It is time that I start planning my summer trip to Europe. I definitely want to check out some hostels and cheap hotels as my currency is fairly weak. I am going to Italy and some other destinations that I have not come to terms with yet. The other possibility is to check out some “coffee shops” in Amsterdam. I could probably get to both and everything in between if I am able to get some good discount airfare. I have been told that it is very cheap to fly in the EU and have been reading lately that I can even get cheap fights from Heathrow, which seems a little surprising as the Pound is killing everybody currency wise.

So back to my plan, I want to go to Italy for sure and hit up the usual tourist attractions because if I am going to be there I should at least see the Vatican and all the other historic buildings and art galleries once in my life. After that I have to figure out what else to do. I have a sneaking suspicion that if I am staying in Italy hostels that I will be able to get the lowdown on “local” attractions that I don’t know about yet and the cheesy guide books don’t either. Then there is Amsterdam. I have wanted to go there for many years. Maybe it is the kinship that I feel being from Oregon. Or maybe it is the country is surrounded by dykes and I want to see what that is like. Could be the windmills too. Really there is just something cool about a country that says you know what we are not going to live by the normal western rules of no legal drugs and no legal prostitution and they just go for it. So I want to check it out and will probably stay in Amsterdam hostels and love every minute of it.

So that is the start to my European trip this summer. As long as I can find enough cheap hotels in Europe and the rumors are true about the plane tickets I should be able to go for a month or two.