Barnes and Nobles is my heroin...

As much as I still am carrying a torch for tripadvisor, there's nothing quite like turning the pages of an actual book and seeing pictures, maps, tips and tricks, etc. Everything is being graded on the same scale in a travel book, because the same writer (theoretically) has visited all of these places, looking for the same things and grading them against each other.

This is not always the case with tripadvisor. Some people (I've learned) are way more demanding on a hotel than others, and reviews of the same place can vary wildly.

I have spent countless hours over the last few months looking at an entire smorgasbord (or smörgåsbord, whatevs, spell-check) of travel books. Lonely Planet, Frommer's, Fodor's, Let's Go...I saw them all, I flipped through them all, and ultimately I put them all down in favor of (drumroll, please) Rick Steves' series.

Rick Steves' does Europe through the "back door," and his witty writing style and pithy reviews are great for forming a general "plan of attack" for an area that you may have never visited. I like the way he organizes "sights to see" based on area as well as ranks them, making it easy to find something close to where you are that would be worth taking another half hour detour for.

He also writes with the budget-conscious in mind, which I appreciate.

Considering that I'm broke. Or will be after this trip.

The only bummer about the Rick Steves' books are that they are so big! Well, not big compared to other travel books. They're actually pretty compact, comparatively speaking. It's just that with the limited amount of luggage space and a very strict packing list (Rick Steves is HUGE on packing only the essentials and packing very very light) I don't really have the room to lug around 6 RS books.

Some people have advocated slicing out the pages I need with a razor blade. While that would be easier and lighter, I suppose, I am so anti-book destruction (they're so pretty) that I just can't bring myself to do that. Plus, they're not exactly cheap. Plus, what if I want to use them again, and the whole section on Rome just happens to be missing?

So, what I have done is photocopied only the pages I need out of all six books and had it spiral bound at Kinkos. It only cost me about $5 to put a cover and back on it and have it bound, and while it is still a pretty good size, it's only one book. And I'll have no compunction about tearing some pages out of this particular book, should the need arise, to lighten the load or make it more portable.

Just a few thoughts. Counting down to Europe!

This ain't no one night stand!

I have a confession to make....

I have recently entered in to a torrid affair. I'm addicted. Morning, noon, and night, I can't stay away. And it shows no signs of slowing down.

Well, that's not entirely true. It will probably slow down about a week or so after my return from Europe.

No, my affair is not with a hunky Italian Stallion named Paolo, or Giacomo, or something equally as Italian. It's with tripadvisor.com. Tripadvisor has been my saving grace in this quest to plan the perfect adventure for Ashley and myself. It's helped guide me through the perils of pickpockets, unreliable trains, and bed-bug infested hostels.

I love that you can get all sorts of unbiased reviews on the site about where to eat, stay, and play. I like that they have user-uploaded pictures on the site, so you can see what the bathroom really looks like (a weird closet with a short toilet) and not what the hotel wants you to see (a tiled wonder that would be more at home in a palace than in an albergo). I love that they rank things. Lists are very important to me.

And please believe that I will be reviewing each place I stay for other people who are having as much fun hanging out with tripadvisor as I have been to read, process, and learn from.

For now, here are the links to where we'll be staying.

This is our hotel in London.

This is our hotel in Munich (I talked Ashley into ONE hostel, but we got a private room. COMPROMISE).

This is our hotel in Salzburg (It looks so cute!).

This is our hotel in Venice (I was willing to take a risk because we're only there for one night).

This is our hotel in Florence.

We're staying in furnished apartments in both Rome and Paris (see the previous posts). We found the Rome apartment on VRBO (it had great reviews) and the Paris apartment on...well, eBay (my affair with that website will NEVER die), but it was corroborated by another rental website catering specifically to Parisian apartments.

Check back for my reviews and pictures!