If you could spend a month in southern Italy (and thereabouts) or Australia, which one would you pick, and why?
Dream Vacation
- Thread starter Fruitbat
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I would 100% pick Australia! I grew up obsessed with the Animal Planet television channel and I love everything about the Australian wildlife. I would have to visit the zoo that Steve Irwin worked at, he was a big hero of little kid me!
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Australia!
Way more interesting and different stuff, much bigger country with lots more options (though yes, lots of it is kind of empty desert, still). Italy has a lot of art, but it's also easier to get to any other time. The animals alone in Australia (though I would not go to a zoo).
In Oz can also go to NZ, could go to ANTARCTICA more easily.
I would only go to Australia in southern h. winter though.
Way more interesting and different stuff, much bigger country with lots more options (though yes, lots of it is kind of empty desert, still). Italy has a lot of art, but it's also easier to get to any other time. The animals alone in Australia (though I would not go to a zoo).
In Oz can also go to NZ, could go to ANTARCTICA more easily.
I would only go to Australia in southern h. winter though.
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That's a poser, all right. Certain parts of Australia hold a lot of appeal—primarily because friends there and I could probably hop over to New Zealand to see friends there, too. Buuut, southern Italy (far less touristy than northern Italy) appeals to me too. Decisions, decisions.
Well, there ya go: we could meet up there and that'd solve part of the "Australia problem".
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I'd go with the less popular option and say Southern Italy. It's likely to be less hot, less bugs and things, and a lot of culture and old history. But those are my things.
Basically, go to Australia if you want a city break with pubs, clubs, BBQ's, the ocean, the beach and swimming pools.
Go to Italy if you rich culture, history, a more unusual vacation setting, brilliant food and wine(? I'm guessing)
Basically, go to Australia if you want a city break with pubs, clubs, BBQ's, the ocean, the beach and swimming pools.
Go to Italy if you rich culture, history, a more unusual vacation setting, brilliant food and wine(? I'm guessing)
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I'm...guessing you haven't been to either location.
Which is, I suppose, the point of the thread. Carry on.
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I'm curious. Have you ever actually been to Australia? Coz that's a kind of, um, stereotyped view of what "Australia" is.
Also ... what do you mean by "history"? Coz ours goes back 60,000+ years...
I preferred my visit to Australia over my visit to Italy, but then I did stay significantly longer down under (two weeks versus two days). Australia has the sort of weather and landscape I enjoy, and being a monolingual numpty I found it much easier to get by with only English.
However, my partner is the sort of tourist who keeps art galleries in business, and he vastly prefers Italy.
However, my partner is the sort of tourist who keeps art galleries in business, and he vastly prefers Italy.
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Australia. I've been reading Gerald Murnane and would love to go off and try to discover his landscapes. As one reviewer puts it, 'The Plains invites, even requires, the reader to re-imagine “Australia”, “nation”, “land” and “home”, concepts that float at the edge of a narrative at the centre of which lies the ache of exile and displacement.'
On the other hand, pasta. Risotto. Slow Food in Puglia. Pizza. Lasagna. Limoncello in Campania. Olive groves.
The life of the mind may not be enough to sustain body and soul.
On the other hand, pasta. Risotto. Slow Food in Puglia. Pizza. Lasagna. Limoncello in Campania. Olive groves.
The life of the mind may not be enough to sustain body and soul.
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Helix, you're talking to someone who watches Master Chef Australia on TV, has cookbooks by Bill Granger, Maggie Beer, David Thompson on Thai. Kylie Kwong, Donna Hay, Luke Nguyen. Brilliant recipes and I know from foodie friends how creative the restaurant scene is there in most cities.
I could also take Gerald Murnane with me to Italy, but when I'm there I slide into an overfed blissful stupor. For all I know I'd do that in Australia too!
I could also take Gerald Murnane with me to Italy, but when I'm there I slide into an overfed blissful stupor. For all I know I'd do that in Australia too!
Italy. Because there you don't get bitten, poisoned, eaten and digested by the wildlife.
No, that's drop bears you're thinking of. They just pretend to be koalas, to get you come closer.
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Every time I read something like that, I wonder at the miracle that so many of us have survived for as long as we have down here.
Ah but you're a local ,so you'll be used to it ;-) Taking precautions and whatnot.
Not like us tourists who will insist on going off into the bush wearing flip-flops and no sunscreen.
Not like us tourists who will insist on going off into the bush wearing flip-flops and no sunscreen.
Sadly, Australia no longer has the blind singer/songwriter Dr G Yunupingu who died this week, but his music is still there to be accessed. A friend in Tasmania sent me recording of his work about seven years ago and I was blown away. In South Africa we have phenomenal jazz and indigenous music traditions, but I don't know anything as purely melodic and soulful as, say, Wiyathul.