And unfortunately the progression of our trip followed the heat wave as it moved across Europe, so we didn't escape it.
We were going the cheapy route; didn't see/feel an air conditioner for 3 weeks except for some occasional museums.... and the fact that soda was served in warm cans was a thrill, too, LOL. The cans were placed in the open-type of refrigerator unit...which wasn't even turned ON!
In Paris, during the day, I bought bottles of water, and our concierge was nice enough to accommodate my requests to place them in a freezer each night, though she looked at me like I was just another nutty American, and couldn't seem to understand why I was doing it. During the day, I'd carry the frozen bottles around Paris, occasionally dumping one on my head and chest as we walked around....I was dripping wet with perspiration anyway... My husband refused to let me pour any of the water on him....but then, one day, as we passed by a smaller public fountain, he suddenly submerged his head up to his neck.
When we got to Venice, it was just insane...the high humidity always there combined with temps in the 100s was just...indescribable. We went to St Mark's square as soon as we dumped our bags in a room, and we didn't have any bottled water. Nor could we find any place to buy any in our first hour or so there. By the time we got to the square (my husband kept getting lost and we ran in circles a good while...of COURSE he wouldn't ask for directions!), I was literally almost having a heat stroke. They had just closed the public rest rooms at 330 pm for the rest of the day...no water there... I sat down in the square, which had seating for hundreds of people and not one single person sitting there, and only maybe 4 people in the square at all. Meanwhile, my hubby ducked into a nearby alley and continued to search for bottled water. I had no Euros on me at all. A waiter came up to me, and asked me to order. I said I was waiting for my husband. He became irate, and told me that unless I ordered, I must immediately get out of the seat. I told him I think I'm having a heat stroke. He just kept berating me until I stood up, and almost fell over, and he said my husband was trash for leaving a woman sitting alone in a very public square...what century were we in???? Hubby came back, and we went into a restaurant, where 4 ozs of water was about 3 Euros, if I recall properly now.....whatever it was, it blew my mind...but not as much as the lack of available drinking water for sale anywhere. I've never looked at water the same way again.......nor forgotten paying something horrific like $25 for two grilled cheese sandwiches and a few 'servings' of water......nor forgotten the cruelty and senseless rudeness of that waiter (and other waiters in Rome as well... I have zero desire to EVER return to that country....)
Fortunately, in Venice, our room had a sink by the bed (the other rest room facilities were shared by all the rooms on the floor...including a bidet...). We took every towel we could get our hands on, wet it, and laid them all over our bodies...and then changed them every 20 minutes or so. And still could barely breathe, much less sleep.
I hope I never see a night that was hotter than the two nights we spent in Venice in 2003. At this age, I don't think I could survive it. A 'too hot to sleep' night has forever been redefined for me.
On Edit: in later years, with hot flashes, I learned to take one of those blue freezer packs to bed, and would place it between my breasts. I did that at work in a restaurant, also.......it was marvelous! Everyone else was about dying from the heat, and I felt sooo good!
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