Channeling my inner David Letterman

As Joe and I laid by the pool on our last day of vacation, we decided to make some top ten lists about our vacation. I was going to post them while we were still in Monte Carlo, but I didn't want to pay 8 euro for 15 minutes of Internet time. So, a little late, but still true, here are our top tens.

TOP TEN BEST VALUES FOR THE MONEY

10. MASSAGES IN MONTE CARLO: Although they were quite expensive, there really is nothing better than being pampered and rubbed down after 10 days of grueling sightseeing.

9. ROMA PASS: This card got us in to two sights free, gave us three days of free transportation, and allowed us to skip to the front of the line. Not to bad for only 23 euro.

8. RICK STEVE'S AUDIO GUIDE: For free, we downloaded his podcasts for a lot of the tourist sites. This saved us up to 9 euro at some places and helped us to know what the pile of rocks we were looking at really was.

The huts where Romulus and Remus lived

7. HOUSE WINE: For only 6 euro, Joe and I could down a liter of wine with our dinner. This is a great deal, especially since Joe doesn't drink a lot of wine, and would get very giggly.

6. BUS TO THE AIRPORT: When we originally asked the transportation "experts" about getting to the airport in Venice, they told us a water taxi would take us there for 100 euro. After asking three more people, getting three more different answers, we found out there was a bus for 2.50 euro. Talk about savings.

5. GONDOLA RIDE: The original price we negotiated for our ride was 100 euro. As we walked away to get wine, these two nice French girls asked if they could join us and split the cost. We were happy to take them up on it, and got to enjoy a great Venice tradition for 50% off.

4. CHINESE TOWER: This is one of the famous beer gardens in the English Gardens in Munich. For about 20 euro we got half a chicken, potato salad, a sandwich and two liters of beer. We also got to see a man with a sweet mullet, a really drunken bachelor party, and a cool oompa band.

3. SUGGESTIONS SANDWICH SHOP: Around the corner from our hotel in Rome, we found this cool cafe that had a display case of paninis and other assorted sandwiches that you could order to go. The total cost for the two of us, 5 euro. And they were delicious!

2. BABOO FLIGHT: Baboo is a low cost air carrier in Europe. We were thinking Sky Bus. You know, no frills. Boy were we wrong. Our in flight snack consisted of trays of hand passed hors d'oeuvers; cucumber slices topped with ranch sour cream, pitas filled with grilled vegetables, fruit skewers. It was like cock tail hour on the plane. And for only 100 euro per person. (the price we almost paid for our taxi ride to the flight.)

and the number one best value for the money....

1. MAN JUNK: For those of you who have been to a strip club, you know how much it costs to see a member of the opposite sex naked. It was our luck that we got to see the male specimen in all his glory for free. Priceless!

In order to keep these posts fairly short, I will post the other two top ten lists over the next couple of days. Stay tuned!