Italy or France?

crockholm

Lars1916 wrote: »

Munich

/Thread

still sore huh?:D:D:D





:pac:

Tony EH

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Uhu? What's particularly bad down there?

It's an absolute kip. Google "Naples is a ****hole", or any derivative thereof.

We basically only used it as a base for traveling around the Amalfi coast, but it was a real eye opener.

Lucena

Hoop66 wrote: »

People called Romanes, they go, the house?

In response to post n°19, always funny people telling you where to go and making a balls of it.

losthorizon

Yakult wrote: »

France of course. Terrible accents and terrible food.

Terrible Food?


Fantastic country. Friendly people, loads to do there, different from region to region, great weather and great wine and food.

Never mind the relaxed pace of life. Probably my favourite country in the world. Pity about their foreign policy though - its worse than Americas and thats saying something.

Birroc

Italy is class!!!

Food, wine, weather, food, lakes, ice cream, sun, mountains, food.

smurgen

Tony EH wrote: »

It's an absolute kip. Google "Naples is a ****hole", or any derivative thereof.

We basically only used it as a base for traveling around the Amalfi coast, but it was a real eye opener.

The rubbish problem there is like something you'd see in the slums of new Delhi

grenache

wendell borton wrote: »

If you were propositioned by a deranged criminal mastermind, who is about to launch a weapon of mass destruction, what your least favoured country is what would your answer be?

OP you've got problems if you dislike both France & Italy! The two most fascinating, stunningly beautiful nations in Europe, home to the Renaissance, etc.

With some of the warmest friendliest people one could hope to meet.

Shame on you OP!

grenache

Tony EH wrote: »

You haven't been to Napoli then.

:cool:

A kip? are you blind or just ignorant?! Napoli is stunning. None of your tourist bull$hit that you get in Rome. There are plenty decent parts of Naples, you're judging the whole city on a few bad parts that you've seen. If you took the Camorra out of the place, it would undoubtedly be Europe's most beautiful city.

Capt'n Midnight

Kichote wrote: »

Italy
-Nice byors
-Nice pressure washer pumps (Annovi reverberi)
-Unga bunga
-Property tax recently abolished in parts
-Cars are less boring than those made by PSA/Renault

If i had the chance I'd move to Italy in de morning

Have you ever had to deal with city hall in Italy ?

Plan on spending a full day filling in forms and looking for offices on the third floor of random buildings on the other side of town. Bonus marks because you have to buy stamps to put on many of the forms and that's another trip back to the post office queue.

Capt'n Midnight

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Italy, payback for WWII

From September 1943 the Italians fought on the allied side.

But you knew that.



Split the difference and nuke Switzerland. It's got Italian and French speakers. (and while we are dragging up WWII it's got Germans too)

In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock

Legs.Eleven

Two great countries. Couldn't choose. Two people with class, style, sophistication, great food, beautiful countries and great languages. I plan to be from one of those countries in my next life.

crockholm

"La Marseillaise" is a fine rousing chant to get the blood boiling,whereas the Italian National Anthem is like something you would hear at a circus

Micky Dolenz

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

From September 1943 the Italians fought on the allied side.

Yeah, after an allied invasion, they surrendered and jumped sides.

- bo -

I'd get rid of Italy.

Couldn't say France, one side of the family are from there and they're mostly sound so it'd be a bit scabby...

IM0

italy. been to france lots of times, not just paris the whole country in depth, everything is great about it. except strikes :mad:

Tony EH

grenache wrote: »

A kip? are you blind or just ignorant?!

Neither, and I am certainly not alone in thinking that way. If you've seen a different side to Napoli, then more power to you. But from what I experienced, I most definitely would not recommended it to anyone, except as a jumping off spot for somewhere else.

Not only was it a kip, it was dangerous too. Drugs were being sold, practically in the open, when we stopped off at a McDonalds on Garibaldi Square on a Sunday afternoon. It was the only place open.

It's a remarkable city, for all the wrong reasons.

The complete contrast to Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, etc...

grenache

Tony EH wrote: »

Neither, and I am certainly not alone in thinking that way. If you've seen a different side to Napoli, then more power to you. But from what I experienced, I most definitely would not recommended it to anyone, except as a jumping off spot for somewhere else.

Not only was it a kip, it was dangerous too. Drugs were being sold, practically in the open, when we stopped off at a McDonalds on Garibaldi Square on a Sunday afternoon. It was the only place open.

It's a remarkable city, for all the wrong reasons.

The complete contrast to Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, etc...

You're in the home of pizza, and a city with the best variation of food on the planet......and you went to McDonalds?!! :eek:


Jesus wept.

Seaneh

Italy >>>>>>>>>> France.

The people are more attractive, the country is more beautiful, the food is better (over all), the wine is just as good and the people are a lot friendlier. And besides Milan, it's a damned sight cheaper to spend a few days in.

That said, parts of France are lovely (the south for the most part and the Alps, but the alps are lovely in all the apline countries, so france can't claim that one) and parts of Italy are ****holes (I'm looking at you Turin and Genoa).

Tony EH

grenache wrote: »

You're in the home of pizza, and a city with the best variation of food on the planet......and you went to McDonalds?!! :eek:


Jesus wept.

You need to learn to read.

"It was the only place open"

Lbeard

Italy > France

DEFTLEFTHAND

grenache wrote: »

A kip? are you blind or just ignorant?! Napoli is stunning. None of your tourist bull$hit that you get in Rome. There are plenty decent parts of Naples, you're judging the whole city on a few bad parts that you've seen. If you took the Camorra out of the place, it would undoubtedly be Europe's most beautiful city.

It's the Camorra who keep it down alright, it's hard for us to understand just how powerful and influential they are over there. The waste disposal problem which blights the city is down to them choking the unions. In recent years they've illegally dumped toxic waste in the surrounding countryside which has had a devastating effect on agriculture.

It's hard to stop them, they've infiltrated local politics through vote buying, they then blackmail the city officials they get elected.

It's different to La Cosa Nostra in Sicily because their structure isn't the traditional military chain of command. There's no one leader it's split into different factions. So a piece of legislation like 'RICO' in the states for instance wouldn't be effective.

Also unlike Cosa Nostra they've no code of 'honour', they see police and prosecutors as legitimate targets to kill.

Tony EH

No doubt it was a beautiful city at one stage, but that long gone now. The place is filthy and seething with crime of various magnitudes, some of it quite open. There is an air about the place too, one of danger, aggression and caution.

The Amalfi coast is, OTOH, a lovely place. Plus the attractions of Pompeii and Herculaneum are obvious.

But, really, Naples is an absolute dive.

"See Naples and die"

starlit

France. They not make an effort to talk english. Italy nicer cities, clothes, history, geography, food, scenery and sights with exception of paris in france!

Lucena

doovdela wrote: »

France. They not make an effort to talk english. Italy nicer cities, clothes, history, geography, food, scenery and sights with exception of paris in france!

Generally because their English is poor. Don't know why people imagine French people go out of their way to inconvenience them by intentionally not speaking English to them.

BraziliaNZ

I love France. Italians are just the oddest people, all up in your grill all the time, shouting, being unruly, lazy, greasy...
France is so pretty and relaxed, at least outside the big cities. And the food is great.

laoch na mona

france i could feel good about getting rid of a few national front idiots

crockholm

I never heard of the provincialism in France until I had been there a few times, firstly it was Bretons-they said they were Breton not French,then the Corsicans ,ditto,then the Basques and finally the Catalonians. 4 times I went there and didn't meet a french person !!!!

I know Italy has a north/south divide, but are they as perfidious to their capital as the french?

hyperborean

smurgen wrote: »

The Italians on the other hand are annoying and vain and as thick as bricks. They are useless at picking up foreign languages and are culturally ignorant and Italian food within Italy is brutal. Also French women are classy while Italian women are trashy. !

Short version ( or french version )

"I have never been to Italy"

Lucena

crockholm wrote: »

I never heard of the provincialism in France until I had been there a few times, firstly it was Bretons-they said they were Breton not French,then the Corsicans ,ditto,then the Basques and finally the Catalonians. 4 times I went there and didn't meet a french person !!!!

I know Italy has a north/south divide, but are they as perfidious to their capital as the french?

Stand back from the edges and you'll be grand!

crockholm

Lucena wrote: »

Stand back from the edges and you'll be grand!

Sure,if we did that here,we'd only be left with feckin Laois and Offaly:P

Lucena

crockholm wrote: »

I know Italy has a north/south divide, but are they as perfidious to their capital as the french?

French people hate Paris, and Paris looks down on the rest of the country.

Parisians even have a word for the rest of the country: "Province".

I once had a Parisian knob-end tell me "oh you're so lucky to live in Province" as if it was an actual place. :mad:

You could be on the Côte d'Azur, in the Alps, in Brittany or Alsace, it's all 'Province' to them.

Lucena

crockholm wrote: »

Sure,if we did that here,we'd only be left with feckin Laois and Offaly:P

Nohin' wrong wit Offaly. Liam McCarthy 1981, Sam in 1982, Birr Telescope, shure it's all happenin' in Offaly.

laoch na mona

crockholm wrote: »

I never heard of the provincialism in France until I had been there a few times, firstly it was Bretons-they said they were Breton not French,then the Corsicans ,ditto,then the Basques and finally the Catalonians. 4 times I went there and didn't meet a french person !!!!

I know Italy has a north/south divide, but are they as perfidious to their capital as the french?

Catalonia is in spain man as is much of Euskal Herria

crockholm

Lucena wrote: »

French people hate Paris, and Paris looks down on the rest of the country.

Parisians even have a word for the rest of the country: "Province".

I once had a Parisian knob-end tell me "oh you're so lucky to live in Province" as if it was an actual place. :mad:

You could be on the Côte d'Azur, in the Alps, in Brittany or Alsace, it's all 'Province' to them.

The dubs of france huh,they also have a nice old town just outside of Paris called Provins (you pass fontainbleu to get there).That's what I wondered about,was there the same level of mistrust shown to Rome by the Italians as there is with the Paris/Everything outside Ile-de-France ?

crockholm

laoch na mona wrote: »

Catalonia is in spain man as is much of Euskal Herria

True,but it also creeps into French territory,namely the city of Perpignan in the Languedoc-Rouisson area,also the sister cities of Biarritz and Bayonne are in France yet also part of Euskal Herria:)

DavyD_83

I like French and Italian food!
Take Spain, Portugal or Germany.
definitely Germany actually

crockholm

DavyD_83 wrote: »

I like French and Italian food!
Take Spain, Portugal or Germany.
definitely Germany actually

Ah here now !!!

Germany pretty much has it all too,wonderful historic cities,great green countryside,clean,efficient and the opportunity to have a cracker of a half litre of beer for bout 3 euro.

There is nothing better than a late evening candle-lit stroll/march around Nurnberg :pac:

Seaneh

crockholm wrote: »

There is nothing better than a late evening candle-lit stroll/march around Nurnberg :pac:

And we have been godwinned.
Hurrah.

:P

**Vai**

Why would anyone bomb Italy or France when they have choices like Albania and Romania??? Crap poll.

Seaneh

**Vai** wrote: »

Why would anyone bomb Italy or France when they have choices like Albania and Romania??? Crap poll.

Albania is one of the most beautiful countries in Southern Europe and has been one of the top 10 destinations for travelling to for the last 3/4 years with sites like tripadvisor.

If you'd ever been to places like Berat or Gjirokastër you'd know that yourself.

crockholm

**Vai** wrote: »

Why would anyone bomb Italy or France when they have choices like Albania and Romania??? Crap poll.

Yes,lets make refugees of the Albanians and Romanians.After hours would melt

patneve2

Agree with the poster that says that Naples is an amazing city - it really is. Clean streets don't make a city amazing (Naples is filthy), but having the largest historic city centre in Europe does (1,700 hectares all listed as a unesco world heritge site)

**Vai**

Seaneh wrote: »

If you'd ever been to places like Berat or Gjirokastër you'd know that yourself.

Yeah I'd still prefer Italy or France.

grenache

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

It's the Camorra who keep it down alright, it's hard for us to understand just how powerful and influential they are over there. The waste disposal problem which blights the city is down to them choking the unions. In recent years they've illegally dumped toxic waste in the surrounding countryside which has had a devastating effect on agriculture.

It's hard to stop them, they've infiltrated local politics through vote buying, they then blackmail the city officials they get elected.

It's different to La Cosa Nostra in Sicily because their structure isn't the traditional military chain of command. There's no one leader it's split into different factions. So a piece of legislation like 'RICO' in the states for instance wouldn't be effective.

Also unlike Cosa Nostra they've no code of 'honour', they see police and prosecutors as legitimate targets to kill.

Yes I know all this and agree with you. But getting rid of the Camorra would be like the Irish ditching Fianna Fáil & Fine Gael and the whole civil war politic, it's ingrained in them. They are joined at the hip. Buy almost anything in Naples and you're funding the Camorra in one way or another. It's a vicious circle.

The ironic thing about the rubbish piles is that 90% of it isn't even Napolitan rubbish. It's rubbish that's been brought in from cities in Southern France and Northern Italy.

I've always maintained that the biggest problem in Naples and the larger Campania region, is not the Camorra, but the few bent politicians that facilitate their operations.