Blog Post: Not the Typical (Ugly) American Tourist (I hope).

[From Our Blog]

Just posted on SuperStack by James Charles – discussions in this thread, please
---

Ciao. Getting ready for our two-week trip to Northern Italy. Northern Italy you say. What about the rest of Italy?

Well, in due course.

A friend of mine recently went to Italy and did the typical, American 9 day, 10 night tour of Italy on a bus. “Bring down your luggage and be on the bus at 7:30,” the driver/tour guide says. “Here’s the Vatican … here’s the …” (fill in the blank). Then on to the next town, check into your hotel for the night and repeat the above.

When I was a teacher, before I became an administrator, I had the summers off. We rented a car and drove around one country at a time for five or six weeks. Stayed in B&B’s (before the air) and got lost in small villages.

In Ireland last year, we drove off the beaten path and stopped in a small village at a local pub. When we walked in, it felt like a scene out of a Hency Fonda western; the entire pub stopped their imbibing and conversing, turned to look at us—the bartender who was pouring a pint letting it runneth over. When I said we’re Americans! and that I recently found out I was 9% Irish, the patrons all whooped and hollered then “Sláinte;” drinks all ‘round! We settled in for a meal and everyone was so hospitable.

This is how you see a country (if you can). Rent a car, get out of the main tourist-trap areas, and see the people (country).

And the historical sights? We take our time. Read all the exhibits. Absorb all the history/culture. No, “Be back on the bus in one hour.” We go through the museum, or see the sight, then walk over to the small café or pub nearby and get a cappuccino or sample the local brew; talk to the locals. No “been there, done that.” Well, maybe, but …. And we try to speak a little of their language (tried a bit of Gaelic, but it didn’t go over so well).

So for our two-week trip to Northern Italy, yes, we’ll see the sights in Florence, Pisa, Milan and Venice, but we will also get lost in the countryside. Our B&B in Tuscany is halfway between Florence and Pisa in a small village. Our B&B in Veneto is in a small village thirty minutes north of Venice.

Then, next year we’ll hopefully go back to see more regions. I realize not everyone has the luxury of this approach, but if you can ….

Arrivederci
---

By @James Charles
Get the discussion going – post your thoughts & comments in the thread below…

 

[BrianY]

If you want to see northern Italy the way you saw Ireland, forget about those cities you named and instead seek out quiet valleys near less touristed small cities. Any place that starts with "Val" and has a string of small villages will do the job. My place is Val Gesso (Chalk Valley) near Cuneo. Actually, there are a whole bunch of valleys spread out south and west of Cuneo and you'll get treatment like that in every one of them.

There is always a way to get off the beaten path, after all, you could have spent your time in Ireland visiting the Blarney Stone, the Guinness brewery, a few museums in Dublin, and the Giants Causeway, but you didn't. You can get off the beaten path in Italy, but most people choose not to - the lure of places like Venice and Florence is hard to ignore - but you can.

If you go to Cuneo and Val Gesso (or the other valleys) you might have to shop at the supermarket and mall in town instead of a pseudo humble market, but that's what real Italians do. And if you go to the head of the valley in the town of Entracque, you can get yourself a cocktail and happy hour cold cut plate on the town square for 4 Euro and meet the locals.

Home - not my website, but the guy who maintains it can often be found at one of the bars.