Forgotten Hope Public Forum
Off-Topic => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Zoologic on 06-08-2016, 16:08:36
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So I will be travelling Italy on road, from Lazio, Umbria, Toscana (the highlight of my stay), and finally Lombardia.
Question:
Are the local Italian car rentals any good? (Sicily by Car, Maggiore, etc)
Why does the 2015 Renault Espace classified as medium? Makes it equal to BMW serie 2 cabriolet? WTF? I'm travelling in a group of 5, what if the stonati in Avis Roma Termini gave me that open top BMW instead of the more reasonable Opel Insignia Estate? Where would the 3 other person seat? Shouldn't the Espace be as big as Toyota Previa or at least, at least VW Sharan?
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With the well known rental like hertz, avis or europecar You can choose which brand. Currently staying in Tuscany. Very beautiful place. Vist Firenze is a must.
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Yep, Firenze, Perugia, and Sienna is definitely on my itinerary.
Avis and Europcar (along with Keddy) is quite competitive in pricing. Of course they are not as cheap as the local Italians. But the way they classify their cars worries me.
They shown "Renault Espace", but then continued with "or car of similar size" - and when you click that one, it goes to the likes of BMW Serie 2 Cabriolet. They won't promise you the 7-seater car, but when they don't have it, they will happily let you drive their 4-seater open top car. Why? How can I make sure that I get the MPV that I wanted?
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Can always happen the car you want isn't available. I have 3 kids so I would be able to squeeze them in a BMW 2 Cabrio ;D
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One interesting I notice about Italy when browsing my accommodation is that they all feature bidet in the toilet.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Bidet_weiss.jpg)
So, they also wet wash their anus / genital just like us here. What a pleasant surprise. We also need soap and paper towel to dry it out when finished. Not environmentally friendly, but it keeps our underwear clean.
I do get used to clean up using paper towels back in Australia. No matter how expensive the brand is, it will irritate that particularly thin skinned orifice, and sometimes does not completely wipe off the shit stains (I need to use baby wipes in addition to the dry paper towel).
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One interesting I notice about Italy when browsing my accommodation is that they all feature bidet in the toilet.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Bidet_weiss.jpg)
So, they also wet wash their anus / genital just like us here. What a pleasant surprise.
At least here in germany a bidet is not the common equipment you'll find in a bathroom. You'll find it in higher classed hotels and upper class family homes sometimes.
As I never had one, I never have much use for it once I come along these in hotels. The nearest useage that comes to my mind is washing your feet in there. I actually never thought about washing my genitals or that open end on my rear with it. I actually imagine how I stand over it, turned to the wall, trying to wash my genitals while trying not to touch the cold ceramic. Should look like this then:
(https://nfb.org/Images/nfb/Publications/fr/fr27/4/twister.gif)
However, now that you told me about your anus washing desires when seeing these, my future encounters with these will make me remember your viewpoint. Most likely I will not even touch a bidet anymore. *shrug*
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Most of toilets in elite hotels and houses here use this "low cost" combo:
(http://www.conniehogarth.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/toilet-bidet-combo.jpg)
Some are equipped with nozzle pressure adjuster, in some you can use warm water and adjust the temperature. Fancier ones uses LCD and numbered thermometer.
It is no longer magic Gundam robomech novetly-like item coming from "WTF Japan", but also available in countries like Indonesia for instance.
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I am in Perugia right now, left Rome this morning. A very beautiful medieval town in Umbria.
The traffic is a bit confusing (merging however they like, not using signals, etc). But the scenery is beyond words. The word amazing is an understatement.
The language is also very easy, you can just pronounce the words like we do. Sadly, I still have to say "non parlare Italiano" quite a lot of times. It seems learning English is still a thing, even in Rome, judging from the amount of courses ads in city buses.
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So, 7th day in Italy. Italy is beautiful, the food is delicious, need to say more? I think for those of you who have been to Italy knew this already. But Toscana is a world of its own. It is very hard to forget this place. Right now I am still in Firenze, just gulped glasses after glasses of Chianti rosso, finished a Florentin steak serving, and currently preparing to rest.
Rome is cool, I was trully impressed.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/Johnsy/Trip%20to%20Italy%202016/Rome%20Sep%2016/IMAG0370.jpg)
Vatican is as big as I imagined, but the frescoes in the Basilicas are beyond words. Any random churches in any piazzas can somehow host amazing frescoes.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/Johnsy/Trip%20to%20Italy%202016/Rome%20Sep%2016/IMAG0390.jpg)
Yes the traffic is quite unruly (I'm judging from Australian standard), they don't signal, speed too much, and turned whenever they wanted. But overall, they are still more polite than Jakarta or Indonesia in general, roundabout and T-junction rules are still observed.
Now, random cities like Perugia can also host amazing view, besides various delicacies of chocolates.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/Johnsy/Trip%20to%20Italy%202016/Perugia%20Sep%2016/IMAG0423.jpg)
Of course, the highlight of the stay is Toscana. My absolute favourite is Val d'Orcia. You can call it the most beautiful place on earth and get pretty close with the description. This view from Montalcino is particularly breath-taking.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/Johnsy/Trip%20to%20Italy%202016/Montalcino%20Sep%202016/IMAG0527.jpg)
Monterggioni, Siena, Poggibonsi, Montalcino, Greve in Chianti, Radda in Chianti, San Gimignano, Firenze, Pisa, Toscana has more to offer, but sadly I have to continue northwards.
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My family spent our holidays in Italy, when I was younger, since it´s just a few hours by car from where we live. Nice pictures, Zoo! If you can do it, make your way up to the southern (Italian) part of Switzerland, which has some very nice spots, too, like Lugano, Locarno etc. If the entry into Switzerland is somehow problematic with your passport (is it?) you can also visit Como which is north of Milano.
(http://alt.comer-see.net/fotogalerie/album-10/comersee-101.jpg)
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Como, Switzerland, and The Alps will be on my next "bucket list". For sure.
My trip this time will end in Milano, after a brief stop in Cinque Terre and Genovan area.
One thing that I forgot to mention is Italian food: it doesn't taste too foreign for us. It is simply one of the world's best. Little wonder Julia Roberts decided to "eat" in Italy and then "pray and love" elsewhere.
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I am back home now.
Damn, I really missed Italy so badly, especially Toscana.
I understand very well now, why they stereotype Italy with cooks. I came from a country where CNN Travel's best dishes picks came from. My parents are unapologetically Asian and have a pretty narrow in taste. But somewhat, everywhere in Italy, never we were disappointed with the food.
After so many visits small Tuscan towns, Firenze feels quite underwhelming to be honest. But this is not to say that it is bad. The amount of art and festivities in the city is simply amazing. At least my eyes and tastebuds was properly entertained.
And thanks to generally poor English-speaking Italians, I did learn a lot to count from 1 to 1.000 in Italian and speak a few conversational words composed in English grammar. Italia, il delizioso, il bellisimo.