N80
Super Member
Eddie, I've never been on a cruise so I won't try to talk you out of one. Which means this will be a bit off topic. But I took my family to Italy a few years ago. First time we'd ever been overseas as a family.
I'm into Italian cooking and that was what inspired me to go. We went to the heart of Italian cuisine which is the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy (Parma, Modena, Bologna, ect). We saw beautiful duomos (cathedrals), piazzas, architecture and stunning landscapes. But we saw very few of the buildings, paintings, sculpture and architecture that most people go to Italy for. What we did not see at all was an American tourist or a bad restaurant. The food, if you are into food, was incredible. We had a rough itinerary that we set up ourselves. We travelled primarily by train but also by rental car.
The point of me telling you this is that even though we did not see the great landmarks and even though we had to make our own plans and provide our own transportation and plan for our own meals, it was all worth it based on several things. First, as mentioned, the food. Second, doing what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it. Third, and maybe the most important was the people of the region. Maybe they are like southerners in the US and are just hospitable by nature, or maybe they just aren't burned out on tourists, but almost everyone we met was friendly and eager to share their culture with us. Some spoke good English but many spoke none at all. But even those who spoke no English tried very hard to communicate with us and help us out. We were in one small town in the middle of nowhere buying salami and bread and olives for lunch and the girl at the counter stuck another salami in with our stuff. When I said "no, uno", she said smiled and said "regali" which means gift. This part of Italy was famous for their salami and she wanted us to have more. And every day there were similar stories and experiences. I will never get over that aspect of our trip.
Granted, we spent more of our vacation managing ourselves and granted that decreases the number of things and places you can see. But doing it that way was an adventure for us so finding a good place to eat or figuring out how to get from one place to another or where to stay next was part of the fun.
That type of travel is not for everyone or every situation. And I'm not saying it is better than a cruise and seeing the greater cities and sites. (We still want to see Venice and Florence and Rome.) But I think it is something everyone should try once. Find a place you want to see that is a little off the tourist path and jump in! You have to roll with the punches, but the experience is very rewarding. We cannot wait to go back to Parma.
Sorry for the long off-topic story.
I'm into Italian cooking and that was what inspired me to go. We went to the heart of Italian cuisine which is the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy (Parma, Modena, Bologna, ect). We saw beautiful duomos (cathedrals), piazzas, architecture and stunning landscapes. But we saw very few of the buildings, paintings, sculpture and architecture that most people go to Italy for. What we did not see at all was an American tourist or a bad restaurant. The food, if you are into food, was incredible. We had a rough itinerary that we set up ourselves. We travelled primarily by train but also by rental car.
The point of me telling you this is that even though we did not see the great landmarks and even though we had to make our own plans and provide our own transportation and plan for our own meals, it was all worth it based on several things. First, as mentioned, the food. Second, doing what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it. Third, and maybe the most important was the people of the region. Maybe they are like southerners in the US and are just hospitable by nature, or maybe they just aren't burned out on tourists, but almost everyone we met was friendly and eager to share their culture with us. Some spoke good English but many spoke none at all. But even those who spoke no English tried very hard to communicate with us and help us out. We were in one small town in the middle of nowhere buying salami and bread and olives for lunch and the girl at the counter stuck another salami in with our stuff. When I said "no, uno", she said smiled and said "regali" which means gift. This part of Italy was famous for their salami and she wanted us to have more. And every day there were similar stories and experiences. I will never get over that aspect of our trip.
Granted, we spent more of our vacation managing ourselves and granted that decreases the number of things and places you can see. But doing it that way was an adventure for us so finding a good place to eat or figuring out how to get from one place to another or where to stay next was part of the fun.
That type of travel is not for everyone or every situation. And I'm not saying it is better than a cruise and seeing the greater cities and sites. (We still want to see Venice and Florence and Rome.) But I think it is something everyone should try once. Find a place you want to see that is a little off the tourist path and jump in! You have to roll with the punches, but the experience is very rewarding. We cannot wait to go back to Parma.
Sorry for the long off-topic story.
