines Of course i did some sightseeing but getting tuned to Italian way of living was really relaxing and joyfull

 

[pabloj]

About restaurants in Turin, you shouldn't miss Del Cambio right in the city center ( http://delcambio.it/en/ ) for an aperitivo or dinner and also Combal Zero ( http://www.combal.org/en/ ) in Rivoli (a few kilometers from Turin in the castle which also hosts the Modern Art Museum.

In town you also have the Monet show at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna ( http://www.mostramonet.it/ ) , the Savoy museums of the "Polo Reale" ( http://www.poloreale.beniculturali.it/index.php/en/ ).

Also, being in Torino don't forget it's automotive roots with the Museo dell'Auto ( http://www.museoauto.it/website/en/ ) and the Centro Storico FIAT ( http://www.fcagroup.com/it-IT/group/history/Pages/centro_storico.aspx )

For a view from above don't miss Superga church ( http://www.basilicadisuperga.com/en/ ) reached with the historical train ( http://www.gtt.to.it/cms/turismo/sassisup )

The season is perfect for visiting the hills and for mushrooms and truffles (and wine), if you want to try another starred restaurant look for Piazza Duomo in Alba.
Leaving Turin you can visit Aosta valley and the Forte di Bard ( http://www.fortedibard.it/en ) an ancient fortress with many exibitions, local produces of Bard is lard and also less well known red wines (Donnas and Carema are very close)

There are many other interesting places around, but those above should all be easy to access.

 

[Camilo]

I'm planning a trip in May, maybe 3 weeks long. Which place do you guys think is the best place to kick back after the usual Rome/Florence/Venice sightseeing? I do want to see the Alps and since I'm planning to visit Venice, I thought perhaps to go more north like the Trentino-Alto region and maybe hike around the alps for a couple of days. Haven't heard a single mention of this region in this thread though so is it a bad choice? Would Piedmont or Lombardy be better choices for an Alpine experience?