The official travel thread

Closer to the book and actual history then?

BTW that part takes nothing away from what I think of F. Murray Abraham´s performance in that role. It´s his best alongside Antonio Salieri in my opinion!

I was purposely vague. I don’t want to spoil the plot :stuck_out_tongue:

Yes, another great performance, on the sneaky side!

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I just checked. Looks like it´ll only be on Sky Germany, which I don´t have. Meaning it might be years before I get to see it. oh well.

@Mario

Mestre is cheaper, but on the mainland. You’ll have to take a long train or boat ride any time you want to go on the island. I’d suggest to choose an humbler accomodation, but on the island. You’ll find many cheap b&bs around the train station.

Try “sarde en saor”* a typical venetian fish specialty. And don’t forget the classic “bacari” tour. A bacaro is a bar specialized in wine, spritz and typical tapas.

EDIT: * if I remember correctly, Mrs Annie Fox enjoyed sarde on our venetian dinner

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If only I could remember where I stayed with my parents in venice…31 years ago (what? :neutral_face: ).

Thank you all for the advice!

Another short trip into the mountains. Innsbruck, Austria this time.

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Must say I wasn’t expecting too much, but was very pleasantly surprised. Nice place, nice people and nice weather. And all of that just 3 hours from our doorstep :slight_smile:.

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Our time in Venice is coming to an end. We had good times here, and only one bad experience.

We managed to fall for a tourist trap and paid more than double for dinner than we expected, thanks to the salad being an extra dish and not a side one, the water being expensive and tax and cover charge we weren’t expecting. At least it tasted very good, but we were in a bad mood for several hours after receiving the bill and paying a lot of money (for our senses).

We saw Venice and the Biennale. It was wonderful. We walked about 30km in three days just on the island of Venice. :slight_smile:

Often it felt like a built set in a theme park. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Which restaurant? In which square/place?
It’s important to tell, to help avoiding that things like these will happen in the future.

Eheh, when David Fox and Annie Fox came last September, we walked very much, from morning to late evening. David was impressed by the “amazing maze” of the Venice alleys!

Glad that you visited the Chiesa di San Barnaba… Indy docet! :slight_smile:

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I don’t remember. :open_mouth:
It was next to a church I think. Not a campo, more like a street.
Which will help avoiding it is, to never trust anyone ever again! :stuck_out_tongue: Just kidding.

It was one of these outside of the restaurant standing, tourists luring into the web with kind words and free Spritz. Usually my spider sense tingles when people approach me, because of my trust issues. But this guy looked like a friendly uncle to us and he promised us the best Calamari fritti (at least that was true, but it were also the only one we had, so no comparison possible). We had lunch already (sorry, it wasn’t dinner), and only wanted to add the Calamari to our stomach.

So to avoid this in the future: look at the menu for the words “tax and table charge included” and don’t fall for friendly looking waiters outside the restaurant. Because they’re no waiters they’re sirens.

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We loved the Venice maze.
We hated the Venice maze.
No we loved it. We were amazed by the maze. :smiley:

I knew you’d immediately understand the picture. :smiley:

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Well, the “table charge” is common in italy, you can find it under the name of “COPERTO” in italian. It’s a sort of tip included in the menu. But every every expense MUST (by law) be written on the menu. Table charge included.

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I should have researched better. I only heard of table charge in Japan. But it explaines now, why we couldn’t pay the tip in other locations, they didn’t understand what we were trying to do. I feel even more stupid now, thanks @ZakPhoenixMcKracken :stuck_out_tongue:

But if I order “1 calamari fritti and nothing else” and the waiter answers with “ok. Do you want fries or a salad with it?” then I think it comes with the calamari in a set. No?

Eh, you are right, the waiter has not been clear.
In general, if they suggest you something, it’s intended to be paid. But the waiter, to avoid confusion, could add “for free”.

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Ow, that’s disappointing. After many scums I got abroad, now I trust only my guidebook.

Ooooooh, so you looked for it, mate! :wink:
My rule #1 when looking for food or drink is avoid as hell places where there’s somebody on the street trying to convince you to come inside.
Sorry about that. :unamused:

Yeah, that’s definitely malicious.

Exactly! I think we looked for it. Just two minutes earlier before this incident, we told ourselves how we would never fall for that, when we passed one restaurant after another with these kind of waiters. But they all looked suspicious, not like our friendly uncle.

So yes, I think we learned our lesson. :slight_smile:

Now we only have to survive until our flight home in a few hours. :open_mouth:

:joy:
How appropriate…

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… you fight like a cow.

(Sorry, it was stronger than me! :smiling_face:)

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Coming back on the disadventure of Mario…

Today’s news: 4 tourists in Rome, in the center of St. Peter square, had a lunch in mini-restaurant: 2 hamburgers, 2 cappuccini double, 1 american coffee double.
Grand Total = € 81.40
The four tourists were indignant, and published on the social media the receipt:
immagine

Far way too expensive, we all agree on this.
But.

  1. They have chosen all from the menu, and the prices were well written on it
  2. The hamburgers were 400 gr. (14 oz) of meat, each
  3. The 10% addition for the service was written in the menu, as well
  4. After reading prices on the menu, they were free to leave without eating
    … and the last, but not the least…
  5. if you drink cappuccino while eating hamburger, you deserve it! :nauseated_face:
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Hi!
I understand now. This is way too expensive! How can someone pay 8€ for a cappuccino? I thought one espresso at Campo San Marco‘s Café Florian with 6,50€ is expensive.

At the Biennale I had an espresso for 1€. So happy about it.