Italy Strut

funkyexamplefunkyexample 915 Posts
edited May 2010 in Strut Central
Hitting up Italy for 10 days with my mom. Hitting Rome, Tuscany, Milan and Florence. I will definitely be hitting the traditional tourist spots. Eating like a true king. I imagine a lot of you have been out there. What are the go-to spots. What is skippable???Any strutters out there? I would love to jump on a night and play a set while I am out there, if not at least check out a good dj oriented night.Anyone with insight, please holler back...-tate

  Comments


  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    in florence eat at La Giostra. reaaal good spot. at least it was ten years ago when i was there.
    if struttos dont chime in i will find out spots to eat in Rome and tuscany for you. where in tuscany you going to? i usually eating with fam so i dont know spots off the top

  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    I'll consult with the wife. We honeymooned there but she travels often for business. If you're looking for a little getaway in Tuscany I highly recommend www.la-bandita.com

    I've got some good restaurant tips just have to jog the old memory.

  • ennuiennui 111 Posts
    Try to make it to Cinque Terre for a day. Absolutely beautiful.

  • JimBeamJimBeam Seattle. 2,012 Posts
    just got back from milan and venice a few weeks ago.

    in milan, there's a few restaurants around a pedestrian only street (corso como) that are pretty good, especially for the prices. i didn't go out of control on food spots in milan, but there is a bar in that neighborhood that has appertivo every night which was great, it's called Movida. Be prepared for a lot of Lady Gaga in every establishment.
    restaurants: a place on the corner of via carlo de cristoforis and corso como that was pretty good-- get the seafood/calamari appetizer. another place around there is osteria del gamberro rosso which had a great fried seafood appetizer and a cuddlefish cooked in its own ink pasta that was insane. get Bruschetta with lunches. the tomatoes, olive oil and basil over there are incredible.
    i like seafood.

    definitely hit:
    last supper, duomo and duomo roof, galleria is cool but pricey, la scala is eh. i took one of those cheesy bus/walk tourist tours for a few hours, and it had guaranteed tix to the last supper at the end. the tour actually turned out pretty cool-- the guide talked a lot about the infrastructure and development of the city of milan, adding a bit of relevance to all of the stuff we were seeing. PM if you would like details on that.

  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    Try to make it to Cinque Terre for a day. Absolutely beautiful.

    ^^^^^^^^
    this

    there is a badass little seafood spot in Vernaza...I wish I could remember the name, all I remember is it had a yellow door (like that helps) but yeah, views you'll rememeber for the rest of your life

    Ya gotta go see the statue of Dave at the Accademia.

    Drink lots of wine and grappa...so good.

    Cosine on the Duomo, and go to the top so you can see the giant paintings of demons sodomizing folks...

  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    My wife and I tried to put our heads together this morning and came up with a few food recs.

    Florence: Da Camilo, Il Latini both heavily cosigned by my wife who travels here for business several times a year. She doesn't ever go without at least one meal at Da Camilo.


    Rome: Macaroni, Pizzeria Remo, Antico Forno

    Macaroni is in the heart of town nearby the Pantheon. Young, hip energy which we appreciated and the food was on smash. We ended up at a wonderful bar nearby that played rare groove, disco and house. They comped us a couple drinks too. I'll see if I can dig up its identity, the name escapes me at the moment. It was a fashionable spot to be sure and the eye candy (both male and female) was out of hand.

    Remo is supposed the best traditional pizzeria in Rome, we were impressed and would return. You can sit outdoors which is nice if the weather permits.

    I can't recommend Forno enough. The ones I know of are in Campo De Fiori, and one opposite the Trevi fountain. When I first went to Italy at 14, I had pizza at the latter and it changed my life. I went back on my honeymoon and it was exactly the same as I remembered. In both locations. If you want to sit down, Remo is the move, but if you want that fold-up OG shit, Forno is mana from heaven. I could eat that shit for the rest of my life.

    Sienna: Antica Osteria Da Vivo (hard to find but worth it, in a cavernous room underneath the famous duomo... you have to walk all the way down those perilous steps and around some nondescript bends and alleys. GREAT food, though.)

    The big Tuscan winemaking towns - Montalcino and Montepulciano - have tons of wineries, often with restaurants attached, that are excellent. We toured and dined at Poggio Antico, and bought excellent wine. The dining was a little formal but one of the best meals I've had anywhere. But you can't really go wrong messing around with the brunellos up around there no matter which vineyard.

  • I;m gonna be there in september and am interested in any record spots peeps know of around Rome and Florence. cheers

  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    no records. don't even waste your time

  • really? i got some good shit in florence back in 2002.

  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Perhaps in Florence. Records are about the furthest thing from my mind when I'm traveling in places like that. I guess it depends what the situation is like back home. I would rather do a million things in Italy than look for records, but that's just me.

  • good for you homie. i would probably feel the same way if i worked in a record store.

  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    This feeling predates my record store. Records are available all the time. Italy is only available when I'm there.

    I also have to cope with spending US dollars, which makes pretty much everything in Europe that much more unaffordable... I took a cursory look at some records in Rome and it was a joke.

    That being said a few cats on here have given some info on Roman flea markets... there was a thread on this recently I think. Search for it.

  • Search is currently busted. "Maximum date range is ."

  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Ah. Roisto I think... PM him for info maybe.

  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    Records in Florence...We had one day of downpouring rain(even hail!) so my girl went out shopping for her stuff and I went record shopping since it was either that or sit around the apartment...I found this one spot on a street behind the duomo...it wasnt a record shop but kind of a 60s memorbilia shop, there were guitars, old mod themed books and magazines, a Francoise Hardy poster, etc in the window. I went in and asked about records, so he took me into this one room that was nothing but cabinets full of euro pic sleeve 45s from the 60s and 70s, I suppose there were upwards of 50,000 45s in there. I dropped a few hundred euro in a couple hours, lots of great stuff in there, including lots of raers (I got some killer Italian freakbeat/psych 45s that I still havent been able to google). I dont know if the spot is still there, but just look for the shop with a bunch of "mod" shit in the window...There is also a record store by the science museum (which is cool, has some of Galileo's instruments) that is alright, but I did scoop some cool stuff from their Euro-bin(Duke of Burlington, "cosmic Sea" pic sleeve, Don Alfio 45), but not worth more than a quick look at their cheapies as the rest of the records were way over priced.

    (We were in Florence for 2 weeks, so if you are just going to be in one city for a couple/few days, there is too much cool stuff to see to waste your time looking for records)

  • HollafameHollafame 844 Posts
    If you're in Rome on a Sunday morning, hit up Trattoria Der Pallaro.

    Trust.

  • vinegarvinegar 56 Posts
    There is a cool record shop named Data record http://www.superecords.com/shops.php
    it's close to the office gallery, in the center of the city, so you should definitively check it. A lot of cool stuff, especialy psych, jazz.
    If you are after italian prog you should find some cool records.
    But most records ain't cheap in Italy and often over priced. As this store is not far from the Science Museum, it may be the one Hook up is talkin about.

    For the cultural aspect, i recommand you strongly to go to the top of the Duomo (amazing view on Florence and the toscane campain), to visit the Boboli Garden, the office gallery (take your tickets on the internet to avoid a 3 h queue) and the Sagrestia Nuova where are buried the medicis family.
    The natural history museum is great too, with a collection of wax model used by medecine student in the past wich is really impressive.

  • ToccuDomuToccuDomu 225 Posts
    FunkyExample, you didn't ask... but in case you decide to go

    Try to make it to Cinque Terre for a day. Absolutely beautiful.

    Here are a few places to eat in Cinque Terre:

    Tratorria dal Billy @ via Rollandi 122 in Manarola has stellar views and outstanding food. Squid Ink frutti di mare and a bottle of Burasca is the look.

    Cappun Maggru @ 19 Via Volastra, in Volastra (up the hill from Manarola.) Reservations recommended, I think there are only 6 tables.

    Also in Volastra: One of the best views of the Cinque Terre is from the rooms at Hotel Luna di Marzo - Via Montello, 387

    Ristorante Ripa del Sole @ Via de Gasperi 282 in Riomaggiore. These guys catered my wedding. Damn fine food.

    Enoteca Ciak @ Via Roma 4 in Monterosso is the joint for seafood, if you aren?t going to Billy?s in Manarola. Or, even if you are, I suppose.

    Also, the owner of La Cambusa pizzeria in Manarola is a great DJ and soulstrut lurker (Hi M***a.)

    there is a badass little seafood spot in Vernaza...I wish I could remember the name, all I remember is it had a yellow door (like that helps) but yeah, views you'll rememeber for the rest of your life.

    Hookup, was this place called Belle Forte or something similar? Located just beneath the old tower, with views looking out over harbor?

  • WOW- I wasn't ready for all this. I just got hella geeked and it is really to start to set in. I really have never done this level of traveling to a foreign city, so I am trying to fully wrap my head around it. I am headed out there with my mother, so it we are trying to do it up right. She lived out there in the 70s and wants to show me the old stomping grounds haha.

    Full report when I get back, but if anyone else has recommendations, please drop them on me.

  • ElectrodeElectrode Los Angeles 3,130 Posts
    Lucky dude!

  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    when are you going?
    im going to be out there in mid-late july
    my town is having a medieval festival, which is basicaly geting back to its roots

  • Headed out there Sunday May 9th to May 19th. Coming up soon!

  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    WOW- I wasn't ready for all this. I just got hella geeked and it is really to start to set in. I really have never done this level of traveling to a foreign city, so I am trying to fully wrap my head around it. I am headed out there with my mother, so it we are trying to do it up right. She lived out there in the 70s and wants to show me the old stomping grounds haha.

    Full report when I get back, but if anyone else has recommendations, please drop them on me.

    Oh man that sounds awesome.

    I love Italy... would go there more if I could afford to. Wife gets out there every couple months and I am mad jealous.

  • MoSSMoSS 458 Posts
    The Milan show is next week. Good show if you have pieces to trade or sell.

  • vinegarvinegar 56 Posts
    Moss could you give me more info on this Milan show (location, exact date, website...)?

  • MoSSMoSS 458 Posts
    Moss could you give me more info on this Milan show (location, exact date, website...)?

    It's the 14th, 15th, 16th. I think it starts around 1:00 on the 14th. It's near the Milan airport. I don't know Italy well, I just know where the show is compared to the hotel. lol. I will try to get a better idea of where it's located for you. It's a bit pricey, but it's a very good show as many of the bigger Utrecth dealers go there also. Worth hitting for sure.

  • MoSSMoSS 458 Posts
    It's at the Novegro Exhibition Park. That's where the trade centre is.
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