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In what aspect of life are you best a cheapskate (aka summoning your inner Dave Ramsey thread)?
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F.O. Row Peter Puffer, you left...
I had no idea that Palio existed until we got to Siena and found out that we were going to miss it by two days. The whole town was busy setting up for it, Il Campo was cleared out, etc. Left a $200 pair of sunglasses in the Duomo there...creepycoug said:
Loved Siena. We had a great dinner there and showed up during one of the post-Palio parade celebrations by the winning neighborhood. The owner of the property we rented lived in an apartment in Siena - they were the Dolphin people. Anyway, she hooked us up all over Tuscany with you name it. She's great and we still exchange Christmas cards. I don't want that relationship to wither because I will be calling on her again.1to392831weretaken said:
My daughter's name is Siena. One of our favorite spots on our honeymoon trip (my only trip over the ocean). If you haven't been, though, do yourself a favor and check out Lucca. By FAR my favorite stop on that whole trip, and that came very unexpectedly. B&B with four poster bed, separate tub and shower, amazing breakfast, and nice central location for like $100 per night. Food was great, wasn't so touristy, town is really amazing.creepycoug said:
What are your travel plans Lebam? Site seeing around the country? We'd like to do that. We are also planning to just check out and spend a year in Europe. It's actually a lot more doable than one would think if you manage your lodging the right way. Last time we were there, we stayed at a little villa in one of the less famous hill towns in Tuscany for like $700 / week. I spent about that much for two nights in Rome. We were central to everything, including Sienna, and Florence. In Paris, same thing. Rented an apartment. It wasn't cheap ... nothing in Paris is ... but it was a helluva lot cheaper than a hotel, and it allowed us to cook a lot, which really saves on $$.LebamDawg said:All of the above?
Soon to be liquidating to see how poor I really am. The mrs. is set on a luxury travel abode that will serve as a home for a bit. I would go it cheaper...
Which leads to something that later on, when things open up, could be a really good and useful thread: knowing the property owner. Like many property owners of more than one property, ours was an aristocrat-like woman whose family owned a bunch of shit. She's originally from Rome. The property we stayed at is listed on all those middle-men sites under different names. I got it because a work colleague had stayed and had her e-mail address. The cheapest it goes for on any site I found was more than double what I paid, such is the commission for booking it. So at some point, those of us who like traveling there should exchange property owner names of places we've stayed that we liked because the property owner does not give a shit and if there is a personal connection you are in. Or pay double. Same with the apartment in Paris. I got that one through that Seattle agency, where the woman who is a Parisian just knows her shit and runs a booking business and knows all the people who own these many and varied properties in the city. I recommend her. Forget the name but will post it. But now, I know the old couple who owns the one we stayed at in the Marais and we agreed I'd go straight to them next time, which I will do because the apartment was a home fucking run.
It's not gonna work everywhere. At some point, you'll pay retail. But fuck, if you can nail down some 100% no disappointment properties for significant discounts and deal with the owner directly, why wouldn't you?
I have heard that about Lucca and it is def. on the next itinerary.
Lucca was a surprise. We only stayed there because it was the home base of Ducati Tours. I had reserved a rental bike, and the plan was to stay the nights in Lucca and spend the days riding around Tuscany. When we got there, though, we found that three of their bikes had been impounded because a tour group did an illegal U-turn and their fourth bike had just been wrecked. They had no bike to give us, refunded our money, and it was like, "Well... guess we're stuck in Lucca for three days."
Ended up being great luck. So great, in fact, that my daughter would have a different name if the B&B at Siena, our next stop, were willing to cancel our reservation so we could stay in Lucca longer. Which ended up working out.
We landed in Nice and flew out of Venice. If I had to rank the places we stayed from best to worst, it would go:
1.) Lucca
2a.) Siena
2b.) Nice
4.) Cinque Terra (Riomaggiore, specifically)
...
...
...
81.) Venice
The middle three are close. Decent amount of distance between those three and the bookends. -
F.O. Row Peter Puffer, you left...
Tell me about Venice. What didn’t you like besides the smell and expense? I haven’t been but want to go.1to392831weretaken said:
I had no idea that Palio existed until we got to Siena and found out that we were going to miss it by two days. The whole town was busy setting up for it, Il Campo was cleared out, etc. Left a $200 pair of sunglasses in the Duomo there...creepycoug said:
Loved Siena. We had a great dinner there and showed up during one of the post-Palio parade celebrations by the winning neighborhood. The owner of the property we rented lived in an apartment in Siena - they were the Dolphin people. Anyway, she hooked us up all over Tuscany with you name it. She's great and we still exchange Christmas cards. I don't want that relationship to wither because I will be calling on her again.1to392831weretaken said:
My daughter's name is Siena. One of our favorite spots on our honeymoon trip (my only trip over the ocean). If you haven't been, though, do yourself a favor and check out Lucca. By FAR my favorite stop on that whole trip, and that came very unexpectedly. B&B with four poster bed, separate tub and shower, amazing breakfast, and nice central location for like $100 per night. Food was great, wasn't so touristy, town is really amazing.creepycoug said:
What are your travel plans Lebam? Site seeing around the country? We'd like to do that. We are also planning to just check out and spend a year in Europe. It's actually a lot more doable than one would think if you manage your lodging the right way. Last time we were there, we stayed at a little villa in one of the less famous hill towns in Tuscany for like $700 / week. I spent about that much for two nights in Rome. We were central to everything, including Sienna, and Florence. In Paris, same thing. Rented an apartment. It wasn't cheap ... nothing in Paris is ... but it was a helluva lot cheaper than a hotel, and it allowed us to cook a lot, which really saves on $$.LebamDawg said:All of the above?
Soon to be liquidating to see how poor I really am. The mrs. is set on a luxury travel abode that will serve as a home for a bit. I would go it cheaper...
Which leads to something that later on, when things open up, could be a really good and useful thread: knowing the property owner. Like many property owners of more than one property, ours was an aristocrat-like woman whose family owned a bunch of shit. She's originally from Rome. The property we stayed at is listed on all those middle-men sites under different names. I got it because a work colleague had stayed and had her e-mail address. The cheapest it goes for on any site I found was more than double what I paid, such is the commission for booking it. So at some point, those of us who like traveling there should exchange property owner names of places we've stayed that we liked because the property owner does not give a shit and if there is a personal connection you are in. Or pay double. Same with the apartment in Paris. I got that one through that Seattle agency, where the woman who is a Parisian just knows her shit and runs a booking business and knows all the people who own these many and varied properties in the city. I recommend her. Forget the name but will post it. But now, I know the old couple who owns the one we stayed at in the Marais and we agreed I'd go straight to them next time, which I will do because the apartment was a home fucking run.
It's not gonna work everywhere. At some point, you'll pay retail. But fuck, if you can nail down some 100% no disappointment properties for significant discounts and deal with the owner directly, why wouldn't you?
I have heard that about Lucca and it is def. on the next itinerary.
Lucca was a surprise. We only stayed there because it was the home base of Ducati Tours. I had reserved a rental bike, and the plan was to stay the nights in Lucca and spend the days riding around Tuscany. When we got there, though, we found that three of their bikes had been impounded because a tour group did an illegal U-turn and their fourth bike had just been wrecked. They had no bike to give us, refunded our money, and it was like, "Well... guess we're stuck in Lucca for three days."
Ended up being great luck. So great, in fact, that my daughter would have a different name if the B&B at Siena, our next stop, were willing to cancel our reservation so we could stay in Lucca longer. Which ended up working out.
We landed in Nice and flew out of Venice. If I had to rank the places we stayed from best to worst, it would go:
1.) Lucca
2a.) Siena
2b.) Nice
4.) Cinque Terra (Riomaggiore, specifically)
...
...
...
81.) Venice
The middle three are close. Decent amount of distance between those three and the bookends. -
F.O. Row Peter Puffer, you left...
No need, you just nailed it. It's an expensive, smelly tourist trap. I'm sure there's amazing stuff there, but I didn't find it. Shittiest hotel room of the whole trip (by a MILE) and at only twice the price! Most expensive meal of the trip and it was meh. You can't sit down at a bar or you get dinged with a seating fee that costs more than your drink. Throw a quarter into the canal, and you won't be able to see it once it's sank four inches.creepycoug said:
Tell me about Venice. What didn’t you like besides the smell and expense? I haven’t been but want to go.1to392831weretaken said:
I had no idea that Palio existed until we got to Siena and found out that we were going to miss it by two days. The whole town was busy setting up for it, Il Campo was cleared out, etc. Left a $200 pair of sunglasses in the Duomo there...creepycoug said:
Loved Siena. We had a great dinner there and showed up during one of the post-Palio parade celebrations by the winning neighborhood. The owner of the property we rented lived in an apartment in Siena - they were the Dolphin people. Anyway, she hooked us up all over Tuscany with you name it. She's great and we still exchange Christmas cards. I don't want that relationship to wither because I will be calling on her again.1to392831weretaken said:
My daughter's name is Siena. One of our favorite spots on our honeymoon trip (my only trip over the ocean). If you haven't been, though, do yourself a favor and check out Lucca. By FAR my favorite stop on that whole trip, and that came very unexpectedly. B&B with four poster bed, separate tub and shower, amazing breakfast, and nice central location for like $100 per night. Food was great, wasn't so touristy, town is really amazing.creepycoug said:
What are your travel plans Lebam? Site seeing around the country? We'd like to do that. We are also planning to just check out and spend a year in Europe. It's actually a lot more doable than one would think if you manage your lodging the right way. Last time we were there, we stayed at a little villa in one of the less famous hill towns in Tuscany for like $700 / week. I spent about that much for two nights in Rome. We were central to everything, including Sienna, and Florence. In Paris, same thing. Rented an apartment. It wasn't cheap ... nothing in Paris is ... but it was a helluva lot cheaper than a hotel, and it allowed us to cook a lot, which really saves on $$.LebamDawg said:All of the above?
Soon to be liquidating to see how poor I really am. The mrs. is set on a luxury travel abode that will serve as a home for a bit. I would go it cheaper...
Which leads to something that later on, when things open up, could be a really good and useful thread: knowing the property owner. Like many property owners of more than one property, ours was an aristocrat-like woman whose family owned a bunch of shit. She's originally from Rome. The property we stayed at is listed on all those middle-men sites under different names. I got it because a work colleague had stayed and had her e-mail address. The cheapest it goes for on any site I found was more than double what I paid, such is the commission for booking it. So at some point, those of us who like traveling there should exchange property owner names of places we've stayed that we liked because the property owner does not give a shit and if there is a personal connection you are in. Or pay double. Same with the apartment in Paris. I got that one through that Seattle agency, where the woman who is a Parisian just knows her shit and runs a booking business and knows all the people who own these many and varied properties in the city. I recommend her. Forget the name but will post it. But now, I know the old couple who owns the one we stayed at in the Marais and we agreed I'd go straight to them next time, which I will do because the apartment was a home fucking run.
It's not gonna work everywhere. At some point, you'll pay retail. But fuck, if you can nail down some 100% no disappointment properties for significant discounts and deal with the owner directly, why wouldn't you?
I have heard that about Lucca and it is def. on the next itinerary.
Lucca was a surprise. We only stayed there because it was the home base of Ducati Tours. I had reserved a rental bike, and the plan was to stay the nights in Lucca and spend the days riding around Tuscany. When we got there, though, we found that three of their bikes had been impounded because a tour group did an illegal U-turn and their fourth bike had just been wrecked. They had no bike to give us, refunded our money, and it was like, "Well... guess we're stuck in Lucca for three days."
Ended up being great luck. So great, in fact, that my daughter would have a different name if the B&B at Siena, our next stop, were willing to cancel our reservation so we could stay in Lucca longer. Which ended up working out.
We landed in Nice and flew out of Venice. If I had to rank the places we stayed from best to worst, it would go:
1.) Lucca
2a.) Siena
2b.) Nice
4.) Cinque Terra (Riomaggiore, specifically)
...
...
...
81.) Venice
The middle three are close. Decent amount of distance between those three and the bookends.
My wife thinks I've just amplified it over time to be worse than it was, but I don't think so. I had fun, but I think it was in spite of being there, not because of it. Might have something to do with being compared to the other amazing places we'd been. -
Low monthly housing cost relative to net income
It’s been a tourist trap since the 1700s.creepycoug said:
Tell me about Venice. What didn’t you like besides the smell and expense? I haven’t been but want to go.1to392831weretaken said:
I had no idea that Palio existed until we got to Siena and found out that we were going to miss it by two days. The whole town was busy setting up for it, Il Campo was cleared out, etc. Left a $200 pair of sunglasses in the Duomo there...creepycoug said:
Loved Siena. We had a great dinner there and showed up during one of the post-Palio parade celebrations by the winning neighborhood. The owner of the property we rented lived in an apartment in Siena - they were the Dolphin people. Anyway, she hooked us up all over Tuscany with you name it. She's great and we still exchange Christmas cards. I don't want that relationship to wither because I will be calling on her again.1to392831weretaken said:
My daughter's name is Siena. One of our favorite spots on our honeymoon trip (my only trip over the ocean). If you haven't been, though, do yourself a favor and check out Lucca. By FAR my favorite stop on that whole trip, and that came very unexpectedly. B&B with four poster bed, separate tub and shower, amazing breakfast, and nice central location for like $100 per night. Food was great, wasn't so touristy, town is really amazing.creepycoug said:
What are your travel plans Lebam? Site seeing around the country? We'd like to do that. We are also planning to just check out and spend a year in Europe. It's actually a lot more doable than one would think if you manage your lodging the right way. Last time we were there, we stayed at a little villa in one of the less famous hill towns in Tuscany for like $700 / week. I spent about that much for two nights in Rome. We were central to everything, including Sienna, and Florence. In Paris, same thing. Rented an apartment. It wasn't cheap ... nothing in Paris is ... but it was a helluva lot cheaper than a hotel, and it allowed us to cook a lot, which really saves on $$.LebamDawg said:All of the above?
Soon to be liquidating to see how poor I really am. The mrs. is set on a luxury travel abode that will serve as a home for a bit. I would go it cheaper...
Which leads to something that later on, when things open up, could be a really good and useful thread: knowing the property owner. Like many property owners of more than one property, ours was an aristocrat-like woman whose family owned a bunch of shit. She's originally from Rome. The property we stayed at is listed on all those middle-men sites under different names. I got it because a work colleague had stayed and had her e-mail address. The cheapest it goes for on any site I found was more than double what I paid, such is the commission for booking it. So at some point, those of us who like traveling there should exchange property owner names of places we've stayed that we liked because the property owner does not give a shit and if there is a personal connection you are in. Or pay double. Same with the apartment in Paris. I got that one through that Seattle agency, where the woman who is a Parisian just knows her shit and runs a booking business and knows all the people who own these many and varied properties in the city. I recommend her. Forget the name but will post it. But now, I know the old couple who owns the one we stayed at in the Marais and we agreed I'd go straight to them next time, which I will do because the apartment was a home fucking run.
It's not gonna work everywhere. At some point, you'll pay retail. But fuck, if you can nail down some 100% no disappointment properties for significant discounts and deal with the owner directly, why wouldn't you?
I have heard that about Lucca and it is def. on the next itinerary.
Lucca was a surprise. We only stayed there because it was the home base of Ducati Tours. I had reserved a rental bike, and the plan was to stay the nights in Lucca and spend the days riding around Tuscany. When we got there, though, we found that three of their bikes had been impounded because a tour group did an illegal U-turn and their fourth bike had just been wrecked. They had no bike to give us, refunded our money, and it was like, "Well... guess we're stuck in Lucca for three days."
Ended up being great luck. So great, in fact, that my daughter would have a different name if the B&B at Siena, our next stop, were willing to cancel our reservation so we could stay in Lucca longer. Which ended up working out.
We landed in Nice and flew out of Venice. If I had to rank the places we stayed from best to worst, it would go:
1.) Lucca
2a.) Siena
2b.) Nice
4.) Cinque Terra (Riomaggiore, specifically)
...
...
...
81.) Venice
The middle three are close. Decent amount of distance between those three and the bookends. -
No car payments / own a vehicle for 10 + yearsHow the fuck do you plan a trip to Siena without knowing about the Palio
Our Thanksgiving 2018 trip to Rome/Siena/Florence sadly didn't have enough time for Lucca. Local gym milf had recommended it, but we were a day short of making it viable
next time -
No car payments / own a vehicle for 10 + yearsWe went to Venice a couple of years ago and had a great time. I can definitely see the "smelly, expensive tourist-trap" angle. We did Venice differently than any other trip we've taken. We are not "tour group" people at all, but for Venice, we decided to try it. Started in Milan, guided tours, bus through Tuscany with several stops to wineries. We stayed on a river cruise boat docked in the lagoon, (in fact, the one that got hit by the runaway cruise ship while docked, about 6 months later).
While we were there, it was under water (my wife bought hip waders)...storm, super-tide, they had more water in the city than any time since '36. We got to see everything, including a late-night excursion to St. Mark's while it was closed because of flooding. We had trips every day, in the city and out. My wife researched it, and it checked all the boxes on what we wanted to see, and how we wanted to see it. Top-shelf food and booze. It was spendy, but we were going to do it once, and we did it right. Also, 3 days in Milan, 4 days in Florence at the beginning on our own. -
F.O. Row Peter Puffer, you left...BearsWiin said:
How the fuck do you plan a trip to Siena without knowing about the Palio
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F.O. Row Peter Puffer, you left...
OK csbLebamDawg said:All of the above?
Soon to be liquidating to see how poor I really am. The mrs. is set on a luxury travel abode that will serve as a home for a bit. I would go it cheaper...
Mrs Lebam looks at a real estate website to get a value on our property. this is tough, similar to me poasting during a Husky FB game - back to story - She has to create a user name and log on - so does. She gets a phone call from Alaska. refuses to answer. I tell her the realtor might have lived in Alaska - but no she won't answer. She gets an text from the Alaska number. Bingo the lady is a realtor down the road a spell and she knows our house. She grew up on the road next to ours. I have actually met the gal when herding our goats a couple of years ago when they got lose.
She and her hubby own a real estate brokerage firm in Olympia and she opened a n office in Pacific County. She wa showing a house to a guy who was in town only for the day (today- I have been celebrating so this is suck a struggle.) She brings him out here and tours the house and property this afternoon. he leaves after taking tons of picx She stays and talks money with us. we are way over her guesstimate, but says OKL. She takes off and with in and hour calls back to say he came back lower, I jumped it up a little and they agreed. Saturday we have an inspection and paper signing.
My dreams of liquidating and just cruising for a while just might com true. The ex-long-haired hippie dfruealkd is ready to hit the road. I rethink spell is not working in my favor
I am still poor but don;lt care - so never never
Edit: read a bunch of posts - wtf is Palio? don't reallycare but thaouthe I would also -
F.O. Row Peter Puffer, you left...that Never Never was a corrected spelling of Neener Neener
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F.O. Row Peter Puffer, you left...Palio is like the running of the bulls only in Siena, and it's a horse race. One of those things that only happens in one place. Apparently Siena is a competitive place, and the 17 city districts used to settle who was tuffest once per year with a brawl in town square. Then it was bullfights. When bullfighting was outlawed, it turned to horse races. First modern Palio was in 1633, and they've been doing it twice per year (sometimes three on special occasions) ever since.
If you ever go to Siena, you want to be there during Palio, as every district has its own colors and banner, and EVERYONE is flying their colors. The streets toward the city center are all narrow, and it's awesome walking through the sea of colors:
Through some preliminary competitions that I'm not sure about, the 17 competing districts are whittled down to 10 that will compete in the race. Piazza del Campo, the central town square, is cleared out, covered in a thick layer of dirt, and mattresses and whatnot are put up around the outside to protect jockeys who fly off their horses (happens all the time, apparently). The race is bareback, three laps around the square, lasts about 90 seconds, and the jockey (being your district's jockey is a huge honor) who wins has to fight his way through an army of vagina for the rest of his life. It's tough.
Anyway, with the horses running around the outside of the square, the crowd actually packs into the middle. Or pays BIG dollars to sit in the balcony of one of the pubs or restaurants or whatnot around the square:
Upper right corner of that picture, there are three connected buildings. The one in the middle is a bit darker than the other two. In the lower two floors of that building is a pub. The very first thing we did when we got off the train (Rick Steves can suck my dong for recommending the trains, btw...) was walk all the way through town to that pub, sit on that balcony there with a Guinness, watch a whole bunch of construction activity, and wonder what the hell was going on and why there were banners hanging everywhere. We would have needed a to take out a second mortgage to sit in those same seats three days later.
