If Traveling In Italy, DO NOT BUY a Vodafone SIM Card For Your GSM SmartPhone

Having traveled to 39 countries, I have purchased many SIM cards for my U.S. purchased GSM phones to stay connected while on the road. Your phone must be GSM (T-Mobile, AT&T) compatible if you hope to use it anywhere outside of the United States and, if it is, all you have to do is buy a local SIM card when you arrive in a foreign country. It will cost you from nothing to $10 for the card (and local phone number) and you can get a data/voice/SMS plan with 2GB or more of 3G or 4G data (depending on country) for $10 per month and up.

I bought a TIM (Telecom Italia) SIM card when I arrived in Italy for an extended trip with 20GB of 4G data per month and 400 minutes of talk-time for just €40 per month. With the plan I can create a portable hotspot or tether my phone to my computer in order for me or anybody else to access the web via wi-fi at no additional charge. TIM has 4G-LTE, 4G, H, H+, and 3G data in many populated areas of Italy with the occasional 1G (E) in some spots, so it was very easy to access the web from my computer pretty much anywhere. 

The only downside to TIM is that they do not have an App or other easy way to access your plan in order to monitor data usage, voice minutes or SMS balances. And if you do not speak the language or find a TIM store with an English-speaking employee, you probably will not be able to figure out how to do so. After a week, I finally had a friend help me access the TIM website where you can register and monitor your account. Google even translates the page for you so you do not have to be fluent in Italian to navigate their site!

When my wife arrived in Italy (she is Italian-born), she wanted to use the Vodafone SIM from the phone that her recently deceased father used, so we went and bought a data/voice/SMS plan for her. It seemed like a good deal with 2GB of 4G data and 500 minutes of voice for just €20 per month, but you know what the say when something "seems too good to be true".

My wife was helping a friend prepare a presentation for a conference early the next morning and they needed two photos (they had forgotten at her friend's home) from the internet to finish it. I showed my wife how to create a hotspot on her new Android phone, a Motorola Moto G 4G LTE, and we downloaded two photos, taking a total of five minutes. As soon as we shut-down the hotspot, my wife received a text from Vodafone telling her that she had been charged €4 for utilizing a service not included with her phone plan. She was never warned about the potential charge or clicked on "I Accept" this charge because Vodafone simply deducted the money from her balance.

I wondered how that was possible in the first place, also wondering why Vodafone would care how she used the 2GB of data that we paid for. What does it matter if she used the data on her phone over a month or created a hotspot at the Napoli versus Roma soccer match and gobbled it up in 30 seconds? We paid for the data, so what does it matter? So we decided to visit a Vodafone store and find out what happened.

In the interim, we made a video of her friend's presentation on my wife's Moto and wanted to transfer it to my computer so I could edit it in iMovie and upload it to YouTube. Of course Apple makes it nearly impossible to use anything purchased from another company, so my Macbook Pro would not allow me to connect with her phone via Bluetooth. I finally found a forum that told me what to do and had to tether the phone to my Mac after downloading an App called Android File Transfer from the PlayStore. Success! We transferred the movie when suddenly, my wife received another text from Vodafone ... she had been charged an additional €4 for simply connecting her phone to her computer ... no hotspot created, no Vodafone data used! What the heck was going on?

Staying at her friend's apartment in Vomero, there was a Vodafone store two blocks away, so we decided to go ask about both issues. The girl behind the counter had a snooty look on her face as soon as my wife began to explain and quickly cut her off saying, in Italian of course, "you used a service not on your plan and you have to pay". We tried to reason with her, but it was obviously useless as we could tell that neither she nor Vodafone cared in the least about customer service, so we left.

BOTTOM LINE: If traveling in Italy, DO NOT BUY a Vodafone SIM Card for your GSM smartphone! I am telling you that there are many options available, including TIM, Wind and others, so utilize their services instead of Vodafone when couch surfing or surfing the internet abroad ... as I say to myself, "Is Vodafone a subsidiary of Apple, because they sure have similar business practices?"

CombatCritic Gives Vodafone A Dismal 1 Bomb Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

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Title: If Traveling In Italy, DO NOT BUY a Vodafone SIM Card For Your GSM SmartPhone

Key Words: Vodafone, Italy, telecom, plan, data, phone, smartphone, TIM, Wind, tether, mobile, hotspot, review, CombatCritic, travel, value, tech, technology, Apple, Macbook

Naples, Italy: I Have A "Hunch" You Will Like "Il Gobbetto"

Il Gobbetto

Via Sergente Maggiore 8

80132 Naples, Campania, Italy

Phone: +39 081 2512435

Prices: $$$$$

I had read the favorable reviews of Il Gobbetto, literally "The Hunchback", so we decided to have a look inside as we happened by. It is a cute little place just off Via Toledo and a stones throw from the infamous Teatro San Carlo, but a bit cramped with too many tables for the small room. It seems as though they cater to tourists as foreigners made up most of the clientele. We were squeezed into a corner table by the owner who speaks a little English, making maneuvering the elbows a little difficult.

As is usually the case, our eyes were, metaphorically speaking, bigger than our stomachs and we ended up ordering antipasti (appetizers) and primi (first courses). For my wife's antipasto she ordered the Pacchero Fritto (€3), four deep fried ??? cheese squares that were rather uninspiring. I on the other hand had l'insalata Caprese (Caprese salad - €6), sliced, ripe, juicy cherry tomatoes on a bed of rucola, and thick slices of mozzarella di bufala (mozzarella cheese made from milk of water buffalo, a specialty of Southern Italy's Mediterranean coastal region) topped with fresh basil leaves. You would easily pay $8 to $15 for a dish like this in the states, so the $6.75 price tag was not difficult to swallow ... yuk-yuk.

For our primi and final courses of the night we decided to go with pasta. My wife had the Gnocchi del Gobbetto (€6), handmade gnocchi (potato dumplings) in a creamy cheese sauce with sliced zucchini and topped with fresh basil. The gnocchi were perfectly cooked, not too soft, not too hard, and the sauce perfectly complimented the lightness of the thinly sliced zucchini. The portion was perfect with just enough to fill you without bursting and the price extremely fair compared to U.S. restaurant standards.

My Orecchiette Salsiccia e Provola (ear shaped pasta in a tomato sauce with ground sweet sausage and melted provolone cheese - €6) was exquisite. Again, handmade pasta, as is the case in most restaurants in Italy, was in just the right proportion to sauce, sausage and provolone, and was perfectly "al dente". One of my all-time favorite dishes is orecchiette salsiccia e friarielli (sausage and broccoli rabe sauteed in olive oil and garlic) and this was the first time I tried a version with tomato sauce. It may not become my favorite, but I will definitely be playing with this recipe at home and would order it again in a flash ... HOOAH!

Cover charge (coperto) is just €1 per person, the service was excellent, and things moved quickly even though they were rather busy.  The owner even took time to dance with a couple of pretty young lady customers in the middle of the room while his wife slaved away in the kitchen (I hope she doesn't read this or I might get him in trouble). Their house red (or white) wine, which is very good, comes in at a paltry €3 per bottle (compare that to a half-liter of inferior house red at Pizzeria Sorbillo - €9) and a liter of mineral water is just €1.50 (€1.50 for a half-liter at Sorbillo). Our bill came to just €28.50 for two courses, wine, and water (plus tip), a tremendous bargain and worth feeling a bit claustrophobic.

CombatCritic Gives Il Gobbetto A Very Solid 8 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better

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 Menu (English)

Title: I Have A "Hunch" You Will Like "Il Gobbetto"

Key Words: Il Gobbetto, gobbetto, hunchback, hunch, osteria, restaurant, pasta, antipasto, Caprese, salad, menu, review, Naples, Napoli, Italy, Italia, CombatCritic, travel, value, critic, combat

Not The Bottom Of "The Barrel" (La Botte), Not The Top Of The Charts

La Botte
Scarlatti Street 147, 80127 Naples, Italy
+39 331 856 5398
Website

Prices: $$$$$

The food behind the glass looked enticing as we strolled by, so we returned shortly thereafter for a late-night bite to eat. If you have read my other reviews from Southern Italy, you know that I love salsiccia e friarielli (sausage and sauteed broccoli rabe, a Neapolitan specialty) and it was on the menu ... WOO-HOO!

We entered, ordered two saltimbocca, a "Positano" (speck, brier cheese, and lettuce - €4.50 at the "bar") for my wife and a "Cetara" (salsiccia, "friarielli", and scamorza cheese - €5) for me. But when we delivered the receipt to the counter, as is the custom in Italy for take-away, I was told there was nor frierielli and that I had to choose from the other bleak options. It would have been nice to know that they did not have the item listed on the menu BEFORE we ordered because we would have gone elsewhere, but by then it was too late.

We had a seat at the bar across from the prep area and because they were obviously busy, my wife asked how long it would take and the young woman making the sandwiches replied "a little while". She then sent over Il Tagliere dell' Attesa (the cutting board of, for the, wait), a cutting board loaded with a selection of tiny toasted sandwiches, making our wait a little less noticeable.

Unfortunately, what we received were "sandwiches" on a baguette, not the advertised "saltimbocca" (a Neapolitan specialty with ingredients baked inside of pizza dough).  For $5 to $6, the sandwiches had hardly any meat and were mostly bread, and the half liter of mineral water was a pricey $1.25, not a great value. The staff's positive attitudes deserve an additional "bomb", but otherwise our experience was very "average"

CombatCritic Gives La Botte 5 Bombs Out Of 10 ... Le Bombe Sono Buone! 

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Title: Not The Bottom Of "The Barrel" (La Botte), Not The Top Of The Charts

Key Words: La Botte, botte, barrel, Naples, Napoli, Vomero, Vanvitelli, piazza, saltimbocca, panino, panini, wine, vino, sausage, salsiccia, friarielli, CombatCritic, travel, value, menu

CombatCritic Q&A: Should I be concerned about the ticket I purchased on JustFly.com?

1. I received a great question on my post JustFly.com Offers A Good Price, But Little Else and thought I should share it will all of my readers:
2. john gMay 25, 2015 at 7:20 PM

   Hello, have you had the opportunity to use this ticket yet? Many negative posts making me most concerned about my ticket.
3. 
   C.T. Sorrentino, aka "CombatCritic"June 9, 2015 at 2:04 AM

   Sorry for the delay in getting back to you John, but Blogger does not notify me when I have new comments.
   
   There are no problems with the tickets. You get what you pay for, but my concerns were strictly with the website interface and lack of options available. In this case, we saved a couple hundred dollars by using Justfly.com, so it was worth the inconvenience of having to visit two airline websites (Brussels Airlines to and Lufthansa from Europe) to enter frequent flyer information, choose seats, and otherwise manage the reservations. I recommend comparing the lowest fares on JustFly to those found on Kayak.com and other consolidator websites (where you can store your frequent flyer numbers and preferences) before making a decision.
   
   I would not be concerned about your ticket.
   
   Thanks for the great question!
4. Read More Reviews By CombatCritic On Yelp And TripAdvisor ... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube
5. Title: CombatCritic Q&A: Should I be concerned about the ticket I purchased on JustFly.com?
6. Key Words: question and answer, question, answer, CombatCritic, TravelValue, JustFly.com, JustFly, airline, ticket, reservation, consolidator, website, online, review

A Bit Dated, But Otherwise Excellent Value If Visiting Montevergine

Hotel Mercurio

Viale San Modestino, 7

83013 Mercogliano, Italy

Prices: $$$$$

Wanting to visit the Santuario di Montevergine, we found a good price on a “Booking” website and made a reservation for a Friday night at just €40 for a double room, including breakfast, at the base of the mountain in the town of Mercogliano and a 20-minute drive to the Abbey of Montevergine.

Mercogliano is a quaint, quiet hillside town about 30 miles (50 kliks) and a world away from Naples, Italy, very close to the famous abbey. Montevergine has been the site of religious orders dating back to the 12th Century and sits almost 5,000 above the base of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. It was reportedly the hiding place of the Shroud of Turin during World War II and is home to the massive and celebrated Byzantine painting on wood of the "Madonna" (Blessed Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus).

Hotel Mercurio is clean, but a bit dated in architecture and furnishings, reminiscent of the 1970s. The staff were friendly and very helpful, giving excellent directions and recommendations for meals and shopping. The restaurant next door, Pizzeria La Tavernetta, was outstanding and very reasonably priced, garnering 10 out of 10 “Bombs” by this critic. We were given a nice size room with a balcony and a view of the valley below, nearby Avellino, and the mountains in the distance. The bathroom, on the other hand, was small and a bit cramped, making it somewhat difficult for a moderate sized person to shower and use the toilet.

The only complaints I have were the surprise parking charge that I later found out was hidden in the small print on the booking website’s confirmation and the “indoor pool” which was actually a community pool a half-block’s walk from the hotel. There is no street parking nearby and the lot across the street is free, but only for two hours, so we paid the minimal fee of €5 for the convenience and security of indoor parking under the hotel.

Breakfast was decent, your typical Italian selections, including choice of coffee (cappuccino, caffe latte, espresso, Americano, etc.), yogurts, cereals, juices and water, bread rolls, salami and cheese, and cornetti, a Southern Italian croissant filled with various crèmes and jams. They have a large dining room, but being a beautiful early-June morning we chose to sit on the veranda overlooking the tennis courts, valley, and mountains. Breakfast is served from 7am (although the server was a little late that morning) to 10am, a reasonable period to expect breakfast.

Hotel Mercurio is an excellent value, providing clean accommodations and very good service at a very reasonable price.

CombatCritic Gives Hotel Mercurio 7 Bombs Out Of 10 With Deductions For The Hidden Parking Charge, Community Pool, and Dated Look … More Bombs Are Better!

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Title: A Bit Dated, But Otherwise Excellent Value If Visiting Montevergine

Key Words:  Hotel Mercurio, hotel, albergo, Mercurio, Montevergine, abbey, mountain, Avellino, Viale San Modestino, 83013, Mercogliano, Italy, CombatCritic, TravelValue, review

IT'S "THE BOMB" ... Great meal, superior service, outstanding value ... as good as it gets for the price!

Pizzeria La Tavernetta

Viale San Modestino, 5

83013 Mercogliano, Italy

Phone: +39 0825 787020

Prices: $$$$$

Santuario di Montevirgine

My iPhone decided to go on the fritz again while my wife and I were spending the night at a hotel in Mercogliano, a hillside town about 30 miles (50 kliks) east of and a world away from Naples, Italy, after visiting the famous mountain top abbey called Santuario di Montevergine. The Abbey of Montevergine has been the site of religious orders dating back to the 12th Century and sits almost 5,000 above the base of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. It was reportedly the hiding place of the Shroud of Turin during World War II and is home to the massive and celebrated Byzantine painting on wood of the "Madonna" (Blessed Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus).

Baked Scamorza and Porcini Mushrooms - €10

Anyway, back to my crappy iPhone. We were searching for a place to eat on TripAdvisor (because there was a dearth of reviews in the area on Yelp) and found an excellent option, Pizzeria La Tavernetta, which appeared to be in close proximity to our hotel, Hotel Mercurio. However, when I clicked on "Directions", both Google Maps and Waze could not pinpoint my location even though "Location Services" was enabled on my iPhone. So, we decided to do it the old fashioned way and ask the hotel desk clerk. He took us outside and pointed to the restaurant next door and sure enough, it was La Tavernetta ... HOOAH!

As we entered, we were greeted warmly by the pizzaiolo and one of the owners apparently. There was a smattering of occupied tables in the large dining room and a party of about 35 celebrating a birthday at the long table next to ours. I began to become concerned after 10-15 minutes of being mostly ignored by the waiter and thought about going elsewhere, but I knew he (the only waiter) was overwhelmed by the large group and decided to wait.  Am I glad we did!

Antipasto San Valentino - €8

The owner came over and apologized shortly thereafter and the young waiter was nothing less than superb from that point forward. We started with a bottle of mineral water, the local red wine, and the antipasto San Valentine (€8), a massive plate (plates actually) filled with various salamis, prosciutto, guanciale, two medium balls of mozzarella di buffala, two bruschette (plural of bruschetta, which is prounounced brew-sket-ah, not brew-shet-ah as most Americans do), black and green olives, as well as marinated and roasted mellenzane (eggplant), mushrooms, and carrots. Accompanied by a basket of bread, it was a feast in itself, well worth the €8, and we nearly filling before our main courses arrived.

My family comes from a town about ten miles away and the wine was a bit drier than the local wines made there, but it was dark, fruity, and robust, an excellent value at less than $5 a bottle.

Sausage and Frierielli Pizza - €6

I had been craving my favorite frierielli (broccoli rabe) and sausage pizza for over a month and seeing it on the menu had no other choice even though they have a nice selection of primi (pastas), secondi (meat dishes), and contorni (side dishes - potatoes, vegetables, etc). The pizza was as big as any I have had in Naples, the home of the best pizza in the world, and one of the best sausage and frierielli pizzas I have had, including Naples. The crust was perfect, thin yet firm and slightly crispy (unlike Roman pizza which is like eating a cracker with tomato and cheese) and was well covered with fresh mozzarella, broccoli rabe, and large chunks of fresh, sweet sausage. The waiter read my mind and offered "olio piccante" (a spicy olive oil flavored with peperoncini) before I could get the words out of my mouth, adding just the right amount of spice to accompany the perfect pizza.

My wife had the baked scamorza, a stronger tasting cousin of mozzarella found mostly in Southern Italy, and porcini mushrooms (€10) and again we were not disappointed. Two large melted balls of cheese topped with just the right amount of sauteed porcini mushrooms was filling and delicious.

We stopped to talk to the owners, brothers I take it, on the way out and were treated to a small complimentary glass of "digestivo", in this case a local green liquore reminiscent of absinthe, but made by the abbey monks from herbs found on the mountain slopes near Sanuario di Montevirgine - a perfect ending to an outstanding meal!

Unlike many reviewers, I give the maximum number of "bombs" (stars) rarely (as you can see from my rating distribution here and on Yelp combatcritic.yelp.com and TripAdvisor). My ratings are based strictly on "bang for the buck" and for €33 plus tip, this was a meal deserving my five-star rating and I can safely say that Pizzeria La Tavernetta is "THE BOMB"!

CombatCritic Gives Pizzeria La TavernettaThe Coveted 10 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

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Menu

Menu

Title: Great meal, superior service, outstanding value ... as good as it gets for the price!

Key Words: Pizzeria La Tavernetta, pizzeria, la, tavernetta, Apple, iPhone, pizza, pasta, antipasto, frierielli, broccoli, rabe, sausage, scamorza, Viale San Modestino, montevergine,

83013, Mercogliano, Italy, CombatCritic, TravelValue