We did the same three cities in the same order. You will love it! We also wanted to go south but it was too much to squeeze in. If it's not already on your list make sure to go into the Pantheon in Rome. Another cool thing we did in Rome was walked across the river had lunch and walked up to Fontana dell'Acqua Paola (another fountain). The fountain was underwhelming cuz it was being refurbished but the views back to Rome made it worthwhile.

I have never been to Europe either and have always wanted to go to Italy, as has my wife. My family is from Sicily and hers is from the Calabria region. She promised her grandmother that they would make it to Italy one day but, unfortunately, that never materialized before her Nonna passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 98. We are partly going to honor her memory. Sadly, we won't make it to the southern part of the country from where are ancestors came. We will be in Rome, Florence, & Venice with a day in Tuscany. Looking forward to seeing the Vatican and the "touristy" things in Rome and then the slower pace and beauty of the other areas we'll experience. 😎🍷

Family vacation to Italy should be great. We did the same a few years back. It was my only visit to Europe and fantastic. Enjoy!

@SinceThe70s @Another Fan Safe travels, Gug. I leave for Italy in about four weeks (family vacation). Something that I didn't expect but found myself pleasantly surprised by is the fact that I find this team very likable. There are a few 'name' core players like Pete, Lindor, Nimmo, & Diaz...who always play with passion...along with some kids trying to make their way and some 'no names' trying to make a name for themselves. They are an easy team to root for day in and day out. I really like Tyrone Taylor. Also, Butto and Garrett have been fun to watch pitch. Mendoza looks like he knows what he's doing and may be the one to finally push the right buttons. Kudos to David Stearns, as well. He was known for putting together good bullpens in Milwaukee and so far, in this small sample size of a season, it looks like he may have done it in Queens, too. LGM!

Headed to parts elsewhere in the morning, thank you! Mets with another gritty win, another series win and are above .500 at last Great day!

Since you're at a hotel near JFK, I'm assuming you're headed to parts elsewhere tomorrow. If so - happy trails, if not - my condolences for whatever brought you there (and hoping I just didn't make an @ss of myself). Agreed on the 'break in' year. I had higher expectations than most going into the season - but quickly went to a darker place than I'm prone to a few games in. On the plus side, Butto is an early contender for surprise contributor/

I am at a hotel near JFK as I write this … and as the Mets host Pittsburgh less than 10 miles away. But we decided to not go to the game, which bums me out because the hotel doesn’t have SNY. I continue to view this season as a “break in” season for our new Manager and GM and I like what I see from Mendoza so far. They’re aggressive and (overall) smart. I loved that they go into a mini dustup in their first game. But, of course, they effed up the retaliation the next day. Anyway - happy with what I’ve seen and how they’ve responded to the very early injury bug bites. LFGM!

@ExWNYer @Gugny @Another Fan One of the many questions marks for me this year is the manager. I liked the text-book bunt by Taylor and the double-steal with D.J. Stewart on the back end the past few games. Also liked that he put trust in a reliever I can't name to close out a game instead of over-working Diaz. And some nice comments wrt the 0-5 start: https://nypost.com/2024/04/16/sports/carlos-mendoza-passed-mets-test-after-ugly-0-5-start/

I have mixed emotions on retiring Doc's number. He had a remarkable run with the Mets (1985 was spectacular) but it was short lived. If you haven't seen it, SNY put together a documentary on Doc that was very well done, capturing both the highs and the lows.

@SinceThe70s@Gugny. @ExWNYer Was out and about today but saw the Mets had a nice win. The Mets team that comes to mind a little with this year is 2005 for me. I saw they started that year 0-4 as well. Willie, Pedro, and Beltran's first year with the team. I remember that year arguably being a success and led to the foundation for 2006. Realistically that's what I hope for this year's club. But I mean they've bee showing some grit of late. Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion but the whole retiring Doc's number doesn't really do much for me. And I'm person that loves nostalgia. I guess to be fair I only recall Doc like a little as a Met and it was toward the end of his career in the early 90s. I think then his issues were spilling out on the field. I remember him more as a Yankee. And that's the team I think he retired with. Mets Hall of Fame for sure was deserved for Doc. But I mean I can't help but think what more could have been with Doc. I know we are all flawed creatures but just not really feeling checking out the ceremony. Not actually as a Met but Rick Aguilera had at least if not a better career than Doc. And he was the 5th starter on a lot of those clubs.

@Another Fan I was sad when I heard the news of Pat Zachary's passing. As a 13 year old, I was devastated when the Mets dealt Tom Seaver to the Reds but I always liked Pat. He, along with Lee Mazzilli, were two of the few bright spots of those late 1970s/early 1980s Mets teams. I remember that game when PZ came back to the dugout and broke his toe in a fit of anger. So 'Metsy'. lol BTW, to this day, Seaver and Mazzilli are still my two favorite Mets of all-time. Maz was a NYC native and 'matinee idol' and I identified with him as a fellow Italian. He was the shiz back in the day. I think we all agree that they were going to find a way to blow that game, especially since Atlanta's ballpark has been a complete house of horrors for them over the years. It was nice to see them win that and then the following night they showed a lot of resolve, IMO, after getting down 6-0 and rallying to 6-5 in the 9th with a chance to either tie or win it but falling just short. I thought they were dead in the water at 6-0. Then they took the rubber game, 16-4, with Tyrone Taylor capping the festivities with a granny off of Luis Guillorme (weird seeing him in a non-Mets uni). That was only the third time in their history that they defeated Atlanta by at least 12 runs. If nothing else, it looks like they will be scrappy and be in a majority of games depending on the injury situation and how the pitching holds up. Nimmo and some of the others are finally working their way out of some early season funks and Baty looks like he's taken a nice step forward. I'm still a little concerned about yet another Lindor slow start. He needs to get it together soon. These yearly slow starts are annoying from such a highly paid core player. He was a large factor in last year getting off on the wrong foot and they never recovered from that coupled with the Scherzer & Verlander debacles. One other thing that concerns me is the inability of the pitchers to keep runners close. They are putting the catchers in an impossible situation and the opposition is stealing them blind. Last time I checked, they were a combined 0-21 in throwing out basestealers. That has got to change or they are in trouble. Clean it up, boys. LGM!

It was 8-5 when I went to bed. I wasn’t feeling great and had a bad feeling it was going to go extras, so I forced myself to turn it off. Like you - I fully expected to lose the game. I was pleasantly surprised this morning to see the W - but not surprised that they almost blew it. With my expectations pretty low, I’ll take any win and this was a good one!!

@Gugny @Another Fan @ExWNYer Last nights game had all the earmarks of a loss. Felt like a given that we'd get burned by Guillorme, Kelenic or even D'Arnaud. And Teheran debuting as a Met against the Braves had trouble written all over it - when we went down 4-0 I almost turned it off. Glad I stuck around. Two comebacks, a gutsy performance by Drew Smith (gotta admit, I'm not his biggest fan) and throw in a perturbed Keith moment and it was a pretty good night.

@ExWNYer @Gugny @Another Fan RIP Pat Zachry. Came to the Mets in the Seaver debacle trade. I've probably mentioned it but I was at the game where he gave up the hit to Pete Rose that tied Tommy Holmes hit streak. We were on the first base side and when he got to the dugout after the inning I saw him disappear awkwardly. Told my father and the next day we found out he was p!ssed about giving up the hit (could be wrong but I think it was Rose's 3rd AB), tried to kick something and tripped - ended up with an extended stay on the DL. Good times.

Checked out may have been the wrong choice of words because I was back watching the fourth game in its entirety like I knew I would; however, it just pissed me off even more to see them lose yet another game due to offensive ineptitude after Manaea gave them six scoreless, one-hit innings. I guess I'll rephrase and say that although I'll watch, it will be to see if there is any development from the youngsters or call-ups of some of the pitching prospects. For the first time in a while, I am convinced less than a week into a season that they will not even compete for a Wild Card spot. It's destined to be another lost season while Atlanta and Philly keep on keepin' on.

I wouldn't characterize myself as checked out, but I had more optimism than others going into the season (it's what I do) and that quickly flipped to pessimism after 2.5% of the games have been played. I watched post game interviews with Manaea, the manager and Lindor and got really deflated. None of them showed any passion, my son and I were just crushing the formulaic and sometimes dumb stuff they were saying.

I'm already checked out three games into the season. The only things worth watching for me at this point are Alvarez and Diaz. The starting pitching staff is as bad as always. Too many deep counts and baserunners stealing them blind. Rinse & repeat. I'm fully expecting them to be out of it by the trading deadline and dealing Alonso and then attempting to pay Bor-ASS' ransom to re-sign him in the off-season. They've lost 9 of their last 10 to the average to slightly above average Brewers. Good times. LGM?

And yet again … the team most incapable of retaliation botches … a retaliation attempt. They wait until the 7th inning - after Hoskins has single handed whooped the Mets’ asses - and THEN throw behind him. So Ramirez gets ejected and Hoskins goes unscathed. Sounds all too familiar. BUT … the bats came alive. Four HRs. And Edwin Diaz struck out his first batter since 2022. All in all, a decent day that resulted in a loss.

@Gugny @Another Fan I didn't see the slide but by all accounts it was clean and tbh I heard a quote from the Squirrel about 'safety first' that sounded cringy. But I have no problem with the reliever making a point by throwing behind Hoskins. Much better than the past few years where all we got is the Buck scowl. On the field, I have really high hopes for Alvarez. Looks like a guy with the skills and swagger to be a great one.

I thought the slide was clean, too. That’s on Squirrel to jump out of the way. What I didn’t care for is how Hoskins immediately ran away while McNeil was confronting him … then proceeded to turn into a “tough guy” after all of his teammates came onto the field. Eff him. Wuss. LFGM!!

@ExWNYer @SinceThe70s @Gugny I watched yesterday's highlights. On a positive note since the Mets always had a real good opening day record maybe that's good superstition they lost. lol I never cared for Hoskins but it did seem like that was a good clean aggressive play IMO. Or has baseball evolved where it's not good etiquette anymore to spike someone? This came in my Youtube feeds. Kind of cute

Good move, IMO. Their goal should be trying for a Wild Card while retooling and they weren't doing it without another bat. He's a professional hitter and had an .893 OPS last season (8th best). One year deal with some of the money deferred was a no brainer and he offers protection for Alonso and lengthens their lineup. It will take him a couple of weeks to be ready but he should be hitting cleanup with Alonso in the three hole. The starting offense doesn't look too bad on paper. It's going to be all about the pitching. Senga is due to start throwing again in a week or so so that is potential good news, too. LGM!

@ExWNYer - you got your DH!

For reasons that go way beyond not having high expectations for the team this year I’d consider myself more a casual kind of Mets/baseball fan. That being said I always enjoy the first spring training games. It’s more a reminder to me Spring is near, the days get longer, and more sunlight. This winter was rough for me. I got Covid twice during it. Even an RN friend wasn’t aware you can get it under 90 days from onsets. So yeah bring on baseball. LGM!!

@Gugny @SinceThe70s @Another Fan First Spring Training game of the year for our Mets! At Port St. Lucie vs. St. Louis 1:10 PM EST. An official NY Mets podcast dropped for the first time today. It's called 'Meet At The Apple'. First episode is hosted by Mets play-by-play man Gary Cohen and he interviews owner Steve Cohen on a number of topics including Pete Alonso. This is a good listen and I would recommend it, fellas. Here are the details of the podcast going forward: "Meet at the Apple with your hosts Vito Calise (@VitoFCalise) and Jonathan Baron (@JMB9191) every Monday and Thursday with exclusive access to the Mets! This is not your everyday baseball podcast; you can get the stats anywhere… Here you’ll get an inside look into the players you love to watch beyond the diamond highlighted by a weekly appearance by Mets manager, Carlos Mendoza!" https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/meet-at-the-apple-new-york-mets-official-podcast/id1732076793 LGM!!!