Hey LTUP,

I am going through some older files and pictures on my older desktop and moving them off-line to build a new system/server.

I ran across my pics from the last time I was in Europe; late 2008.

Visited Italy, Sicily, Spain, Canary Isles, then Bermuda and finally New York.

The Atlantic crossing was HELL!

Anyways it brought back some memories; one of them being the cost of food in Europe.

When I was there with my wife, a meal at McDonalds consisting of a Big Mac, Large Fries, and Coke times two, came out to $26.00 U.S.!

OMG! Never again will I expect to eat inexpensively in Europe. I will just take 7 - 10 days worth of Top Ramen and Tuna fish!

Here is a site I found that calculates the food prices in Europe:

http://www.ibiblio.org/ais/prices.htm

Nice site.

For you people in Europe reading this, a Big Mac, Large Fries and Coke is just $4.95 at the McDonalds down the street from me!

Oh here are some shots of me in Venice Italy and at Pisa, and yes I did climb to the top of the tower, and dropped two coins of different weights and sizes in order to replicate Galileo Galilei's dropping of weights in his gravity experiments back in the 1600's. If I recall, the southern facing side of the tower had grass, so I dropped them on to the grass. Anyone with a metal detector can head there and find them as I never picked them up in fear that someone might not like small weights being dropped from the tower. I made sure no one was any where near the drop zone

The first photo is me in Venice.

The second shows me at the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

I have some others somewhere showing me on the Myan pyramids down in Belize, and some at the Grand pyramid at Giza in Egypt ... once I find them I will get them up!

I've heard the same thing from many recent travelers, however the last time I traveled to Europe was in late 2002 and the Euro was up to about $1.25 (+/-). I visited all kinds of restaurants, high/low but prices were moderate throughout. Furthermore, many of the attractions were free of charge so the additional cost of food and transportation were somewhat compensated.

Also, did it smell bad in Venice when you were there? I was told that I just happened to be there at the wrong time

Oh, and why on earth would you eat at McDonald's when traveling abroad?

Originally Posted by JohnnyDeluxe

I've heard the same thing from many recent travelers, however the last time I traveled to Europe was in late 2002 and the Euro was up to about $1.25 (+/-). I visited all kinds of restaurants, high/low but prices were moderate throughout. Furthermore, many of the attractions were free of charge so the additional cost of food and transportation were somewhat compensated.

Also, did it smell bad in Venice when you were there? I was told that I just happened to be there at the wrong time

No it was smell free. I wouldn't want to live there as I am an Airplane/Rocket person and not a boat person.

J

You look like your having a great time in those photos .

Im guessing , , , , , , You wernt thinking politics at that moment ?????

Originally Posted by init4fun

You look like your having a great time in those photos .

Im guessing , , , , , , You wernt thinking politics at that moment ?????

Actually I was I was there during the beginnings of the meltdown ... it sucked as I couldn't buy all the things I wanted... I had to stop spending... something the Federal Government is INCAPABLE of doing!

J

takes a lot of tax dollars to pay for "free" healthcare and all the other entitlements in the socialist obama-like countries.

Originally Posted by FireryPhoenix

Actually I was I was there during the beginnings of the meltdown ... it sucked as I couldn't buy all the things I wanted... I had to stop spending... something the Federal Government is INCAPABLE of doing!

J

The last time I was in Europe (Greece) , it cost close to $1000. USD to rent a subcompact car (for a week)

And I think gas was like close to $7 a gallon ! (after figuring the litre to the gallon and the Dollar to the Euro)

I miss when Greece had Drachmas , and they were like 300 to the Dollar ( Kinda like $1 of ours was $3 of theirs , man was that great , you could bring a few Grand and live like a king )

When I was in Germany, browsing around in shops, and talking airplanes with a fellow fliers there, I often had the thought that my lifestyle would drop many notches if I lived there on the pay that I get here in the USA.

Which lead me to wonder why that was the case... That is a whole series of discussions.

See many fat people in Western Europe? They consider Americans pigs and they have a point.

MacDonalds is relative expensive in Europe compared to the local restaurants. MacDonald 's management keeps the price high deliberately . We eat there just for fun ,one allowed on a trip. Most charge you a bit extra for Ketchup.

Google" BigMac" index. That's an informal way of measuring PPP, and the real value of money. Seem to work as well as other measurements.

According to the BM index a 30% reduction of the Euro is in predicted. Switzerland is one of the highest at $6.78 and China the lowest at $2.18. The US is pegged at $3.71. So China is way under and Europe is way over what should be.

We stay out of Western Europe. The fun area is Eastern Europe. A Big Mac in Russia is only $2.39. Americans do not travel there which makes it a good place to go. They have made a lot of progress but that still is one screwed up mess. A bit like Chicago in the 20's in the big cities.

What is really expensive is Norway at $7.20/Sweden at $6.56.

Originally Posted by Aaron 1

See many fat people in Western Europe? They consider Americans pigs and they have a point.

MacDonalds is relative expensive in Europe compared to the local restaurants. MacDonalds management keeps the price high deliberately . We eat there just for fun ,one allowed on a trip. Most charge you a bit extra for Ketchup.

Google BigMax index. That's an informal way of measuring PPP, and the real value of money. Seem to work as well as other measurements.

According to the BM index a 30% reduction of the Euro is in predicted. Switzerland is one of the highest at $6.78 and China the lowest at $2.18. The US is pegged at $3.71. So China is way under and Europe is way over what should be.

We stay out of Western Europe. The fun area is Eastern Europe. A Big Mac in Russia is only $2.39. Americans do not travel there which makes it a good place to go. They have made a lot of progress but that still is one screwed up mess. A bit like Chicago in the 20's in the big cities.

What is really expensive is Norway at $7.20/Sweden at $6.56.

A Big Mac is no where near the value of $7.20! Norwegians be being ripped off!

Hey I saw a show where people in Norway drive up to the McDonalds drive-thru on their snow mobiles ... looked cool

J

P.s. We have a chain of grocery stores out here in Phoenix called, Fry's.

I can but a FULLY COOKED Rotisserie chicken for just $2.99!!!

Maybe socialism in America isn't too bad after all?

http://www.centsableshoppin.com/2010...9-chicken.html

chicken dance ha ha (2 min 42 sec)

Hey Firery,

I took the liberty of adding a more up to date photo.

Originally Posted by init4fun

The last time I was in Europe (Greece) , it cost close to $1000. USD to rent a subcompact car (for a week)

if you rent when you buy the air travel tickets it gets ridiculously cheap.
Last time we were there (a few years ago) we got a subcompact (FIAT Punto)
for 30 dollars a day. I love braking by down-shifting before a narrow
turn...makes me feel I'm Fittipaldi...

First time I went to Europe; France, Germany, England, Holland, Austria, Czechoslovakia was 1991. I came back and spent a week in New York at meetings, then several days in Chicago, working at the Field Museum, before back to Southern Illinois. It was sort of an acclimation process back to real life, as each place had noticeably lower prices.

I made a couple of trips to Belize, but never visited one of the known pyramids. However, one time we were driving up to Mountain Pine Ridge, and stopped for the botanist to take a picture of a flowering agave. The sun was just right and we could see that the tree and brush covered mountain in the near distance was a Maya pyramid. We could see some doors and columns. I don't recall if we told anyone about it.

It's called Value Added Tax.

....funny name for a pyramid????