July 29, 2008

• Off season Spain is beautiful. I love southern Spain for the legacy of the Moors - Cordoba, Seville and Granada being the best known. Off season is approximately before July, and it will should be warm if you go after April. Or you could go to France - stay out of Paris (say somewhere like here) and see Chartres (World Heritage listed!) the Loire Valley, take a train to Versaille...
• woops - missed your August/September timetable. September should still be good for Spain minus tourists (I think...)
• A volcano.
• Hank, you do surprise me.
• Why, was that not what you were after? Fits all the criteria, if you go Mt Etna.
• OK hank. I ask for help, but instead we can sit around and tell you how clever you are.
• Tour Liverpool on a brand-new motorbike.
• This may be a non-starter, since warm Mediterranean weather can't be guaranteed, but Stockholm? Tons and tons of stuff to see and do, lots of totally awesome museums, delicious food (if you go in August you'll be in time for the crayfish festival), schnapps and vodka obviously, great design and architecture, and if you get tired of the city, head out into the archipelago. Other bonuses: not that many tourists, all locals speak better-than-perfect English, and you can usually find quite cheap flights.
• How far can you go if you lose the other one?
• All the way to your house, I should imagine. apologies for grumpiness above too. Mad at the world today
• If I had ten days in Europe I'd probably go to Greece or Italy and take in some old buildings. I know nothing about tourist seasons, of course, but I've heard Florence is lovely any time of year.
• I love Crete, myself - Chania or Rethimnon. Nice beaches, Knossos and all that, relaxed Greek restaurants. Or if you're a bit of a poseur, Ag Nic to the east. Not Heraklion. Or Sicily? Perhaps Taormina? You could do Syracuse, eat pasta alla Norma with caciocavallo in Catania (a much nicer city than the guidebooks say), and, um, visit Mt. Etna too. Or you could go to Cefalu further West? Agrigento, with the best set of Greek temples anywhere, Palermo for its baroque puppet shows, a wander round the Kalsa; the amazing mosaics of Monreale?
• I'd reconsider Barcelona, it's a really great town with a ready mix of beach and cultcha. Sagrada Familia is the singlemost amazing building I've ever visited. Also, the mountains are close enough to visit with a short train trip if you want to get out walking in some fresher air. I'd also recommend Sicily - some good touristy things to do, plus decent beaches and very high probability of good weather.
• What about Malta? Sun, sea, completely bad-ass Caravaggio self-portrait as St. John being beheaded..? Not to mention that they turned the Sweethaven set from Popeye into this tourist trap. Mind you, I suggested that Quid go there when he went with his lady friend, and then he left MoFi and never talked to any of us again, so -- dunno.
• If you fancy Greek islands, Cephallonia is pretty good too: some really jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery in the north. Capt. Corelli's mandolin has left surpringly few touristy traces. No ancient ruins because of a history of earthquakes, but you can do a boat trip to Ithaca.
• Portugal is good. I like the Algarve myself, but if you fancy something less package-toury, you could go to Figuera da Foz up North, where nearly everyone will be Portuguese. Perhaps stay in a couple of pousadas if the budget's up to it - they're often in spectacular historic buildings like at Obidos or Guimaraes. If you went to Obidos ('the wedding city') an unspoiled old walled town, you'd want to see Batalha, where a huge cathedral built in a mixture of Manueline and English Perpendicular styles commemorates the historic defeat of the Spanish with assistance from John of Gaunt and his lads.
• I'll be in the S of Fr myself, right by the border, within striking distance of Barcelona.
• Pleg - I just saw a short documentary on the pupi show in Palermo! Absolutely gorgeous. Maybe in my next life I'll have a bigger travel budget.
• These are all great. Thanks!
• If you decide on Sicily, try to pick up a copy of this book to read. It's fab.
• Hmmmm, sounds like you're not too particular on WHERE you go ('cause there's something new and interesting everywhere,) but what you might get enthused about is WHAT to do. Me, I'd do Greece, but if Spain originally piqued your interest, maybe you should follow your curiosity bump there. You can do most of the following there, also. Actually, since it's your bodily part, I don't see why you can't have a motorbike, but maybe second best would be touring someplace on a motorbike. Pick a spot with a bike rental and get out and do'er. How about some time aboard a fishing boat in Crete? Or just take a sail to all the little ports? You could either do it as a day trip or multi-day. There is night clubbing, backpacking, scuba diving, balloon rides, helicopter rides, caving (see Perama cave) wine tasting, birding, bar hopping and windsurfing. You can swim in the geothermal waters of crater in a live volcano in the harbor of Santorini. Me, I'd probably hire a horse for a couple days and go to some out of the way place. And don't forget eating. Eating. Eating. And Eating. What cuisine turns you on? Oh heck, take a cooking class in the country of your choice. Does any of the above sound interesting? (Basque country?)
• I've heard Florence is lovely any time of year Having lived there for five years, I'd actually say that Aug-Sept is probably not an ideal time to visit Florence. The tourist rush at that time of year is insane; it can be avoided, by simply not going to any of the main attractions, and the quiet back-streets are very lovely and quiet and back-street-like, but the main drags will be totally heaving. If you want to go to museums and stuff, and not stand in line for hours and have a fighting chance of appreciating the art without a sea of heads in front of you, I'd suggest late autumn/winter. Also, bear in mind that all of Italy basically shuts down for the month of August, and that some places still won't be open early September. That said, if Florence does float your boat - and there are loads of lovely cafes and restaurants and markets and drives into the countryside and suchlike - drop me an email and I can tell you all the nice places to go that won't be full of the madding crowds. Ditto Stockholm, as mentioned above.
• I think Stockholm sounds pretty nice, myself. And if you want warm, they still have, like, saunas. Saunas with Swedish women in them. You could show them your scar. That said, Air Transat has Heathrow-Toronto flights for $49 bucks each way. But -- it's Air Transat. And it's Toronto. Go for Ikealand instead.
• Also, if you reconsider Barcelona, I thoroughly recommend this guide book (full disclosure: edited by a mate of mine), which has lots of excellent off-the-beaten-track suggestions.
• Go to Florence. Go to Hemingway's (Boing Boing link, for those boycotting it). Drink chocolate. Lots of chocolate with rum even. There's no need to go anywhere else. *is only half-joking*
• How about the south of France? Don't people always go there? My vague understanding is that it is filled with golden light and charming rustic people proffering crusty loaves of hearty bread. Okay, I have no idea. I just wanted to say, sorry about the testicle!
• Greek islands are beautiful, Santorini is truly perfect for couples. Great food, wine, even a volcano! Acquaintances have spent time in Xylocastro and Katerini and from what their shots show, they're beautiful places. Spain... a cheap flight to Canary Islands? Tourist place 100% but off-season it's bearable. If you like trekking, wandering around forests and lakes, it's good. I'm going to Seville for holiday on second week of sept. Impressive architecture, or so I'm told.
• Barcelona, as someone once said, is Spain with training wheels. Beautiful place, great food, rebuilt for the olympics with tourists in mind. And you're only about a hundred kilometers from Spain. It's ok but there's better. Maybe consider Spain's Atlantic coast? You could get to Santander on the overnight boat from Plymouth. Rent a car or just rely on the inexpensive and ultra-reliable (seriously) bus system to travel between San Sebastian in the east to Santiago in the west. Take a detour up the Picos de Europa for some cheese and cider. Visit that fancy-schmantsy new museum in Bilbao. The scenery borders on the otherworldly in parts -- cliffs and caves hanging hundreds of feet above the sea, mountains, monasteries and castles clinging to hillsides. Plus it is very, very hard not to have at least three or four of the best meals of your life in a week of touristing up there.
• How about airport roulette? Go down to where the planes are with some kinda spinning thingy like a bottle or a compass or a lawnmower (just the part that spins). Then spin it and see where it points to, see? Then go through that gate. Oh wait, remember to attach like an arrow thingy so when it stops spinning you know the answer rather than trying it over and over.
• Cheers everyone. Lots of great ideas here. I'll send you all a postcard!