Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Centro Turistico Città di Bologna


Room

What a change, we went from the biggest room we had, to the smallest, yes, even smaller than Japan. There wasn't really enough room to do anything in this place, especially with our 2 huge suitcase. We were only here for 1 night so we didn't bother unpacking anything. Decor was very very simple of course, but the setting of the Tourist park is quite nice.

The beds were kinda small and short, the bed spread was not very attractive and the pillow was very flat. We could control the temperature differently for the room and the toilet though, so that was great.

Rating - 2.5

Facilities

Again, no kettle, but also no fridge, which was kinda bad 'cos we still had some cheese from Tuscany left - but then again - nobody seem to fridge their hard cheese in Italy, so we weren't too concerned. There was a shared laundry and an Internet terminal with a 10 minutes limit. It was enough so we could do some stuff. The shower had great water pressure though! This was a tourist park so I had very different expectations for its facilities, and what they offer more than met my expectations.

Staff were a bit colder, but they were efficient and effective, with very good English.

Rating - 3.5

Location

Not located in the centre of town, but a few minutes drive away. It's quieter, and there is a bus that connects to the town. It seems to be situated in the middle of a field. The setting is typical tourist park, but unlike before, there is no view.

Rating - 2.5

Value

This was only 44 Euros a night. Since we weren't there for that long and we only used the room for sleep, more than adequate.

Rating - 4.5

Snooze Points - 13

Info

Via Romita 12/4 °A
40127 Bologna
Phone +39 051 325016
Website

Castello Vicchiomaggio


Room

Wow! That's all I can say. From the moment we drove up the dirt track to the cast-iron gate we were blown away by the setting. Perched on a hill, with a huge balcony space overlooking the Tuscan hillside. Incidentally, there was a wedding taking place so the place was decked out with flowers.

We were shown our attic space, up 2 narrow flights of stairs. I thought this was going to be a little space, but it was huge. The main area contained a bed, a huge wardrobe, dining table, a couch and a buffet. There was a separate area for a kitchenette and another for the bathroom. For such a huge space it could be heated up pretty quickly. For an attic it had small windows you could open to look out to the surrounding hills. The view from the bathroom was great! The furnishing was country style wood and very tasteful.

The bed was huge and comfy, with extra pillows :). I think I had the best sleep so far here.

Rating - 5

Facilities

Again, there's a bit of beauty over function here. The kitchen had lots of good wine and coffee making facilities, but not much for cooking and preparing food. I guess you're only supposed to drink wine and eat already prepared food here, but actually whip up any Tuscan cuisine! The bathroom was in blue and white chic, with a bath tub and heated towel rack, but there was no screen (I guess that's not a good look) so when you have a shower you got water all over the floor. There was no internet or laundry but they did offer a cellar and wine room door as well as a Tuscan banquet on a night of the week.

This place is really a self-service apartment. Apart from the initial check in, you're on your own, which was great! The maid who showed us the apartment couldn't speak any English, but we got by by miming. All the staff were much more Italian friendly than the big tourist centres.

Rating - 3

Location

The good news? You're in your own wine estate, a castle set in hectares of vineyards. The atmosphere is absolutely surreal and beautiful. It's quiet and secluded, a hideaway. The price you pay? Even though this place is in Greve in Chianti, it's still about a 10 mins drive into the town centre. (BTW, Greve is a beautiful Tuscan town).Being in the upper part of Tuscany, it's quite far away from some of the must-visit towns. Conclusion, a good place to go if you want to relax and enjoy the surroundings, but if you want to explore Tuscany, base yourself at a more central location, as the roads are windy and it takes awhile to get to the next town.

Rating - 4

Value

I can't believe this was one of the cheaper places we stayed it, it was far and away the best place ever. We booked through Flight Centre (which I don't recommend at all btw), for 7 night stay, and 9 day car hire of a small manual car for $1291 Australian

Rating - 5

Snooze Points - 17

Info

via Vicchiomaggio, 4
50022 Greve in Chianti (FI)
Phone +39 055 854079
Website

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Japan Regional Specialties

Hakone Yumoto

  • black sulfur-fumed cooked egg
  • mochi cake - yellow outside with red bean

Hiroshima

  • okonomiyaki with noodles
  • maple leaf cake
  • okonomiyaki flavour Pretz

Kobe

  • sweets and lollies
  • chocolate

Kyoto

  • flat mochi sheet wrapped with green tea, red bean
  • red bean flavour Pocky

Nara

  • deer shaped mochi

Osaka

  • okonomiyaki
  • tataoki flavour Pretz

Tokyo

  • Ningyouaki = 'ank' sweet paste sauce made from red bean coated with light sponge cake
  • Tokyo banana
  • "Edo" flavour Pretz

Things you see everywhere in England

  • pubs
  • footy fans
  • Irish pubs
  • Japanese eateries
  • Marks & Spencer
  • people
  • Indian restaurants
  • green paddock with sheep, moo cows and horses
  • fields with yellow flowers
  • English gardens with flowers
  • red telephone and post box
  • double decker bus
  • rain
  • Topshop

Things you see everywhere in Italy

Venice

  • water
  • gondolas
  • tourists
  • graffiti
  • gelato and pizza
  • masks
  • bikes

Verona

  • designer shops
  • graffiti
  • gelato

Rome

  • crazy drivers
  • cars parked at any odd angle
  • gelato
  • wine bars
  • pizzeria
  • delis
  • beggars
  • old buildings
  • grand buildings
  • rubbish
  • tourists holding maps
  • police
  • ambulance
  • smart cars
  • sirens

Tuscany

  • green hills
  • wineries
  • churches on top of hills
  • old walled towns
  • ham, salami, chianti, Pecorinos

Emilia-Romagna

  • food stores
  • fairs
  • palaces
  • graffiti
  • designer shops
  • rain
  • ham
  • dog poo
  • music on the streets

Amalfi Coast

  • cliffs
  • water
  • lemons
  • limoncello
  • tourists
  • coloured houses
  • narrow roads
  • crazy drivers
  • chaos

Liguria

  • bread shop
  • focacceria
  • water, beach, coast
  • tunnels
  • tanned Italians
  • people swimming

Milan

  • designer shops
  • Leonardo da Vinci shrines
  • baby designer shops
  • Japanese tourists
  • trendy bars
  • more designer shops
  • designer pubs

Casa Susy


Room

This place is basically just an apartment block of about 12 flats. The owner stay in 1 flat, converting some of their rooms into the B&B. They also have another flat on the floor below, where each room has been fitted with its own ensuite. All the other facilities are shared.

Our room was pretty big, but it was filled with furniture, a big wardrobe, desk and another bed so there wasn't much room to move around. The best thing was probably the little balcony we had with views of the mountains in the distance which was beautiful. There was also a clothes line on the balcony which was handy. Everything was kinda homely and simple though, so no designer furnishing here. The bed was comfortable enough, but not the best. The pillow was very thin but at least there was an extra so I could prop myself up. The walls were really thin so you can hear next door, upstairs, downstairs, basically everything. Luckily we shard our apartment with only 2 other girls - there could be a maximum of 8 people sharing the flat.

Rating - 3.5

Facilities

The best thing about this place was the Internet and laptop that we were basically free to use as we liked. I got a LOT of catchup done. There was also a real big fridge which was great. We really were living in Suzy's house, so we could use her kitchen with all its utensils. So we got to boil our water ok. You could also get Suzy to do your laundry for the inflated price of 10 Euros.

We met Suzy and her brother Nicola who ran the place. They were pretty nice people and quite helpful, but I didn't feel they were interesting or genuine. I think they were seasoned pros so just put on a fake front. Their true colours came out when they tried to rip us off at the end. (See value entry below).

Rating - 3.5

Location

Relatively close to Sant 'Agnello station, a 10 minute walk down some narrow pathway. It was a good base for Sorrento and Pompeii, and also cheaper. The town itself is smaller and cheaper, with a more "authentic" Italian feel which I like. Just note that Sant 'Agnello is a small station so the trains and buses are not very frequent.

Rating - 3.5

Food

Befitting a small B&B, the breakfast was all "homemade". There was not very much choices available, but it was quite acceptable. We were served some yummy fresh bread every morning, with a selection of spreads you use out of communal big jars. The spreads weren't very interesting or good quality, but the bread was so good I could eat it plain.

I was most disappointed with the cheese they served. In a country renowned for their fantastic cheeses, which were all reasonably priced, we were served plastic wrapped 'singles' cheese which tasted like nothing at all.

We got stovetop-made cappuccino every morning, allbeit with cheap coffee, but we only got chocolate cakes and hazelnut biscuits on the first morning. We were always the first people at breakfast since we always headed off early, however, on the last day we came back later in the day (around 9.30) to pay the bill, and saw that other people had much BETTER breakfast items served to them, including an Easter cake.

Rating - 2.5

Value

Here is what I don't like about this place. What they advertised on the Internet and their promotional websites is definitely not what you get. The breakfast was described as very elaborate and half the items they promised was missing. They tried to rip us off when we paid the bill, trying to charge us an extra 10 Euros on top of the quoted 60 Euros a night. Luckily I kept all the documentation and was able to prove straightaway that that wasn't our agreed rate. They also said they accept credit card but it turned out they only accepted cash. It was only later, when we talked to the guy we met at the station who worked as a receptionist at a Sant 'Agnello hotel, that he told us we paid too much. If it wasn't for the lies this was quite an acceptable place to stay.

Rating - 1.5

Snooze Points - 14.5

Info

Via Cappuccini 36
Sant'Agnello di Sorrento
80065 Naples
Italy
Phone +39 3389424111
Website

Welcome Residences


Room

It's a case of style of substance. Everything was being renovated here so it was all new. The furnishing is of the Victorian period and very tasteful. The bed was quite spacious and comfortable, with nice doona and pillow that's not paper thin. It was warm enough in Rome to not need any sort of heating. However, the bathroom shower leaked and there weren't any hooks to hang up stuff. The drawers were beautiful antique like but required you to turn a key every time you want to open it, after awhile, it was just tedious.

Rating - 3.5

Facilities

They had a fridge, yeah! But again, no kettle or water. I am confused again, what is it with Italian hotels and inconsistency? The 1st day we were there we got soap and shampoo, after 2 days, they stopped giving us anything. A few days later we got razors. Sometimes they don't line the bins. Alas, no Internet (which we really could've done with) or laundry (also really needed!)

The level of service we received from the staff was also very inconsistent. There were 2 people there who were really nice, and went the extra mile to get you information and other stuff you need, for example they recommended great restaurants, laundry and supermarket for us, but at other times, totally useless. When I told them we had a leak in the shower, they promised it would be fixed the next day. Needless to say, it wasn't so I went to find out why. It turned out that the person we told didn't even bother writing down our problem or passing it on. We then got told it couldn't be fixed for a few days because of the Easter holidays and we'd just missed the last working day opportunity. They didn't offer to move us to another room, and when I complaint they gave us some towels we could put on the floor to absorb the water. This only happened once though, afterwards we couldn't be bothered going specifically to get towels all the time and gave up all hope of the shower ever getting fixed where we were there, and just lived with a damp floor.

Got the useless guy again when we checked out. Luckily we did it early as it took them ages to figure out what was going on.

Rating - 1

Location

It was close to Termini station and the Metro, which was good, but you get "bad" sorts here - homeless, beggars, gangs. It was also quite noisy with road noises. Because our house is next to a highway, the noise didn't really concern us, but if you're not used to it, you might not get a good night's sleep. They seem to do construction work at really odd hours.

Rating - 3.5

Food

They serve a buffet style breakfast every morning. The selection is not as good as all the other places we've been to, and we were staying for 7 days, so got sick of all the stuff by the end of it. What's strange is that the selection is pretty different on different days, as in some pastries and cakes are not available sometimes, sometimes there's no bread, sometimes none of a particular jam. I think it's more a matter of inconsistency rather than them changing it for variety.

The offering included cereals, tea, coffee, chocolates, apricot tarts, chocolate marble cake, bread, yoghurt. I really could have done with some fruit. Unfortunately, all the food were of the cheapo variety. They didn't have a real cappuccino machine, and the juice was sugary and cordial like. Also, they never refill the breakfast offering, so once it's gone, that's it. This didn't affect us as we always had an early breakfast so we could head off, but if you're a late sleeper, this could be a problem.

Rating - 2.5

Value

At 85 Euro a night, it was not as bad as the Venice place. There wasn't much cheap accom in Rome so it was passable. I hope the accommodation in the smaller towns will be better from now.

Rating - 3

Snooze Points - 13.5

Info

Via Amendola 7
Roma 00185
Italy
Phone +39 (0)6 48901248
Website

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Ramada Fiera Hotel


Room

Hoorah! The room was big, tastefully furnished and decorated. Everything was functional! The beds were extra wide and comfy, but the pillows were quite flat and there was no extra blanket.

Rating - 4

Facilities

The staff were very efficient and very entertaining. When I went to check out, the guy chatted to me about visiting Sydney and surfing at Bondi, as you would. The only gripe I had was that at breakfast we weren't offered cappuccino but everyone else dining there was. It did look like everyone else were regulars though.

They offered the usual facilities befitting a 4 star hotel:toiletries , gym (that I didn't have time to use), internet. They had some great tasting lollies at reception but no kettle either.

Rating - 4.5

Location

I think one reason it was cheaper was that you cannot reach the hotel without a car. To their advantage they have plenty of free parking and they are close to the Verona Fairground - where most of their business seem to stem from.

Rating - 3.5

Food

Absolutely wonderful, they put out a spread of cakes and pastries, breads, cereals and milk, fruits, yoghurts, cold cuts, cheese, eggs, potatoes, bacon. They even had a separate biodynamic section. And the coffee when we got it? Excellent.

Rating - 5

Value

At 80 Euros a night, including that fabulous buffet breakfast, a bargain!

Rating - 4.5

Snooze Points - 21.5

Info

Via Zannoni 26-8
Veneto,
Verona 37136
Italia
Phone +39 458204485
Website

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Things you see everywhere in Australia

Gold Coast

  • BWS (Beer, wine, spirit for the uninitiated)
  • beaches
  • surf shops
  • people in beach wear
  • Baskin Robbins
  • Thai restaurants

Things you see everywhere in Germany

Frankfurt

  • people smoking
  • graffiti
  • bikes
  • pretzel

Munich

  • beer hall
  • beer garden
  • beer
  • bread
  • pretzel

Romantic Road

  • yellow and green fields
  • beer
  • beer garden
  • castles
  • houses with huge roofs
  • Italian restaurants
  • cafes and bread shop
  • cobbled streets with horse-drawn carriage
  • churches and high towers
  • bikes

Things you see everywhere in Japan

  • people
  • Hondas
  • toilets
  • food places
  • convenience stores
  • cleaners
  • people bowing at you
  • Japanese tourists
  • American tourists holding guide books
  • carparks
  • bikes
  • Starbucks