Learn me Italy

calteg said:

ShawnG said:

In reply to calteg :

Tell them you own a 308. 

Show them threads on this forum.

Can't hurt to try.

My good friend actually owned a 308...briefly. It caught fire and burned his garage to the ground about 3 weeks after purchase. His insurance company was absolutely convinced that it was fraud, but apparently they just catch fire sometimes.

A member here has had two of the same model Lotus do that.

And he keeps buying them.

ShawnG said:

calteg said:

ShawnG said:

In reply to calteg :

Tell them you own a 308. 

Show them threads on this forum.

Can't hurt to try.

My good friend actually owned a 308...briefly. It caught fire and burned his garage to the ground about 3 weeks after purchase. His insurance company was absolutely convinced that it was fraud, but apparently they just catch fire sometimes.

A member here has had two of the same model Lotus do that.

And he keeps buying them.

The Esprits were known for it. AFAIK, the turbos were mounted up high and were prone to spraying oil over the rest of the engine bay. 

Wife and I spent the month of July in southern Italy last year. Amalfi was overrated so was Positano, we spent an hour in each and saw everything we needed to. Too crowded and flooded with influencers and aspiring influencers.

Sorrento is honestly better in our opinion. We ended up renting an apartment there and staying for 3 weeks. We loved it and the people. 

Europe is small and your passport should be good.

Rent an Alfa, drive through the Stelvio Pass to Switzerland.

It's where they filmed parts of The Italian Job (The real one, not the stupid remake).

Follow up on this. We went for my wife's cousin's wedding - he married a woman from Potenza. Nobody seemed interested in the fact that my favorite tires were Bridgestone Potenza's. 

Our planning was not great. This was due to a number of factors:

• First, we were unsure that we (my wife, myself, and my brother in law) were going to be able to go. When we bought our plane tickets, we had all our ducks in a row. And then the ducks promptly swam off, flew off, and waddled off in 17 different directions. My Father in law had knee surgery 3 weeks prior to our departure, and ended up in the ICU. My Mother in law has MS. E36 M3 was hitting the fan. But it worked out, we went.
• Second, my brother in law was involved with everything. I don't intend to denigrate him, but he could berkeley up a one car funeral. When we got back, I was very proud of myself, that I had not killed him.
• Third, and related to both of the above, the entire trip - less some meals and 2 nights of hotels - was covered by the father of the groom, but through my brother in law. So it was a lot of phone tag with a less than reliable middle man, and planning by committee. 

That said, it was a phenomenal trip.

We landed in Rome, and first thing we did was a tour of the Vatican. It was 102, the hottest day of the year to that point. The Vatican museum buildings are pretty old. AC isn't really a thing. The takeaway? I wanna go back to do this again, and take 3x as long as we did... in April or October. But it was incredible. I loved it. 

At the end of tour in the Vatican, we'd been 8 hours on a plane, 1 hour in a taxi, 2 hours waiting for our time slot in a cafe, and 3 hours in 100/38 degree walking tour. We were bushed. We had train tickets, but I tried to get a rental car instead just to get us into the AC 3 hours earlier. That didn't pan out. So we got on the train. High speed trains in Italy? Awesome. 

We got off in Foggia. Not really a tourist destination, but a friend of a friend picked us up and drove us the rest of the way to our destination for that first night. Foggia to Matera should take 1:45 per google maps. Our friend did it in 1:15. I love Italian drivers. 

Matera. Matera is one of the oldest cities in the world. By some estimates it is the 3rd oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Until the 1950s, people were literally living in caves. Coming around the corner, seeing the lights of the city in the dark… it was quite literally breathtaking. In the day, just as beautiful. A town built into a mountain. James May had 20 minutes on it for his Italy season of “Our man in” series. I recommend it. 

But the bad part about Matera - other than the steps and extremely slippery streets/steps/sidewalks - is getting there. There is just no good way. 

From Matera, we went to Positano by private car. Expensive way to do it, but again, no easy way to get to/out of Matera, and I wasn’t paying. Positano is on the Amalfi Coast. This might be the most beautiful [developed] place on the planet. We spent a day on a boat, it was easily among the best days of my life. 

From Positano, we got on the ferry to Salerno, and from Salerno, the high speed train to Rome. 2 more days in Rome, we got a peek at the pope, saw St Peter’s Basilica, the Coliseum, some seemingly random churches that just so happened to be designed by some dude named Michelangelo… it was amazing. 

I haven’t even mentioned the food. The entire time there, I had 2 bad dishes (one of which I knew was going to be bad when I saw cheeseburger on the menu, my BIL picked the place; the other was course 6/10 at the wedding), and one meal where the food was good but everything else about the experience was bad. Other than that, it was awesome everywhere. We even stopped at a McDonalds out of convenience - we needed to charge our phones and use the toilet, we were there for 15 minutes, but the McD’s was tremendous too. 

 What would I have done different?

• I’d have liked to be there longer but life doesn’t always allow for that.
• I’d do it at a different time of year.
• I’d travel without my brother in law.
• I’d rent a car for much of it - I’d heard horror stories about driving in Rome, but I honestly thought it looked very similar to driving in Chicago, just more scooters to watch out for.
• I’d have gone to Capri.
• I’d have searched for places and hotels that catered less to Americans. And I’d go north too. But again, time was an issue. 

10/10, highly recommend it. 

(edit - looks like you already went, sounds like it was a great trip)

I just got back from Italy with the fam. Here is a review 

I took the boys to Modena and Maranello to see Ferrari, Pagani, and Enzo's house. All amazing. 

If you drive you will need to go through toll booths, Take a receipt and then scan it at the next stop. I did not know this process at first and it was a bit confusing.

As mentioned the Autogrill road restaurants are amazing.

We stopped in Orvieto on the way to Rome as well as a crazy sculpture garden called the Bosco Sacro

Rome was packed with people. Great food and great city but the Colosseum and Vatican had tens of thousands of people. Pretty hard to have a chill authentic experience. Maybe there will be less tourists when you go. Don't miss the Pantheon

Got to see the Mille Miglia Pass through Rome. 

Our friend is in Greenday so we got to see them with 80,000 others in Milan. It was a rad show.

Went to Vience,  such a crazy place, so fun to walk and take in. Went to the Dolomites, beautiful.

Amalfi coast is great , Positano is gorgeous and Pompeii is right there as well. 

I found it very easy to get around and everyone was friendly. If you don't end up driving, the Frecciarossa train is amazing and a fantastic way to get around. It goes 200mph!

La vita è bella