August is not the best month to be in Europe, as it is vacation month for Europeans and a lot of the shops and restaurants close for at least part of the month, if not the whole month. And of course, this year there was a major heat wave. It was between 95 to 104 degrees everyday with about 95% humidity. After being raised on the east coast, I thought I could handle humidity, but I guess I have been living in California too long

I do not speak Spanish or Italian and really had no problems. A few times I ordered something to eat that was a surprise, but on the whole language was not a big problem. For taxi drivers, each hotel will have their business card with their name and sometimes a map, I would just show this to the drivers and they appreciated it.

In Rome some taxi drivers will rip you off in a heartbeat. It pays to ask the establishment you are at about how much it will cost you to get to your next stop. Then if the taxi driver charges a lot more you can just give him what you think it should be. A taxi ride from the Rome airport into Rome should be 40 to 45 Euro. My driver tried to charge me 75 Euro! He was upset when I gave him 45, but there was no way he could complain to anybody, as everyone would know he was trying to rip me off. The train ride, by the way, is only 8.50 Euro, which is a good way to leave Rome, pay the taxi to arrive into Rome.

Purchase the Eurail pass before you leave the US. Ten days of travel will cost about $340 for 1st Class and is well worth it if you do not plan on driving. This gets you on high speed trains, although you will need a reservation and will have to pay an additional $10 to $20 more per trip, but is still cheaper than not having the pass. I would not recommend driving in either Barcelona or Rome. Rome has a pretty good subway and a great bus system.

In Rome a subway/bus pass costs 12 Euro for seven days. This is a great deal as 70% of the attractions are near a subway stop.

The train stations can be like malls. The Rome station has two floors of shopping. Clothing, books, groceries, beauty supplies of all kinds, optometrists, banks, to name a few of your selections.

Women need to get used to “stand up” toilets! This was an adventure. When you are out in public 99% of the toilets do not have seats! This means that you gather your shorts/pants and under garment around your knees and straddle the bowl. Believe me, after awhile you will be able to write your name in the snow! I also understand why thongs are so very popular. Some train stations have pay toilets, usually 60 cents, and they are worth every penny. It is still usually a stand up, but is very clean!

Buy a box of individual wrapped hand cleaners and keep a few in your purse/pack. Everything you touch is dirty or sticky!

Pack light. I ended up wearing the same clothes over and over: two capri pants, one skirt, and two pairs of shorts, and about 5 different tps. It is easy to wash your clothes in the sink each night. I love Chico's traveler's line! The clothes are light weight, can be dressed up very easily, and I would wash them in the sink, roll them in a towel for a few minutes, then hang to dry. Great travel clothes. Remember at the Vatican, women must have on shirts with sleeves or a shawl, plus a skirt to the knee or capri pants or slacks. Men must have on shirts with sleeves and long pants. You will not get in if you don’t.

I wore the same pair of black sandals day after day. I loved my Kathy Lee sandals from QVC. They are well padded and form to your feet. I ended up shipping my other shoes home as I did not need them. Only Americans wear the big white tennis shoes.

Food in Spain was inexpensive. Food in Rome was expensive.

Try to walk in at least 3 blocks from any Roman tourist attraction to find a more reasonably priced restaurant

Breakfast other than rolls was a little hard to find.

Peggy