Itinerary advice for long trip

[SomethingClever]

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But if you plan on busing through Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica to get there, good luck to you.

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What do you mean by this?

[Cancuk]

For Spanish school, check out Oaxaca... beautiful city.

[SomethingClever]

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For Spanish school, check out Oaxaca... beautiful city.

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That's where we're planning on spending a good amount of time.

[adsman]

SC,

Option 1 gives you two shots of Autumn, option 2 gives you two shots of Spring. But Option 1 will definately cost less, and Spring and Autumn weather can be very interchangeable. November is the dead time in Europe and apart from the cheaper prices, you won't have to battle through the crowds. Venice in November is wonderful compared to the rest of the year.

ps, make sure you drop in and say hi to me.

ads.

[SomethingClever]

What's the weather like in November in Italy?

We're definitely still planning on stopping by.

[adsman]

In the Southern part of Italy it's usually pretty good for late Autumn. The only painful part, especially in the North, is the shortness of daylight hours. It can be dark by 5pm depending where you are. It can also be rainy and cold. It often snows up where I am. It's pretty crap actually. But this is offset by there being no crowds. And you haven't seen tourist crowds until you've been to Italy. Insane.

[Insp. Clue!So?]

From a cost perspective, I think your expenses in Europe will dominate. Europe is much cheaper during the winter months (opt. 1) and much less crowded to boot. It may also get very cold and rainy very often.

As for spanish, what I found in Spain was much closer to that taught in US classrooms in terms of accent and formality. I was happy to understand a great deal of it, and I guess I spoke it pretty well since some people thought I was a native from some distant province. On the other hand what you hear Mexicans speak seems very slurred in comparison, sort of like the difference between a Portland newscaster and somebody with a deep Texas drawl.