zeppole

Franco,

I have friends coming in August. If your restaurants are open and it is not hideously muggy, maybe we'll take a drive to Lucca and have lunch. (It's cooled down considerably around here thanks to cleansing thunderstorms.)

franco

Sorry, zeppole, I've no idea whether they're open. Please call ahead. I notice that also Fred Plotkin seemed to like Giulio in Pelleria (without being overly enthusiastic). I think there's no possibility of starting a Fred Plotkin discussion, first because we cannot lead EVERY thread all over the Italian board off-topic, second because it would be pretty impolite since he actually has become a Fodorite recently, but from my (very limited) experiences with his recommendations, I think what he says about Giulio in Pelleria can be read as a high praise - my impression is that his preferences are very different from what that restaurant represents. Giulio in Pelleria is a typical cucina povera place; no frills, no inventive recipes, no upmarket ingredients, no particularly nice or beautiful atmosphere, just down-to-earth (and down-to-tradition) cooking. Fantastic quality, but applied to really simple stuff, get me right: nothing, really nothing fancy. (Rather small helpings, though.) But as I said on another occasion, I keep dreaming of their panzanella (one of those wonderfully simple-rustic Tuscan mashes!); did you ever try to make one? I did, and I wouldn't say it was bad (I'm immodest enough to think of myself as a quite accomplished cook), but... it was hard to figure that this was supposed to be the same dish that Giulio in Pelleria does.

Micheled

People, quit the bickering! Wow, everything thing is subjuective, I am not holding anyone accountable for anything, Im just looking for a little feedback. I HAVE to be in Rome the first 5 days as my husband has a conference and I have tours scheduled every day including private tour of the Vatican, Tivoli gardens, Peters Square, a cooking class at some place North of Rome. I then want to tak the train to Florence for three nights and was hoping to take a day trip from Florence one day. I thought I could go hike the CT in a day and back to Florence that night. I dont need to spend any time in the villages, thought it would be a beautiful hike. Then I want to head back to Rome for the last Saturday and Sunday before I have to leave on Monday morning. If I should stay in Rome the whole time and just do 2 day trips somewhere else, that would be ok. I dont want it to be a marathon, but one day of hiking would be great. Someday I too will try the food in Lucca, maybe not this trip.

franco

Well, I would do it, weather permitting! I think "I don't need to spend time in the villages" is a wise attitude for the Cinque Terre, and though I'm quite the opposite of a hiker (as you may conclude from my passion for food: I have to shlep some pounds when hiking), the Cinque Terre are one place where even I went hiking, and am glad I did. With that tourist funfair in the (otherwise pretty) villages, there are two ways of enjoying the Cinque Terre IMO: from above, i.e. hiking and looking down on the villages and their coves; and, as kfusto pointed out, from a boat. You can combine both, going by boat one way, and by foot the other. How far you can go, i.e. how many of the five you can get to depends how early you start.

franco

Two letters missing, sorry: ...depends ON how early...

Myer

We were based in Florence the last 10 days of June. Your weather will be different as well as the hours of sunlight.

We did an "overnight daytrip" from Florence (just small backpacks with essentials).

We made a "pit" stop in Pisa (San Rossore station) to see the Tower and then on to Lucca for several hours and biking around the town on the wall.

We got to Cinque Terre in time to see a spectacular sunset and have an outdoor dinner facing the water.

We did not sleep in CT but rather in La Spezia right beside the train station. It worked great for us.

The next day we hiked between several of the CT towns, took the boat to Portonevere and eventual a bus back to La Spezia and trained back to Florence.

A great couple of days.

dani007

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