If you are just trying to 'get your feet wet' so that you can return someday and 'wing it' I would suggest going with a tour group. I've done it. All the travel arrangements are made for you. This would be airfare to Europe and motorcoach to get to designated sights, and possibly even another air trip to a further destination in Europe. It's not as hectic as it sounds. It's not the *If It's Tuesday This Must Be Belguim* hamster wheel. There is less stress if all the plans are made for you and you don't feel so much like flotsom and jetsom, bobbing around Europe. The tour groups also schedule 'free time' for the group so you can do what you want at that time. There are always planned activites like museums and shopping, but some confident types break from the group and jump in a taxi and do things on their own making sure they are back to the mortorcoach on time. The planned activities give you a "taste" of the various cities and towns. You always have an interpeter for things, like ordering from a street vendor or how to inform the hotel that the toilet is broke, and the guides are savvy enough to steer you away from questionable situations. If you are going to visit the smaller towns or any of the former Soviet block countries you will find the NO ONE speaks English in these parts. Not only that but the lettering in countries like Poland and Checkoslovakia in incomprehensible to the average American so trying to read signs and menus is nearly impossible. By going on a tour group they will tell you what different requirments are for each country. Some countries require travelers health insurance in case you get sick, for instance, some don't require it. They will also tell you of customs so that you don't find yourself in hot water or even arrested for doing something that seemed "OK". For instance, it it rude to take a person's picture with a camera in some parts of Europe and it could start a fight. Since you say you wish to see Italy and Greece consider the option to fly there, and then take one of the ferries across from Italy to Greece so that you can experience the Mediterranean by boat. Since you are not going all over Europe, flying to Italy/Greece and taking taxis, busses, or trains around the country side would be a good experience. Tour groups often combine different styles of travel for siteseeing adventures. The tour I went on had motor coach for the main planned event but the guide would arrange a hired driver (for extra fee) for those who wanted to go elsewhere and not with the group. You will also find some comeraderie by going with a tour group and some of them will be seasoned travelers who can hwlp out also. Tour group is the way to go for older "first timers" to Europe who just want to get their feet wet.

The story comes first for me. I have to care what happens next, and then next again. But the story alone is not enough. The writing doesn't have to be exquisitely crafted, though how wonderful it is when this is the case. However it must be reasonably competent with decent grammar, well-drawn characters, and a quality I'll call flow. If I am gritting my teach in frustration because the bad writing is interfering with my enjoyment, or rolling my eyes because the author is an idiot, I'm unlikely to finish the book. Having said this, the majority of the books I read are not great literature. I read a lot of genre fiction, SF&F being my favorite, as well as some mysteries, historical novels, popular fiction and even some young adult and children's literature. (In an earlier part of my life I worked for a couple of years as a school librarian and I still love the best of those books.) Somehow I find most of the books on the bestseller lists to be unbearable, so I rarely consult it. Rosefolly

I just finished The Sea. The articulateness of the author caught me first. Terrific use of language. Reminded me of Rushdie's capabilities. Secondly the character of the narrator who was portrayed as a congenital cowardly sneak with aspirations. Overly self aware with a vivid imagination. Who attempted to rise above his lower class origins by ingratiating himself with the rich family and then by marrying a well-to-do woman. This character was fascinating to me. Where were his morals? Taking pleasure by cruelly beating his dog? Setting grasshoppers on fire? Sociopathic behavior. And then he leads an upright life? Unlikely. Or did the suidcide of the twins produce a profound retreat? Scaring the ambitious curiosity out of him? His later life musings show occasional blasts of honest insight. Overall a dissatisfied follower. By his self-label of dilletant. Was his excessive drinking after his wife's death new behavior? Self pity disguised as self mockery? The author was 60 years old when this was published. Forgot that 10 yrs. is too young for sexual awakening? Never mind. He dealt with human yearnings well which was for me the point of the story. The twin's inability to connect emotionally (happily) with others & their awakening to their own separateness (paths to come) was intolerable. They were marked for self-destruction from birth. When the mute one puts his arm around his sister's shoulders and lays his head against her illuminated the only warm human bond either felt. They could not survive without each other. This makes more sense to me than fear of parental repercussions from the governess' report of hanky panky. The writing was beautiful. I can live with the loose ends. I was cheesed off by the last sentence of the book. "A nurse came out to fetch me, and I turned & followed her inside, and it was as if I were walking into the sea."

Houzz ate my post-actually it's a sign not to write it again But I don't know where to write it. Also you are wise people, which can't be said right now about me. I'm dumb, and extremely unpleasant to be around..weeks of migraines drive me crazier than usual, and if I was a dog, I'd bark and bite. Well it so happened I'm not a dog, so I must bear my unpleasant persona..without barking and biting.. So, to follow up..I didn't show the second draft to my friend back then..but from time to time, something inside me would push me to jump and run and work on it some more. It went for a year (the story is 35 pages. lol. a year!). When I looked at it I felt sick. Literally sick, like one gets sick on a boat in the sea. Nauseous.. Only I couldn't get off the boat. It so happenned that my friend asked to see a final draft. I thought for several days. I was afraid of making her sick too. Then I sent the draft saying, that in all sincerity, it's probably better if she never reads it. But if she does one day-then I, in all sincerity, ask her to tear it apart mercilessly from the outside..both things will help me to get rid of it, probably..leave the boat. I got an answer after a few days, and right away I knew it's a miracle I was never, ever hoping to get. I knew that because I was blinded for several moments, and then deaf foor a couple hours more. "There's thunder, there's lighning". Like a storm. And then it gets really quiet.. She wrote to me it's real. It's real real. It's literature. She wrote to me that if she was a publisher of some big heavy magazine, she'd publish it right away.. I re-read the story..same feeling of sea-sickness.. Now I have this undeserved miracle. And it's really scary. If I keep it as is-I'm still on the boat If I try to see it published-it's scary as hell..it's autbiographical..it's taking my guts and spreading them..even if I take some pseudonym.. The moment I let it go-it's not mine.. Also. rejection is hard(hard to believe somebody would want it. Even when my extremely talented friend tells me so). Asking alone is hard..I, like many people, don't like to ask that much.."Can you take a look at my story?" makes me shudder.. I was hardly able to show it to somebody very close to me.. What drives peple to see their stories in print at all, well, besides hope of gerting paid. maybe? Are they afraid? Were you afraid? I'm so dumb. First, compulsively wrote the stupid story..for a year.))). Then -got a miracle.. So, where's my relief, where is the happinness, why am I still on the boat? Why I'm so scared? Maximum, I don't have to do anything..it's not like somebody's checking on me.. You have your wits about you, I don't. You have expeience maybe that I don't have. Any words of wisdom? Or I don't know..any words? I replied to my friend of course (gadawful letter)..but I need to give her a break from myself. It's too much of me as is. Thank you if you made it through this long post.