Woo-hoo!!! My wife turns 40 on March 10th, 2004, so to celebrate we're going to Italy. I bought airfare to Milan. We get there on March 5th, and come home on the 15th. So that means we'll be there for two soccer days - 3-7-04 and 3-14-04. We're probably going to stay somewhere in Liguria, leaning towards Cinque Terre, or maybe Santa Margherita/Rapallo, San Remo, or somewhere closer to Genova. On March 7th, Inter travels to Rome to play in the Olympic Stadium. I think we might drive down there for that one if we can get tickets. Alternatively, Milan is hosting Sampdoria that day. The following week, Juventus is at home hosting AC Milan, and Inter is at home hosting Chievo.
Don't forget that the Champions League Round of 16 2nd legs will be played on March 9th and 10th. And I have a sneeky suspiscion there will be some Italian clubs still alive in the competition
Cool!!! What a great way for my wife to celebrate her birthday on the 10th. I can't wait to get to the Peimonte and visit some of the vineyards where my favorite wines come from.
Good for you, Mike. Have a great time. My advice however, would be to avoid driving all the way to Rome just for a ball game -- unless, of course, you want to hang in Rome, too. Up north on March 7, you've got Bologna-Lazio, which would be a great game to watch. Plus Bologna's gorgeous. Or you could check out Modena-Parma. It's always fun, I find, seeing a game in the smaller cities. The atmosphere can be really special. Then of course on 3/14 you've got Juve-Milan. Do all in your power to make that one, but be careful of walking into the Delle Alpi with anything looking like Red and Black on!
Does Torino still play in Delle Alpi even though they're in Serie B this season? It would be fun to go see them.
Yes, Delle Alpi is home stadium of the two Turin teams (as in every other italian city that hosts two teams). Byez!
Well, it looks like Torino is at home on March 7th, at least if I'm reading this post correctly: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=1415488#post1415488 I assume that they're the away team in Pescara on October 12th, and the home team in Delle Apli against Pescara on March 7th. Is that right?
We went to the Cinque Terre as one of the stops on our honeymoon! What a wonderful day that was. We were staying in a hotel in Sestre Levante, got there the night Juventus beat Borussia Dortmund in the CL opener in 1995. We got great takeout and watched the game in our hotel room. Del Piero was amazing. The next day, we took the train to the last (southernmost) of the 5 villages and started hiking back. We didn't quite make it to all five towns, partly because the trail from the first to the second village was closed and we had to improvise, scrambling up the steep hillside to the nearest road and back down through the terraced vineyards. I remember seeing a soccer field far below the road in what must've been the only flat piece of ground for miles. And in the middle of the hike, I was amazed to find the cleanest public restroom I encountered in our entire 3-week visit! The things you remember .... ... have fun. And yes, I think you're interpreting the Torino schedule correctly.
We're going to stay in Vernazza, one of the "five lands." http://www.rentvillas.com/PropertyDetail.aspx?CatalogId=1958
Yes it's true. Here in Modena we have more than 13000 season tickets holders and the 21000 seats stadium is often pretty packed. For the last derby against Bologna, there were about 19k people and a great atmosphere all yellow and blue. With Parma is a derby too, so you can expect another great soccer experience!
Mike if you want to look at le cinque terre form the satelite http://www.atlanteitaliano.it A little plugin and you will be able to see whole Italy with good definition. You must choose -> cartografia -> "ortophoto" The english version is not yet available but it is under construction. I suggest you and the others interested to put the link in the prefs. At least you'll be able to see Sardinia as if you were flying over it.
Awesome! Have a nice trip, and a happy birthday to your wife! Don't plan too much. Turin (Torino) is over 2 hours from Milan. In train, and in car. Rome is pretty, and depends on what you want to see. .. do you speak any Italian (or Spanish, or Portuguese)? If you do, you may find it easier to explore the country more. Your first time there? I am partly (worst parts, eh..) from there, and I love South. Naples is really awesome, and so is Palermo .. and Matera etc. South is an other country. If your wife is into shopping etc she'll love North .. but I'm sure South is worth visiting too. Tell what else do you like and would want to enjoy most (apart from calcio ... = football ) .. food, wine, shopping, cultural events, watching people, ..? I could suggest you some places to see (though I live now in US). Also, learning some words in Italian, even the basics such as grazie (thank you), scusi (excuse me), per favore (please) and so on will help you a lot (they'll show you want to learn something from the country) .. and don't let the Italian guys tell your wife "ti amo", you should be the one saying that. .. send me a message if you'll feel like asking for anything, such as what to see, where to stay etc.
Classic Italian Moments I was walking by the Cathedral in Florence (in Indian file) when a car stopped, stopping traffic and an ambulance!, the guy rolled down his window and said to me: "you have the most beautiful face I've ever seen, please thank your parents." It would have been great had I had the nerve to get into his car! I'm sure he would have had a heart attack.
Mike, I just found out that my family tree goes back to Piemonte. What wines are these? How much are they? What is the closest lowest division club in the area? I may need some presents (I'll send you money) if you have a chance.
Some of the best Italian wines are from the Piedmont. I live Barolo and Barbaresco, but they're usually pretty expensive - at least $34-40/bottle. They're made from the nebbiolo grape. Also, Barbera d'Asti, Barbera d'Alba and Dolcetto D'Alba are quite nice. All are red wines. For whites, I like Gavi a lot. And Arneis is quite good as well. Moscato d'Asti is a very good sparkling white dessert wine. And Asti Spumanti is another sparkling white that a lot of people drink as an alternative to champagne. For soccer teams, well Torino is the capital of Piedmont, and they have two pretty famous teams - Torino and their inter-city rivals Juventus. Right now Torino is in Serie B, but when they get promoted to Serie A and play against Juve, it's one of the fierecst derbies in Europe. Liguria, where we're going, has teams as well - Sampdoria and Genova are both in Genoa, and Livorno is in, well, Livorno.
So I guess Torino would be the lowest of the lower division clubs. Certainly they have to have some Serie C teams in that area. Cool stuff on the wine. Have a great trip.
Actually, we'll probably go see Torino play when we're there. Livorno is also Serie B, I think. I'd love to find a clickable map of all the Italian soccer teams, Serie A through Serie D. And of course I meant I "love" Barolo and Barbaresco, not I "live" Barolo and Barbaresco.