Miscellaneous Forum

i´m in and i´m interested if i can fit it in to my work schedule.

and i think we should try to make it somewhere an airport with either lot´s of flights from around the world or an airport that serves budget airlines cause that would make it easier to bring in some people from other countries.

The first choice I thought of was Milan. They have 3 airports served by regular and low cost carriers. Verona or Bologna maybe (dunno the airport situation tho)? I have only been to Rome, sorry if my suggestions are off limits. If it's on a weekend and I can fit it in, I'd be happy to join.

´somehwere near milano would be good i think, but mabye milano in itself would be a little too big. venice and bologna airport are served by fairly cheap airlines from copenhagen, but i don´t know what that is like for other countries.

I hope you meant Verona because Michele doesn't want Venice in that list hehehe. As for me, I'd have to connect somewhere to go to Bologna or Verona, but maybe I could fly in to Milan and take the train from there? Perhaps the best would be finding a small town/suburb close to Milan, so that people would fly in to any of the 3 airports.

i agree with michele that venice is not the best choice. i have been there 4 times myself and i am a much bigger fan of some of the lesser known places in italy. but flying in to venice airport and then having the meeting somehwere in the region could be ok i think.

You might've got something there.

As some of you may know, I love Milan! It is so much richer than most people think. It's true that it may be too big for a week-end meetting but I don't think staying in a suburb is a good idea (and it depends on what 'suburb' means to you in this case). There are many beautiful middle-size cities we could choose: in Lombardy: Bergamo, Brescia, Pavia, Cremona, Varese, Mantova... in Veneto: Verona, Vicenza, Padova, Treviso, Rovigo (ehm, sorry... I had to mention my hometown which is quite nice, actually, but maybe not big enough...) and some minor towns; in Emilia-Romagna: Bologna, Ferrara (I've been there tons of times though...), Parma, Piacenza, Modena, Ravenna; in Friuli-Venezia Giulia: Trieste, Udine, Gorizia, Pordenone and minor towns. Not all of them are close to an airport, though...

we have a couple of local members in the area around Emilia-Romagna who would mabye like to join if it was around there.

Another idea: how about somewhere in the vicinity of Garda Lake? As long as there's easy and not too long connections by train/bus/car (for those who drive), the lack of an airport very *close* to the town isn't too much of a problem, I think. For me the thing to work out is how to get there in a timely manner, if I have to connect somewhere in Europe because I'd most likely not have a full weekend. With that said, I think you, Michele, should be the one making the choice(s). I'm sure that by choosing the right place, people will show up.

What dates are you thinking of? I'm hoping to be there in October.

i think october could be a good month. and now that michele says that he likes milano and seem to know the place then it is mabye not so bad having it there mabye. i have only been to milano once and that was a very brief visit where i saw very little.

bookmarked :-)

I'm glad my idea about Milan has met approval and not the protests I expected (of the "Milan-is-ugly-and-there-is-nothing-to-see" kind)! I hope I will not be available in October. Sorry if it sounds weird, but I have applied for a traineeship at an Italian embassy abroad, and if ever I am accepted, it will be from September to December. I think I will know if they take me within June.

late august could mabye also be an option but i will also have to wait and see what happens workwise, but i should know that in a few days i think.

Milan sounds perfect as far as transportation ... but how about having the actual meet a quick train ride north in Varenna - this would be SO awesome! I liked Milan, but being up by the lakes with the little bars and the water and the hiking up the mountain sounds neat. Where's Maurizio ... he had been talking about an Italy meet too! What do you think about Varenna? I have vacation days and miles!

we could mabye do one day in varenna and one day in milano.

Milano will be perfect for me, I could take a direct flight :)) I don't know much of Italy (shame on me, is a short flight from here) so I'm definitely interested. Michele: hopefully you're NOT available in October, best of luck!

I will happily come to Italy - I've never been so I will come anywhere!

I will be happy to join you if my job allows me. For instance in October I already know that I will be away from the 14th to the 17th.

Haha Michele it seems it will not be small VT meet because of your post here

I fear you may be right, Yana... I'll have to choose a date when most people are not available, lol.

as long as it´s not a big official meet then i dont think we will have more than 25 people attending and as long as you call the meet with just 2-3 months notice then there won´t be a huge crowd and some of the people who replied in this thread will probaply not be able to attend anyway. but there should be some coming of course for it to be fun and meet some new people. i was at a really nice small meet in lisbon last week by the way where we were 6 members meeting up.

yes most of us answering here may not be able to come anyway, but we'd like too :)

Just last month I stayed a night in Milan because of the ash cloud. If you make it Milan, please check that there is no trade-fair just then because accomodation prices triple!! What about Como? Easy to reach by fast and local train from Milan. Lake Como instead of Lake Garda.

I like the idea of having Milan as the gateway airport, and then whether we do the meet there or at any location within a quick train ride, that's another thing. Let's see what happens with this when Michele gets an answer about his traineeship (good luck!) so that we can work out a weekend that suits us =)

Milan (and Venice, Marco Polo or Treviso) are good for UK budget flights.

Varenna is off Lake Como - you can take the train to Tirano from Milano Centrale station and get off in Varenna. On the way back you can sail on the lake to Como, from there take the train into Milano - Cadorna. Works well ... but one day is not really enough to see both Varenna and Como.

Hello everybody, I am interested in joining this meeting as long as my work schedule allows it. What about Meran or Bolzano? *bookmark* HORSCHECK

Bolzano and Merano would be two interesting town to visit. There ae many trains connecting these every day. What about meeting in Valeggio sul Mincio? This was the site of the first Euro VT meeting. Accomodations there aren't expensive.