Now that's my idea of a dream vacation! Going to a "slow city" in Europe and just doing a whole lot of nothing…
"It all started in Italy with the "slow food" movement which is based on the idea that a better life could be had by favoring locally grown produce and fostering time-honored traditional food specialties from each region. Now it has expanded into the concept of "Citta Slow" (Slow cities). Slow cities are characterised by a way of life that supports people to live slow. Traditions and traditional ways of doing things are valued. These cities stand up against the fast-lane, homogenised world so often seen in other cities throughout the world. Slow cities have less traffic, less noise, fewer crowds. As the Romans used to say: “festina lente” - make haste slowly."
Here is an article from abc news….
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=83085&page=1
Designated slow cities can be found across Europe (Google "slow cities" + country). With more than 25, Italy has the most of them. Germany has 10. UK has 8. Sonoma, California has recently became the USA's first designated "slow city."
Anyway, it was something I'd never heard of before, so I thought I'd share it.