Hotel w/ A/C necessary in August?
Apr 27th, 2007, 04:03 AM
#21
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hi cinciapril-
was just in vernazza this past august. after staying in riomaggiore last summer, the cool nights made us believe we didn't need a/c.WRONG! my friend and i were MISERABLY HOT for a few nights and couldn't take it anymore-stifling heat, NO breeze, and the tiny fan they gave us just blew the hot air around. we went back to riomaggiore (which we actually prefer!) and stayed at one of marmar's apts. with a/c. it was heaven! remember too, that many of these apts. are up quite a number of stairs and the heat rises! it was the hottest i've ever been and the only way to sleep was by popping an AMBIEN! good luck- and if you're not so set on vernazza- consider riomaggiore.
was just in vernazza this past august. after staying in riomaggiore last summer, the cool nights made us believe we didn't need a/c.WRONG! my friend and i were MISERABLY HOT for a few nights and couldn't take it anymore-stifling heat, NO breeze, and the tiny fan they gave us just blew the hot air around. we went back to riomaggiore (which we actually prefer!) and stayed at one of marmar's apts. with a/c. it was heaven! remember too, that many of these apts. are up quite a number of stairs and the heat rises! it was the hottest i've ever been and the only way to sleep was by popping an AMBIEN! good luck- and if you're not so set on vernazza- consider riomaggiore.
Apr 27th, 2007, 04:16 AM
#22
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>Europe is getting hotter every year. Eventually Europeans will have to overcome their ignorance and superstition and install A/C just about everywhere. But they are certainly stubborn.<
Europe is getting hotter every year because the Americans with their A/Cs and SUVs ruin the planet's climate! >But they are certainly stubborn.<
Europe is getting hotter every year because the Americans with their A/Cs and SUVs ruin the planet's climate! >But they are certainly stubborn.<
Apr 27th, 2007, 04:40 AM
#23
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>Eventually Europeans will have to overcome their ignorance and superstition and install A/C just about everywhere.<
Oh please, it's not 'ignorance' or 'superstition'. It's cost. Historically, the summers have not been hot enough for long enough to warrant most people putting in air conditioning. What's more, electricity costs in Italy are crazy (three times the cost of, say, the UK), so smaller hotels that run on a shoestring anyway will certainly think twice before splashing out.
Oh please, it's not 'ignorance' or 'superstition'. It's cost. Historically, the summers have not been hot enough for long enough to warrant most people putting in air conditioning. What's more, electricity costs in Italy are crazy (three times the cost of, say, the UK), so smaller hotels that run on a shoestring anyway will certainly think twice before splashing out.
Apr 27th, 2007, 05:33 AM
#25
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Sorry, I'm American and I agree. I find it appalling when I go home to New England and everyone is driving around in May when it is at most 75 degrees in their giant SUVs with the AC blasting! And in their homes too.
My husband and I went to Nice a few years ago and stayed in a hotel with no AC and lived to tell the tale. How did thousands of generations survive before this without it I wonder?
My husband and I went to Nice a few years ago and stayed in a hotel with no AC and lived to tell the tale. How did thousands of generations survive before this without it I wonder?
Apr 27th, 2007, 05:44 AM
#27
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People are used to what they are used to.
In Hawaii we stayed at small places on Maui and Hawaii (the Big Island) and there was no air conditioning. I was dying. When we got back to our first lodging in Maui and opened the door it must have been 120 degrees in threre. It was an apt. and the bedroom didn't even have a window, just a fan. I slept, badly, with sweat dripping for two nights. The grounds of this complex (small) were very lovely and isolated, but the heat!!
When we finally got to a resort, for a splurge, for our last two nights and had air conditioning, I was saved. I am not ususally a resort person, but boy was I happy to finally be cooled off. Guess I'm just not a "hot weather" person.
Hawaii - they're used to hot weather and most who have moved there have probab;y done so in part because of that kind of weather. So perhaps they don't care, and again, are used to it.
Then again, giant cockroaches, which they have in abundance, are lovingly called "law roaches" as they run around the lawn. ARRGH!!
In Hawaii we stayed at small places on Maui and Hawaii (the Big Island) and there was no air conditioning. I was dying. When we got back to our first lodging in Maui and opened the door it must have been 120 degrees in threre. It was an apt. and the bedroom didn't even have a window, just a fan. I slept, badly, with sweat dripping for two nights. The grounds of this complex (small) were very lovely and isolated, but the heat!!
When we finally got to a resort, for a splurge, for our last two nights and had air conditioning, I was saved. I am not ususally a resort person, but boy was I happy to finally be cooled off. Guess I'm just not a "hot weather" person.
Hawaii - they're used to hot weather and most who have moved there have probab;y done so in part because of that kind of weather. So perhaps they don't care, and again, are used to it.
Then again, giant cockroaches, which they have in abundance, are lovingly called "law roaches" as they run around the lawn. ARRGH!!
Apr 27th, 2007, 06:30 AM
#28
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Here's another real anti-American statement 
They need to buy those huge SUVs, because since nobody is able to drive a car over there, they need lots of metal to protect them in case of an accident.
They need to buy those huge SUVs, because since nobody is able to drive a car over there, they need lots of metal to protect them in case of an accident.
Apr 27th, 2007, 02:11 PM
#30
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ira,
excuse me. But AnthonyGA's statement needed a riposte.
I have to admit that public opinion here is indeed 90% anti-American, at least regarded to ecological aspects.
Please help us to respond to the following arguments, which are very popular here in the press as well as in political discussions:
- The USA is the only western country that has not signed the Kyoto declaration. The USA is thus becoming a rogue state within the international community.
- The USA is producing 19.8 tons of CO2 per capita per year, this is twice as much as most European countries produce per capita. Switzerland produces only 6.1 tons.
Please help us!
excuse me. But AnthonyGA's statement needed a riposte.
I have to admit that public opinion here is indeed 90% anti-American, at least regarded to ecological aspects.
Please help us to respond to the following arguments, which are very popular here in the press as well as in political discussions:
- The USA is the only western country that has not signed the Kyoto declaration. The USA is thus becoming a rogue state within the international community.
- The USA is producing 19.8 tons of CO2 per capita per year, this is twice as much as most European countries produce per capita. Switzerland produces only 6.1 tons.
Please help us!
Apr 27th, 2007, 02:20 PM
#31
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First, there's no proof that global warming is caused by human beings. Human beings like to believe that they have a huge influence over the planet, but in reality the planet doesn't even notice their existence. While pumping CO2 into the atmosphere might have some effect, nobody really knows if that effect is significant or not, and nobody knows if the current global warming trend is the result of any human activity.
Second, the CO2 produced by the burning of vast amounts of coal and other fossil fuels in overpopulated states such as China and India will soon eclipse anything produced by the US or Europe.
Third, while cost is an issue for Europeans, when it comes to A/C they are terribly ignorant and superstitious as well. They truly have no clue about A/C, how it works, why it is necessary, and so on. Only a tiny minority of Europeans in areas where it has traditionally been hot at least part of the year actually know what A/C is all about, and even they are usually only acquainted with the wimpy A/C systems that have historically sufficed in their areas.
Anyway, the most important point here is that A/C is increasingly mandatory for any European trip that does not occur in the dead of winter or the far north. When it's hot and humid you cannot sleep, and if you cannot sleep your vacation will be ruined, even if you somehow managed to tolerate being dehydrated and soaked to the underwear with sweat during all of your waking hours.
Second, the CO2 produced by the burning of vast amounts of coal and other fossil fuels in overpopulated states such as China and India will soon eclipse anything produced by the US or Europe.
Third, while cost is an issue for Europeans, when it comes to A/C they are terribly ignorant and superstitious as well. They truly have no clue about A/C, how it works, why it is necessary, and so on. Only a tiny minority of Europeans in areas where it has traditionally been hot at least part of the year actually know what A/C is all about, and even they are usually only acquainted with the wimpy A/C systems that have historically sufficed in their areas.
Anyway, the most important point here is that A/C is increasingly mandatory for any European trip that does not occur in the dead of winter or the far north. When it's hot and humid you cannot sleep, and if you cannot sleep your vacation will be ruined, even if you somehow managed to tolerate being dehydrated and soaked to the underwear with sweat during all of your waking hours.
Apr 27th, 2007, 02:30 PM
#32
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>First, there's no proof that global warming is caused by human beings.<
http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf
http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf
Apr 27th, 2007, 02:45 PM
#34
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VeeBee,
we have been to Provence in July and August for about a dozen times and never had air condition.
Instead, we smelled pines and herbs and listened to the cicadas...
However, we are stubborn Europeans.
we have been to Provence in July and August for about a dozen times and never had air condition.
Instead, we smelled pines and herbs and listened to the cicadas...
However, we are stubborn Europeans.
Apr 27th, 2007, 03:16 PM
#35
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traveller - in addition to being stubborn, are you also "terribly ignorant and superstitious" about AC? LOL
Anthony - I have a hard time believing that Europeans are "truly have no clue about A/C, how it works, why it is necessary, and so on". These are industrialized nations in which the average level of education is pretty good. I don't think that the concept of air conditioning is beyond their reach - LOL.
Anthony - I have a hard time believing that Europeans are "truly have no clue about A/C, how it works, why it is necessary, and so on". These are industrialized nations in which the average level of education is pretty good. I don't think that the concept of air conditioning is beyond their reach - LOL.
Apr 28th, 2007, 02:55 AM
#37
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Well, Shuler, some of us actually go to Europe and stay in air conditioned hotels because we have figured out that "air conditioning" means both heat in the Winter and cooling in the Summer regardles of the cost which is, of course, passed on to the customer.
Apr 28th, 2007, 03:17 AM
#38
Dukey,
Lots of heaters here. Not lots of a/c. Remember, lots of tourists are from Europe and they don't require a/c. And many hotels can barely exist off season so they can't afford installing a/c.
Lots of heaters here. Not lots of a/c. Remember, lots of tourists are from Europe and they don't require a/c. And many hotels can barely exist off season so they can't afford installing a/c.
Apr 28th, 2007, 04:00 AM
#39
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Supply and demand. Where it's "needed", people ask for it, A/C will be offered. So you won't find it, because nobody wants it. And isn't it nice to stay in places where you don't meet the folks from home. All you have to do is to say "no thanks" to A/C.
Apr 28th, 2007, 04:12 AM
#40
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Interestingly, we have in our neighborhood a German company (GEA Group) which produces air condition systems and exports them to the USA, too.
So, it is not the case that Europeans are not able to build effective A/C systems.
The difference is that Europeans do not want A/C. Very modern, high-tech buildings are not cooled by A/C but by other systems (high-sophisticated streams of natural air or wall cooling using groundwater).
And if, say, a German hotel has A/C installed and there is an outside temperature of 35C then the A/C is set to 25C so that the temperature difference is not so great and you do not need a sweater in your room.
I met an engineer who designs A/C systems for luxury cars. And he told me: "The American A/C systems are technologically primitive. They are just blowing extremely cold air with full power. Our ambition is to build A/C systems which work so smoothly that you do not notice an airstream."
Well, cultures are different. If you wish to find everything like at home, stay at home.
So, it is not the case that Europeans are not able to build effective A/C systems.
The difference is that Europeans do not want A/C. Very modern, high-tech buildings are not cooled by A/C but by other systems (high-sophisticated streams of natural air or wall cooling using groundwater).
And if, say, a German hotel has A/C installed and there is an outside temperature of 35C then the A/C is set to 25C so that the temperature difference is not so great and you do not need a sweater in your room.
I met an engineer who designs A/C systems for luxury cars. And he told me: "The American A/C systems are technologically primitive. They are just blowing extremely cold air with full power. Our ambition is to build A/C systems which work so smoothly that you do not notice an airstream."
Well, cultures are different. If you wish to find everything like at home, stay at home.
