Vacation 2023

[CardsofSTL]

San Diego weather was pretty [expletive]. Just got into Kihei, Maui today and it is absolutely amazing.

Unusual to hear about San Diego but glad that Maui is living up to expectations...enjoy yourself!

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Just got booked for our first Euro trip in October, 4 nights in Rome and 3 nights in Venice. Any tips or must sees while we're there? My thinking is the general plan is to hit the big tourism spots in Rome and then spend more time just chilling in Venice.

[thrill]

Just got booked for our first Euro trip in October, 4 nights in Rome and 3 nights in Venice. Any tips or must sees while we're there? My thinking is the general plan is to hit the big tourism spots in Rome and then spend more time just chilling in Venice.

You going to any matches? Venezia would be awesome. Roma, too, but Venezia would be my top pick. Get one of those cool kits like a real tourist.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Just got booked for our first Euro trip in October, 4 nights in Rome and 3 nights in Venice. Any tips or must sees while we're there? My thinking is the general plan is to hit the big tourism spots in Rome and then spend more time just chilling in Venice.

You going to any matches? Venezia would be awesome. Roma, too, but Venezia would be my top pick. Get one of those cool kits like a real tourist.

We won't likely be in Venice for a matchday since the 3 nights there are Tue/Wed/Thur, but I am keeping an eye out for when the Serie A schedule gets released to see if one of the Roman clubs are at home since we'll be there over a weekend.

[G. Keenan]

Just got booked for our first Euro trip in October, 4 nights in Rome and 3 nights in Venice. Any tips or must sees while we're there? My thinking is the general plan is to hit the big tourism spots in Rome and then spend more time just chilling in Venice.

For Rome, buy tickets ASAP for the Colosseum/Forum and Vatican Museums. They can sell out quite far in advance and you definitely do not want to be standing in line for an hour day-of waiting to buy tickets on the spot. St. Peter's Basilica is free to enter but if you want to visit the Sistine Chapel and see the Vatican Museums you'll need tickets. Likewise for the Vatican Gardens and the necropolis underneath St. Peter's. If you're there on a Sunday the Pope will usually come out on his balcony and give an address to gathered crowds in St. Peter's Square at noon. This is free. Trastevere is a cool Rome neighborhood for bars, restaurants, nightlife, etc. Naples is just 1 hour away on the train so if you want to hop down to Naples for a day and go to Pompeii or just check out Naples, it's easy. Make sure you eat stuff with artichokes in it. Roman food is big on artichokes. And make sure you try some "olive all'ascolana" -- olives stuffed with meat, then breaded and fried. Very yummy.

Venice, just be patient and understand you will get lost 100 times trying to navigate its maze. Not having a rigid schedule is a good idea. If you haven't booked accommodations, staying on the Lido can save money vs. staying near St. Mark's Square, the Rialto Bridge, etc. You can take the Vaporetto (10 mins) between the Lido and the "city center" around St. Mark's. The Doge's Palace is pretty cool and worth visiting. Plenty of art museums to see but also a great city to just wander. Buy a bottle of wine and some sandwiches and find a quiet spot by a canal and just soak it in. Have an Aperol Spritz and some Cicchetti (Venetian tapas). Consider taking the Vaporetto to other islands in the Venice Lagoon like Murano and Burano which have their own vibe. Venice can get very crowded during the day with cruise shippers on shore excursions but at night it's like a ghost town. The big groups usually stay on their cruise ships or in the Mestre on the mainland and descend like locusts during the day, but night time is a whole different vibe. Be careful! Very easy to fall into the little canals at night.

[InvincibleCakeEater]

San Diego weather was pretty [expletive]. Just got into Kihei, Maui today and it is absolutely amazing.

Unusual to hear about San Diego but glad that Maui is living up to expectations...enjoy yourself!

From what I gathered from locals, 60’s and overcast is pretty common in May/June in SD.

Maui has been great and I haven’t even been here 24 hours. Found an awesome hole in the wall with cheaper prices than home. Randomly met one of the servers who is from Missouri and went to SMSU the same time I did and we have some mutual buddies.

Finishing breakfast on the deck now, then a few courage beers before I try to teach my 40 year old ass how to surf!

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Just got booked for our first Euro trip in October, 4 nights in Rome and 3 nights in Venice. Any tips or must sees while we're there? My thinking is the general plan is to hit the big tourism spots in Rome and then spend more time just chilling in Venice.

For Rome, buy tickets ASAP for the Colosseum/Forum and Vatican Museums. They can sell out quite far in advance and you definitely do not want to be standing in line for an hour day-of waiting to buy tickets on the spot. St. Peter's Basilica is free to enter but if you want to visit the Sistine Chapel and see the Vatican Museums you'll need tickets. Likewise for the Vatican Gardens and the necropolis underneath St. Peter's. If you're there on a Sunday the Pope will usually come out on his balcony and give an address to gathered crowds in St. Peter's Square at noon. This is free. Trastevere is a cool Rome neighborhood for bars, restaurants, nightlife, etc. Naples is just 1 hour away on the train so if you want to hop down to Naples for a day and go to Pompeii or just check out Naples, it's easy. Make sure you eat stuff with artichokes in it. Roman food is big on artichokes. And make sure you try some "olive all'ascolana" -- olives stuffed with meat, then breaded and fried. Very yummy.

Venice, just be patient and understand you will get lost 100 times trying to navigate its maze. Not having a rigid schedule is a good idea. If you haven't booked accommodations, staying on the Lido can save money vs. staying near St. Mark's Square, the Rialto Bridge, etc. You can take the Vaporetto (10 mins) between the Lido and the "city center" around St. Mark's. The Doge's Palace is pretty cool and worth visiting. Plenty of art museums to see but also a great city to just wander. Buy a bottle of wine and some sandwiches and find a quiet spot by a canal and just soak it in. Have an Aperol Spritz and some Cicchetti (Venetian tapas). Consider taking the Vaporetto to other islands in the Venice Lagoon like Murano and Burano which have their own vibe. Venice can get very crowded during the day with cruise shippers on shore excursions but at night it's like a ghost town. The big groups usually stay on their cruise ships or in the Mestre on the mainland and descend like locusts during the day, but night time is a whole different vibe. Be careful! Very easy to fall into the little canals at night.

Great stuff, thanks! I've seen a couple places now that the Colosseum/Forum and Vatican tickets are necessary to get well in advance. Hoping that being outside the main tourist season we have a little bit of time but I'll have to start looking into booking soon.

In Venice we're staying along the water on the southwest side, looks like it's about equidistant a walk from St. Mark's square and the main train station on the west side. We got a pretty sweet room for the Venice stop in particular(we splurged there since the accommodations are through a reward I got for hitting 10 years at my employer), so even if we don't spend 3 days walking every nook and cranny we can enjoy the view from the balcony and avoid being go go go for a week straight and exhausted upon return.

[CardsofSTL]

San Diego weather was pretty [expletive]. Just got into Kihei, Maui today and it is absolutely amazing.

Unusual to hear about San Diego but glad that Maui is living up to expectations...enjoy yourself!

From what I gathered from locals, 60’s and overcast is pretty common in May/June in SD.

Maui has been great and I haven’t even been here 24 hours. Found an awesome hole in the wall with cheaper prices than home. Randomly met one of the servers who is from Missouri and went to SMSU the same time I did and we have some mutual buddies.

Finishing breakfast on the deck now, then a few courage beers before I try to teach my 40 year old ass how to surf!

I always hear that SD has the most perfect weather but I guess I only hear about it during the better days of summer.

Drunken surfing sounds like an adventure worth having.

[go birds]

do you guys have a favorite all-inclusive resort ya'll visit or would recommend?

recently went to a place called Havan Riviera in cancun and it was amazing. i was talking to some dude there and he said out of all the all-inclusive resorts he's visited, he said this place was the best. all i could think about was how rich this guy was to be spending so much time at resorts and come to the conclusion that this place was the best.

anyway, it was great--the only complaint i had was the seaweed problem but i suppose i should have researched that beforehand. no biggie really though. I believe it's a seasonal thing.

Anyway, just looking to scope out other places.

[CardsofSTL]

do you guys have a favorite all-inclusive resort ya'll visit or would recommend?

recently went to a place called Havan Riviera in cancun and it was amazing. i was talking to some dude there and he said out of all the all-inclusive resorts he's visited, he said this place was the best. all i could think about was how rich this guy was to be spending so much time at resorts and come to the conclusion that this place was the best.

anyway, it was great--the only complaint i had was the seaweed problem but i suppose i should have researched that beforehand. no biggie really though. I believe it's a seasonal thing.

Anyway, just looking to scope out other places.

Depending on what you like there are a couple in the US that come to mind...I enjoyed Castle Hot Springs which is a little north of Phoenix. Alila Ventana Big Sur Cali was another nice experience.