I need a vacation, people

[The Brain]

I was in Pisa in 2004 (or maybe 2005, forget for sure) and the tower is still very noticably leany.  Took to obligatory forced perspective photo of me trying to push the tower back into place. 

Dude it was way better in '82 when I was there.

[merithyn]

Guedelon Castle, France

THE PLAN: to reconstruct a Burgundy castle using only medieval building techniques. Ancient techniques are religiously used everywhere, right down to the trees felled in a nearby wood for the timber supports. Here, a carpenter uses mallet and chisel to fashion several supporting posts.

[lustindarkness]

You play golf? visit Alabama, I'll take you to eat some BBQ.

[Barrister]

I was in Pisa in 2004 (or maybe 2005, forget for sure) and the tower is still very noticably leany.  Took to obligatory forced perspective photo of me trying to push the tower back into place. 

I was there in 2009, and it still leaned.

Honestly, I could have done without going to Pisa.  It was cool for about 15 minutes, but not really much else in the immediate area to look at.

[Caliga]

Honestly, I could have done without going to Pisa.  It was cool for about 15 minutes, but not really much else in the immediate area to look at.

I had the exact same impression, actually. 

[Barrister]

My general advice on an Italian trip.

First, definitely recommend the country - it was a lot of fun.

Agroturismo - we only stayed in one, in San Gimignano in Tuscany.  It was not the experience that CC described - no one cooked for us, or offered to cook for us.  But it was a very nice room in a building that used to be a barn, overlooking the farmer's vinyard.  When the owners recommended to a local restaurant, the owner's wine was served (and the food was very good).

The nicest day we had (other than hanging out with RH, Tamas, Ank and Leo) was easily just bumming around in San G.  So I certainly agree with the suggestion of just picking a region and staying within that region.

That being said, if it's your first time I wouldn't have wanted to miss all the grand sites we saw in Venice and Rome (we never made it to Florence - I don't think my wife realized how much stuff was there, or she would have insisted).  We simply couldn't go to Italy and not see the colosseum for example, even though we had an overall nicer time in the smaller towns.

Driving the country roads are nice - but be warned you won't go anywhere very fast!  The Autostrada on the other hand gets you moving quickly.

[Caliga]

We went to both an Agriturismo restaurant in Tuscany (forget the town, but it was maybe 30 minutes outside of Florence) and one in Lazio, somewhere close to Tivoli.  The Tuscan restaurant was probably a little better but we got so drunk there it's hard to say for certain.  Both were outstanding though, I'm sure of that.

I think my favorite segment of my trip was in Stresa (technically I think we stayed in Baveno, at this giant hotel called 'Hotel Dino') which is on Lake Maggiore way up on the Swiss border.  I probably would have liked Capri equally well but the weather kind of sucked that day--it was rainy and a bit chilly, and we didn't get to go into the Blue Grotto for that reason.

I think you definitely made an error by not visiting Florence, which I thought was great... its only major drawback were the hordes of Gypsy beggars.    We didn't go to the Uffizi Gallery, but we instead went to this museum of ancient history I found in a pamphlet.  It was totally deserted despite having an enormous collection of ancient artifacts, including lots of weapons and armor, as well as an impressive collection of Roman statuary.

I've commented here before on Venice, which I personally felt was a letdown because it was so crowded, expensive, and stunk... but it's such a unique place I still think it is worth visiting for sure.  It just wasn't as OSSUM as people make it out to be, in my experience.

I also liked Genoa more than I thought I would, but found Milan to be pretty boring.

Oh, we also spent two delightful days in Assisi, which is amazingly well preserved (I felt like I was in a time machine).

I'm also proud to say I visited Monte Cassino and peed on the graves of Polish soldiers. 

[Barrister]

I've commented here before on Venice, which I personally felt was a letdown because it was so crowded, expensive, and stunk... but it's such a unique place I still think it is worth visiting for sure.  It just wasn't as OSSUM as people make it out to be, in my experience.

You should have gone in May.  It wasn't crowded and it didn't stink.   

[Caliga]

I actually went in April... strange it didn't smell for you but it did for me.  Maybe the city just doesn't like me. 

I think when we were there there was some German or Austrian holiday because the city was crawling with Germans.... which might also explain the stench. 

[crazy canuck]

Agroturismo - we only stayed in one, in San Gimignano in Tuscany.  It was not the experience that CC described - no one cooked for us, or offered to cook for us.

You fail at picking accomodations.

The cooking is one of the top reasons for staying at these kinds of places.  By any chance was it a Sunday?

[Barrister]

Agroturismo - we only stayed in one, in San Gimignano in Tuscany.  It was not the experience that CC described - no one cooked for us, or offered to cook for us.

You fail at picking accomodations.

The cooking is one of the top reasons for staying at these kinds of places.  By any chance was it a Sunday?

It was, but we stayed two nights.

[MadImmortalMan]

I think when we were there there was some German or Austrian holiday because the city was crawling with Germans....

You should have gone to Germany at that time, then.