Shelley Does Europe Summer 2006

Some tips for A'dam:

Der Kantjil en der Tijger - Spuistraat 291/293, Amsterdam. Best rijstafel ever.

Rijksmuseum for Rembrandt's Night Watch and the Van Gogh Museum for more pretty pictures.

Pedalo round the canals for a relaxing afternoon.

Aix en Provence is on the way to Italy from Montpellier. A bit touristy (and expensive) but a beautiful town. As is the old monastery town of St. Paul de Vence. Bruges is real nice too btw, which is a relatively short train ride from Amsterdam (probably via Brussels, which is a pretty ugly town but very cosmo and worth visiting if you have time).

Where do I start.... It depends what cities you're going to be in Italy. I think the places that everyone has to visit if they get the chance to are Rome, Tivoli, and Florence.

If you get to Rome you really need to check out the Trevi fountain, the Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps. The Colosseum is fairly cool too. Actually, now that I think of it much of Rome is fairly cool. I mean, you also have the Vatican (which with the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums have appeal to even non-Catholics), the fora, Trastevere (the shopping/hanging out/coffee house district on the west bank of the Tiber) and the National Museum of Modern Art (which is surprisingly quiet, it's north of the Villa Borghese so it's off the beaten track enough that it doesn't get swarmed by tourists).

If you get to Tivoli, aside from finding a point to stare at and enjoy the countryside (Tivoli has some of the best views of anywhere I've been), you should check out the fountains at Villa d'Este.

If you go to Florence, first you have to be aware of the crowds, Florence gets pretty busy. However, once you get over that, you should check out the Basilica of Santa Croce. On the outside you get to see one of the most beautiful facades that's around and on the inside you can check out the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Dante. There's also the Cathedral which you really should see, it's worth going inside just to experience the shear size of the building. (I actually have a picture of the inside of it online at: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2000/526/1600/IMGP2480.jpg).

In Florence, you also have the David, the Ponte Vechio, and a street (the name of which I don't know) that has statues of notable figures such as Newton, Galileo, Michelangelo, DaVinci, etc.

Now I wish I was going to Italy again.... It really is a beautiful country full of history, art, and some of the best food you'll find anywhere.

It seems the above link doesn't work. Try this:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2000/526/1600/IMGP2480.jpg

Dante's tomb is actually in Ravenna. But Florence is nice, too. In September it might actually be somewhat less crowded than it usually is in the summer.

Favorite cheap hotel in paris: Hotel des grandes ecoles. Lots of great cheap restaurants nearby, too!

Dave,

Actually Dante's tomb is in Santa Croce in Florence. It's just that Dante isn't in it.

Wow! These suggestions are terrific, please keep 'em coming!!!

As per Dante's tomb, I think I got an exam question like that once (ie, Q: Who's buried in Grant's tomb? A: Grant B: Your mom C: A monkey D: All of the above.)

Oh wait. I meant to say I GAVE an exam like that. :)

Currency: they are all now on the Euro, no currency changing from one country to the next - great.
Paris - the Monet Gallery
Amsterdam: I was there for a week about a year ago, never left the city. I'm sorry that I never saw dikes, windmills, tulips. In Amsterdam use the water bus(tram) to go around the city in a canal. You can get off at any stop, wander around that area, and then reboard the next boat, go to the next stop, etc. at no additional charge. Good way to get a first impression, to know where to spend more time. Everyone speaks English. Be sure to sample cheeses. We walked all over the city, you can rent a bike if you want - everyone rides bikes there. All streets have bike lanes.

They all use the euro except for Switzerland.

Which is a slightly disconcerting place... Lugano looks like Italy and feels like Italy, but it doesn't smell like Italy and is far less chaotic than Italy...

As far as Italian food goes, you should sample: Roman pizza, Florence gelato (ice cream), ragu cinghiale (the mother of all bolognese), Milanese risotto, Venetian spaghetti vongole... the list goes on.

Should you decide to head out west, San Sebastian is probably the city with the best food in the world (the Basques probably invented tapas), and is closer to Montpellier than Turin or Milan. Nearby Bilbao has one of the funkiest buildings anywhere - the Guggenheim.

Europe = food heaven...

Since you're not getting a lot of comments here, I'll add a few more.
Unlike Amsterdam, where we were last year, we were in Italy and France a looong time ago - 40+ years, so I don't know how much of the following is still true.
I second JW Tan's comment about gelatto, delicious. In Italy, be sure to have some minestrone, fabulous. In France, be aware that dinner hour is usually not until at least 7:00PM. If you show up before then they will still be setting up and you will be considered an uncultured American. We found French restaurants very friendly, offering samples of other things that we hadn't ordered, including Anisette: "try this". Also, unlike Amsterdam now, most people in Italy and France don't, or didn't back then, speak English.

hey, congrats.

I just was in southern france and amsterdam (and a lot of other places too) myself. I basically recommend going to at least one small town in southern france: they are all really cool.

as far as locations: rocamador is pretty neat (it's a kinda touristy mideval castle). Northern belgium is really nice try ghent or bruges.

Currency: they are all now on the Euro, no currency changing from one country to the next - great.

All the countries mentioned are using the Euro, except Switzerland. Of the EU countries, only Denmark and the UK is holding on to their own currency.

If you are interested in art and architechture, I would think of skipping Switzerland, and use the extra time in Italy.

If you do go to Florence (and you definitely should, it is amazing!!), you should definitely also visit Siena, which is just an hour away. The entire historic centre is centuries old, it is magnificent. It's the kind of medieval town that you'd imagine, with narrow streets and massive stone buildings. It also has the mandatory cathedral (it wont be so effective after Florence, but worth a visit) and almost complete town walls. If you go further south into Italy, definitely sample Neapolitan as well as Roman pizza. I personally prefer the former.

Are you planning to hire a car? If you do I'd recommend taking a day to drive from Rome to Naples along the coast, making a stop in Gaeta and/or Sperlonga. Those are just really beautiful towns.

Oh, and a place called the Jazz Cafe in Rome makes the best balsamic vinegar steak that I've ever had :D

PS The street that CK Loo is referring to goes just along the side of the Uffici gallery (I don't know the name either). AFAIK the statues there are of notable florentines and I don't think they include Newton.

I can only add - Italy, Italy, Italy!!! I've spent three months there this year and it is amazing!