Originally Posted by inthecrack

My Italian experience. The good and the bad?.

Rome: History perfume. There's really nowhere else you can see so much history packed into such a small space. Too bad it is completely choked in tourists. Expect to wait in line for hours to get into the colosseum. I'd really prefer to spend my vacation time in the worlds more far flung locations with literally no one around.

Naples: Undoubtedly one of the worst cities I've ever been to. Do a google image search for "Naples garbage" and you'll see why. Apparently there's no more landfill and it's all controlled by the mafia. Highway construction that seems to have stopped half done 15 years ago. Rude people.

Positano: Definitely worth a visit. Lots of character and great views from the hillside villas. The road to this town is awesome with white knuckle cliffside curves for miles.

Trains: What an awesome way to travel. Wish we had high speed trains in North America.

I seriously had the best food I've ever eaten in Italy. The Italians are the world's best chefs. However you gotta know where to go. We were just lucky to have awesome hosts in a private villa with an awesome cook. The restaurant experience was a different story. In Italy there seems to be no concept of competing for a customer, no clue about customer service and an attitude of "the customer is always wrong". Expect to get nickel and dimed for every little thing including water, ketchup, dinner rolls, and even an empty plate. You could say this about many places in Europe.

I'd like to see a travel show like Rudy Maxa, Rick Steves, etc. with a difference in that they tell you both the good AND the bad. Every place has it's pros and cons but they never tell you the negative stuff.