Barcelona, Milan, or Rome?

Ian_J

Ian_J

Hubschrauber Flieger
My last crowd sourced destination turned out wonderfully and y’all sent me to Brussels and it was awesome.

This month I’ve got my second to last 787 trip going to Auckland which I’m super excited about.

June will be my last 787 trip and I’ve narrowed it down to Milan, Barcelona, or Rome and want to get JC’s opinion. (Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, and Seoul are also options but just harder to do from the east coast).
 
Ian_J said:
My last crowd sourced destination turned out wonderfully and y’all sent me to Brussels and it was awesome.

This month I’ve got my second to last 787 trip going to Auckland which I’m super excited about.

June will be my last 787 trip and I’ve narrowed it down to Milan, Barcelona, or Rome and want to get JC’s opinion. (Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, and Seoul are also options but just harder to do from the east coast).
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I've been to Barcelona several times on vacation, I enjoy it there a lot. Have not been to the others, but Barcelona is relatively cheap (though way more expensive than the rest of Spain) filled with history and stuff to do, the weather is basically always good, you can take the train to Madrid if you want and go to the Prado, there's a beech, La Sagrada Familia, and Catalans are just generally kind of fun.
 
I'll always be partial to Rome but I also come from there so there's an obvious bias. If you end up chosing it feel free to reach out for anything
 
I had a flight to Barcelona last month and I enjoyed it very much. There was a bit too much goat cheese for my liking though.
 
1. Barcelona (everything Gaudi, and La Sagrada Familia)
2. Rome (has some of the best (and the worst) of probably my favorite country - Italy)
3. Milan (very nice, but is mostly a modern city - the best parts of northern Italy are not conducive to get to, and back from, Milan on a short stay. If you have extended time here I would move it up to #1 on the list.)

This is one of those good-better-best type questions - all can be good, but the answer is more nuanced depending on where your interests lie, and how much time you might have there.

[Disclaimer - my perspective is not from an aircrew-on-layover perspective.]
 
Ian_J said:
My last crowd sourced destination turned out wonderfully and y’all sent me to Brussels and it was awesome.

This month I’ve got my second to last 787 trip going to Auckland which I’m super excited about.

June will be my last 787 trip and I’ve narrowed it down to Milan, Barcelona, or Rome and want to get JC’s opinion. (Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, and Seoul are also options but just harder to do from the east coast).
Click to expand...
how are you picking up these pacific destinations if you’re east coast based? i wasnt aware you could do out of base pickups for global flying due to 117 acclimation programming
 
I love Barcelona. Haven’t been to Milan. Didn’t care that much for Rome.

Rome is a bit unsettling. There’s so many places that you want to see but the city is poorly equipped to get you there. It’s just tiring and the locals aren’t especially warm and friendly. It’s dirty and smelly and running out of space for graffiti. You can spend a week in Rome and not feel connected to anything. That said, I have Catholic friends that love Rome for reasons of which I have no interest

On the other hand, I found Barcelona to be charming. I loved the locals as they seemed to like sharing their city with visitors. You can spend a few days in Barcelona and feel like you “get” Barcelona.

It could be that it just takes more time and effort to fall in love with Rome. Maybe a month’s stay and the guidance of new Roman friends.

If you talk about a week in Rome, you’re likely to recite a list of interesting places you visited. If you visit Barcelona, you are more likely to describe it in more cultural or emotional terms.
 
///AMG said:
haha, I'll take IAD pls.....have friends there that I won't be able to see
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On the plus side the chicken and gyro place that’s across the street but still a mile walk because of terrible pedestrian infrastructure is pretty good
 
Roger Roger said:
On the plus side the chicken and gyro place that’s across the street but still a mile walk because of terrible pedestrian infrastructure is pretty good
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my lord, that walk is absurd. I'm not kidding that I got the two of us an uber because it was too confusing and we walked too far in the wrong direction that one time
 
BobDDuck said:
This is why a lot of your soon to be brothers and sisters are very concerned about the merger.
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I think the other half of us are entirely on the same page as you. I think. Perhaps we can make lemons into lemonade here?
 
BobDDuck said:
This is why a lot of your soon to be brothers and sisters are very concerned about the merger.
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Yes. As someone whos company got bought by the eskimo, it will suck. The way it is today will cease to exist, I liked my previous reality better too fwiw.

But the aquiring pilot group is 20% understanding, having gone through it recently.
 
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I would not recommend Rome in June due to the crowds. However, it’s a wonderful place to visit in the off season (e.g., December).

You could visit Milan and pursue some themes, such as food, museums, and architecture. The town has a lot to offer and it would be easy to spend a couple of weeks exploring inside city limits. Stanley Tucci did an episode in Milan and it might give you a feel for the food opportunities. Anthony Bourdain did an episode in the region and it might be useful, too.
 
///AMG said:
haha omg I want to frame this on my "first world quandaries" wall. I think you win with any of these choices. Can't even imagine if my trip choices included such fare. That being said, what is after the 787? Does this mean 777?
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Sadly no. Against all manner of common sense, I’m transitioning to the left seat on the guppy.

bimmerphile said:
how are you picking up these pacific destinations if you’re east coast based? i wasnt aware you could do out of base pickups for global flying due to 117 acclimation programming
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I do LOSA work for ALPA so I can really go anywhere. Some rest rules apply but everything is technically a deadhead.
 
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Ian_J said:
Sadly no. Against all manner of common sense, I’m transitioning to the left seat on the guppy.


I do LOSA work for ALPA so I can really go anywhere. Some rest rules apply but everything is technically a deadhead.
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Can’t wait for the sequel threads coming up…”I’m on reserve and have to chose between Ontario, CA or OKC”
 
Ian_J said:
Sadly no. Against all manner of common sense, I’m transitioning to the left seat on the guppy.


I do LOSA work for ALPA so I can really go anywhere. Some rest rules apply but everything is technically a deadhead.
Click to expand...
ah ok
point of order, LOSA is run by the company and the association approves of it because it’s safety related, it’s not an ALPA program
 
It probably would depend on how much time you would have on the layover.

I like the culture and food of Barcelona. It has architecture to see, La Rambla is pretty cool, and the beach is great!

I found Milan to be ok. The food was great but it was more of a modern city like others have mentioned. If you have time, you could take the train to Lake Como. I’ve done it in a 24 hour layover but it makes for a pretty long day and we still didn’t explore a whole lot but we did take a boat trip around the lake!

I have not done Rome yet so I don’t have an opinion on it but it is on my list to do eventually!
 
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