AC is not just for wimps anymore

I've rarely used AC on a trip, mostly because I travel shoulder seasons. Occasionally AC would have been nice. If that happens to you, there are some things you can do to help yourself stay comfortable.
First stay hydrated, your body's cooling system needs water.
Second, manage your non-airconditioned room's temperature. The bright morning sunshine may be glorious but your room will stay cooler if you close the windows up completely during warm/hot hours. Close windows and curtains to keep the heat out. At night, do the opposite, open the windows and let as much cool air into the room as possible. This is why a quiet room in the back of the building can be nicer than a view room overlooking a busy street.
Third, if you're feeling heated and look flushed, take a cold shower right away - then drink as much water as you can hold and stay out of the sun.
I've heard stories, but have no personal experience, of hotels with AC that won't turn it on outside of high season (I think this relates to Italy). It's possible to book a room expecting AC then be disappointed or have to pay extra.

Roy, I generally stick to questions dealing with Central and Eastern Europe. If you look through my posts, if anyone mentions a trip to the region in June, July, August and maybe a week or two each side of that I always bring up the AC question. You hit all the reasons why really, really well. It's good to hear another sane voice.

Interesting what we will argue about. I cant remember a hotel room with a screen on the window. Once stayed in one central European city in a room with this fantastic view across a river to some stunning architecture. In the evening I opened the windows and just sat there and took in the view..................then the gnats invaded every crevice of the rooms. We fought them off all night.

I own property in a late 1800's apartment block in a tourist zone of a major central European city and like most of the buildings in the area I have two sets of windows. One opens out and one opens in.

Don't confuse a lack of AC with a desired life style. They are missing for one of four reasons: Historic ordnances that prevent the units from being installed (generally a modification to the exterior of the building is required), lack of money to purchase the unit or the very high (by US standards) electrical costs or an inability of the apartment electrical to accommodate the additional electrical load. I understand this because I ran the miserable gauntlet to overcome these hindrances when I installed my AC.

When you do find AC its miserably undersized or of the single vent variety which is by design horribly inefficient.

Among the people I know and do business with in Central Europe they either have good working AC or would all kill for an "American" AC or come visit my place on really, really bad days.

Let me add a little perspective here.

Yes, it sucks getting caught anywhere in Europe during a heatwave without air conditioning. During these occurrences, escaping the heat can be very difficult. Virtually the only cool spots you can find are in shaded areas of heavy stone buildings, or at very high elevation (ie, the Alps). However, here's where the perspective of having lived in Europe for several years comes in... north of the Alps, very hot weather is not particularly common and when heat waves do hit, they tend to last a relatively short duration. You can count on at least one brief period of uncomfortably hot weather per summer, sometimes more, sometimes less. And there's a lot of regional variability. But you can't reliably predict in advanced when the sun will decide to get nasty. On the flip side, I've also experienced periods during the summer months when I needed to wear a sweater and/or jacket. Once again, not very predictable from year to year.

So, I agree that if you're planning a trip in or north of the Alps, without the benefit of a short-term weather forecast, you should look for lodgings with air conditioning. Particularly in cities. However, don't expect hot weather as an absolute given. Plan for it as a possibility, but don't rule out a swing of temperatures in the opposite direction either.

last year we were in Chamonix , in early june and visited the glacier where we were in t shirts. later that day we were in the town and at 5pm the temp gauge in the town showed 36 deg C. it was surreal to see a few parker clad skiers walking through the town, having come down from skiing at altitude. the heat did not worry us ( being Australian) but did show hoe you have to be prepared for all weather.
this year it was much the same in Innsbruck. ( a few weeks ago)

The question we ask ourselves is why do all the hotels and B&B's use only doonas on the beds. we find them unbearable and buy a sheet to use for sleeping.

Americans not familiar with Europe probably expect an AC in every hotel, since every hotel room here as an AC that will refrigerate the room (even budget accommodations). So you end up with Americans who aren't sleeping in Europe because their sleeping room doesn't have AC, and then discover that many European accommodations also don't have window screens.

Window screens. In the more mosquito-prone regions of the developed world (ie, large parts of the US and Canada) they can make a huge difference at night. Not so much during the day, however, if the weather is scorchingly hot.

A screen is a mesh cover of a window (fitted) to keep bugs out.

i've never noticed as many bugs anywhere in Europe as at home so wouldn't hesitate to sleep with my window open provided the room was high enough up to avoid intruders.

Mind you once we had to shut it to block the noise of a tireless and acrobatic couple in a nearby room. Nobody in the hotel would make eye contact with anyone else at brekkie the next morning.

I notice a lot of the windows (well, at places we've stayed) in Europe open out - which would be impossible with a screen. Ours either open up or - well, I guess they do open out as well, but we have a little crank to do it. But then they have the lovely shutters that you can pull over the windows over there, which works a bit like a screen for keeping out bugs.

Emma - I live in a maritime environment as well (actually - the 'Maritimes' aka Atlantic Canada)...I would die without screens and being able to open the windows (ok, not 'literally' die). If we didn't have screens, our home would be full of flies - black flies, deer fly, house fly...not to mention mosquitoes, June bugs (shudder) and whatever other flying bug passes by! It gets very hot here in July and August and having to keep the windows closed all day because of bugs would suck ;)

Without screens in all the places we've stayed in Italy (Amalfi Coast, Tuscany, Umbria) during hot temps, I was eaten alive by mosquitoes during the night.

And of several places we've stayed in that had AC, it didn't do a lot of good. It was so weak we could hardly tell it was even on. We didn't stay in high end places though.

I notice a lot of the windows (well, at places we've stayed) in Europe open out

It varies. My house in Germany (and most of the others I remember) all had inward opening windows. Surprisingly, even though I lived in an area surrounded by farmland and forests, insects were no more than a minor nuisance. I could leave my windows open all night with no problems.

Interesting Tom - we have only spent 2 nights in Germany so I never really had a chance to notice how the windows swung :) Hmmm...now that I think about it, a lot of the Italy ones DID swing in (I guess I'm mixing up the shutters and the windows...oh my, time for bed)

I know when we were in Rome early Sept last year the apartment had AC, that the owner asked to be left off when out, but it was a life saver when we had to come back to the room mid-afternoon to cool off! We generally travel mid-late Sept so AC isn't always a high priority...I know when we stayed in Florence tho that the mosquitoes were horrid...but the room was sheltered enough with shade trees and the afternoon sun didn't shine directly in that it didn't overheat (thank goodness!)

In France the windows open in.
My experience is similar to Tom's. We've been in several heat waves from 1975 on, including 2003 and 2013.
Living in France we never had AC, and of all the family and friends only one person has one little unit installed in a living room after the 2003 heat wave. I've never seen it turned on. Family in Austria doesn't have it. People just bear with it, shower, eat salad, eat outside whenever possible, chill the wine and keep the shutters closed and windows open-- and leave for the beach and countryside as quickly as possible. Some families have summer kitchens on the lowest level of the house. Of course as soon as I get back to the States, AC is my best friend.

AC seems to be pretty common in newer hotel construction, though with the more budget chains (Holiday Inn Express, Ibis, etc.) you'll often have to insert a room key in a slot on the wall to get it to cycle on. Which really isn't a big deal since most of the card readers are first generation and let you use any card of the right size. I will not be wasteful of energy by running the AC in a room all day long with a different card in the slot while I'm out on the town, but will admit to using a grocery store loyalty card to get the system going for 5-10 minutes while I go downstairs to get something hopefully cold to drink to bring back to my now cooled room.

In NYC most of the apartments rely on window air conditioners or don't have it. I discovered that the young people who are living in the apartments without window air conditioners are purchasing portable air conditioners that don't sit in the window. When they change apartments, which they frequently do, the AC goes with them. While it doesn't solve the electrical problem, it might solve the issue with historic ordinances. Of course, now, you might be tripping over it in your tiny room. :)

Pamela, that's the single vent unit I was referring to. AC's don't make cold air, they extract heat from the air. Subtle difference I guess. Well that heat has to be discharged outside. With a two duct system outside air is drawn in, blown over a hot coil and then discharged. In a one duct system the air that you just went through all the trouble to cool is drawn in over the hot coil and discharged outside. They work, but not very well and they cost more to operate. And yes, in many if not most cases its the best that can be done. So when you walk down the street in Prague and you see one small pane of glass in the corner of a window has what looks like a drying machine discharge in it, you know what it is.

I admit, I am spoiled. I'm not young any longer and I want things at a different standard. But it is one of the best reasons to travel off season when the weather is more comfortable. I even love winter when its warm and cozy except when the door opens and sharp cold breeze blows in to wake you up.

Ah, didn't realize that they were the same kind. I suspect that the venting in NYC is also very temporary and can be adjusted--like the window fans that many of us use. I can really sympathize with people who find themselves in the city--any city--in summer with a heat wave and no AC. The brick buildings soak up the heat all day and radiate it back at night.

Pam

Actually the old heavy masonry buildings with their 3 foot thick walls moderate the temperatures quite a bit. Like you said they soak up the afternoon heat and slowly release it as the ambient temperature drops. The result is that temperature inside one of these apartment can stay a little more constant with the lows and the highs compressed to a tighter range. The problem is that by August it just isn't enough if you want anything near US comfort. Appliances, lighting, cooking, TV's also add to the heat in the apartment.

I have fairly large by European standards dual duct AC units n my apartments. To install them I had to run a new electrical service to the apartments, and get very creative with the exhaust and intake locations. The electrical bills are stunning given the size of the apartments.

Life is about tradeoffs. A bank manager in the US has a nice 3000sf house in the suburbs and two cars and the kids play soccer in the back yard. A bank manager in many well developed countries in Europe might be raising 2 kids in a 100 year old 800 sf apartment and riding a bike to work. But he gets free health care and his wife gets 3 years of maternity leave. Its all about what you value in life. No judgment from me one way or another.

On some trips I was invited to stay with friends in Germany and France, mostly in cities , a few in small towns. Regardless of their socio-econ status, none of them ever had AC. At most the family had a fan similar to what can be bought Rite Aid or Walgreens. Most did not have that. What they did was to open the window when it became hot and humid, reminded me the summer days I was vacationing in Texas and Alabama (1991). Or, open certain windows so as to get a cross current. Of course, the hostels in the 1970s and '80s in Germany had no AC. I thought the worst in terms of discomfort, ie when you really baked, was in Toulon in July 1999 with its combination of geographic location, heat, temperature, humidity, and the lack of wind.

Very true about life being a trade off, so is traveling, what you are willing to cope with or your health, tolerate, reject , etc. Those 3 star hotels I have stayed in the summer when their rates are the lowest don't have AC where it can be set to meat locker. . They put a fan in the hall way, if even that. You basically put up with the heat.

Like France, the small hotels and Pensionen in Germany the windows open inward, two windows behind each other, followed by the drape and then the window curtain. You stay in Berlin at an old style Pension, don't expect AC, let alone internet access.

Roy, your experience is why I no longer travel in the summer. I absolutely hate the heat. When I was in Germany in July 2010, during the heat wave, none of the places where I stayed had A/C, not even friends' homes. My friend in Hamburg doesn't even own a fan! And I've never seen windows screens in any hotel or private home in any European country I've been to. I do love the windows there, though - the dual-open feature (tilting in at the top or swinging open like a door) is so cool! I wish windows like that were available in the U.S.

I also discovered that if A/C is available in Europe, it usually isn't up to the caliber we're used to in North America. In Hamburg my friend and I went to several museums which were "air-conditioned", though I could barely feel the coolness. I quickly learned that when it's 95 degrees out and you don't have access to A/C, it actually feels cooler outside than inside.

Sarah, those cool windows are available in the US. Just google "tilt and open windows", several manufacturers make them. I had them on a hotel I recently stayed at in Washington.

I find your use of the word "sissies" out dated and offensive. Perhaps 'softies' would be a better expression.

I have never been in a home or apt. in Germany that had AC. We open windows and use ceiling fans, keeping the shutters lowered all day. Have met a few people that have screens in their apts., but they aren't common.

When the heat waves hit, yeah, they are pretty uncomfortable, but they aren't frequent nor do they last long. One would have to be living in an old castle to get 3 meter thick walls, but the buildings built turn of the century which is what you find in may cities, have high ceilings and this helps with air circulation.

Last comment is about James saying that health ins. is free in Europe. This depends on the country and the higher taxes in those countries (like the UK) means it isn't really "free". In Germany at least, you pay for your health ins. splitting the premium cost 50-50 with your employer. Each country has its' own plan, this isn't a universal, Europe wide plan.

We wouldn't stay anywhere without air conditioning. It is at the top of the list of requirements along with elevators, a bell staff, a concierge and room service. I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia with the same intense heat and humidity you suffer through in
Alabama and it is the same here in Nashville but as you say, almost everyone has air conditioned homes and cars and all shopping and business places have it to. I can't stand lot of heat. If it gets to 98% or more with 100% humidity, we keep it 68 degrees inside. I am glad your wife is okay.

When the heat waves hit, yeah, they are pretty uncomfortable, but they aren't frequent nor do they last long.

A good bit of balance to keep in mind, at least for Germany and other countries with a similar climate. This whole thread seems to be taking on a tone that you will suffer uncomfortably if your hotel in Germany doesn't have air conditioning. Although I admit it will suck if your visit happens to coincide with one of those infrequent heat waves, more than likely, you'll be just fine.

Even in a good year, despite periodic cooling rains and clouds, summers are hot in much of Europe and North America. Whether from global warning, blips in weather patterns or simply my own aging, they seem much hotter than a few decades ago. Pretty pictures in brochures and TV shows cannot capture the discomfort of even normal temperatures in July and August when there is no place to escape the heat. And, heat waves are becoming more common. Extremely hot days during a heat wave may be a problem only a small percentage of the time for residents, but, for a visitor it could be extreme 100 percent of your time there.

My message is simply, if summer is the only time you can travel, go ahead but do plan for heat. That might be a good time to avoid the idyllic hotel or guesthouse in the countryside in favor of cookie cutter hotels with AC in nearby cities. If you have a car, you can still get out to the countryside and all the places you want to see. Besides, you will see more natives in the European chains like Motel One and Accor than at the tourist sites.

I regret that some are offended by use of the term "sissies" but it is the mildest term I could find to get the message across. A vacation should be fun, not an endurance contest to see who is the toughest traveler.

"summers are hot in much of Europe " But... they aren't. North of the Alps, it mostly stays warm, but temperatures remain below 30° C for most of the summer. There's at least one brief period where daytime highs average well above 30 each year, sometimes a few more, but highs in the upper 20s are most common.

But good idea to secure a hotel with AC anyway.

Roy, I agree with you thoroughly. It's a different scenario to have only a few days in a city where the sidewalks and walls are absorbing the heat than from living in the same place permanently and dealing with it. I think this is particularly true if you are used to AC. Because Jo, Tom, and I have suffered through many hot summer days and nights living in Germany and France, we adopted the methods used in those countries. It would be totally different if we were visiting. BTW many of those methods wouldn't work with our cloud heavy, muggy southern climates here in the US. You are right that it's not the same when traveling. And Tom is right to divide Europe into north of the Alps and south. For example, I won't go to Italy or Spain from June to October but admire all the travelers who jump right in and enjoy those countries. Call me a sissy. Next time I'm in Budapest on a scorcher day, I'll be thinking of James nicely cooled and refreshed and wish he'd invite me over.

The temperature mark at 30C is relative. It's a lot easier to put up with 30C in Sacramento or Fresno or even San Antonio than it is in Vienna or even Paris. Now, I have yet to be in Budapest at 30C (that's planned for the next trip) but it's most likely to be more oppressive and a broiler than what I have experienced in Vienna. True too, over the years since 1971 I've never been in a house in Germany than had AC. But I was in a 2 star hotel in Paris where they charged you extra for AC. At the time (August 1989) I thought charging for AC was immoral. So, when asked at check-in if I wanted AC in that Paris heat wave, I said no. Now, I know why the hotel charged extra, ie , extra similar to having breakfast added to the final bill.

When, by the way, did the word " sissies" become offensive? And in what way is it offensive to those with tender sensibilities?

Sissie is a derogatory term suggesting someone is effeminate or has female characteristics and is, therefore, not as capable of dealing with a situation as a real man. Essentially it is a sexist put down of women and of men who don't meet some unknown standard of masculinity.

I am surprised that people on here think it is OK. Would it have been ok for the OP to say aircon is not just for women anymore???

Agree with mph. Aside from the bullying context, I haven't heard that word used anywhere else. Looks odd on a Rick Steves Travel Forum. Whatever inference people take away from it, it certainly isn't a positive term. It's ironic to not want to be judged for doing something (seeking out AC) while making an opposite (judgmental) reference.

Feel free to suggest alternatives to fill in the blank: AC is not just for ___________ anymore.

"Softies" has already been suggested, but that sounds like a brand of ice cream you get from a machine.

How about " air conditioning is not just for the privileged anymore" ?

If you frame it as "for...(some group of people)", you're guaranteed to irk someone. Better to say something more neutral like (using your own words) "Don't be hardheaded about cooling off". It's not personal and it doesn't stereotype or offend anyone, except I guess the hardheaded. I think The Onion would really like a story about having no place in Europe to cool off other than a rental car - that was both ironic and comical...no disrespect for your wife intended in that comment, I'm glad she recuperated well from the heat.

It is not really about privilege. Maybe reverse snobbery. But more a narrow view of travel that sets itself apart from others. As in "Rick Steves used to sleep in the hay in Oma and Papa Stevonivic's barn, and here you are wanting a place with air conditioning! You _______!"

PS: The above is not directed at anyone still posting on the RS forum, but it does reflect views that some of now-departed true believers used to express toward those who departed from RS travel doctrine as they interpreted it.

Would 'wimp' be a better term...?

Actually... until you have spent some time in the jungle of Tikal in Guatemala where the temperature is 100+ and the humidity... who knows? nothing else feels hot. Besides the fact not only is there no air conditioning, there is no electricity except for about 3 hours a day. An hour in the morning and about 2 hours through the dinner hour. So, when you have the electricity you have an overhead fan that will work, and you might have some warm water... the rest of the time you just swelter and take tons of cold showers.

That said, after a long day of sightseeing and tromping around a major city I adore coming back to a room with AC... otherwise I am just drained. I don't always get it, but I do try in the midst of summer in the big cities.

You were lucky. We had to stay for three months in a paper bag in a Ecuadorian septic tank. We used to have to get up at six in the morning, clean the paper bag, eat a crust of stale bread, walk the jungles, fourteen hours a day, week-in week-out, and when we got home our tour guide would call us sissy wimps and thrash us to sleep wi' his belt.

Oh, right James... it slipped my mind... I did that too:)) heat stroke!

We could all write a book 'Diary of a Wimpy Traveler' :)
Let's get our whiners going here...

James... do you mean me (Terry Kathryn) or Terri Lynn????

I think you are morphing us into one! I am the one who can wing it most of the time and drives all over Europe...
(while I do like AC when it's hot)
Terri Lynn is the one who travels 1st class:)

I'm laughing out loud right now. Who'd of thunk it - all these responses about AC of all things.

"Feel free to suggest alternatives to fill in the blank: AC is not just for ___________ anymore."
Here's a list of synonyms for sissy, take your pick: coward, weakling, milksop, namby-pamby, baby, whimp, softie, chicken, milquetoast, mama's boy, pantywaist, cry baby, powder puff.

Personally I think you're all a bunch of namby-pamby pantywaists. We have survived for centuries without AC, if it were to disappear tomorrow we'd still survive. It's a comfort, a luxury, not a necessity.

That's all I have to say, I'm going back to my Equadorian septic tank now.

Terry, Terri: You are both right is my point.

Now I will have the Friends of the Wimps after me.

Well... you can blame it on me... there is always someone, somewhere, just waiting to be offended:))

James, you only had to clean the paper bag? We had to clean the whole jungle! (Thanks for that. Very good!)

When someone complains that they had clouds, or rain, or cold on their trip, I think they're being whiny, and should just make the best of it. But when I'm too hot, it ruins my days and nights. Call my wimpy or a sissy, I don't care. Just keep me cool.

A vote for "namby-pamby". Great old fashioned word we could use more often.

That said, we were very happy that we had booked an Ibis in Paris in July a few years ago. Temps were bordering on 100° and the AC was wonderful. Same thing in Berlin the past 2 years when it hit upper 90's in July. I chose Motel One cause they have AC. I don't need an old hotel with character, I can get that all day long while sightseeing. We don't have AC at home, cause no one has AC in Germany (that I have ever met at least), so this is something we want when we are on vacation.

Don't get me started on the absolute need for a concierge though. A good one would have helped you guys in your septic tank. You missed so many excellent activities!

I'm also a fan of the Ibis/Motel One/Holiday Inn Express option for updated creature comforts like full heat & AC options, 24 hour front desk, and functional wifi that's often included in room price. And yeah, the ground floor lobby of a typical Ibis is a mix of English package tourists, German families and French businesspeople without that many other Americans around because not too many North Americans are that familiar with the Accor hotel family.

I'm glad I made for some introspection (perhaps lost on Nancy ... lol) of the acceptable use of words on a forum such as this, the connotations they carry and the offence they may cause. I thank 'mph' for the support and the concise explanation offered.

I have had to travel to Europe in summer mostly.

I have never stayed in a hotel without airconditioning, except once , in London. Mistake.. its usually not hot in London in summer ( that was my 5th visit) but unfortunately it was that time.. and it SUCKED.. leaving the window open sucked because of street noise( I do not do well with that )

Sure.. its only hot hot hot in some places for short periods.. but I may only be there for short period.. outside in heat all day walking.. touring crowded hot as hades poorly aced sites.. and I absolutely need a cool retreat at night.

I also do not need to spend more then 100-120 euros anywhere to find a hotel with ac., happy to compromise on things like elevators, and I certainly could care less about concierges and bellmen.. that's for folks that are helpless I guess.

I also have lower tolerance to heat then many of you.. where I live .. 75 -80 is hot.. and over that.. yuck... unless I am at a beach resort and can swim in water.. hardly something one finds while touring many of the big cities in Europe.. lol

If one stays at hotel chains, such as Ibis, Motel One, and up the luxury ladder, chances are AC will be available although I know of one 3-4 star chain where it was complained that such a designation was undeserved since the hotel did not offer AC. Ibis pitches to the budget/semi-budget international guest, so from that perspective they had better offer AC. I prefer the Pension or the unique small hotel which in cities like Berlin with its Berlin Milieu you can bet no AC will be offered. It's almost a given that you'll be encountering in Berlin temperatures in the mid-80F in the summer and sweltering. Maybe that's one of the reasons, aside from a host of other reasons, why I've seen so few Americans relative to the number of Germans and others staying at the Pension I'm at.

Obviously, if a someone with a health issue requires AC, that's an entirely different story. If those French, Germans, Austrians, Poles, Hungarians, etc can put up or cope with no AC, I don't see why I can't either. No way will I pay extra for it if that should be the case. I've noticed that when I've talked to locals, in this case Germans, about what sort of accommodation I chose, small hotel, Pension, hostel, the price, breakfast, the room, its location, etc., one question never pops up...does the place have AC? Maybe it's not a priority.
My answer is always no.

Hmm must be differnt in Germany, I have never stayed in a chain in Paris, always small , often famikynrun hotels, and I find many with ac if you look. Guess Germany is in harder.

Appreciate the re write Roy. Thanks.

My hot tip is cold water, very similar to the first response out of the gate by Brad. For instance:

When I booked a cheap room in Milan for one night only, after flying in, it had no AC but an en-suite shower, so I was able to take several cold showers at all hours. Much better than bare-bones places (I'm thinking of Hotel Jean Bart in Paris) where you have to pay per shower when you use the facilities down the hall!

In Fes in June, a mid-day shower with a 1.5-liter bottle of tap water was better than nothing. My other strategy was to go to the soda shop early in the morning to tell the shopkeeper what I wanted to him to put in his refrigerator, so it would be cool by lunch time. Even better, take the bus out of town to the river.

Hope this helps!

Laura the Jean Bart only has a few rooms that have shared bathrooms, most are ensuite, but regardless it is a dump and I hope RS has stopped recommending it! For the same money ornjust 10-20 more euros one can find much better!!!

Good one, James, but no more changes! Any offended wimps are just going to have to tough it out. Anyway, having newly gone over to the dark (AC) side, I am proud to be a wimp. Let the old-school purists mock us all they want in their broiling rooms; we are now the "cool kids." ; > )

Yes Ms. Jo, namby-pamby gets my vote.

In fact, I think a good working definition of a traveler, vs. a tourist, is someone who is neither namby-pamby nor hoity-toity. ;-)

I'm one of the old school geezers, not purists, James, but maybe after I visit Budapest in the summer, I may have a different opinion. A good English friend of mine lived in BP for ca 1.5 years teaching English and said the heat to him was pretty much unbearable. He couldn't take it. If it's like that, It would have to be worse than what I experienced in Toulon in July 1999 where that combination of heat, water, sun, elevation, latitude was perfect to make it unbearable at high noon.

And how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Sorry, but this discussion has devolved to ....... well, I hesitate to say what.

Norma, many discussions end in silliness, but my point is serious: People need to pay more attention to the weather and season when planning a trip to Europe. I don't think that guidebooks get that point across. A great place to stay in spring or fall, even winter, may have serious drawbacks in summer, which is the only time of the year many people can travel. I would not rent lodging in winter in a place that does not provide heat, and I will no longer rent a place in the summer if it does not provide air-conditioning.

Thanks for the laugh Norma.

How many times can James respond to a thread? The answer is 20. I think that could be a winner!

21!!!

Actually the thread is sort of ludicrous and I just went with the roll. If you prefer AC, use AC, if not, not. As for the word police. I sort of give credence to the speakers intent and not to the listener's self victimization. But with this, I will end my participation. Its been great fun. Heck!! Say the word and I will self censor if you like.

Thank goodness, I am no longer a "wimp"!

I would never travel (use my vacation time) during the summer months. Heat takes a toll on me, always has. IF I had no choice, I would limit my travel to traditionally colder (far northern) places. That or I would stay home. A vacation in the summer is no vacation for me. Can't stand the heat....

I'm with Paul - I like to travel generally in mid-Sept thru early Oct, but even then you can hit some darn hot days (we have in Italy for sure). But to counter my claim, in 3 weeks, we are going to NYC for 6 nights...yes...in the middle of frigging July. I am actually quite dreading the heat and hope we can make plans to do inside things in the afternoon (or go hang out in Central Park...under a tree). If it wasn't for the U2 concert, I would never dream of going to NYC in the hottest part of the summer. (Damn U2...lol)

21 replies on one thread by one person. It may be an all-time record on this forum.