****ty exchange rate, any place in europe worth visiting?

AZ Nomad wrote:
My wife and I wanted to visit possibly Spain or Italy from here in
Arizona US, but have been hearing horror stories about the current
exchange rate.
A while back we visited California, and I really got tired of being
ripped
of on everything. I can't imagine how Europe would be right now.

I was wondering if anybody might have some advice on visiting europe
on the cheap? Stuff like renting a room with kitchen access and
getting local groceries instead of paying for restaurant meals, etc.

Italy or Spain are big. It is difficult to generalize.
you might find midday dinners at about 12 to 15 eur..
I mean complete dinners.
but in most supermarkets there are small restaurants.. or cooks that prepare
food on the spot.
you might eat in those supermarkets then.
quality is good and prices are reasonable.
just a few days ago I had in Italy a 3 dishes meal in a chinese restaurant
for less than 10 eur.. and surprisingle enough it was good

be aware that in Italy normally they will charge you for bread and table
cloth. that might amount to a couple of eur at least.

just have a look around. But in towns like Florence or Venice better to
bring yr own food

I wil recommend a B&B in Florence
www.casacimabue.it
it is very very nice.
about 15 minutes walk from tjhe town centre.
price around eur 60 including our breakfast ( not much )
just a few metres away. a small trattoria will feed you well with less than
15 eur including wine

By the way wine in italy is cheap. do not pay more than 6.00 eur for vino
della casa ( table wine ) I mean a full litre.

In germany in summer hotel prices are very cheap. are business is absent
and people do not sleep in Hotels. I slept in Frankfurt centre for about 40
eur.
just use one of the webpages that provide you with hotels at special rpices

maybe
www.tui.com
www.hrs.de
www.hotels.com

just to give you an idea

Tim C. wrote:
On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:06:10 +0100, Mike..... wrote:

After the exchange rate, what problems are you expecting?

Euro 5 for a half litre beer in France and Italy. That's horrific in
my book.
yes
but you will find 1 ltre of beer in a supermarket for 1 eur !!!
and one litre of wine for about 1.5 eur
today I saw
1bottle of glen grant wiskey for about 7 eur.
is that expensive ??
mineral water will cost anything like 0.25 for a litre
parmesan chees eur 10 for a kg
good mortadella for about 10 for a kg
bread about 2 to 4 eur a kg

tile wrote:

Tim C. wrote:
On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:06:10 +0100, Mike..... wrote:

After the exchange rate, what problems are you expecting?

Euro 5 for a half litre beer in France and Italy. That's horrific in
my book.
yes
but you will find 1 ltre of beer in a supermarket for 1 eur !!!
and one litre of wine for about 1.5 eur
today I saw
1bottle of glen grant wiskey for about 7 eur.
is that expensive ??
mineral water will cost anything like 0.25 for a litre
parmesan chees eur 10 for a kg
good mortadella for about 10 for a kg
bread about 2 to 4 eur a kg

That's fine for people doing a purely self-catering holiday, but not
everyone does.

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net
(email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the
onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about.
Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins

On Jul 20, 2:39*pm, AZ Nomad wrote:
My wife and I wanted to visit possibly Spain or Italy from here in Arizona US,
but have been hearing horror stories about the current exchange rate.
A while back we visited California, and I really got tired of being ripped
of on everything. *I can't imagine how Europe would be right now.

I was wondering if anybody might have some advice on visiting europe on the
cheap? *Stuff like renting a room with kitchen access and getting local
groceries instead of paying for restaurant meals, etc.

Go to central or eastern europe. Croatia, Czech Republic, some of the
former Soviet Union countries such as Lithuvania are relatively
inexpensive, compared to Western Europe.

On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:48:07 +0200, Runge12 wrote:
All places in Europe are worth visiting, it's your currency that is
worthless.
no ****, sherlock.

However, I'm not willing to take two months wages for a 10 day trip.

Your choice is Turkey or Tunisia in north Africa...
I think I'd rather do Costa Rica, or Brazil.

Despite what people say, 1 euro = 1.60 $ and the tendency is down for the $
!
No use choosing a cheap hotel in a cheap country if you can't afford to
drive with a liter at 1.60 euro...
True.

On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:06:10 +0100, Mike..... wrote:
Following up to AZ Nomad

My wife and I wanted to visit possibly Spain or Italy from here in Arizona US,
but have been hearing horror stories about the current exchange rate.

hearing horror stories? The dollar is weak, a simple fact.

I can't imagine how Europe would be right now.

why not? After the exchange rate, what problems are you expecting?

Paying $300 minimum a night instead of the local rate of $30-90.
If a place costs a full four times more to visit, it may not be worth it.

Following up to AZ Nomad

Paying $300 minimum a night instead of the local rate of $30-90.

you mean the locals pay 30, the tourists 300?
--
Mike........
remove clothing to email

"tile" kirjoitti
in.it...
Tim C. wrote:
On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:06:10 +0100, Mike..... wrote:

After the exchange rate, what problems are you expecting?

Euro 5 for a half litre beer in France and Italy. That's horrific in
my book.
yes
but you will find 1 ltre of beer in a supermarket for 1 eur !!!
and one litre of wine for about 1.5 eur
today I saw
1bottle of glen grant wiskey for about 7 eur.
is that expensive ??
mineral water will cost anything like 0.25 for a litre
parmesan chees eur 10 for a kg
good mortadella for about 10 for a kg
bread about 2 to 4 eur a kg

At a cafe in Helsinki a cup of coffee costs typically more than two euros.
By two euros one buys half a kilo pack of coffee at a grocery store.

On Jul 20, 2:39*pm, AZ Nomad wrote:
My wife and I wanted to visit possibly Spain or Italy from here in Arizona US,
but have been hearing horror stories about the current exchange rate.
A while back we visited California, and I really got tired of being ripped
of on everything. *I can't imagine how Europe would be right now.

I was wondering if anybody might have some advice on visiting europe on the
cheap? *Stuff like renting a room with kitchen access and getting local
groceries instead of paying for restaurant meals, etc.

Also Buenos Aires is a very European city, and Argentina has great
exchange rates with the US dollar. And they speak Spanish, just like
Spain.

On Jul 21, 6:11*pm, Martin wrote:

You'll be glad to know that a Church of Tobacco smokers has been formed in NL to
get around smoking ban.

Doesn't surprise me. What DOES surprise me is that such machinations
are not already widespread, with restaurants being declared "private
dining clubs" or whatever, just to avoid the ban. I saw a guy in a
restaurant recently rolling a pile of cigarettes, lovingly licking the
papers and putting unlit cigs in his mouth. Maybe if the Cloggies get
more desperate for their nicotine fix they will start to notice how
slow the service is?