OpusX

Yup, one carry-on for me for two weeks! Lots of breathable cottons and linen and sandals! I am so pyched I can't sit still !

Amart

We just returned from 6 weeks and watched the temps rise each day. I suggest white "fishing" shirts with vented backs. My husband took 3 and never wore another shirt--said they really helped. They wash well also. Don't be afraid to use an umbrella--you may look odd--but you will be envied. I saw several women with them. Everybody suggests black clothes. Stupid in the heat. I found that a white sleeveless blouse that I bought and added at the last minute was a god-send. I washed it out each night. Wear waterproof makeup or none at all--it will just wash off after a couple of hours.

julie_Colorado

LoveItaly... maybe you don't live in the south... Gives new meaning to hell on earth....

amsinrome

I was in Rome during the heatwave of 2003...biggest adjustment, switching from red wine to cooler white wine

Enjoy your trip!

Sue4

Julie_colorado, cm'on, N.C. isn't really THAT bad! Well, maybe compared to Colorado. The N.C. mountains are delightful - that's where all us Floridians go, at least the ones who can afford second homes. Myself, I prefer to stay here in South Florida (mostly inside!)in the summer, and go to Europe in the spring and fall.

LoveItaly

Hi Julia_colorado, I was not the one in Rome the month of June. My daughter & SIL were due to a big family problem in Rome. My SIL was born and raised in Rome so he is use to the summer weather there.

I and my daughter & SIL and live in the southern end of the Sacramento Valley. Today it was 99 degrees - and it will get hotter for sure.

But my daughter & SIL were really not bothered by the heat here (they just returned home a couple of days ago) as they compared the heat and humidity here to Rome and felt like the heat here was nothing. Probably due to the fact that the humidty was lower here. I know it can get terrible in the south. I think the problem in Italy is that they do not have the a/c like we do in the US. And evidently the north of Italy (per my friends there) is even hotter than in Rome. Sounds like another miserable summer. Take care and stay cool.

rbnwdln

The difference between bearing the heat at home and on an Italian vacation in this heat is that our air-conditioning is really cool and sometimes cold. Not so in Italy, if they have it at all. PLUS, if the weather is unbearably hot here you stay in air-conditioning most of the day. On vacation you are walking, walking, walking. The sun was so brutal that I carried the hotel's umbrella with me in Florence and risked looking like an old lady. It was a life saver, though.

wlzmatilida

Opus,

I feel your pain!

I was in France in 2003 during the "unseasonable heat wave" (as I kept hearing over and over) at the end of May.

Being at a Caribbean resort at a swim up bar is much preferable to walking over cobblestones, visiting chateaux / castles on the tops of hills with no shade! The humidity was a killer.

By week 3 I was investigating coming home early - something I've NEVER done on a trip before (ok, there were some other mitigating circumstances, like lots of strikes, etc)but the bottom line was that by Week 3 it had really worn us down. On top of that, we stayed at a lovely converted mill in the South of France, left the windows open to catch any breeze, and I came home with 32 mosquito bites!

The only tip I can give you is what others have said - make sure to hydrate yourself with lots of water. And, you might want to pack a washcloth from home, or one of those bandana type things in a ziplock bag & take it with you. Soak it in a fountain and apply it to the back of your neck for a few minutes. It's a temporary relief, but a welcome one (thanks Grandma for teaching me that as a child)!

Comments about the A/C are correct -- it's no where near what we have here. When you first get into a room, cab, etc, and are broiling, you think "ahhh"...five minutes later you're wondering what happened to it?! Some low low setting not known to Americans!

The good news is that I may be the only person to have gone to France and actually LOST weight! Because of the heat I ate ALOT of Salad Nicose (and any other kind of salad); sometimes for dinner I just had an appetizer, it was just too hot to have a big meal!

Good luck and let us know how you made out!

Regards,

Melodie

SloJan

We just returned from Umbria on July 2. I have lived in the South and believe me, it was HOT. We hit 42 degrees in Deruta which is about 108. We just slowed down and toured in the morning, stuck to the churches, ate lightly, drank lots of cold Orvieto and Grechetto and spent the afternoon at the pool side at our villa. With 4 children in tow, that was the only thing we could do but it was still a great trip. The Italians were being very accomodating with the sleeveless and shorts issues in the churches, too.
Cheers,
Jan

platzman

I've always thought those average temperature tables in guidebooks don't tell the whole story. More often than not, the high temps feel a LOT higher and the low temps feel a LOT lower. Humidities and wind strength have a lot to do with how it really feels. And it might feel drastically different in the cities from just one block to the next!

LoveItaly

Hi Platzman, I agree with you. And yes the cold can feel so much colder as the Italians don't all have central heating like we do here in the US. There have been time while in Veneto in October I thought I would die from the cold. Was to embarresed though to eat dinner at friends homes while wearing my coat, LOL. But I sure wanted to.

AnthonyGA

In years past Europe was not so hot, even in areas normally considered hot. The temperature has increased enormously in the last decade, and in all likelihood it will continue to increase, thanks to global warming. Each year breaks new records. The real mystery is that very few Europeans seem to understand that theses are not "unseasonable heat waves" but are in fact the normal weather for the future, and they are completely unprepared. A lot of adaptation will be necessary in the coming years, and the highest item on the list will be air conditioning, which Europeans will have to install whether they want to or not. In the meantime, if you happen to be visiting during one of these constant "unseasonable" heat waves (which is increasingly difficult to avoid), you'll suffer unless you can find a hotel or something that is truly air-conditioned as it should be.

LoveItaly

Hi AnthonyGA, in the area of Veneto (which has a lot of people with high incomes) so many residents now have airconditioning that there is a big worry about electrical usage.

The older (going back centuries) homes have really thick walls but newer construction doesn't, which adds to the misery.

It sure seems as the "average" temps are changing in Europe.