Food Police Episode III from Cross-Pollinate Travel on Vimeo.

Frozen food stakeout. In this newest episode, a sous chef comes to the Special Unit ready to confess her involvement in a major crime.

See earlier episodes of the Food Police here:

Episode I – the girls of the Special Unit hear from the new head of the Food Police that tourists are being ripped off in Rome.  They set out to gather evidence and show you what to look out for.

Episode II – In this episode, The Food Police – Special Unit, are in the medieval hill-town of Orvieto, famous for its black truffles, in pursuit of a dangerous perp who’s about to commit an unthinkable crime.

Food Police Episode II from Cross-Pollinate Travel on Vimeo.

In this episode, The Food Police – Special Unit, are in the medieval hill-town of Orvieto, famous for its black truffles, in pursuit of a dangerous perp who’s about to commit an unthinkable crime.

So what does “The Slow Web” mean?

For me, the key element to The Slow Movement is that we don’t strive for slow, simply because we prefer it and think it’s better.  The movement is about doing things in the amount of time it takes to do them right, and to avoid speeding them up, thinking that faster is always better, and sacrificing the quality as a result.

If you want to make a kickass Ribollita (bean soup), you have to soak the beans overnight, then boil them for at least a few hours, checking almost constantly that it’s not drying out, but that it’s reducing enough, while not sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Cutting any of these corners to save time will yield a disaster of a soup.  The time it takes is the time it takes and it happens to be a fairly slow process.

For us, The Slow Web means using technology and the internet to be speedy and efficient, but not to replace human interactions with automated algorithms and canned responses.  Instant gratification is nice, but getting things done right is certainly better.

Taking the time to do things right.  This means waiting a few hours for a response from a human instead of an instant response from a machine that’s guessing the human’s response.  It means waiting up to a day to get a confirmation letter but knowing that once confirmed, it’s been done by human beings who have connected with each other.  It means that when you need help, there are real people and not just a page of FAQs; and that those real people, to get things done right, might need to request some patience from you and take the time to make some phone calls to resolve your problems.

We think your travel plans deserve more than an automated system.  We can’t accept someone’s plans getting ruined based on a “glitch in the system”.  You deserve that someone take the time to read your questions and comments and notes and do what’s best for you.  We do this as fast and efficiently as possible, but believe in maintaining this inherently slower approach because we believe it’s better.

Travel is not a perfect science.  The higher and more unrealistic your expectations, the easier it is to be disappointed.  Sometimes disappointment arises because people expect things to work in the place they are visiting the same way things work back home.  In regards to accommodation, the particular idiosyncrasies one has to face changes from country to country, so it’s important to understand which of these are actual problems and reflect a badly run place and which are just part of local life.  If it’s the latter, the sooner you come to understand the nature of these quirks, the better you’ll be able to accept them and not really regard them as problems.  Compiled from my 14 years of experience, the following is a list of the most common complaints we’ve received which I hope to explain and clarify here and put more into context.

1.  Where’s the bacon?  Disappointment with the Italian breakfast.

In Italy, breakfast is nothing special.  It’s a culture that eats a large lunch, and until recently much of the work force would have a number of hours available in the middle of the day to go home, prepare a meal, eat it and then relax before returning to work.  Those days are mostly a thing of the past unless you have someone at home doing the cooking, but you’ll find many of the local bars and trattorias packed full of people who are generally there for an hour or two.  With so much focus put on a mid-day meal, much less is put on breakfast as opposed to British and North American culture where a long work day with little break has pushed a focus on eating a larger meal first thing in the morning.

Culturally, breakfast just isn’t part of the equation.  A typical Italian breakfast is an espresso.  Add to that an overly sugary pastry that will leave you starving in 20 minutes (Italian pastries are NOTHING compared to a flaky, buttery croissant or pain au chocolat in France).  B&Bs and hotels, having to comply with food safety laws, unless they have their own cafe – aren’t supposed to serve anything but pre-packaged food items.  That means you might get a little pastry, maybe some dry toasts (called fette biscottate), cereal, yoghurt and maybe fruit if you’re lucky.  But if you’re a B&B owner, and have to go pre-packaged, in a market that doesn’t really eat breakfast anyway, your options are pretty limited!  Basically, assume that your breakfast is not going to be anything to write home about and you might do better spending 2-3 euro on a cappuccino and pastry at a bar – of which there will always be one nearby.  Or, go self-catering and do breakfast your own way.

2.  Hot water / plumbing problems

There’s a number of things that can go wrong here:

First is the amount, or lack of, hot water. There are two kinds of water systems here – one that works on gas and produces hot water on demand, and others that use electric boilers.  The latter will have a fixed amount of water that, once consumed, will need time to reheat.  If you have an electric boiler and many people in your apartment or using the same bathroom, that means staggering out your showers a bit, and not standing there for 20 minutes taking an indulgent shower, no matter how good it feels.  The other thing to know is that these electric boilers often have on/off switches in the bathroom that can easily be switched off accidentally.  If you’ve turned it off, you’re sure to not have hot water until you’ve turned it back on and left it for about 30 minutes.  I would say that most of the complaints for “no hot water” we receive were caused by people inadvertently turning it off!  Normally, B&Bs will have a gas water heater which provides continuous hot water, but many self-catering apartments still have electric boilers. Keep this in mind if you’re a family of 8 staying in an apartment with 1 bathroom!

Second is the plumbing in general.  Even a semi-historic building, built in the 1800′s (not that old for Italy!) were built before internal plumbing was the norm, and most B&Bs and some apartments will have had bathrooms added in a part of the apartment that is often far from the septic column.  This means having pumps or raising the floor to add an incline so the waste can run “downstream”.  Add a bit of distance to the column and a daily dose of hair in the drain and you’re bound to have some stoppage.  The key thing to remember here is that buildings and apartments that weren’t “purpose built” will never be as perfect as those that are.  If you want perfect plumbing, you need to stay in a big hotel, that was designed and constructed specifically to be a hotel.  In the city center, those are generally 5 star hotels or they are chain hotels located outside the city center (where new construction is easier to do).  Staying somewhere historic has its charm for sure, but often the price you pay is that plumbing will not be perfect.

The smell:  in the bathrooms of old buildings, it can happen that when it rains, it smells.  Not much can be done about this.

Mold:  this is connected to the whole “bathroom-built-later” problem.  Old pipes pass through concrete walls and with multiple daily showers and not enough ventilation, you get mold.  This gets cleaned off with bleach and killed, and can leave stains that look like mildew, even though the actual live mold is gone.  No matter how often it’s cleaned, it will come back and can only be covered with a fresh paint job, maybe once every year or so.  The bright side is that it’s not that your owner doesn’t care, they’re just in a losing battle with nature and the elements.

3.  Language barriers

In a perfect world, everyone would speak the same language, but back to reality!  To me, travel has been an eye opener in learning to develop the skill of  communicating in a language that is not your own, and finding a way to express kindness and flexibility and all those traits that make individuals get along, no matter how much or how little they can understand the words being said.  Don’t expect people to speak your language and understand that what might seem to you like a “lack of interest” from an accommodation owner might be that they’re shy and embarrassed about speaking English and simply lack the vocabulary to express themselves well.  It’s easy to misinterpret people who don’t speak your language.  Maybe they aren’t rude – it could be a language barrier thing.

4.  Lack of useful information

A handful of superstar accommodation owners print out all sorts of information – about the surrounding area, the apartment, what to do in case of emergencies.  I love all this stuff.  But it’s a rarity.  Why is it so hard for owners to do this?  No idea – I even offer, every year or so, to help put one together in English, and they rarely take me up on the offer.  I guess it’s hard for someone who isn’t looking in from an outsider’s perspective to know what information is necessary and what is (to them) totally obvious.  TVs work differently from country to country, but only people who travel a lot realize this.  Same goes for washing machines and lighting stoves and circuit breakers and the water heater switches I wrote about earlier.  However, not all of the owners we work with are world travelers and it’s hard for them to anticipate what things will or won’t be easily understood.  Keep in mind though that if something doesn’t work, it could also be that you don’t know how to work it – even something as basic as a television.  If something doesn’t seem to work, ask the owner to show you – more often than not it just needs some explanation, and by asking them to show you it’ll open their eyes to the fact that it’s not universally understood.

5. It’s HOT

If you’re in southern Mediterranean Europe and it’s July or August, and you’re walking around under a blazing hot sun, you have to accept that it’s going to suck a bit and you’ll be a sweaty mess.  It’s not worth getting in more of a huff about – just get over it.  The US is kind of the gold standard in air conditioning, often to the point of absurdity.  In Europe you’ll find that air conditioners are turned off when you’re not in the room (pay an energy bill here and you’ll see pretty fast why this is so!); and you’ll find that even when on full blast, it’s not going to get sub-arctic like you might want it to.  We have less kilowatts of power in Europe, especially in old buildings, and due to high costs of electricity, we are forced to use A/C units that for efficiency produce less cold.  It’ll cool things down a bit, but the reality is that we don’t control the climate – we have to live with it.

6. No international TV channels

I know for some it’s nice to come back “home” after a long day and turn on the television and go brain dead for a while.  In some countries, like France, it’s cheap to get phone, internet and cable all in one go.  In other countries, like Italy, it’s a separate cost for cable, and even then there are a limited amount of International channels (they wouldn’t be part of the standard package).  As the saying goes, “when in Rome…” – in other words, you really shouldn’t expect to watch television in your language in another country.  Maybe you’ll get a few hours of BBC international news or something – which is hardly going to help you relax!  But remember, you’re on vacation – you’re away from home and ideally away from your home-habits too.  Have a conversation instead.  Drink a glass (or a bottle) of wine.  Play cards.  Read a book.  Go back out again, get a gelato or a drink and sit somewhere and people watch.  You aren’t missing anything.

8. Beds too soft / too hard

Sometimes we’ll get feedback from multiple people about the same place that reads like the Goldilocks story.  For person A the bed was simply too hard.  For person B, it was just too soft.  For person C is was just right.  I personally like very firm.  Others like soft.  It’s a personal thing, and I think when you travel you just have to go with the flow here.

9. Dodgy power

As I mentioned earlier, electricity costs are high in Europe and the available wattage is low.  Turn on the washing machine, a few lights, and the hairdryer and you’ll blow a fuse.  It’s just the way it is.  Many apartments don’t have dryers simply because they consume too much.  In the summer, with AC, this is something that can easily be a problem.  Just realize that almost all European cities were built before the automobile and don’t have huge lines of infrastructure in place to bring the amount of power that only recently is requested/demanded to apartments.  I love how the above picture shows the utility lines just under the street passing over ancient Roman ruins.  Kind of puts things into perspective!

10.  Noise

Rome wins the prize of being the loudest of the cities we work in, and it’s no doubt a cause for some very valid complaining.  Personally, I’m used to it, and I think it’s part of the overall package – the loud, crazy Romans honking their horns and yelling at each other, or the sound of elderly Venetians banging around in their kitchens all afternoon.  And if it’s not a quaint people-produced noise, it’s the trash collection at midnight or the recycling truck dumping glass bottles at 5am.  Or the construction/renovation that starts next door (or the next building over that has a shared wall) at 7 or 8am.  Or someone in the apartment above your bedroom who leaves early for work and walks around in high heels on their tiled-floors.  Really, the list is never-ending.  Good windows can help (but are very costly) and being somewhere that’s not either on a highly trafficked street or bus line or popular with drunk, reveling foreign students can also help.  But I would be doubtful of anyone in Rome with a guarantee that their place is absolutely quiet.  It’s the equivalent of selling the Brooklyn Bridge.

If you’re prepared to handle these top complaints with some understanding and patience, your bound to have a much better trip!

Recently, Steve and I had the rare opportunity to spend a couple of kid-less days in Florence.  Besides some train stopovers, I hadn’t truly visited Florence since 1995 and Steve needed to get some cross-pollinate work done – visit with some owners and inspect some new properties.  With the help of our good friend, Toni, who offered to stay with our three young daughters, we were able to have a couple of precious days away on our own.

We stayed at a cross-pollinate property, Ponte Vecchio Suite apartment.  It’s a cute and well-maintained property just a 5 minute walk from the Ponte Vecchio bridge in the Oltrarno neighborhood.  I immediately took a liking to this area which is the artisan neighborhood of Florence.  Just around the corner from Ponte Vecchio Suite we found Caffe degli Artigiani, a bar on a small, quiet piazza that I immediately dubbed “our bar” and knew we would be going there every day for our morning cappuccino.

While the apartment has a kitchenette,  Steve was on holiday from cooking and I was on holiday from washing dishes, so we knew we would be eating out for the two days we were in Florence.  Our family is vegetarian, so traveling offers an opportunity to check out the veggie offerings in the place we are visiting.  One of the on-line sources I check when going to a new city is Happy Cow, an on-line guide (they also have an app) that lets you find vegetarian, vegan, vegetarian friendly restaurants and natural food shops in that town.

Our first food break was lunch and we headed to Steve’s favorite which he discovered on a past trip to Florence,  5 e Cinque, Piazza della Passera, 1 – coincidentally in the same piazza as my new favorite coffee bar.  5 e Cinque is an organic restaurant, mostly vegetarian, but they do have meat options.  Their food is inspired by traditional dishes and ingredients from the region of Liguria.  Steve and I usually try to get two different dishes so we can share.  I got the curried chickpea polpette (polpette usually, meat, but means anything ground and then formed into balls) served on basmati rice and Steve got a farro (spelt) dish made with radicchio and a walnut pesto.  As you can see from the photo, it was so delicious that we had nearly cleaned our plates before I considered taking a photo of them!  I highly recommend – definitely a restaurant to include on any vegetarian (or even non-vegetarian) tour of Florence.

After lunch, Steve had a cross-pollinate appointment and so I decided to take a walk around the city.  I ended up heading toward the synagogue of Florence which is a beautiful building with a gorgeous green copper dome.  On my way, I had an urge for a little something sweet and a hot drink and ended up at Caffelatte also known as La Latteria which uses organic milk and offers fair trade coffees and teas.  Nothing fancy here and the place seems a bit run down, but I was excited by the cakes and treats in the cabinet and so I ordered a slice of a type of pound cake and a caffe latte.  Unfortunately, I left unimpressed.  The cake fell in that realm of many Italian pastries – looks great to the eyes, but a different story when you actually put it in your mouth.  The cake was stale and hard, but at least the caffe latte was good.

Dinner that night was at BVeg which I found out about through Georgette Jupe’s great blog, Girl in Florence.   I had a dish with polenta with layers of pureed broccoli and Steve had a soup with chickpeas and algae.  Both were delicious.

The next day, our last day in Florence, we tried to have lunch at Cuculia, via dei Serragli, 18r, but after sitting down and ordering some water, were told that there was a problem and a delay in the kitchen with the stoves lighting and since Steve had an appointment and didn’t have loads of time for lunch – we decided to pay for the water and find another place to eat.  Lucky for us, just around the corner was Vivanda, via Santa Monaca, 7r.  We both had the lunch special which was a soup and pasta dish.  We started off with a mushroom, cannellini  and cabbage soup followed by a spaghetti alla chitarra pasta with a kale pesto.  We had some great organic wine to go with it.

Our final night we went to a non-vegetarian specific restaurant, il Santo Bevitore, via di Santo Spirito, 66 for dinner.  About a year ago, Steve had been on an excellent Context Travel tour which features the artisans in this area and the docent who led that tour had told him about il Santo Bevitore and had highly recommended it.  It was a Friday night and we hadn’t made a reservation, but we arrived around 7:30pm and with our assurances to the staff that we would not be occupying the table all night and could be out by 9pm, we managed to get a table.  We started with some vegetables preserved in oil – sundried tomatoes, onions, eggplant, etc.  We had a great meal – my ribollita was not really that soupy, but tasted great.  The wait staff were all very accommodating and pleasant – we got into a great conversation with a waiter who is originally from Togo who has lived in Florence for 20+ years.  The meal was our priciest in Florence though – we paid double what we had at the other restaurants, but it was a nice little splurge our last evening there.

The next day, our train back home didn’t leave until 3pm, so we decided to try one last veggie place for lunch.  We had been visiting with Moraq – originally from Chicago who has been living in Italy for the past 18 years.  She’s the owner of the homey Casa di Barbano property on cross-pollinate and having two children, she was able to make some great suggestions of where I could get colored wigs for carnevale for our daughters.

With that errand under our belt, we headed to Libreria Brac, via dei Vagellai, 18r for lunch.  There is no signage for this bookstore/artistic space/cafe so keep an eye out for the number and the books out front.  The cafe is in the back.  Because of the size and popularity of this space, reservations are a definite must.  We didn’t have them and had to assure once again that we would be out quickly as we had a train to catch.  We decided to go with a couple of the specials they had off the menu.  Steve had soy polpette with cannellini beans in a tomato sauce and I had a buckwheat pasta with cream of peas and kale sauce.  Both were absolutely excellent and very filling.  Steve went to the kitchen afterward for a chat with the chef to see how his dish was made.  The great thing about Italy is that for the most part there isn’t this sense of secrecy in the kitchen.  You won’t get a written down recipe, but if you ask the right questions, the chefs will generally tell you what they used and how it was made.  It’s up to you to deal with portions and how to put it together

We were pleasantly surprised by how well put together both in terms of interior design and menus the vegetarian restaurants were that we visited in Florence.  Each restaurant that we went to was always packed with people and had great atmospheres.  All in all we had some wonderful meals and no complaints.  While every Italian restaurant has vegetables available (contorni) or pasta dishes that are meat-less – eating at a specifically Italian vegetarian restaurant will provide an excellent opportunity for anyone  – vegetarians and non-veggies alike – to try interesting and creative dishes using the excellent produce that is available here in Italy.

For many more recommendations on where to eat and drink in Florence I highly recommend Elizabeth Minchilli‘s smartphone app Eat Florence.

Linda maintains her own blog for our hotel, The Beehive, at http://www.the-beehive.com/blog with practical and irreverent information, observations and musings on Rome.  

Overview of the city

I can’t stress enough how easy it is to visit Florence – it’s small, it’s flat, it’s more pedestrian than car-centric, and everything you want to see is within walking distance.  You won’t need public transportation or taxis and you won’t need to worry too much about whether you’re central enough.

To a Florentine, the city would encompass a much greater area than I will detail here, and the neighborhoods have specific names that I’m not using, because essentially I want to give you the very simplified, practical version of Florence, designed for someone who knows nothing about the city and wants to get their bearings.

You’ll probably enter the city by the main train station, Santa Maria Novella (top left circle), which is at the upper, western edge of the city center.  About a 10 minute walk away, towering over the center of the city, you have the Duomo at Piazza Santa Maria del Fiore (middle blue circle).  South of that you pass Piazza della Repubblica and then hit the Piazza della Signoria (with the statue of David copy), then the Uffizi, then the river Arno which is crossed at this point by the Ponte Vecchio (bottom circle).

That whole walk, to give you an idea of size, should take under 30 minutes.

Just beneath the Ponte Vecchio is the Pitti Palace and to the east of that, the Boboli Gardens.  This whole area south of the Arno river is known as the Oltrarno (it means “across the Arno”).

As this map above shows, Florence is not a particularly large city, and the neighborhoods are fairly the same in terms of architecture and the density of shops/cafes and restaurants, but there are some variations to the different areas that I’ll point out that might help you choose which area is the best for you.

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South of Santa Maria Novella

If you’re on the cheap, this is a pretty logical place to stay.  It’ll probably take you about 5 minutes to get over here from the station and then about 10-15 minutes to get pretty much everywhere else in the historic center.  There are some narrow streets, but cars are still allowed over here.  Lots of people on bicycles.  A mix of aging locals, immigrants, hotels, and a general bustling vibe.  It’s also home to the historic Erboisteria Santa Maria Novella, and some good, cheap eats (some ethnic, some traditional).

Where to stay:

Tre Gigli  – double rooms from €70 a night in high season.

Casa Corsi – double rooms from €75 a night in high season

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Behind SM Novella

About a 5 minute walk behind the station, going away from the center, this is a good choice if you are traveling by car, or want to save even more and don’t mind adding 5-10 minutes on to all that walking you’ll be doing.  The area, for the most part, loses some of the vibe of the rest of the city, and has some newer buildings that kill the architectural landscape a bit, but the plus is that the accommodations over here are more modern and functional.  It feels mostly residential and quiet, despite being so close to the station.  It doesn’t have that sketchy train station atmosphere that many train stations do, but if you really want to be on a small, cobblestone street, you’ll have to go a bit further in (and pay a bit more).  If you favor a room that’s more modern, this might be a better option for you.

Where to stay:

Residenza Giulia  – double rooms around €102 a night.

Bed and Bed Cassia - double rooms for €55 night in high season

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Fortezza da Basso and the Mercato Generale

This is a very residential, quiet part of Florence, with a number of ethnic food shops peppered here and there.  There are more cars, but not much congestion of traffic.  The buildings are older, typically Florentine.  Once you get to the Mercato Generale you have some serious old-school Florentine food – more tripe sandwiches than you can shake a stick at.  On the north of this circle you have the Fortezza da Basso which was a fort built in the 1500′s and is now a convention center.  From there you’re looking at a 10 minute walk to the Duomo and the Mercato.  It’s an obvious choice for anyone coming to Florence for a convention, but it’s also a good way to be away from the crowds and traffic and people around the train station without adding too much space between you and the stuff you want to see.

Where to stay:

Casa di Barbano – €92 for a double room in high season, with breafkast.

Gianna’s B&B – €100 for a double with breakfast in high season.

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Historic Center

Pretty much everything in your guide book is here.  One way to reach this area from the station is to go through Via Faenza, a very touristed street, made more crowded by hotels and pensioni thanks to it being a Rick Steves’ preferred, budget area in Florence.  It’s a mixed bag of good restaurants and tacky tourist souvenir stuff, lots of hotels and internet cafes.  Architecturally speaking, it’s still old-Florence and a narrow, quaint streets and feels just like anywhere else in the center, but without the glamor.  The street essentially ends at the Duomo, so it’s a good budget option for being just outside the “center”.

I consider the center the few blocks from the Duomo at the north to the Ponte Vecchio at the south.  There’s a few main streets that are wider and have taxis and literally swarms of people.  Often in the summer you can barely walk down these streets.  Florence doesn’t absorb tourists all that well, given that the center is so small, and it can be quite overwhelming in high season.

Accommodations are generally more upscale here.  Restaurants are pricier and you’ll see lots of boutiques and high fashion.

Where to stay:

Via Faenza:

Casa Billi - doubles around €65 a night in high season

Bencidormi - artsy doubles at €95 a night

Historic Center:

Cimatori B&B – traditional, charming doubles at €115 a night

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Oltrarno

Literally meaning “across the Arno”, the Oltrarno is my favorite area.  A bit harder to get to with bags for new arrivals (maybe a 20-30 minute walk), but once here you’re in a real neighborhood.  Better, cheaper food.  More local culture and less crowds.  You can walk to the Ponte Vecchio in about 5-15 minutes depending where you are.  There’s usually some savings for staying around here as well.  As for sites, just south of the Ponte Vecchio you have the Pitti Palace and then the Boboli Gardens behind that (to the east).  Via Maggio is a main street that runs away from the river and cuts through the Oltrarno.  Going further west you have Via dei Serragli, which can take you to all sorts of good local restaurants, and then crossing through the Oltrarno is Via di Santo Spirito and Borgo San Frediano.  In the center of all this is Piazza Santo Sprito with a daily fruit and vegetable market in the morning.  This is the area of the vanishing artisans that I’ve written about here and is much more easy going and less touristy than the other side of Florence.

Where to stay:

Casa di Annusca - €68 euro doubles and a nice little garden where breakfast is served

Ponte Vecchio Suite – 2 bedroom apartment for €160 a night for 4 guests

I’m going to start this off by saying that I’m not as much of a Luddite as it might seem. I have so far successfully resisted getting a smartphone and that might just make me one of the last thirty-somethings to NOT have one. Not only do I not have a smartphone, but the cell phone I do have is pretty outdated, even for non-internet-having phones.

circa 2005

Yes, one of the reasons is a resistance to technologizing every aspect of my life: I do find it depressing when I see a group of friends or a family sitting together and everyone’s checking email on their phones instead of talking. And it’s sad to lose the spontaneity, say, when you’re traveling, because every question mark can be eliminated in a second (train times? hotel in the city you’re about to get to? shady neighborhoods to stay away from? best or worst restaurants? which route is faster?). Right after graduating from college, I took a cross-country road trip from Atlanta to Eugene, Oregon, with my best friend and neither of us had a smartphone or any phone at all. We had a stack of CDs, a map book of the US, and a few pages of hastily printed-out info we’d found online the night before about some places we thought we might want to visit. To this day, that was one of the best trips I’ve taken, and not because everything went smoothly, but because it didn’t, which made it an adventure.

We found the Badlands without a GPS or a phone!

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that the other reason for not getting a smartphone is that I know I’ll be hooked on it, just like everyone else. Considering my current computer habits, if I break down and get a smartphone, it may be the end of productivity and human interaction as I know it. Being a freelancer who works mainly from home is a very dangerous thing. The hours seem to just slip away as I sit in front of the computer, and it’s scarily easy to go back and forth from being productive to completely wasting time (I’m looking at you, facebook). Physically stepping away from the computer is the one thing that currently forces me to, well, do other stuff – and if I have the internet in my pocket, I’ll never be able to detox.

I made a trip to Barcelona last May for Cross-pollinate to find some more properties for our website, and after halfheartedly digging up Steve’s old iphone before the trip (which turned out to be more broken than not), I just went with my own cell phone. I’ll admit it: being a work trip where I was out and about all day long every day, there were some times when it would have been really, really useful for me to have the internet at my fingertips. To get maps so I didn’t get frustratingly lost on the way somewhere; to get days and hours of tourist attractions so I knew if there was time to see something fun in the downtime before my next appointment; to check metro timetables or how long it would take for the next bus to come. Most notably, a woman my mother’s age who I had an appointment with reprimanded me for not having a smartphone – because she had sent me an email a few hours earlier changing the address of our appointment and assumed I would receive it (because who goes on a work trip without a smartphone?), but of course I hadn’t because I’d been out all day. That one cost me an international phone call on my cell, the price of a taxi across town, and a bunch of sweaty, heart-racing moments as I rushed from one place to another.

On the other hand, I think most of the interaction I had with locals happened as a direct result of not having a smartphone on me. Since I was on a two-week work trip, I was spending most of my time alone except for when I was in appointments.  When you’re eating in a restaurant or sitting at a bar alone, it’s tempting to start busily doing stuff on your phone to avoid the boredom and awkwardness of sitting there alone staring into space. But I couldn’t do that, so I ended up chatting with the servers or nearby diners much more than I would have if I’d had my nose in a phone.

Twice I got lost on the way to appointments and stopped to ask somebody on the street for directions, only to have somebody else standing nearby pull out an iphone and offer to look up the address for me and patiently explain exactly how to get there (and yes, the irony of me refusing to get a smartphone and then relying on other people’s is not lost on me). I’d always heard that Barcelonians aren’t particularly friendly or helpful to tourists, but my experience proved otherwise – something I would never have known if I’d been able to googlemap my own directions in the middle of the street.

My most memorable no-phone encounter happened when I was dragging my suitcase along the street in a residential area called Camp de l’Arpa (not far from the Sagrada Familia), looking for the B&B I was moving to that morning. I couldn’t figure out if I was heading in the right direction or not, so I stopped an elderly lady pulling one of those little personal shopping carts on wheels doing her morning compras. Instead of just explaining where I had to go, she said, “I’ll take you there. But first I have to buy some bread in this bakery right here – wait outside for me and I’ll be right back.” And without waiting for a reply, she went in the bakery, stepping out a couple minutes later with some freshly baked bread – the best in the neighborhood, she assured me – and insisted on giving me some to try (it was delicious). She then walked with me all the way to the street I was looking for (a 5-10-minute walk) and chatted pleasantly the whole way, asking me lots of questions about where I was from, why I was in Barcelona, if I’d been before, what I thought about the city, etc. She deposited me on the corner and waved off my profuse thank-yous as she continued on her way, pulling the shopping cart behind her.

So, let’s summarize:

•  With a smartphone, you can find all the information you need on your trip, so that you keep your misadventures to a minimum and things go smoothly.

•  Without a smartphone, you can get totally lost, end up in a neighborhood you never meant to go to, chat with locals, practice your Spanish (or whatever language it is), find out some insider tips on the area (ie, place that sells the best bread), accidentally end up in a sleazy hotel or a crappy restaurant, and have some great stories to tell about things that didn’t go exactly how you planned.

I won’t suggest that anybody travels without their smartphone – that’s practically blasphemous, and yes, impractical if you already have one anyway. It would be silly to leave it in your hotel room just to purposely make your life more difficult. But I will suggest relying on it less while traveling than you normally do at home. You don’t have errands to run and deadlines to meet: you’re on vacation. So act like it’s a vacation. Don’t stop to look up every little detail that pops into your mind – leave some things up to chance. If you need directions, try asking a local first; you might make a little mini-connection that will change your whole view of the place. If you’re curious about a breathtaking building or church you’re looking at, don’t google it that second while standing there so you can immediately find out everything the human brain knows about it; just stand there, take it in, enjoy the beauty of it without having to know everything, ponder it for the rest of the day or debate about it with your travel partner(s), and eventually look it up later that night in your hotel room, or even after your trip is over – like in the olden days.

Someday, probably very soon, I’ll end up buying a smartphone. It’s getting to the point where it’s so prevalent that not having one is actually becoming a competitive disadvantage in the workplace, and often makes everyday life more complicated than it needs to be. Besides, resistance is futile. But in the meantime I’ll happily enjoy my smartphone-free, inconvenient, somewhat more spontaneous existence, especially when I travel.

If you’re trying to decide where to stay during your trip to Barcelona, keep reading for an overview of the most central neighborhoods. And keep in mind my personal rule of thumb (though absolutely not a hard-and-fast rule!): if you’re there for just a couple days, better to splurge and stay somewhere very central so you can make the most of your time and avoid any time wasted on public transport (efficient though it may be). If you’re staying for a longer period of time (say, 4 days and up), stay somewhere a little less central and a little more residential: you’ll save money and you’ll get to know the “real” city and not just the touristy parts.

The Ciutat Vella (Old City) is basically the historic center, which is subdivided into a few different neighborhoods – Gothic Quarter, El Born/La Ribera/Sant Pere, La Rambla.

These are the most central neighborhoods of Barcelona. If you stay in the Gothic Quarter, El Born/La Ribera/Sant Pere, or La Rambla, you will be within walking distance of most tourist sites and you’ll only have to take public transport to get to the Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, or Montjuïc. If you’re into walking, you can also easily get to the Manzana de la Discordia in L’Eixample. El Raval and Barceloneta are also central, but slightly less so, so you may use the metro a little more often if you stay in either of these areas.

Barri Gòtic (the Gothic Quarter) – this is the very oldest part of Barcelona. It has the ruins of an ancient Roman wall and the medieval Jewish quarter. You’ll find the Cathedral as well as Plaça Sant Jaume with City Hall and Plaça Reial (my favorite square in Barcelona!). Fairly new restrictions on accommodations in this area have forced many to close or move; you will find some here but not as many as you might think.

Where to stay in this neighborhood – The Codols Flat

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El Born/La Ribera/Sant Pere – there is a confusing mess of names for this neighborhood (three of which I’ve mentioned above): the areas referred to overlap one another, or are different names for the same area. But for our purposes, we’re talking about the neighborhood on the other side of via Laietana – the main artery that basically cuts the old city in half — from the Barri Gòtic. El Born (more or less the lower part of the neighborhood) is now a very trendy area with lots of restaurants, bars, and boutiques. The upper part of the area is a little more traditional and less touristy. This area is home to the Picasso museum, and is close to the Arc de Triomf and the lovely Parc de la Ciutadella. There are more accommodations here than in the Barri Gòtic, but they’re still limited simply due to space constrictions.

Where to stay in this neighborhood – San Augustì Flat

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La Rambla – also referred to as Las Ramblas, this is the big tourist strip of Barcelona. While you’re on or near La Rambla, you must be viligant about watching your wallet or bag because pickpocketers abound. La Rambla runs from north to south starting at Plaça de Catalunya and ending at the port, and divides the Barri Gòtic and El Raval neighborhoods. La Rambla itself is a tourist trap – but an interesting, not-to-miss one. A stroll down it to see the human statues and performers, and the flower, bird, and souvenir stalls, is obligatory. But I don’t recommend eating or drinking anything at the restaurants/bars: I’m sure it makes for good people-watching, but the arm and leg you will be charged is not worth it. As far as accommodations, right on La Rambla and the Plaça de Catalunya you’ll mostly find expensive hotels.

Where to stay in this neighborhood – Apartamento Boqueria

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El Raval – the neighborhood on the other side of La Rambla from the Barri Gòtic. It used to have a very bad reputation as being seedy, dirty, rundown, and even dangerous (think: prostitutes and drug dealers). However, since Barcelona got cleaned up for the 1992 Olympics, like the rest of the city, it’s been revitalized. These days it’s an up-and-coming trendy, artsy, bohemian, multicultural neighborhood, full of interesting night spots and bars. Here you’ll find the MACBA (Modern Art Museum of Barcelona), the Boqueria market, and the Rambla del Raval (don’t miss the fat-cat statue!). The lower area close to the port is still more rundown looking with some litter and graffiti. More and more tourist accommodations are opening up in El Raval, from hotels to B&Bs or private apartments.

Where to stay in this neighborhood – Lleó Flat

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Barceloneta – If you’re looking at a map of the city, this is the small area that juts off the bottom of Barcelona on the east side of the port. It used to be a working-class area populated mostly with fishermen and their families; today it’s a mix of local families who have been there for generations, expats, and tourists. The grid-pattern streets are narrow and in the more traditional parts of the neighborhood you’ll see laundry strung out to dry on lines stretching across the street.  Closer to the water and in the squares, you’ll find some of the best seafood and paella restaurants in the city. The city’s most popular Barcelona beach is here, and you can walk up and down the boardwalk to get to other beaches. Smaller tourist accommodations, mostly rental apartments, are in this area and especially popular in the summer.

Where to stay in this neighborhood – Natalie’s Barceloneta Flat

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The following three neighborhoods are very central, though less so than the historic center. They’re all well-connected by metro and bus so you can very easily get anywhere you need to. L’Eixample is a mix of touristy and residential, being the closest of the three to the Old City. Gràcia and Sagrada Familia are the least touristy and will give you the most genuine what-it-feels-like-to-live-in-Barcelona experience.

L’Eixample – locals further narrow this neighborhood down to “L’Eixample Esquerra” (left-hand side) and “L’Eixample Dreta” (right-hand side), but it’s all part of the same residential neighborhood just north of the historic center. The main thoroughfares are the Passeig de Gràcia, the Rambla Catalunya, the Gran Via Corts Catalanes, and the Avinguda Diagonal. L’Eixample is a mix of residential apartment buildings, offices, businesses, stores, bars, and restaurants. Here you’ll find the most important Modernista buildings, including Gaudí’s La Pedrera and Casa Batlló. The neighborhood is also packed with tourist accommodations (hotels, B&Bs, rental apartments).

Where to stay in this neighborhood – Zoo Rooms

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Gràcia – north and a little to the east of L’Eixample. This area is absolutely adored by young Barcelonians and expats alike. Once a very traditional neighborhood, you’ll still find older locals mixed in with the artsy, bohemian types who are flocking here. You won’t find many “tourist sites” in this area, but its charming streets and squares filled with terrace (outdoor) bars offer good nightlife and food, and the interesting little shops are great for a not-so-touristy souvenir to take home. Being less touristy than the historic center of neighboring L’Eixample, you will find accommodations here, but not nearly as many.

Where to stay in this neighborhood – Angie’s Gràcia Attic Guestroom

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Sagrada Familia – here we’ve got another confusing neighborhood-name issue. The Sagrada Familia is technically in L’Eixample, but tends to be referred to anyway as its own neighborhood. Also, nearby neighborhoods that are within walking distance of the Sagrada Familia have their own names – for example, Hospital de Sant Pau, Guinardó, or Clot – but for clarity purposes here I’ll just refer to the whole thing as “Sagrada Familia”. The main tourist site in this area is, obviously, Gaudí’s magnificent Sagrada Familia Basilica, and there’s not much else there in the way of tourist attractions. That means most tourists stay in other areas and take the metro out to see the Sagrada Familia. Besides the few blocks around the basilica, the area is mainly residential, with shops, businesses, and restaurants. Like Gràcia, you’ll find some tourist accommodations (as you will all over Barcelona) but not as many as the more central neighborhoods mentioned earlier.

Where to stay in this neighborhood – Apartamento Los Wiwoos

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It’s worth mentioning that there are, of course, plenty of other neighborhoods in Barcelona, although they aren’t as central as the ones mentioned above, and are less frequented by tourists. For instance, we work with some properties, like Anita’s B&B, in the Sant Gervasi area (kind of far out near Tibidabo mountain, but with an amazing view of the city), Poble Sec (a residential neighborhood close to Montjuïc), and the Olimpic Port area (a kind of industrial-looking residential neighborhood, but super close to the beaches and Barceloneta). If you’re considering accommodation in an area that’s not mentioned above, just take a look at the map of Barcelona: if it falls within the boundaries of a tourist map, or if it’s close to a metro stop, you’ll be just fine.

Some notes on Barcelona’s fantastic public transport system:

-The metro is extensive, with 11 different lines going throughout the city and into the surrounding areas. There are close to a hundred bus lines which also cover places the metro doesn’t quite get to.
-In my experience, the buses and metro are clean and safe, and staff is pretty helpful.
-The metro is super easy to navigate; ticket machines are self-evident (and you can choose English), and there are maps everywhere clearly indicating where you have to go. The bus system is a little trickier, but if you get a bus map or ask the driver or a local, you’ll get where you want to go.
-Both the metro and buses run until late. You can easily get back to your accommodations after a late dinner and a leisurely stroll around the city. If you’re planning on partying into the night, you’ll probably need to grab a taxi back (which is cheap in Barcelona).
-Both buses and metro are rather efficient. Metros go by every few minutes, with wait times updated to the second on screens over the platform. Buses go by pretty frequently too and you can use your smartphone to easily get wait time updates.

If it sounds like I’m raving… well, maybe I am just a tiny bit. After years of living in Rome, the public transport system in Barcelona really is impressive to me. The point, though, is that it’s so easy to get around the city at almost any time of day that you can really stay anywhere you want. You’re not confined to the historic center because it’s too much of a pain to get back and forth from other areas, as you are in some big cities. This, in turn, means that accommodations are spread out all over the city rather than just being concentrated downtown. In fact, from my experience and research, it seems that the residential L’Eixample neighborhood has more hotels, B&Bs, and rental apartments than the historic center does.

Rome is a city that really needs to be visited on foot, out in the open. From March through October, and especially in the summer when the sun doesn’t go down until after 9pm or even later, Rome is full of places to sit outside and people watch; have a drink and simply soak up the ambiance and the view of beautiful colored buildings crumbling away. That’s when this city is at its best.

When it’s cold and wet and grey – it’s another story. That’s when I truly feel the shortage of “cafe culture” – cute little places to just sit and kill time, perhaps read some of my book or catch up on some emails on my phone. Most restaurants are closed between meal times, and when they are open, they’re generally full of customers eating, and/or not really designed for the lingerer who wants to just have a tea and maybe something sweet. There are many bars with outdoor seating that are inviting, but most are dismal and boring indoors, designed for the quick caffé/espresso-at-the-bar crowd. And Roman bars aren’t the place for tea time.

Here’s a few exceptions, scattered around the city:

1. 2Periodico Cafe – Via Leonina 77, Monti – open all day

Located in the hip neighborhood of Monti, between Termini station and the Colosseum, this eclectic little place was converted from what was once a car mechanic. The Monti area was recently used for shooting in Woody Allen’s “To Rome with Love”, due to its quaint, cobblestone streets and ivy covered buildings.  For Italian speakers, this is a good review from the Puntarella Rossa blog.  Or connect with them through their facebook page.

My favorite places to stay in the neighborhood are:  Appartamento Baccina and Appartamento Urbana

2. Caffé Propaganda – Via Claudia 15, Celio (Colosseum) – open from 12pm to 2am

This very stylish cafe is a great place for a beautiful cocktail like you’ve never experienced.  You’re on holiday, it’s ok to start drinking at 4pm.  More info on their website.

Without a doubt my favorite place to stay in the neighborhood is the Appartamento Colosseo.

3. S.a.i.d – Via Tiburtina 135, San Lorenzo – open for lunch and dinner.

Once Rome’s oldest chocolate factory, opened in 1923, S.a.i.d is a restaurant and chocolate shop.  Also a good place in the winter to enjoy a hot chocolate.  Overpriced hot chocolate, but great atmosphere.

Best apartment in the neighborhood the beautiful 3 bedroom Appartamento San Lorenzo.

4. Bartaruga – Piazza Mattei 9, Jewish Ghetto – open from 6pm

Located in a 16th century piazza with the Fontana delle Tartarughe (Turtle Fountain).  This ‘salotto’ in the Jewish Ghetto is a good place to park it on one of their cushy couches, drink a prosecco (Venetian sparkling wine) and listen to someone play the piano (if the grumpy bar guy allows it).

One of my favorite places on Cross-Pollinate is also here in the ghetto, the Casa al Portico.

5. Salotto Caronte – Via Machiavelli 23, Esquilino (Piazza Vittorio) – open from 7pm

Half restaurant and half ‘salotto’, this place is very un-Roman in all the right ways.  Located where there’s virtually no other night life, this spot will make you instantly feel like you’re in the know.

Some equally stylish digs nearby are Frank’s House B&B and Millefiori Guestrooms

6. Etablì – Via delle Vacche 9, Piazza Navona – open from 6:30pm

Restaurant and wine bar, it used to be open during the day as well (and hopefully will be again) as it was a nice place for afternoon tea.

Nearby apartments:  Appartamento Banchi Vecchi, Appartamento Navona al Tevere, and Appartamento Piazza Navona

7. Vert Cafe – Via Anton Giulio Barrili 47-47/a, Monteverde Vecchio – open from 7:30 am to 9:30 pm

I’m throwing this in as I recently read this convincing review from friend and Rome expert, Gillian McGuire.  Soups, salads, sandwiches and American style sweets.

Just down the street is the adorable Honey Rooms B&B.

by Steven Brenner

What’s the best, most central neighborhood in a city that spans over 2,000 square miles and has almost 3,000 years of history?  Well, the first hurdle to get over is the idea of there being one “center” to this city and one “best” area.  Many consider Sultanahmet the center of Istanbul – and although it’s a logical base to visit the main, historic sites from, it’s hardly the most interesting part of the city (unless you want chain-hotels and tourist restaurants).  Many first timers choose Sultanahmet for the convenience, but Istanbul is a pretty easy city to get around in, so don’t be afraid to use public transport, and taxis are cheap.   Istanbul is also one of the most vibrant, interesting cities I know and worth staying in a neighborhood that combines both the old and new, a neighborhood that feels like “home” base.

One such neighborhood, perhaps my favorite in Istanbul, is Cihangir (pronounced gee-hun-gear). This district was named by Suleiman the Magnificent during the 16th century after his son, the crown prince Cihangir, in order to compensate for the fact that he was deformed.  It means, “Conquerer”.

Throughout the decades, Cihangir has become a center of multiculturalism; it is still very popular among the very crowded expat community in Istanbul.  Like any other district famed for its “bohemian” qualities, Cihangir went through the stages of respectable, classic, nostalgic and now it’s part of Istanbul’s new “chic” areas, with countless cafes, and loads of great apartments for short term stays.

Currently a famous Turkish sitcom, Yalan Dünya (World of Lies), uses the district as a background to the artsy, funky, the not so traditional characters on the show.

Cihangir lies very close to the Bosphorus (Istanbul Strait) and the Golden Horn and since the neighborhood is up on a hill, many apartments and cafes have views of the Bosphorus and the Asian skyline.  Moreover, it is only a 5 minute walk away from Istiklal Street – a total madhouse of shops, pubs and clubs that never dies down, no matter what the hour.

Just before opening up to Istiklal Street, Taksim Square is the final destination of many bus lines, as well as the metro system. You will find your way to the Atatürk airport easily whether you want to use the direct private bus lines (Havas or Havatas), or the metro to get there.  However, a new building project is trying to move all the traffic around Taksim Square below ground allowing for better pedestrian access.  So depending on the time of your arrival you might be in for a surprise.  The project is planned to be completed by August, 2013.

Cihangir is a neighborhood that needs to be lived in, not just visited from somewhere else in the city.  It’s a place to come home to after a day of sightseeing in Sultanahmet and the best place to wake up to and go out for a hearty Turkish breakfast.

Some of our favorite local spots:

Susam Cafe – great local hangout.  Good for coffee or drinks any time of day.

Van Kahvaltı Evi – The best place for breakfast.

White Mill Cafe – Great place for a drink on their terrace.

Firuzağa Kavesi – The quintessential neighborhood tea house.

Pazi Yemek Evi – Simple, cheap and good food.