Things I've learned on this trip:
1) None of the hotels provide washcloths!
2) Hotel rooms do not have temperature control. This time of year the heat is on so rooms are quite warm. Aircon, as it's called, isn't turned on until May.
3) in Italy, there is far too much food served -minimum 3 courses, usually 4! For dessert, usually "gelato" It's not as firm as ice cream & its pnot frozen.It's just good & comes in many flavors.
4) Hotel laundry service is VERY expensive. They charge by the piece &, for example, it costs 4€ to launder a bra - thats over $5!
Public laundry in Monaco was costly, too. $US13 for washer & approx $US4 for 15 min drying.
5) No such thing as free wifi in hotels in UK, Italy or Germany. Average cost is 3€ per hour. Wifi free in France & Spain.
6) Gasoline averages US$8 gallon but cars are small & get better mileage. I've seen very few American vehicles on this trip. Lots of BMW, Audi, VW, Alfa Romao, Peugeot, Mercedes & even Bentley. Then there's those cute little cars in England that are the taxis.
7) Many ride Vespas or other bikes. Most cars aren't larger than the Smart Car. Lots of public buses. If you saw the traffic & the way they park you'd know why the cars are so small!
8) The US$ isn't worth much compared to Euro, everything is quite expensive. Currently, 1€ = $1.34 while 1£ (British Pound) = $1.53. So for every Euro I spend, it actually costs me $1.32.
9) The water is not served with ice. I have to go to bar & practically beg to get ice.
10) in France, they don't believe in toilet seats. The bowl is there but no seat. This may be TMI, but I line the bowl with tissue before I'll use it!!
11) April may not be the best month to come to Europe. Days are still quite cool. I thought April in Paris was supposed to be great. It was in 60's when we were in Lucerne Switzerland . Today they have 2' snow!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Bonjour France!
This morning we left Bilbao Spain bright & early on our drive to Poitiers France, about 350 miles. In a car it would go much faster but buses can only go 62 mph & we need to make "pee-pee" stop (thats what our guide calls them) every couple of hours.
Our first stop was in San Sebastian. What a pretty town! The views of the Pyranees Mountains were stunning with the sun rising over them. As we crossed into France, the clouds rolled in. It's not cold but gloomy. Geez, I coulda stayed in Michigan for that :( I was hoping for warm spring days in France.
We stopped for lunch in Bordeaux - wine country. It was a very pretty city but most everything was closed on Easter Monday. Most of us ended up at McD's!
Our drive continued through cognac country where fields were filled with yellow canola flowers, used in the making of cognac.
OMG our bus driver is a miracle worker driving through the narrow streets of Poitiers! If anyone opened a car door they would lose it! He has made some pretty tight turns in some of the cities but these have to be the hardest. I don't know how we'll get out of here because ahead the road is under construction. Gennaro will work his magic, I'm sure.
Tonight we have a quiet dinner in our hotel and tomorrow we'll be Paris! It's the last major city on our tour.
It's been a wonderful journey but I'm on major cultural overload & ready for American food, English speaking TV & my own bed!!
Our first stop was in San Sebastian. What a pretty town! The views of the Pyranees Mountains were stunning with the sun rising over them. As we crossed into France, the clouds rolled in. It's not cold but gloomy. Geez, I coulda stayed in Michigan for that :( I was hoping for warm spring days in France.
We stopped for lunch in Bordeaux - wine country. It was a very pretty city but most everything was closed on Easter Monday. Most of us ended up at McD's!
Our drive continued through cognac country where fields were filled with yellow canola flowers, used in the making of cognac.
OMG our bus driver is a miracle worker driving through the narrow streets of Poitiers! If anyone opened a car door they would lose it! He has made some pretty tight turns in some of the cities but these have to be the hardest. I don't know how we'll get out of here because ahead the road is under construction. Gennaro will work his magic, I'm sure.
Tonight we have a quiet dinner in our hotel and tomorrow we'll be Paris! It's the last major city on our tour.
It's been a wonderful journey but I'm on major cultural overload & ready for American food, English speaking TV & my own bed!!
A movie in the works?
Sunday night over dinner, it was decided we should write a movie script of our experiences on this trip. First thing, of course, was choosing who should play each of us. Being the only American on this trip, it was unanimous that Meryl Streep should play me. LOL! Now keep in mind, this discussion began after several glasses of Sangria.
Other stars would be J Lo, Helen Mirren, Sigourney Weaver, & Justin Timberlake. Lucy Liu, Jet Li & Jackie Chan would play the roles of our Indonesia friends:)
We have had lots of fun & some very funny things have happened, but there has been a couple not so good moments which must also be included. In Spain, the beds are notoriously hard so most everyone complained of backaches & poor sleep in Spain.
Personally, my trip experiences will be memorialized by scrapbooking everything. It'll be a big scrapbook even if I only use a third of the over 2300 photos I've taken to date & the keepsakes I've collected.
I have made several new friends & we'll stay in touch via Facebook & email. Hopefully someday we'll meet again.
Other stars would be J Lo, Helen Mirren, Sigourney Weaver, & Justin Timberlake. Lucy Liu, Jet Li & Jackie Chan would play the roles of our Indonesia friends:)
We have had lots of fun & some very funny things have happened, but there has been a couple not so good moments which must also be included. In Spain, the beds are notoriously hard so most everyone complained of backaches & poor sleep in Spain.
Personally, my trip experiences will be memorialized by scrapbooking everything. It'll be a big scrapbook even if I only use a third of the over 2300 photos I've taken to date & the keepsakes I've collected.
I have made several new friends & we'll stay in touch via Facebook & email. Hopefully someday we'll meet again.
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