Should I rent a car before I get to Italy? Why?

Kicky, this link explains what I was talking about re buying a ticket at the window in a station and then not getting a seat, a matter that would not have happened if I'd gotten a reservation (that was on my 13 cities 29 days trip).
http://goitaly.about.com/cs/transportation/a/train_travel.htm

and this is useful too -
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/trains/ticket_reservation.htm

Kicky -- How long will you be in Italy?

Eva, I'll be there from May 28 until June 12. Two weeks, give or take a day or so for travel time.

Thanks for the ideas ehBeth and Mac11. Osso, I will have to check out your links later. I need some sleep right now!

Kickycan, this seems to be a nice site with a lot of ideas.
http://www.bardotti.com/excurs.htm

I don't know what will interest you- very interesting is Santa Maria Della Scala- just opposite of the Dome. It was one of the first hosptals in Europe. It served the city as a hospital until a few years ago.
Now it is a museum - kind of history and art in a nutshell.
http://www.santamariadellascala.com/w2d3/v3/view/sms/presentazione/single_content_en.html


Hi, Osso.

Kicky old boy, what with running around to see all this Arty stuff and having culture rammed down your throat at every turn, you may need to make sure that your calorific intake is sufficient to ensure that you do not experience fatigue.

Now I dont know what the Italian food is like over there, but if the Restaurant down the road from me is anything to go by, it's all garlic this, and garlic that, with bloody little twisty things that are supposedly made out of wheat, with great balls of meat slopped all over them. Then they sprinkle some sort of foreign cheese that smells of old socks all over it and have the cheek to present you with a bill at the end.

Now, in an effort to make sure that you look after yourself and eat properly, I have at last located a place where you can eat some good, wholesome British food. It will give you less flatulence, and encourage the growth of hair on your chest. You can thank me later.

http://www.barganews.com/doggybag/2004/07/printing-fish-and-chips-and-classic.html

I have a couple of friends who've travelled to Italy -- and from what they tell me --- there are a lot of Italians there.

Just in case you didn't know....

And Garlic....bloody great bunches of the stuff.

That Ellpus, what a sly fellow. I knew I recognized the name Barga, that's where littleK's family is, near Lucca - here's a quote from Kicky's earlier thread:

Posted: Mon 10 Jan, 2005 9:27 pm Post: 1117754 -
"Well, then, research. And think about what you really want to see. Do you want to see the heart and blood of Italy? Or do you want to see the facade? Maybe both?

Can I suggest Barga if you're going to be near Lucca? It's a gorgeous middle-of-no-where town/city with a little gothic (or is it medieval?) church set high on a hill."

Oh, and one other thing. Italy's the country that's shaped like a big boot.

Just in case you get lost and need to ask for directions.

Lord Ellpus - I've been to barga - a gorgeous spot. Heavenly even.

But alas, Osso, my family is not from that specifically. We're from a little know place near pescalia.

Of course it is heavenly, littlek.....they serve Fish and Chips !!

HOORAH!

Oops, wrong again.

Are chips french fries? I've had some wonderful french fries in Italy...

Chips are good, chunky fingersized sections of Potato, deep fried in top quality vegetable oil until golden brown. They are then arranged in a pile and liberally doused with malt vinegar, and topped with a light sprinkling of salt.

French fries are those spindly little things that one purchases in McDonalds.


ALL TOGETHER NOW http://www.sterlingtimes.co.uk/alwaysengland.Html

"There'll always be an England,
While there's a country lane.
Wherever there's a cottage small
Beside a field of grain ..........................

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN (and all her nobles)

Er, I've been to Barga, not the pub there.

I'm sure that won't ruin the Lord Ellpus' ploy to get Kicky some swell food.

heh..... I dunno if I would try fish'n'chips in italy..... ah, who am I kidding, yes I would!

I had fries with some roast chicken in Rome. I think there was olive oil in the fat, though that doesn't make cooking sense re getting hot enough, unless it was a canola/olive oil mix and even then...
They were fantastic...
Or,
maybe I was jetlagged.

Fish 'n' chips? Get the hell outta here! I'm eating Italian food, prepared the Italian way, every damn day, baby!

OK,Mr.K...how about we call them Pesce and Patate, and charge you twice as much?

In Italy, it would be frittura di pesce or fritto misto di mare