My wife and I will be in Chianti for 8 days in June. On 22 June, there are World Cup matches. I think (if my time conversion is correct) they are at 15:55. I am wondering where a good place to view the games would be. I would rather not go into a larger city (e.g., Florence or Siena). US v. Ghana and Italy v. Czech. are the same time, obviously, so I expect only to be able to view the Italy game, which is fine. Any help would be much appreciated.

Look for locations which have the Astra 19 satellite, which carries all the German stations. That is where you will be able to get the best coverage --- you will be able to view almost all games at least in part. Germany does a good job of covering their own events. Lots of places in Chianti have this satellite for German tourists.

Diana

I am afraid that the coverage on Italian public TV will be limited to Italy and major matches (one a day); most of the matches will be on Sky network (satellite pay tv)only.

I am fortunate enough to be visiting Italy in early June . Unfortunatly I failed to look at the calender when I booked my return flight, and it very nearly clashes with the England v Paraguay game. I am a compulsive football (soccer) fan , and am quite upset about this !

I may be lucky if I can find somewhere to watch within Pisa airport, as the game should finish about 30 minutes before my flight leaves.

Sometimes, for important matches, there will be large screens set up outside in a piazza. Ask around where you're staying and someone should know.

That must hurt, Tim.

Oh I can live with it - 5 days in Italy, or a stupid football match - No choice really.

One of the reasons I am addicted to Italy, is that any nation that loves food, wine and football so much, cannot be all bad :-)

Our first trip to Italy six years ago was absolutely serendipitous. We had no plans whatsoever but happened upon the most wonderful experiences.

Whilst in Florence our hotel recommended a little trattoria for supper one evening...unfortunately we cannot remember where it was. It was your typical tiny family run restaurant with butcher paper on the tables and where you eat what is being cooked. We were in awe of how they were able to work in such tight quarters.

I was a little perturbed to see a television on in the restaurant, but soon became clear to us why it was there. World Cup time and Italy was playing that evening! I cannot remember which country they were playing, but every time Italy scored a goal the place was in an uproar.. waiters and kitchen staff crowded around the television cheering Italy on.

The excitement was contagious... and I am happy to say that Italy won the game that evening, although they didn't win the cup

We will be in Italy again in June, but I doubt we could ever repeat the fun we had that evening.

I have twice found myself in this situation, once in our local Italian run, Italian staffed restaurant, and once in a small pizzeria in Cilento. An important match clashed with people trying to order dinner - no contest - We had to wait for Injuries or half time. Under normal circumstances I would have been upset, but as both were informal restaurants, and they were, after all, Italians - I just grinned, and elbowed my way closer to the television.

I was in Siena recently, and saw my first live Italian game. Sitting among the "ultras" I tried to be quiet, but lost my temper at a bad refereeing decision, and blurted out my derision in English. I think the sentimet was understood, so I got away with it.

quote:

Originally posted by itarchivarius:
I am afraid that the coverage on Italian public TV will be limited to Italy and major matches (one a day); most of the matches will be on Sky network (satellite pay tv)only.

This certainly puts a different look on my trip; properly, it will get me away from the TV. I guess the bars with television will subscribe to Sky TV and matches can be seen there. Anyway, for the original question, Italy's game should be widely accessible.

tuscan tourist! i was only yesterday considering the same thing. that is where am i going to be able to catch all the games?
in melbourne, more pubs have huge plasma or projector screens which show the matches during the world cup...i was hoping this was going to be the same in Italy?