trv/2432593.txt

-----
--- 2432593
Tell me about your trips to Italy
--- 2432654
I went to Trieste for a weekend
--- 2432678
>>2432593 (OP)
i was in rome for 2 months pretty nice. Lots of places to visit.
--- 2432712
Plenty to see whether historic or scenic but Italians are really unfriendly and rude to most people even each other, not even just tourist areas but everywhere. I don't get it myself, wtf their problem is, going to their business and spending money but act like you are bothering them and offending them for existing in their presence. Some can be nice too but don't expect it, consider it a rare surprise.

Try as many foods as you can, get it cheap by venturing away from cities and tourist spots.
--- 2432740
>>2432712
>Italians are really unfriendly and rude to most people even each other
The average Italian is VERY frustrated for various reasons. The "mediterranean sweet life" is largely a meme
--- 2432850
>>2432712
really? italians to me seemed very friendly did you visit the north or something?
--- 2432862
>>2432712
are you not white/south european looking? when i was there everyone thought i was italian (portuguese) and was super nice. I was in venice, rome and campania. rome was fucking shit though. extremely dirty and hotter than satan's asshole
--- 2432886
>>2432593 (OP)
Take a couple of days and rent a car and drive around and explore. I did this in October and went to pic related in Abruzzo. Had the time of my life
--- 2432889
>>2432886
There's a market nearby where you can buy sausage and arrosticini (sheep meat skewers) and they have grills outside going all the time where you can cook your meat there. It was awesome
--- 2432892
>>2432712
Food isn't expensive in cities unless you are a dumb nigger and eat in tourist traps, which judging by your interactions with Italians you probably are
--- 2432921
Going to Tuscany in the summer. Just gonna hike and hit up wineries and just enjoy myself.
--- 2432925
>>2432593 (OP)
Italy is the S tier of Europe.
--- 2432934
i lived there for 6 years, it was ok
spring is magical (if you dont have allergies) 
summer a bit too hot for me
--- 2434739
Should I go here or Spain for a 5-7 day trip? 

I was originally looking at Mexico City but a ticket to Rome/Madrid costs the same $5-600, lol.
--- 2434804
>>2432593 (OP)
i went to turin once, on a work trip
i saw the turin shroud. it was one of the times when they had the "real" one out, not the replica they usually do.
um, that's about it really
--- 2434876
I'm tempted to go for a few days, hit up Florence, Cinque Terre and Venice. Not sure what to really expect though
--- 2434880
>>2434876
>Not sure what to really expect though

If you don't know what to expect there, you will never know anywhere. It's the safest destination ever.
--- 2434888
>>2434880
Oddly that's what has me not knowing what to expect. It'll be the first time I travel somewhere for the culture and the art and the museums and such. Normally I travel to hike and get lost in the wilderness for a bit. Never done the "weekend city break" type of travel before.
--- 2434915
>>2432593 (OP)

Siena, the city was getting ready for the Palio, it was beautiful! 

>>2432712
You sound like any other obnoxious tourist
--- 2435330
>>2432712
>>2432862

probably black or american. or a black american
--- 2436046
>>2432593 (OP)
Been to Italy a surprising number of times —at least once a year for the past five years, and once spent a full month touring around the place. I like it a lot, both north and south. 

A freshly prepared Italian espresso is superior to the exact same drink anywhere else in Europe 99 times out of 100 and I can’t rationally explain why. I get better coffee in the average Italian service station than I get at the most expensive cafe in my hometown in Switzerland, despite the Swiss espresso costing six times as much and being served with a piece of world-class chocolate on the saucer.

Despite a lot of trips to the country I have somehow still never been to Rome. Venice is both as bad as its reputation and also still amazing. Florence too—far too many tourists for completely justified reasons.

Sicily is maybe my favorite part of the country, because it’s got both Italian style and class and rustic mess that feels like a developing country; it reminds me in that respect of Thailand, both sophisticated and (still) fucked up. I’m sure it’s a pain in the ass to have to live and be poor there but it’s a great place to relax with money. Good food, too, but there’s good food anywhere in Italy if you like Italian food. There’s a lot of crap food, too, but it’s easy to avoid.

Years ago I accidentally went to Siena during the world-famous Palio (a horse race in the center of town, a battle of neighborhood clubs descended from medieval guilds). Massively crowded and overpriced tourist spectacle and yet really not for tourists—locals are passionate about it to the point of insanity. Recommended once.

Neapolitans drink red wine chilled. That may actually be a regional tradition from somewhere else down South, not specifically a Naples thing, but that’s where I first experienced it. “Real” Naples pizza isn’t as superior as people pretend.

I’d like to try living in Lucca, Tuscany, for a year or two.

What did you want to know, exactly?
--- 2436051
Milan, Lake Como and the surrounding areas are all pretty kino with nice views and historic buildings. As the other guy said the food and coffee are actually nice over there. Would probably go again this summer but I can't bear the high temperatures.
--- 2436052
>>2432712
All Italians I met were nice and hospitable. The fuck are you on about?
--- 2436067
>>2436052
>All Italians I met were nice and hospitable. The fuck are you on about?
I find Italians warm and likable more often than not, as well, especially down south (as an Italian-Albanian girl, brought up in Naples but working in an ice cream shop in Lucca once told me, people are much nicer in the South but nothing works; up North people are colder but everything is more functional). But even up North, grouchy customer service is the exception rather than the norm in my experience. Maybe in tourist traps in high season you get some jaded folks? I can get by in Italian, as well, so perhaps they’re nicer when they don’t have to speak English. There’s definitely a tradition of complaining about things, and there can be colorful arguments, but it’s always come across as good-humored to me more than seriously hostile.
--- 2436071
Just got back from my first trip ever to Italy last week, exploring the NE parts of it, I drove to Venice from Slovenia then visited Laco di Braies up in the Italian alps.

Venice shocked me the first day with how crowded and digusting the grand canal was (even though its low season now), but the eastern parts away from the crowds and the main attractions have some nice parks and quiet streets, the arsenal was beautiful and the canals there were largers and the streets looked cool to live in.


It shocked me how in the main square you have digusting tourist shit like t-shirts being sold every 5 metres, the museums are great once you get in but the first impressions of venice were very dissapointing.

Going up in the Alps via car was amazing, very fun roads and going back down towards slovenia was fun as that was the part with serpentines and stuff.

Probably my favorite part was just the drive through the mountains, I had snow, nice weather, sun in the mountains, flowers, roads did not have 1 pothole, it was like driving through a really cool video game. Also there was literally no fucking traffice on a weekday morning so that's nice, apparently after June 16th the school is out and it becomes a nightmare of crowds at every attraction. I will definitely do more roadtrips into Italy.


It's clearly getting more and more expensive as even with cheap accomodation near venice in low season you still have to pay 9.5 euros for 1 trip to the city via public boat bus, just a few years ago it would have been 6 euros. So just bite the bullet and visit italy now as it wont get any cheaper in a few years etiher. In venice they apparently will implement a ticket just to get into the city because its so crowded and after seeing the crowds in low season and imagining what giant cruise ships look like in that lagoon in the summer, I totally get it.
--- 2436078
>>2432712
>>2432740
When I was in Italy I hung out with Piedmontese and Venetians, and Mezzogiorno college girls in the area. I did not get this impression at all. They were very kind and welcoming.
--- 2436079
>>2436046
>I’d like to try living in Lucca, Tuscany, for a year or two.
NTA but why Lucca specifically?
--- 2436094
>>2436079
>NTA but why Lucca specifically?
My wife and I were both just charmed by the looks and atmosphere of the very well-preserved, almost car-free walled old city. It’s a small place, but not as small or isolated as some picturesque little hill town, and we found it disproportionally well-served in terms of food, cultural amenities, and general comforts. Nice little local art and design scenes. Bicycles. Beaches not far away by train, many other parts of the country within easy reach as well. There are tourists and tourist attractions, but it didn’t feel dominated by tourism. 

I like a lot of cities and towns in Italy, but Lucca struck my wife and I both as particularly livable.
--- 2436101
I went to Rome the other month and it was nice apart from the literal designated shitting street I found. I think (hope) it was dog's but the amount and regularity would mean all of Rome woukd have to walk their dog down that road.
--- 2436284
Any comfy countryside small towns to visit?
--- 2436301
>>2432593 (OP)
First time
>Fly to Rome, simple airport. Easy to get to city by the train
>Get on metro to get to my airbnb in Prati neighborhood
>Nice neighborhood, don't understand all the Rome hate. No blacks around
>Go have some pasta for dinner
>Got a tour of the Vatican in the morning
>Take a shit in the morning, walk down to the Vatican
>find my tour group, still got like ten minutes and feel a little gurgling in my gut
>See a shitter near some military police
>Walk over and ask if I can dump out
>They say no and tell me to go to a different one
>Walk over there, have to pay. Don't have any coins
>Meh, don't have to shit too bad
>Go with tour and get in line for Vatican security
>Waiting in line and after 15 minutes the pressure starts building on my fried butterfly
>Ask tour guide if there's a bathroom past security
>She says yes
>Ok we good
>Pressure increasingly mounts because line moves about as fast as the pope can walk
>Finally get through security
>Ask guide where the shitter is, says we have to wait until after the elevator
>What elevator lol
>Wait in line for elevator now for another twenty minutes
>Goes to top of St Peters, then I just start walking away from the group of like 30 people
>Guide tells me to stick with the group
>nope.jpeg
>Rush through the rotunda walk way
>Get to toilet just in time
>Erupt violently all over the bowl, literally every square cm covered and even got some on the top of the seat
>Takes me forever to wipe all the wet shit from my hole and cheeks
>Walk out and rejoin tour group
>Get to catacombs and hits again but luckily tour is over now we just fucking around
>Find another toilet
>Coat that one in shit also
Kind of wish I had shit my pants, would have made for a real holy shit story.
--- 2436303
>>2436301
Trip cont. though
>Spend the next two days just walking around and seeing the city.
>Thought it was incredible, lots to see and easily walkable or to get around
>Final day I head to the train station to go an hour north to a hill top medieval town called Orvieto (>>2436284 highly recommend here)
>Awesome town, took the funicular to get to it
>Did the underground history tour there, interesting af
>Food pretty expensive there but everywhere I ate was great
>Go from there to Florence
>Check into hostel so I can see if I can find some hostel rats to hang out with
>Head out on foot to go see the shit there
>Stop at some bar to have a few drinks
>See a guy put a snus in, tell him I could tell he was Swedish because of that. Trade snus and chat with him for a bit
>Been messaging an Iranian broad on Bumble
>She says she has to walk my way to get home and wants to meet up for a drink
>I take a few shots, already been drinking a bit
>She shows up, total smoke show
>Says we should get some wine and go to her place
>teehee sure
>Go to her place, immediately start banging it out
>Thinks my dick is too big so she coats it in baby oil for lube
>Fuck her out and shes telling me it feels like I'm fucking her stomach
>Don't care and don't let up
>We pass out
>Wake up cause she has to go to work and I have to check out of my hostel in ten minutes
>Rush back and ask them if I can shower (gotta get rid of the baby oil all over my dick)
>Hostel staff have no problem with me needing to stay past checkout to shower
>Didn't even unpack my stuff so super easy
>Go walk around and sight see more, kind of overrated I thought
>Go back and stay at her place for a couple of nights, get to save money
>She cooks me some good Iranian food, get the shits from that too
>Blow up her toilet with my bubble gut as well
>She goes to work next day, I head to Pisa for a day trip
>Nice city, thought the tower, duomo, and the grounds around it were a lot cooler than expected
--- 2436308
>>2436303
cont.
>Head back to Florence for a night to bang my Iranian broad and stay there one more night
>Next day get on fast train down to Naples for a night
>Get to Naples, fucking hell on earth.
>Feels like Africa
>Loud and cars honking everywhere
>Iranian girl sees my location so assumes still on Bumble (I am, duh)
>Gets furious, deletes me off all the socials
>dontcare.png
>Next day can't wait to gtfo out of Naples so I head to Pompeii for a night
>Train down there is the most ghetto piece of shit I have ever been on. Even worse than NYC metro
>Pompeii nice little town, main square was kind of under construction though
>Check into Airbnb
>Sleep
>Next day go walk around the ruins for hours, also really fucking cool even though it's a billion degrees out
>No idea how all the fat fuck tourists can handle it
>Go back to Airbnb
>Meet a Ukrainian girl from Tinder for dinner
>Kind of a 6/10 but meh
>Go have some pizza, pretty not good
>Her English kind of shit
>Say see ya nerd after dinner
>Go sleep
>Head back to Rome the next day to spend a night at a hostel before flying to Malta 
>Hostel is nearby train station
>That part of the city might as well be Naples
>African groups just loitering, being loud, and littering
>Walk to hostel, pass a couple of cars with broken windows that Africans are obviously living in
>Get to hostel
>Has a dinner option for everyone
>Have some drinks, meet some people
>Group of us (cool 18 year old Brit, 24 year old American jock type, foxy Bolivian gal probably 23, Russian girl who's a total bitch probably 23, and a turbo autistic dork 18 year old Dutch kid, and I) decide to go try some famous bar
>Get there, bouncer turns us away saying they're closed
>Obviously not closed, just don't want a group of tourists
>They all get butt hurt
>Tell them lets just find another bar and get some drinks and play darts
>Walk around for a long time finding one
>Irish pub I think
>Not many people there, play some darts
--- 2436312
>>2436308
cont.
>Bolivian girl is pissed because she's way over dressed for a shit hole like that
>British and American guy keep laughing at her accent
>She gets self conscious and wants to leave
>Turbo dutch autist tells us how he's been riding the electric scooters for like 40km today, offers to take her back to the hostel
>She reluctantly agrees
>They ride off down the street while she is clutching his boney frame
>Rest of us all laughing at the image of the nerdiest kid in the city riding a scooter with basically an IG model on the back
>Definitely most action that kid ever had
>I go outside to smoke a cig at the bar and there's a couple of Italians outside
>One has saran wrap on his shin, show him my legs are tatted up as well
>He pulls the saran wrap down
>Nazi symbols
>Doesn't really speak English, just says "SS"
>Tell him niceman.jpeg (I have a buzzcut, probably thinks I am too)
>Look around at everyone else in that bar, all have neo nazi vibes
>We hang out for another twenty minutes then head back to the hostel
>Next morning walk to the train station to go to the airport to fly to Malta (different story)
>Leave Malta and fly to Milan
>No idea what's even there
>Only have one full day because flight gets in late
>Easy to get around, clean city
>Everyone says it's boring, I really liked it
>I like going to microbreweries because I'm white
>Go check out a bunch of really good microbreweries
>Everyone I met in Milan was really nice
That's about it for that trip. Gotta leave work now, maybe I'll type up when I went to Sicily last summer as well.
--- 2436313
>>2436308
>>2436303
>>2436301
>free room and board and pussy
>throws it away to get some other tinder skanks

based retard, you will regret it later of course and dream about the iranian girl when nobody will want your dog ass

I don't know why you retards think it's glamorous or cool that you are unable to make real connections and relationships while travelling, its very cool to meet a nice girl, travel together and then stay in touch years later, if you are that desperate for pussy at every location you ever visit you can always just pay an escort you fucking loser
--- 2436328
>>2436312
fugg I wish I was the turbo dutch autist
--- 2436447
>>2436067
>so perhaps they’re nicer when they don’t have to speak English
In my experience this is true. I only knew a few words and phrases but people received me warmly despite being of pajeet heritage.
--- 2436551
>>2436313
I left the Iranian girl because I didn't want to spend the rest of my trip in Florence you brainlet. 

Made plenty of real connections traveling who I still talk to weekly years later despite us having only spent two or three nights together while I pass through town. But enjoy your blown out American roastie, just like 50 other men have in the past who "made a real connection" with their cock and her ass hole.
--- 2436555
>>2436051
I went to Rome and Milan and I have to say I enjoyed my time a lot more in Rome than Milan as noncontrarian as it might seem to say. Milan has basically one big central area which is the tourist spot most come to visit Milan for, but it's not really that interesting unless you want to dine at some extremely well regarded and fancy restaurants (that was above my pay grade). Outside of the town center is mostly smaller neighborhoods and apartments. The food in Rome was very very good. Yes it's hot. Yes it's kinda dingy and smelly in some areas. I didn't have huge expectations coming in and was able to enjoy the history and cool city landscape, as well as easily accessible tasty food. I can't give a full recommendation to either, but if you wanna start your trip flying into Rome and spend a day or 2 there to see the Vatican, I think that's perfectly valid
--- 2436557
>>2436313
>You can't make real connections unless you do things the way I do because I'm the main character
Mfw
--- 2436604
Flew into Rome last September with my gf for 12 nights. 

We did 3 days in Rome and Venice, and 2 days in Bologna, Florence and Verona. We took the highspeed train between each city. The train was easy to buy a ticket, not too crowded, very safe and convenient. 

We walked our asses off in Italy. We did at least 12 miles on foot every day. The weather was perfect for 11/12 days. We had one day or drizzle in Venice, but we still had a great time in the rain. We looked up 80 percent of the places we ate ahead of time and we only had a bad meal 2 or 3 times when we tried to wing it last minute. 

The best things we did:
Renting bikes in Rome and biking through the Park of the Aqueducts
The Roman Forum
Eating outside in Verona in front of the Arena at Nastro Azzurro
Exploring the backstreets and neighborhoods in Venice.
--- 2436616
>>2436604
what is your opinion of Rome as a city. was it expensive? was it clean?
--- 2436622
>>2436616
The touristy areas of Rome were very clean. They cleaned the streets and trash every night. We stayed in an Airbnb on Via dei Coronari and it was an awesome area. I'd stay in the exact same area next time I'm in Rome. There were plenty of places where you can get cheaper food and drinks. You don't have to spend a ton. But it's definitely not cheap like in Prague or Budapest. There is so much free shit to see outside in Rome that you could walk the streets for weeks and not see it all. 

What's your budget per day?
--- 2436628
>>2436447
>In my experience this is true. I only knew a few words and phrases but people received me warmly despite being of pajeet heritage.
I’m guessing you’re just screwing around by mentioning this, but my few interactions with the Bangladeshi dudes selling souvenirs in Italy were always a little funny for me; I’m never sure whether to address them in Italian or English. Same thing with the Chinese ladies giving massages on the beaches. I always use Italian, but wonder if English might be easier for them. The whole “third language” situation happens to me all the time at home in Switzerland, too. Would the Vietnamese or Mongolian dude working at the restaurant rather use German, or English? I pretty much always default to German but it’s never not funny to have two people speaking a third language of which nobody is a native speaker. I once asked a lady working at a Japanese restaurant which language she would rather speak (German or English), and she laughed and answered ไทย, so we spoke Thai. Somehow she remembered that I speak Thai, while I hadn’t even remembered meeting her before or learning that she was from Thailand.
--- 2436637
>>2432593 (OP)
I'm in Catania for a weem.
Any good spots / places to visit? 
Obviously Etna
--- 2436645
>>2436637
From Catania, Syracuse/Ortigia is an obvious choice—very beautiful old city center with classical Greek roots. The nature preserve area outside of Siracusa is pretty, although I’ve only been in summer when it’s also possible to swim. Another option might be Taormina, which I love in spite of itself—it’s been a sort of tourist trap for posh Euros for 200 years at this point, but outside the high seasons it’s still really beautiful, with some interesting history, and several of the restaurants are excellent (many are crap). Don’t know if it’s super-crowded over the Easter break or not. Not really beach season right now but the shore at Naxos has better ones than the bay right below Taormina whose name escapes me. Isola Bella is more weird than beautiful—both it and the big public garden in Taormina (which is very nice) were done up in follies of fantasy architecture by a family of rich 19th-c English weirdos, some kind of disgraced minor aristocrats.

In Catania itself, there’s an enjoyable communist dive bar near the university. I like Catania overall, lots of grubby charm. Pretty filthy, though.
--- 2436660
>>2432593 (OP)

I was in Alto Adige/Sudtirol for a weekend
--- 2436737
>>2436637
The Cathedral and Palazzo degli Elefanti.
--- 2436756
I'm planning to go to Italy for 10-12 days not counting travel time, by myself.
What's a good budget for this? My main destination is Florence, and maybe a small town or the countryside
I'm fine with not eating like a king and staying at some room
--- 2436824
>>2432712
Typical example of low context culture interacting with a moderate to high context culture
--- 2436828
>>2432593 (OP)
I went jogging in Trentino and got eaten by a bear.
--- 2436836
>>2436645
>>2436737
Thanks, will report back
--- 2437048
>>2436756
Florence and Venice both amazing. I was there in early May and they were already packed with people. I can't imagine what it would be like in the summer with 3 times as many people in the cities walking around. I wouldn't skip either city. 
Next time I do Italy, I'm going to hit the smaller, less visited places. I want to do Lucca, Bolzano, Bagnoregio, Siena, La Spezia, Vernazza. The problem is that I'm honestly afraid to drive in Italy. They were fucking maniacs on the road. I've driven all over the world, and the only place Ive seen with worse driving than Rome was in Tijuana Mexico.
--- 2437053
>>2437048
How much did you spend? not counting flight tickets
Also I've never traveled to another country before, I have a drivers license so what's the procedure to rent a car there?
--- 2437115
>>2437053


We did 11 nights and we stayed in Airbnbs for the entire trip. We spent $150/day on the Airbnbs. That was definitely the right choice. The rooms were large and it was nice to have a fridge and a washing machine so we didn't have to haul a ton of clothes. 

The highspeed trains were about $25 per person between cities. It was about $150 each total for the trains to do 5 cities. 

We had money to spend on museums, but we never did a single one on the trip. The weather was perfect and there was so much to do outside and a ton of free churches to explore. Renting a bike was $15 for 3 hours in Rome. And we spent $15 on a ticket to the Roman Forum.

1 person
$150 Trains to 5 cities 
$50 daily food budget
$20 day misc. tickets or whatever

11 days- $1100, not including your room and plane ticket. You can budget less than $100 a day for sure, but 100 is enough to have fun. We walked so much that 2 drinks at dinner was all we needed to get buzzed. Wine or beer was generally $6/glass everywhere we went.
--- 2437265
>>2432593 (OP)
Went to Rome for 3 days and had to come back again for 5 days and already wishing to go back for a week.
--- 2437502
>>2437115
>11 days- $1100
oh thats close to my budget including plane and train tickets
Thanks, Ill see how can I distribute my budget for 11 days, Florence and some other small village are my main destinations, preferably one with beaches because I love swimming
--- 2437534
>>2437502
You can save a lot by going to the actual grocery store to buy $1 bottled waters and snacks. Those corner convenience stores charge $4 for a water. It adds up when you're drinking 4 bottles a day. 

Also, the sandwich places are always fucking amazing and cheap. I Fratellini in Florence had $4 sandwiches. The locals all eat there. 
Florence also has a really fancy, relatively inexpensive steakhouse called Steak Home Firenze. I had one of the best steaks in my life there. It was like $60/person with a drink. A meal like that in a high end steakhouse would be $150in the US. This is definitely where you want to splurge for a night if you're eating $4 sandwiches for lunch.
--- 2437551
anyone been to bologna? thinking about applying for postgrad at the university of bologna
--- 2437562
>>2437534
nicee
--- 2437597
>>2437551
It's a total liberal hipster city. If you're into that, you'll love it. it's definitely a grittier city than Florence. Personally, I'd go to Verona for school. It's closer to snowboarding, better jobs with all the tourists. You'd be an hour from Venice. It's also good jumping off point to visit Croatia and Slovenia.
--- 2437657
Never been. Seems like a strange place that's pushed hard by media everywhere so it makes me suspicious and very against going there. Plus they speak Italian not English wouldn't understand them and would get scammed/played etc. 

Be careful I think is my opinion
--- 2437659
>>2437657
4/10 points for subtlety
--- 2437660
>>2437659
What. I've never been there. And I am scared of it
--- 2437661
>>2437597
I'm into that, was just looking at anywhere that offered English-language masters. in the process of learning italian but don't trust myself to do a pure-Italian masters, can't see myself getting to that level in a year or so. I'll have to check out Verona
--- 2437791
>>2432593 (OP)
Went to Sicily last summer after going around the boot. Boot was ez mode so I figured Sicily would be the same. Nah. Train system is abysmal, same with the bus system. Be aware that some bus drivers are fucking mask cucks still and will deny you if you don't have a mask, same with train attendants there. Was in Trapani and went to take a bus to lift at a gym, waited for twenty minutes and the driver told me I needed a mask so I had to walk back to my airbnb, get one walked back, waited another twenty minutes, driver that showed up didn't have a mask on. I was pissed. Trapani is fucking boring, I think the south and east coast of Sicily is much better. Erice was pretty interesting though.

Palermo I thought was loud, dirty, but had a lot of charm to it. Went to a metal pub there and some sicilians saw me by myself and invited me to drink, then went with a couple of them to a punk bar where I met some of their friends. They thought Americans were the geography meme retarded, so I had them quiz me on European capitals and I got all of them right so they kept buying me shots. Then we went to an illegal street party with 1euro beers which was wild. One of the highlights of my summer for sure.

I guess my advice for Sicily is rent a car or scooter in order to get around, Sicily is the red headed step child of Italy and they have been shunned by the government for so long that their infrastructure really lacks. Someone in Sicily told me Italy becomes more fucked the further south you go, that's why the mob was able to fill that vacancy in Sicily. People in Sicily were a lot nicer than the mainland (not that I ran into many assholes in the boot, but)
--- 2437799
>>2437551

Bologna/Parma/Genoa are liberal strongholds there, lots of pro refugee faggots, lots of niggers, lots of crime. Even worse than Milan lol.

Verona/Venice are great study cities, still left wing but a lot less cucked than Bologna/Parma. If you do go to Venice to study you don't need to live in Venice, most live in Padua/Treviso and take the train to school. Just avoid walking around Mestre if you don't want to get shanked by a refugee high on pills because you didn't have a cigarette to give him.
--- 2437972
Going to south next week. I'll start from Bari, probably go to Naples and then to Palermo. Is it safe down there?
--- 2438072
>>2437972
Naples not so much. It's the worst city in Italy and maybe Europe IMO. Bari is a tourist city, Palermo you'll be fine it's just a little dirty.
--- 2438073
>>2434739
I kinda prefer Italy. Spanish food is good but nothing beats Italian sea food spaghetti, carbonara, etc.
--- 2438089
Any ideas where I could go by car in North Italy? Coming from Germany the obvious answer is Lake Garde. How is Lake Como?
--- 2438123
>>2437791
Yeah I'm in Catania atm, very very dirty city. You're lucky to find a wall with no graffiti.
(>>2436637)
Today I went to Syracuse as advised by other anon. The buses run every 30m and I had no issues re: needing a mask or w/e. The trains are so infrequent that they're useless, it's faster by bus from Catania to Syracuse.
There's those busker cross scam artists in a few places, they'll do shit like put a bracelet or budgie on you, or play you music, then demand you give them money for a service you never consented to.
Best to ignore them.

Food here is really good. Syracuse had pretty parts, and way less graffiti / trash on the streets.

Syracuse feels like it caters to upper middle class tourists, but most things are still affordable. I wasn't especially impressed by the sights, but thats probably because I come from another European country that has 400+ year old buildings in every town city and village.

Yet to go up etna
--- 2438141
>>2437551

Bologna is crazy expensive to both live and rent a room. It's also the quintessential student city, so yeah, worth it if you can afford it.
--- 2438144
>>2438089

Well, what do you like?

Arts and architecture? Veneto
Nature? South Tyrol
Off the beaten track, 1990s Italy? Trieste
--- 2438891
>>2438072
I'll try to visit Naples when Napoli secures title that should be fun
--- 2438915
>>2438073
Spanish food is probably the worst food in the Mediterranean.
--- 2439038
I want to do a lot of the smaller cities and towns in Italy on my next trip, but I don't trust driving there. How do people get around in the countryside?
--- 2439058
>>2438915
That's like saying Ramos is the worst player in 2015 Real Madrid
--- 2439061
>>2439038
You're gonna need a car. There's no other way. Lazy dagos in the countryside don't want to work, it can be hard to find a taxi to the train station even at 8pm. Even if you do, the nearest train station could be half an hour away or more by car.
--- 2439063
>>2439038
Also the economics of not renting a car don't make any sense. Even if you take a taxi out to the sticks and get around by train, the half hour taxi to the station will cost you 40€. For that money, you could rent a vehicle for the entire day, and you can go wherever you want, whenever you want without relying on Trenitalia.
--- 2439391
>>2432712
>Italians are really unfriendly and rude
I'm currently travelling through Southern Italy and this has not been my experience at all. If you make even the slightest attempt at speaking Italian (I mostly just speak Spanish with some Italian words thrown in) people will be extremely friendly and helpful. Just this morning I had some old lady stop the bus from Catania to Siracusa from leaving for 10 minutes while I went buying a ticket at the kiosk.
--- 2439448
>>2437799
>Verona
>left wing
it's one of the most historically neo nazi (not memeing) cities of northern Italy
The mayor may be left wing at the moment, but he got elected by being in cahoots with the local clergy, you know how politics works
t. I am from Verona
--- 2439508
>>2432886
>>2432889
holy based 
i went there on a hunch cause a couple of locals told me to
nobody fucking travels to abruzo
--- 2440252
>>2439448
That explains why I liked Verona so much, and the complete lack of crime and brown people. I'm sure your liberal mayor will fix all that peace and quiet and enrich you with some diversity.
--- 2440258
>>2436071
Don't go to Venice on a weekend or in the summer. I went in May of 2022 and it wasn't crowded at all during the week. It was only bad on Saturday around the palace. The rest of the city was nice and chill.
--- 2440307
>>2440252
He already is lmao
Since early 2022 we have a serious problem with "youth gangs" (you know what that means) 
They rob and beat people in broad daylight in the city center (I am talking in a 500 meter radius from the Arena), get arrested and released the same day
Worst part is you can't do shit about it, cause they are mostly minors and tend to use a 5 to 10vs1 tactic
If you can read italian, look it up on the local newspaper website, it's called L'Arena
--- 2440330
>>2438915
>Spanish food is probably the worst food in the Mediterranean.
Not technically Mediterranean, but Portuguese food would like you to hold its beer.

I like Spanish food at least a bit, in some places more than others, but it’s hard to deny that it’s pretty monotonous. There’s more variety in Italy.
--- 2440719
How much budget do I need to travel to one major city in Italy and a smaller one, for one person?
I escaped neetdoom months ago and got a job, vacations are coming in summer so I've been saving for that
--- 2440729
>>2440719
read this
>>2437115
--- 2440741
On a backpacker's budget how bad is Italy?
It looks like covid killed affordable travel in Europe entirely. I would like to go, but if a 1 month trip runs me about $5000, I'd rather just go to Morocco
--- 2440749
>>2440741
If you want an affordable trip to Europe from the United States in the summertime, you need to buy your tickets YESTERDAY my man. They are exorbitantly priced last minute, I'm talking $3000 one way.
--- 2440764
>>2440729
neat
--- 2440776
I did study abroad so we went all over the country

>florence
wonderful people. Obviously full of tourists but making any attempt at all to speak italian with them was really great, even if they did usually jsut switch to english. lots of historical thigns to see, great restauraunts, fun to watch games of soccer. too many ch*nk tourists and elather shops though, and the train station area is kind of sketchy. streets are really hard to walk though because of the bricks I have plenty of stories about florence. 9.5/10
>Napoli
run down as hell, full of soul. literally walk down any street and something interesting is happening. lots of neat bars and restauraunts, the spanish quarter and underground is really neat. but probably bring friends with you, especially after dark. Dog poop on the sidewalk/10
>Rome
fantastic. really fun to see the sights, horrible amount of africans selling worthless shit by every attraction. dont listen to italians complaining about it, its great. 8/10
>venice
comfy, but painfully touristy. no real natives, all tourist attractions. Good art galleries, water taxies are fun. 6/10
>padova
neat church, bar had a hole in the ground to shit in. Grappa tastes like rat poison. 6/10
>Turin
comfiest place in the country, hands down. Po river is comfy to walk along, the mole is neat to visit, great parks. Would live in. Juve vafanculo
>Pisa
heheh its the pissmover
>prato
comfy, went to a restaurant there
>pompeii
its a tourist attraction but it IS really great to visit. I also reccomend hadrian's villa
>bologna
its alright, I guess. Didnt see much, but the College kids thought I was italian for some reason
>milan
is there anything else to even see here besides the main church and the giant mall? I barely remember anything besides the duomo. wouldnt recommend taking the subway at all, unless you just really want to get robbed

driving down to naples is really fun

non puoi soffrire in italia
--- 2440810
>>2440749
Nah, they aren't that bad. Lufthansa has tickets for $1000 roundtrip.
--- 2441253
>>2432712
you clearly went to northern italy, these are piece of shit. as snobbish as the french with none of the qualities. also their food is shit, that's why they resort to sell southern italian food.

read: >>2439391

>>2437551
bologna is a leftist globohomo shithole and so is milan.

>>2437972
apparently naples is going through a resurgence, people are telling me it never had as many visitors as of now. go there for a day if you can and check if you like it. if you don't, you got capri and amalfi coast nearby.
--- 2441257
>>2437551
I'm Italian and got my bachelor's degree in Bologna. It's the most leftist city in the country. Coincidentally it's full of homeless and thieving immigrants. The food is to die for though, can't argue with that. I'd suggest, if you're interested in university in Bologna, to just find a course in nearby Ferrara, which is less crazy.