When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.

For example:

Hole-in-the-ground toilets in Turkey and Italy.

Toilets that you have to pay for the privledge of using.

Keyboards that have 2 or 5 keys in different places- just enough to throw you off.

The handicap that you feel when not knowing the native language of a place, especially when trying to figure out signage (Greece is the hardest so far because they don't have a Latin script) when trying to get somewhere in a hurry. The best advice is to just ask someone. They are usually quite helpful and friendly. But we are definitely inspired to learn a second language.

A TV in your hotel room with only the native language channels. CNN or BBC, please! We only know about current news like hurricanes through other American tourists that we run into at places like the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

Venice is an issue in itself-to get around, you either must walk or swim. If you can walk, next comes the issue of figuring out the less-than-planned "streets" or "Via"s.

If you happen to be wheelchair-bound, forget getting around in most of Europe. I never realized how handicap concious and considerate the US is before this.

A lot of Europe is kind of "at your own risk," with low or no railings and other treacherous situations, there seems to be a "survival of the fittest" mentality.

More as they come to me....