Vacation - Barcelona to Venice

[StGabe]

@Hanzii

Prioritize.

I could easily spend three weeks in any of the countries/areas you pass through, so don’t be like a cruiseship full of Americans and spend one day in each major place along the way - pick a few and stay a bit longer.

This. I’ve had a lot of great trips through Europe and my favorite parts are always when I take the time to just stay in one place for a while.

Olive Garden was exaggeration, I admit, but I have never been served anything in Italy which clearly dominated what I am regularly served in quality Italian restaurants in North America.

Agreed. I was also disappointed by the food in Italy. It was universally decent. I rarely/never had a bad meal but I was also rarely surprised or particularly impressed and my wife and I had several expensive meals at well-reviewed restaurants in Florence and Venice during our honeymoon. I do like Italian-style pizza quite a bit but I only had one pizza that really stood out as excellent (some place in Perugia) and generally the pizza I had in Italy didn’t seem any better than the Italian-style pizza I ate when I lived in Germany or Austria. The gelato is also great but the best gelato I ever had was in Germany as well (admittedly at a gelateria owned by two Italian brothers).

That said, Venice is still one of the most interesting cities in Europe and I recommend spending a week there if you can.

[Marged]

I do like Italian-style pizza quite a bit but I only had one pizza that really stood out as excellent

Did you go to Naples? If you didn’t, that’s why.

[Enduro_Man]

@StGabe

The gelato is also great but the best gelato I ever had was in Germany as well (admittedly at a gelateria owned by two Italian brothers).

Best gelato I ever had was in Salzburg’s Konditorei Furst, which is more famous for its Mozart balls (tee-hee). Best chocolate gelato, at least, which is what counts for me. The stuff they sell in Italy is consistently good, and I probably had a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of banana every day. Watch where you buy your gelato in Florence, where they charge > EUR 2 per tiny scoop in the areas most frequented by tourists.

My meals were generally very good in Italy, though I didn’t search for fancy dining. There were a couple of fantastic pizzas outside Florence and many excellent breakfasts at the B&Bs, but there were also a few bland pasta dishes, and one stomach-turning meal in Como. Tasted OK while I was eating it, though!