Help!! I am leaving for Italy in 3 weeks. I planned this trip for 2 years. I have been tracking the weather in Venice, Rome, Florence, Sorrento every day.....it is all RAIN and clouds!!! What gives??!!<BR>I was planning on packing summer clothes and a few warm items - but now I am clueless!<BR>Does Italy experience a seasonal change comparable to our "Fall"??? I hope so!!

Beware of dreams that only fit one set of expectations.<BR><BR>I can't help but offer this much beloved description of an "alternative" to the "perfect" trip to Italy:<BR><BR>from http://www.our-kids.org/Archives/Holland.html and countless other web locations.<BR><BR>and yes, I know it's copyrighted.<BR><BR>============================<B R><BR>Welcome to Holland<BR><BR>by Emily Perl Kingsely<BR><BR>When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.<BR><BR>After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."<BR><BR>"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."<BR><BR>But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.<BR><BR>The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.<BR><BR>So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.<BR><BR>It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.<BR><BR>But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." <BR><BR>And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.<BR><BR>But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.<BR><BR>================================== =<BR><BR>Even in the rain, you will find "the very lovely things" of Italy. If you let yourself.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

"Welcome To Holland" was used at an inservice I attended last year! The topic was working with families of children with disabilities. Nice to see it can be applied to many different situations. <BR>Later this month we plan to visit Prague and several other cities which suffered from the recent flooding. I just remind myself -- Life is what happens despite what you may have planned.

Why do you, Rex, as a well-established poster, think the rules set forth by Fodors don't apply to you? (you know -- the cutting and pasting of copyrighted material thing).

I do think - - I do KNOW - - that the rules do apply to me. Just like I know that speed limit laws apply to me. And I know that the consequences will be applied. They will probably remove this post.<BR><BR>I guess, that just like driving 71 mph, I think that the stakes are not all that high, that I'll just shrug it off, when I see it deleted. This item is all over the web, and its author apparently no longer cares to have her copyright aggressively defended - - that the harm to the author is little or none, and that the benefit to a reader here justifies the transgression.<BR><BR>I acknowledged that I was breaking the rules, and now I have explained my rationalization for why I don't really feel guilty about it.<BR>

Sharon didn't say her trip would be ruined, she just wanted advice on what to pack for that time of year. Rain gear or shorts and sandals for instance in Sorrento. Now I hope her thread doesn't get deleted before someone gives her a helpful answer.

This year Italy has had a really poor summer, but in any case late september would no more be summer even in a warmer year. Although this year we have had little sun, late september is when usually the fall rains start, so I would have adviced you to bring less t-shirts and shorts and more warm clothes anyhow. Usually late september weather in northern and central Italy means jeans or long trousers, a t-shirt and a sweater or jacket (at noon on a sunny day you will probably be able to go around in just the t-shirt, but in the morning and evenings you will definetly need something warmer). Sa you go south you may still find some hot days and in Sicily you might even swim until late september or early october, but you will still need somehing warm for the nights.

Don't worry about it. We had the same forecast when we went last April. The weather turned out to be fine. Sure we had perhaps an hour of rain many of the days, but most of the time it was partially sunny - perfect for walking around. We even had an ice storm in southern Tuscany, made for some great memories, and the sun was out within a half hour! Usually rain in the forecast in a Mediterannean climate doesn't mean an all day soaking rain.

Zootsi:<BR><BR>If the italian weather is not soaking rain for the whole day, how comes that both in Milano and in Florence the rains hasn't stopped a minute in the last 24 hours? The summer has been very rainy, this means that in the lat two weeks of august we have had 4 days of sunshine and the rest of the days was either rain or clouds, and the end of September is a rainy period of the year even in dryer years.

This is unusual, isn't it? It has been a very strange year for weather in many parts of the world. Here in New England, we had a very hot, dry summer which is not typical. What I meant to point out in my post was that even though weather forecasts will predict rain, it usually doesn't mean the all day type!

Hello Sharon, <BR>Hope all is well on your side. Wow, 2 years is a long time to plan a trip, but i'm sure it must be close to being perfect, apart from the weather that is... <BR>The weather here, especially in Venice is very variable, you can have rain, sunshine, floods, hot and cold all within 24 hrs. <BR>My advice is that you bring and some winter clothing and also some summer clothing. <BR>But lets just say that the weather seems to be better now than what we had during the summer. (it was apparently the lousiest summer in many many years). <BR><BR>I am also writing to offer you a service; <BR>I have a extra room in my flat that i let from time to time for a couple of days. <BR><BR>Unfortunately i do not have a website as i do this very casually and don't advertise. <BR>My flat is located on the 4th floor just off Campo San Luca which is exactly half way between San Marco square and the Rialto bridge (3/4 minutes walk from each). <BR>The flat is fully equipped like any 'real' home i.e. with washing machine, cooker, fridge, nice bathroom, tv, music, living/sitting room, entrance/study, 2 cosy bedrooms, kitchen etc. <BR>Since the flat is high, there is a view and there is plenty of light coming in. <BR>I supply towels, soap/shampoo, and all basic necessities of the like so no need to bring any. <BR>I also have the necessary for guests to have breakfast/coffee/tea whenever the guests please and is all included in the price. <BR>My rates are 40 Euros per night for 1 person and 60 Euros for 2 people. <BR><BR>I work for a shipbrokers' here in Venice close to 12 hours a day so i am rarely at home (i leave around 8.30 am and rarely return before 7pm). <BR><BR>If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to ask me. <BR><BR>P.s. I can send you some pictures of the flat/room if you are interested.

It is not a good idea to make vacation plans dependent on the weather, because this would just be setting yourself up for disappointment. Weather is just too unpredicable, especially this time of year. <BR><BR>Before traveling anywhere, I always create 2 itineraries: things to do when the weather is nice; and things do when it rains. Italy has tons of indoor things to do in rainy weather, so you will have many options. <BR><BR>Also, if you are adequately dressed (rainjacket, rainhat, scarf), walking in the rain will not be a problem.

<BR>When it comes to weather anywhere in the world, your best strategy is to expect the unexpected, and pack accordingly.

The bad weather all though summer has been quite unusual, but not too strange at all. We have had similar weather at least another time in the last ten years. Besides, Italy is no tropical country. We get, in particular in the north but also in central Italy, long periods of bad weather. A couple of years ago it kept raining all trhough the second half of April and May, some 6 or 7 yeras ago we didn't have a single sunny day since mid september until mid november, and for the most part of these two months it kept raining and raining. If you want to see the weather change several times a day you will have to move furhter north, for instance in Ireland. Italy has a completely different kind of weather and, altough unpredictable, it often has long stretches of stable bad weather, in particular in the north, when for several days it just keeps raining, as well as you can have long stretches of good weather. This is all very usual for us.

Now some floods in southern France.<BR>

Hi<BR><BR>Dopn't worry.<BR>There is always a short period of change between high / low pressure in Autumn.<BR><BR>Normally it is a a couple of days of serious storms overnight, then the sunny days continue to mid november.<BR><BR>See the posts about S France above<BR><BR>Peter<BR>http://tlp.netfirms.com<BR>

I wouldn't get too worried. You said you're leaving in 3 weeks--a lot can happen in 3 weeks, and I bet that once you're there, it wont rain every day. You'll drive yourself crazy if you think about it too much.<BR><BR>If it's cloudy, it wont be bad, really. You'll still get the ambiance and that's what counts. Rome can be extremely hot, and there have been times when I've been there, that I wished it were cloudy, to lessen the sun.<BR><BR>Just enjoy!

If you would like some good and cheap accommodation in Venice, please send me an email. Have a nice day !

I'm leaving for Italy in a couple of days. Remember, you're going to Europe, not the caribbean. Who cares if it rains? It's not going to rain non-stop for the entire time you are there. Just pack a small purse umbrella and enjoy your trip!

Dori:<BR><BR>Good luck. right now rain in Milano is not non stop, but it is sure close to it.