please suggest places to eat in florence. looking for casual lunch places where we can stop between touristing, and dinner places that are preferably bookable (online or by phone). our flat is at the intersection of via dell'agnolo and via michelangelo buonarroti but happy to walk/cab anywhere within reason.   and if you have particular places you'd recommend for lunches in san gimignano, siena, voltera, montalcino etc.--or for that matter, in pisa--let me have those as well ..read more

we will have four dinners and three-four lunches available in rome. it's not clear that we'll eat every one of those meals out (as opposed to bringing goodies back to the airbnb on an evening or two) but assuming we do, this is what i am currently thinking (based on reading various blogs etc.): dinner, night 1: a few hours after arrival from naples we are booked for dinner at santo palato; feel free to advise against or in greater favour of someplace else lunch, day 2: will almost certainly be pizza after finishing up with touring the colosseum etc. thinking antico forno roscioli dinner, day 2 ..read more

Ok. Here goes. For reasons that made sense at the time I have committed my family to meeting my Aunt in Stockholm before she departs on a long cruise around the Baltic and North Sea.  We. Have to be in Stockholm on 8/17.  Wtf do I do for the two weeks before. When I came up with the idea I was excited. But now? Idk.   At first I was thinking start in Hamburg and work our way up.  North Sea beach resorts, some Hanseatic cities.  But like for two weeks? And I worry the beach places while doubtlessly lovely will be so culturally German we'll feel awkward and water to ..read more

we are contemplating (with a reasonable degree of likelihood) a trip to italy for 3 weeks next june/july. i've been before, the rest of the family has never been. accordingly, this will be a greatest hits of italy tourism trip. for those of you who are italy veterans, how would you divide three weeks between the following stops? i'm putting my tentative thoughts in parentheses: 1. naples (2 nights) 2. rome (6 nights) 3. florence (7 nights with side trips to pisa, siena etc.) 4. bologna (1 night; or should we just do bologna as a day trip from florence?) 5. venice (3 nights) 6. milan ..read more

Hi friends- I'm looking to get out of the US for about a month+ this winter, give or take, probably January if it matters. I'm fortunate that I can work completely remotely, and can manage the time difference. My preference has always been deep dives into a single place- check my history for that if you wish. So, I'm looking at somewhere maybe west of Lisbon? I loved Porto, but felt I gave Lisbon short shrift last time, and really enjoyed that city. What do you, my worldly compatriots, recommend ..read more

Idling surfing I found that one of our favorite Paris somms had returned to his roots and created a natural wine bar   Martin Ho is a cool and walking wine encyclopedia.  Better he's a joyous host and wine companion.   Whether he knows his vines or is a Pied Piper, you can decide.  But our many happy evenings in his care would take us back to any room of his in a heartbeat.    ..read more

https://guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/the-new-selection-of-the-michelin-guide-malta#   I think it’s mostly sandwiches ..read more

Worst in 50 years.  https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/13/europe/venice-flooding-state-of-emergency-intl-hnk/index.html ..read more

I don't see any recent Berlin threads, so I thought I'd start one.  I'm hoping to have a couple extra days on my own when I go out for business next month.  I'm looking for a few recs that are moderately priced (hoping to stay under 40-45 euros) and aren't limited to doner kebab and currywurst.  Thanks ..read more

Greece is one European country I've never visited.  If I wanted to visit one or more islands, how would I go about choosing, other than just picking names I recognize?   Does being accessible from Athens narrow it down ..read more