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 "Il Buon Gustaio" (Bar Rudy) on Via Val di Lima (road to Abetone) is excellent and excellent value for money. They serve lunch menus for 9.50 euros. It is all homemade and their "gelato" is excellent. Also, "Il Cavallino Bianco" in Benabbio (they used to be in Boveglio).  

I agree with Sprostoni, personal experiences, personal choices. What is right for one person may be wrong for the other. This is why we should not generalize. Italy has plenty of wonderful regions to choose from and, as I always say: Ubi bene, ibi patria. (Where I feel good, there is my home)

Here is some information from Trenitalia about what can go wrong with online payments:

Brian, you must be speaking about Emilia Romagna.... aren't you? Well, I like Modena, we usually go for a day visit to Modena or even Bologna.... but I would rather stay in Bagni di Lucca. Where else could you be 25 minutes from Lucca, 40 minutes from Pisa and just over an hour from Florence. And you can go to the coast (have you visited the Cinque Terre, Lerici, Porto Venere?) or to Abetone in winter if you like skiing. Backwards?...I do not understand what you mean by that. High prices? I must agree with Flip, change your favourite restaurant (I think that I know which one you are talking about....) and "rediscover" the area. P.S. By the way, when you mention "Correglia" are you talking about Coreglia Antelminelli? Should that be the case, I have news for you, it is located in Lucca Province, part of Tuscany.... Modena is Emilia Romagna.

Moderators, moderators.... do we really need them? Thank you for the compliment, Phillide, but I think that you are reminiscing Ancient History , also called the old forum, here... Sorry, I am also becoming a bit flippant, it must be old age crawling  (These smileys are awful!!! Sorry Flip, I am disgressing, but I just noticed it)

An excellent article. recommended reading. Thanks Anne.

I would call this a "flippant" remark.  No offence intended, of course...

This time, we purchased a TIM CHIAVETTA with a special offer. It was 59 euros for 3 months unlimited use, including the chiavetta.

We drive at least twice a year and it is a pleasant trip. Our home in Spain is in San Sebastian, so we go accross the Spanish/French border and drive on the E80 up to Montpellier and from there to Cannes or Antibes where we overnight. We stop several times on our way and sometimes we go to Carcasonne (absolutely beautiful) for lunch. Next day, to Bagni di Lucca but taking it easy and we may stop at Portofino or Santa Margherita for lunch. We have never taken the ferry as we travel with our little dog and she prefers to be all the time with us. If there are two people driving you could do the trip in one day, but we prefer it this way and take it as part of our holiday. If you need further information, just ask.

We have been regularly travelling to Italy from Spain and our car has Spanish plates. From our experience, police has never bothered about us, although my ½ûÂþÌìÌà neighbour warned me that they seem to be stopping more people for any reason... I would also say that this particular policeman was having a bad day.