A List - Nothing is Free

I'm too tired to upload pictures to my computer, organize them on my computer, and upload them to my blog right now.  Too tired or too lazy... whichever way you want to look at it!

I'll do it tomorrow.

So instead of that, I will give you a list of all the things that are not free in Europe.

"Nothing comes free" takes on a new meaning here.

You'll see...

1.  Public restrooms

That's right... not even using a public restroom is free.  I had to "go" in London and it cost me 30 pence.  That's not expensive in relative terms, but when you are used to going whenever and wherever for free, that's too much!   There are some free ones we found in Paris, but we happened to be close to the one that was broken when we needed it.  Bathrooms in Rome also cost money.... we haven't checked how much.  We learned our lesson in London!

2. Water in restaurants

I'm not talking about bottled water either.  Want a lemon in your water?  That costs money too.  The positive side of this is that in Paris and Rome they have placed fountains around the city so that you can fill water bottles.  We did think that was pretty clever and handy.

3. Air conditioning

We have not had air conditioning in any place until we got to our hotel in Rome... and guess what... we are paying for it!  It costs 10 Euros (about $13) a day for air conditioning in our hotel room.  Trust me, it's worth it here.  It's very hot and we are so thankful that it's even an option by the time we get back to our room.  We have gotten better sleep on this leg of the trip than anywhere else... and it's all thanks to the cool air.  ALSO, we have discovered that if a locally owned restaurant/snack bar has air conditioning, it costs 1 Euro to eat your food there!  We decided to plop down after ordering a sub sandwich the other day only to find this out and high tail it out of there.  So we ate while we walked because it's free!

4. Drink refills

When you order a coke at home you can expect to get as many refills as you want.  If you order a coke in Europe you can expect to get one can.  You better make that last for your entire meal or you can buy another one!  Those are your only options.

5. Bread

Our bread in Paris with our Parisian meal was not extra (it was probably included in our 3 course meal price and we just didn't know), but it sure is here in Rome.  This ain't no Olive Garden!  Meals are a la carte.  If you want a salad it cost as much as your regular meal, if you want bread, it's extra.  Think you get butter with that bread?  Think again!  But you can feel free to buy some :)

We've definitely learned as we've gone!  When we get back home we will be more thankful for these little things that really are free in the USA!!!