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By TheophileEscargot (Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 10:20:23 AM EST) Me, Italy (all tags)
Italy trip. Me. Turner prize.

Italy trip
Booked the hotels now. Montebello Splendid in Florence, Tiziano in Rome. Vague misgivings about the Montebello: it's a bit away from the centre, and has mixed-ish reviews suggesting snooty staff. Wanted somewhere quiet and with room service though. Will let you know.

Also got some money out. Have similar misgivings over money. Not sure whether my debit card will work (Trenitalia rejected it). Meant to get traveller's cheques as well as cash in case of theft, but the bank would have had to order them, so I just got cash. Really hope I'm not robbed.

Planning to get the new rucksack sometime. It was annoying: one shop had a really helpful, knowledgeable guy coping well with simultaneous customers, but they really have the right bag. The shop that did have a suitable-looking bag had a barely-coherent saleswoman who kept trying to sell me a mountaineering pack instead. Why can't the good guys win?

Me: Work
Last day at work tomorrow. No way project of doom is going to go live: having a meeting tomorrow to explain why. All the outstanding bugs are pretty much fixed, but we haven't had an environment to test on so I expect new ones to be found.

Expect business are going to be furious: not looking forward to it. Feel like I've let everyone down: we've hit so many more problems with the front-end systems than I expected and the project's very late.

Turner Prize
Totally failed to call it this year: Tomma Abts the painter got it. I thought Phil Collins would win, liked Mark Titchener's stuff best.

Interesting article by one of the judges. Definitely seems true that: "It is part of the mystique of 'edgy' galleries to hide in warehouses and lock-ups with no visible means of ingress." We totally failed to find all but one open East End gallery when we tried one weekend, despite a map.

< Her name is Violet . .. | BBC White season: 'Rivers of Blood' >
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- I will be satisfied with the Montebello Splendid 40%
- I will regret booking the Montebello Splendid 20%
- - 0%
- I will be satisfied with the Tiziano 40%
- I will regret booking the Tiziano 0%
- - 0%
- I will be satisfied with cash and my single debit card 40%
- I will regret not getting traveller's cheques 60%
- - 0%
- Turner prize decision was good 20%
- Turner prize decision was bad 0%
- - 0%
- I find it difficult to locate the entrances to edgy East End art galleries 40%
- I do not find it difficult to locate the entrances to edgy East End art galleries 0%
- Fuck off you pretentious bastard 60%

Votes: 5
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Related Links
- Montebello Splendid
- Tiziano
- reviews
- Tomma Abts
- I thought
- by one of the judges
- TheophileEscargot's Diary
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Turn, turn, turn | 13 comments (13 topical, 0 hidden)
An Italian hotel with snooty staff? by TurboThy (4.00 / 2) #1 Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 11:37:28 AM EST
Outrageous.

Money: Oh, if we had only joined the €-zone.
__
Sommerhus til salg, første række til Kattegat.

Robbed in Rome by Herring (4.00 / 2) #2 Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 12:32:43 PM EST
Herring tips (based on one short visit): do not eat near anywhere famous (e.g. vatican, piazza navona, coloseum) unless you want food that is crap, expensive or both.

The best place Mrs. H. and I found was down a dodgy looking alley near our hotel (near the basilica santa maria maggiore). There's also a Plastic Paddy's down that way if you're inclined.

Rome in general has so much damned fine stuff to look at that you could spend ages there. Also is has a good collection of ways to rip off tourists.

Must see: Coluseo, Vatican Museum, Forum.

You can't inspire people with facts
- Small Gods

yup by komet (4.00 / 4) #5 Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 01:32:51 PM EST
as everywhere in the world, the trick to eating well is to go where the locals go. One trick I have used is to wait outside a bank or insurance company at midday and follow the clerical staff or mid-management to see where they have their lunch break, and eat there in the evening.

--
<ni> komet: You are functionally illiterate as regards trashy erotica.
[ Parent ]
Gastrostalking! I like it by TheophileEscargot (4.00 / 3) #8 Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 08:31:39 PM EST
I might do it from behind a newspaper with eyeholes cut in.
--
It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?
[ Parent ]
don't you have VISA in britain? by martingale (4.00 / 3) #3 Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 01:16:27 PM EST
Forget travellers's cheques and loads of cash. All you need is a VISA card and you can get money from any of about a million ATMs.
--
$E(X_t|F_s) = X_s,\quad t > s$
My debit card worked in Central Europe by Greener (4.00 / 1) #4 Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 01:31:25 PM EST
and Southeast Asia. Most bank ATMs worldwide are on both the Cirrus and Plus networks. If you have one of those logos on the back of your card it should work fine. I can't use it to make a purchase in any shops outside Canada but stopping at a bank machine every couple days is less of a hassle than cashing traveller's cheques.

[ Parent ]
trust me by martingale (4.00 / 1) #6 Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 01:48:20 PM EST
the by far most widespread logo on ATMs in Rome is VISA. As long as Theo has that symbol on it (whether credit or debit) he'll be fine. Any other symbol, he might have to go looking for the right ATM (he'll certainly find it, but it's a small hassle).
--
$E(X_t|F_s) = X_s,\quad t > s$
[ Parent ]
My sole debit card is Visa by TheophileEscargot (2.00 / 0) #7 Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 08:28:44 PM EST
But Trenitalia repeatedly rejected it as Not Valid. Not sure if the PIN and security code systems are the same.
--
It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?
[ Parent ]
can't buy tickets on the web? by martingale (4.00 / 1) #9 Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 09:57:24 PM EST
Do you have some kind of daily limit? No idea. But Rome in the location where you're staying has ATMs on virtually every street, so I wouldn't worry.
--
$E(X_t|F_s) = X_s,\quad t > s$
[ Parent ]
Cash machines by nebbish (4.00 / 1) #10 Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 11:46:29 PM EST
They charge you a bit but it's much less hassle.

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It's political correctness gone mad!

Oh and... by nebbish (4.00 / 1) #11 Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 11:53:46 PM EST
Hiding art galleries for mystique? Bollocks. A lot of them are like that out of neccesity. I've got a mate who runs a squatted gallery/studios in Bethnal Green, it's down an alley and through a hidden door but that's because it's all he can get. I'm surprised she doesn't even entertain the idea that cost might be a factor.

And of course most of the art is going to be shit. Quality is always rare.

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It's political correctness gone mad!

Gallery by TheophileEscargot (2.00 / 0) #12 Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 11:15:25 AM EST
Well, you'd think some of them would be non-squats, and would have a little nameplate or piece of paper or sticker saying "Such-and-Such Gallery. Closed Every Day But Tuesday. Unless We're Hungover Then Too."

Not that I'm bitter at being too uncool to find them...
--
It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?

[ Parent ]
Heh by nebbish (2.00 / 0) #13 Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 01:10:18 AM EST
To be honest I haven't seen any of these East End galleries she's on about so I wouldn't know. It's hard enough dragging myself to the Tate never mind putting some real effort in.

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It's political correctness gone mad!

[ Parent ]
Turn, turn, turn | 13 comments (13 topical, 0 hidden)

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