Alcohol is more reasonable in most countries than this due to taxation and duties we impose on alcohol. A lot of things in France cost more but you can buy reasonably priced wine. You can also pay a fortune for it as well as beer in restaurants and bars. When I first ventured abroad in the 1960s the price of beer in a bar was horrific compared to here. This was put down to there being waiter service there and bars open longer. Now we still queue at the bar to get served and 90% of pubs are open for a whole 30 minutes longer and we are paying more than the Dutch, Belgians and Germans do for an often better product. All down to our ever increasing taxes and duties on alcohol.
I've never been to a game in Italy. My Italian distributor was a Roma fan and I was supposed to go to a game with him, but he turned into a **** and knocked me for €35k, so I hope they get relegated and a stand collapses on him.
Have they built a new stadium? Or are you being ironic? The sight lines there are just about the worst of any stadium. How they create such a great atmosphere there is a mystery. Just shows that roofs, acoustics, being close to pitch etc aren't what matters. People opening their mouths are. Always followed them since City them in the 1970s. They wore a white kit but I saw one of their violet kits they had with them and thought it looked great. Florence is supposedly the only major Italian city without a Juventus supporters club. Four or five times one was built. And each time it was torched.
Not ironic at all, the end I was at was brilliant. Really great facilities and a brilliant view. Obviously they werent high-end seats and maybe we got lucky where we were sat but the facilities were comparable with any 'cheap end' I've been in at the Premier League and it was less than £20 to get in. Maybe it was renovated as I said about Napoli earlier.
Don't think it has had much done to it for years. Probably over 20 years or more. I was surprised to read once that what to me looks a bit of a ramshackle mish mash of a place when you see it on TV was designed by a major award-winning architect in the 1930s. Don't think the modern "footie" spectator would like that stadium. Miles from the pitch, posts and nets in the way, no roof to protect you from the elements. Fiorentina fans don't tend to,sit there in silence, demanding to be entertained before getting behind them either. Which end were you at? please log in to view this image
When backpacking around Italy in the 70's, it was cheaper to buy wine than water. That was our excuse to use it for teeth cleaning!!
We took the train from Sorrento to Naples and it was one of the most intimadating journeys I have been on. A group of of Italian teenage boys and girls boarded at one of the beach resorts and proceeded to vandalise the train and spray graffitti on the train walls. The train was packed with Italians adults who all just did nothing. I was a bit shocked because I thought Italian society was based on respect for family and elders.
Same here - the spicy tomato spaghetti and tiramisu were like little pieces of heaven. I liked Florence. Scooter riders on the other hand were completely mental.
