Traveling in Europe: Accomodations

I've been wanting to do a series on travel in Europe for awhile, but I just hadn't gotten around to it. I thought today was a perfect day to start, since I just e-mailed a fellow blogger yesterday about some of information I'm going to feature in this blog.

Today I'll be focusing on the accomodations aspect of traveling in Europe.

Before I moved to Italy I had mostly stayed in chain hotels in the States. I'd never really done the bed and breakfast option or renting someone's apartment or vacation home.

Since I've been in Europe that's all changed. There are times that we still stay in hotels when we travel, but for the most part I prefer to stay in rooms for rent, hostels or bed and breakfasts.

There are a few sites that I use in my search for the perfect room. (US dwellers, you can use these sites too to find accomodations in the states or even in other locations like Asia, South America, etc)

www.homeaway.com
www.vrbo.com
www.bedandbreakfast.com
www.hostelworld.com

I'm a huge Rick Steves fan, but I don't often stay in his recommendations for accomodations. I do however pay attention to the areas that most of his recommendations are in and try to find something in or around that area. Besides the above sites, I usually cross-reference with Tripadvisor.com just to get an unbiased opinion and pictures of the place I'm thinking about staying.

Now, if you use homeaway.com or vrbo.com be aware that sometimes people want you to pay a deposit upfront for your stay or cleaning of the place after you leave. I usually avoid those listings and find something that doesn't charge for cleaning or require a deposit, especially a non-refundable one. I don't see the need for paying 50 euro for a cleaning fee, when there are plenty of other quality listings that don't require that.

I do usually check out hostel listings from time to time, but honestly with the exception of a few, it's about the same price for a private room in a hostel as it is for a hotel room or apartment rental.

As an example, most of the places I've booked for Sean and I to stay in for our upcoming trip cost 60 euro or less per night for the both of us. Honestly, 50 euro is about the cheapest you'll find for a couple in Europe. I've yet to find much cheaper than that for a double bed. London is probably the most expensive city I've stayed in. Slovenia had some of the cheapest accomodations and best that we've stayed in so far.

Hopefully this will be helpful to some of you out there. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to e-mail me!

The Present You Never Received

Another Christmas blog! I'm sorry, but I just can't help myself.

I was thinking the other day about the wonderful Christmases I had as a child and then I remembered the Christmas present I asked for year after year and never got.

This:


The life-sized Barbie Corvette! I always wanted one and never got one. I guess I made up for it a little when I was 16 and actually bought my own Corvette, but still I always remember wanting that car so much when I was little.

Did you ever have a gift like that?

What I'm Reading

I thought I'd share with some of you what I've been reading lately and perhaps get a few ideas from you on what you've been reading.

Some Girls: My Life in a Harem by Jillian Lauren



I was not impressed with this book at all. Basically the book is about a young girl living in NYC who is first a stripper, then call girl, then spends time in the harem of Prince Jefri in Brunei. Something about this book just got under my skin and I really just wanted to slap the author while reading her personal experiences. She comes off as very selfish, bored and unwilling to do something to better her life.

The Kommandant's Girl by Pam Jenoff



I saw this on a post by DAR and thought it and it's companion book (The Diplomat's Wife, which I have yet to read) sounded good. Like DAR mentioned, it was a little predictable, but I've always been interested in the WWII period, so I really liked this book. The book follows Emma, a newly married girl who happens to be Jewish and her experiences working for the Nazis while also working secretly for the Resistance.

Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland by Gerald Clark



I really like reading biographies, but sometimes after I read one, I regret it because I find out sides to people that I'd rather not know about. This book was one of those reads. I had a certain idea about Judy Garland and this book blew that to bits. Still an interesting read, just not what I expected the life of Judy Garland to be like.

Any good books you've read lately?

I Love Christmas: Christmas Music

My Top 5 Christmas songs:

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree



It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year- Andy Williams



Silver Bells- Dean Martin



Sleigh Ride- Boston Pops Orchestra



O Holy Night- The Celine Dion version used to be my favorite, but check out Jackie Evancho singing it. It's AMAZING.



What are your favorite Christmas songs?

A little Mele Kalikimaka

A couple of weeks ago I won Annie's giveaway on her blog. The prize was a boxful of goodies from Hawaii.

I received the box in the mail yesterday and I couldn't wait to get it home and see what was inside. It was like my own little Hawaiian Christmas box when I finally opened it.



There was the most adorable postcard and a Hawaiian print floor shammy.



Delicious candy. There were some delicious watermelon candy that I ate in the first day.



My one request was some sand from the beach.



Two kinds of coffee



A very Hawaiian ornament



Two kinds of snack mix



Isn't this the cutest wrapping paper?



Two of my favorites! I'm a huge fan of macadamia nuts.

There were lots of other delicious goodies, but I featured just a few. Thanks again Annie for the amazing package!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

Join in over at Wife of a Sailor!



1.If you were given $1,000 right now, how would you spend it?
I'd probably buy some cute boots, some new clothes and would put the rest towards my car payment. The sooner I get it paid off, the better!

2.If you had to choose a movie title (a real one that already exists) for your life story, what would it be?
Legally Blonde. I think that's pretty self-explanatory.

3.If you were a teacher, what subject would you like to teach?
History! My favorite subject ever.

4.Has being a MilSpouse changed how you view holidays or how your holidays are celebrated? If so, how? If not, what hasn’t changed?
It has. Until I got married and moved away I didn't realize how lucky I was to always spend the holidays with my family. Now that I can't do that every year, it makes me cherish those times more.

5.What is your favorite Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) memory?
Any memory from Christmas was always great. I loved putting the tree up with my Mom and brother and talking about the ornaments as we put them up. I loved spending time with my extended family on Christmas Eve and eating all the goodies that everyone brought. Christmas is my favorite time of year!

Question of the Day

What items are on your Christmas list this year?



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