Trials
Well-known member
You're about 2 years late :|
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What's your plans (or dreams?) in retirement?
- Thread starter PrivatePilot
- Start date
Green Meenie
Well-known member
Many cheap laid back beach towns along the east coast of Brazil. Great food and cheap, always ice cold local beer (as low as $0.50 Cdn/can). Nice place to spend the winter. Not much English is spoke though. Didn't bother me. You can always get by with a smile and a fist full of reais (Brazil's currency)
Even some nice waterfront cafes up the Amazon river tributaries if you take a private boat.
Even some nice waterfront cafes up the Amazon river tributaries if you take a private boat.
bigpoppa
Well-known member
Time to learn some portuguese
Nice. Time your visit during a GP race. Misano is also in the area (Rossi's home turf), and you can storm the track after the race. And Tavullia is rocking during a race weekend!
We were there the last time Rossi won. Seems like a lifetime ago!
Northern Italy is a piston-head's paradise.
bigpoppa
Well-known member
Just checked, mattighofen is only like 150 km away from the italian border
I've never been to KTM HQ.
Come to think of it, I don't know of anyone who's visited.
Post a report.
I just checked, it's in Northern Austria. Quite far from Italy. It's closer to Munich, so if you're going to visit BMW Welt perhaps. But that's more of a car museum, the motorcycle factory is in Berlin. Both very cool.
Priller
Well-known member
I'll just leave this here:
Motorcycle rental in Italy. Rent BMW, Honda, Yamaha, Moto Guzzi and other motorcycles with us.
While I'd love to do the V4S, I'd probably chicken (and cheap) out and settle for the Supersport...
The roads between those places are some of the best in the world. Check out the squiggles on this map:
There's a reason so many motorcycle press launches happen there...
Emilia-Romagna has arguably the best food in Italy (I prefer Rome, but I'm biased), with prosciutto di Parma, tagliatelle al ragu (not spaghetti!), tortellini in brodo, truffles, balsamic vinegar, and some of the most flavourful produce anywhere. There's a joke in Italy that every Italian says the food from their home region in the best, but Emilia-Romagna is unanimously second.
We didn't visit the Ducati factory when we were in Bologna due to a lack of planning and bad luck, but I understand it's great. Should you make plans to visit, we stayed in this apartment, with a view on Piazza del Nettuno:
Vacation Rentals, Homes, Experiences & Places - Airbnb
Agro-tourism is huge in Northern Italy. The fad for locals to do is to book a weekend stay in a farm and just gorge yourself every meal on local produce and meats.
Priller
Well-known member
It was created as a government-funded program to help small producers stay viable, too. Losing small farms was a minor crisis in Italy as they take quality ingredients seriously, especially in the north, and have a distrust of factory farming. The agriturismo system has been a very successful way to inject a chunk of the (pre-2020) travel economy into these farms to help them compete and thrive.
We've tended to stay in urban areas, but a great trip would be to rent a small car or motorcycles and jump from one agriturismo to another from Lazio to Lombardy. Day trips to the cities (Florence, Siena, Bologna, Modena, Parma, Ravenna, Venice, Padova, Verona, etc.) would be easy...
I must be the only one not enamoured with Italy. Great food, some nice scenery, mostly nice people but I couldn’t get away from someone trying to rip me off nearly daily over multiple visits whether it was a cab driver or a shop salesperson or little pickpockets in Rome. Rome, Venice, Tuscany, Provençal coast...stayed in a castle in an olive grove in the hills in Tuscany. Nice but the poor experiences turned me off. Couldn’t wait to leave and will probably never go back.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I'm too old to worry about banana republic corruption, crime and tropical diseases. There are lots of economical places in the first world that are safer and more comfortable.add CostaRica to the nice list
My sentiments on Italy too. The world is full of places with nice people, great food and scenery, I'd prefer places with decent service and as little crime as possible.
I think I'd make a good American tourist -- gimme English language, clean rooms, good service and make sure everything is open on my schedule.
Wasn't even that....and none of the scammers got a cent off me, I even caught the pickpockets and made them give my gf's cash back.
It's the fact that it was done regularly and with a smile like I should just accept it. That really got to me.
I’ve been to some incredibly poor countries and not had that treatment so to be honest, I’d rather spend my hard earned cash there than in a place with that kind of under the surface attitude.
Costa Rica isn’t a banana republic by the way but it is becoming the 51st state which means it’s nearly off our list for retirement property. I really like Panama (a lot) and I’m trying to get the wife to consider Nicaragua as an outside bet.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Anywhere that grows bananas for Dole... Banana production in Panama - Wikipedia
You also have the tropical nuisances Malaria, Dengue, Zika, Chagas...
Probably the worst place I have been with respect to petty street crime was Marrakesh in the early 80s. People in my group lost watches, jewelry, earrings, belt buckles -- anything shiny was gone. Pickpockets took wallets, removed cash and somehow put the wallets back into out pockets. It was bad -- one of my friends had a tattoo stolen off his bicep.
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Those diseases are kind of isolated to small areas of Panama (some islands) and not in the places I regularly visit.
The US also produces bananas Banana production in the United States - Wikipedia
Hack
Well-known member
I've got just under three years to go... Not sure what exactly I'll do after I retire, but whatever it is it will not involve wearing a uniform and dealing with stupid people and their stupid boolshite.
It's been a good ride, but it's time for me to get out of the way and let the younger generation take over the sinking ship.
That said... I have:
It's been a good ride, but it's time for me to get out of the way and let the younger generation take over the sinking ship.
That said... I have:
Priller
Well-known member
Different strokes, etc. For me, if I never set foot on a beach again, I'd be perfectly happy. Bloody sand gets everywhere...
Tourist hotspots in Europe (Paris, Barcelona, Prague, Amsterdam, etc.) generally struggle with the stuff you describe. We've never had an issue, though. We follow Rick Steves' advice on moneybelts etc (met him in Rome, incidentally, and he was a total sweetheart, identical to his public persona), so are never stressed about watching our backs. Worst case, you lose a few spare Euros, no biggie. And cabbies in Rome are famously honest and reliable, assuming you stick to the licensed white ones.
One thing I found makes a huge difference, though, is not expecting a North American service culture. Wait staff, shop clerks, etc. treat their jobs as professions, but also have a lot of pride bordering on arrogance. If you treat them as an equal, you will get friendly help and a good chat. If you treat them as there simply to serve you, you will get rudeness and worse.
For anyone considering a visit, here's a couple tips (apologies for the length!)...
One example: it's considered extremely rude to walk into a shop, ignore the clerk, and then just ask directly about an item or price. The expectation is that you greet them politely when entering, and ask if it's okay to look around. Only then do you start perusing the wares.
Another example is in a restaurant (assuming you do the smart thing and avoid the crap near the attractions with multi-language picture menus), ask about their food. Ask what's fresh, what is typical for the region, and what they are most proud of or do best. Try to have a conversation, don't just place an order. In places that care about their food, you'll start a fun and playful back and forth with the wait staff that becomes much more about them wanting to show off their best and impress. You'll get the tastiest stuff, which is usually off menu. There's lots of unwritten rules around food in Italian culture, but showing that you care to try to follow them makes a world of difference.
And, obviously, as with anywhere, attempts to speak the language, no matter how poorly, establish an equal footing that helps any interaction. Always start in the local language, and then ask I'd they speak English. Assuming they will speak English to you suggests that despite being a visitor, you expect them to operate at your leisure. Even if you end up back in English, it's their choice, not yours, to be there.
A lot of the above applies in France and Spain, too...
Trials
Well-known member
Wow are they ever going to spot you as being a Canadian fast
We spent several vacations in Italy and could go back with NO problem. I found Rome and Venice very busy , loud and crazy crowds, and I don't do crowds well. However I could easily do another month in Tuscany, or Sicily or Amalfi in low season. I like the lifestyle, always treated well.
The Roma gypsies (pickpockets and thieves) are everywhere there are tourists in Europe now, its just part landscape.
F the tourist game has been around since the Crusades.
The Roma gypsies (pickpockets and thieves) are everywhere there are tourists in Europe now, its just part landscape.
F the tourist game has been around since the Crusades.
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