Food in Europe

We have almost completed our 3 weeks of traveling in Europe and we have had some great meals and some not so great meals.

Eating in London:
- You will pretty much get what you expect... except for the "clotted cream" incident. This was served next to a lemon cake dessert and expecting it to be vanilla ice cream we had a big bite of warm, unsweetened clotted cream. Yeah.
- Desserts seem to be a little less sweet and spicy is quite a bit less spicy.

Some general things you should know about eating in Italy (where things are most different) are as follows: 

- Close your menus so they know You are ready to order.
-You do not need to tip, it is included.
-Stay away from restaurants near tourist attractions or with a great view (unless it's a high class restaurant). Just a few streets over will make a huge difference in price and quality of food.
-If you order fish in Italy it will all be these brown slabs of meat in a sauce (we had this happen 3 times). To be safe just stick to things with pictures.
- You're pasta will always be aldente (a little under cooked/chewy). And the noodles seem to all be more eggy then at home.

- DON'T eat the bread they put on the table unless you want to be charged for it.

- You have to ask for your check, they won't bring it to you. And you often have to go up to the front or bar to pay.

- Venice was particularly challenging to get food. Most restaurants actually do close for the siesta or whatever it is called here. Between 3 and 5 and then promptly close around 9. It's definitely not impossible to find a place during the "off" hours but you will get a lot of unfriendly "NO'S" and shooing...

*I'll add some restaurant suggestions when we get home and I get a chance to go through things.

Tips for Traveling Europe

We have almost completed our 3 week adventure through Europe. Starting just outside the EU in London. From there to Paris. On to Rome, then Florence, and finally Venice. These are some things I have picked up along the way.

Generally
- use Travelocity + Retailmenot for booking hotels
- use tripadvisor city guide apps for hotel reviews, as well as restaurant and itinerary suggestions.
- if your phone is in a case the compass will probably point you in the wrong direction...
- getting cash from an atm is usually "cheaper" then credit card fees. Check with your bank and credit cards!!! (Some Amex cards have no foreign transaction fees)

London
-city bikes are great use them (you can do it!)
-the underground (metro) pretty easy to traverse and super useful
- the pound has a higher exchange rate than the EU and on top of that London is not cheap.

Paris
- be at Notre Dame at opening time 7:45am and it's a great experience
- again the metro is great
- make sure to see the Eiffel tower at night, at the top of any hour.

Rome
- if you can afford it, take a tour (or three) with The Roman Guy. You don't wait in lines and get to see things you otherwise would not. Like the dungeons and 3rd floor of the colosseum and the sistine chaple with about 40 people vs 200.
- get free drinking water from ANY fountain
- you don't need to tip. It is included. If you want to tip just a couple euro extra you obviously can.
- go to the river at night to walk the tent line of restaurants and vendors (search for La Ranella)
- see the key hole (Google it)
- take the elevator for St. Peter's. It's worth the 2 euros trust me. Yup sul have 320 stairs to go. And it gets tight. 
- you can pack the big stuff into 3 days of you are prepared to do a lot of walking. Add a day for Pompeii if that's a must for you.

Florence
- prepare to actually relax here
- great waking town,  much smaller than you'd think
- go to Micheal Angelo's Piazza for the sunset. It's worth the climb. Bring crackers, cheese, and meat. You will spend a couple hours.
- see David right when it opens you will only wait 30 minutes vs 2 hours and beat the crowds (if you don't pre buy tickets)
- Pisa is a quick and easy day trip from here.
- head to castiglioncello to go to the beach. Exit the train station cross the street to the park walk through then down the steps to your far left and find a free (rocky) pretty beach.

Venice
- It's actually hotter here because it's more humid

Europe in the Summer...GO

My husband's schedule is super unpredictable and I am a teacher so when we decided to go to Europe we opened up any time in the summer as an option. When we told people we were going to Europe in late July early August they basically said don't go and told us how miserable we would be.
They were WRONG! Yes it is hot. And yes apparently most Italians are on vacation in August. But I'm sitting in my hotel room in Florence this morning and it's not even 8 and the city is buzzing. We have had no problems with restaurants or hotels being closed. A lot of monuments are under construction but those are 18 month or longer projects so it has nothing to do with summer.
Another thing is that people say "book ahead! It's the busy season." Well we didn't. We wanted to go where the wind blew us. Of course we had all our major destinations picked out and even a general time line but when we decided we had had enough of London we went to Paris early. So we booked our train just a couple days ahead and our hotels on the Travelocity app on the train to the next city (which has worked out great so far).
We live in Southern California so like I said the heat hasn't really been so bad. The humidity takes a couple days to get used to. Where sunscreen, bring a hat or buy one from one of the billion street vendors like I did. In Rome all the fountains are free drinking water so refill your bottles often. And in Paris and Florence we have had a couple nice rain showers to get a break from the heat. We even did Pompeii on a 90 degree day and it was alright. There is a lot of shade and more potable fountains.
Don't be discouraged about traveling to Europe in the summer!!

Trains in Europe / Using a Eurail Pass

Trains and eurail passes are difficult to use but not impossible. Warning: buying 1st class eurail passes does not guarantee you a seat in 1st class or even on the train. You DO need to make a "reservation", which really is an extra charge to be able to have a seat on the train. While eurail suggests making reservations 90 days in advance. We found we could get 1st class tickets by purchasing them just 3 days ahead or so (Traveling July 25th - August 12th). Our first ticket we bought day of and couldn't get on a very direct train and were only offered standard seats. Bottom line, even with the eurail pass you have to get an actual ticket per train ride and pay extra for each ticket if you want a seat. Also you must fill out the eurail paperwork attached to your pass BEFORE the train conductor checks your ticket, or he will be happy to lecture you about how it's fraud not to and may even fine you. Expect your conductor to be unfriendly and unhelpful. Another notable tip if someone's in your seat: old people, families, mean looking men, just tell them it's your seat. They risked not having a seat because they probably aren't going far but they will sit wherever and even if you give them the "Ah that's my seat LOOK and BODY LANGUAGE" they won't move unless you speak up. And they may give you the stink eye but do you really want to stand with all your luggage when you just paid an extra $30-$90 for a seat??
Buying your ticket is another task. You can go to the ticket window where you have to get a number in most places like we used to at
the deli but it will be awhile. Maybe even an hour or two. Another option is buying your ticket at the self service machine. Which you can do with your eurail pass and we tried to show you how here. All in all the trains vary in niceness (the longest rides won't always be on the nicest trains), they are mostly on time, and they are the best financial choice for traveling Europe.
OH! And there is this ear thing no one has ever mentioned. When you are on a train, especially the high speed trains,  and it goes through a tunnel your ears react like you're on a plane. Doesn't seem to happen in the subway, guess those are not going fast enough. But consider yourself forewarned.