Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuri
Don't Mediterranean summers get way too hot? Athens, Naples, Rome summers seem to be a bit unconfortable.
On the other hand, I don't like those tropical (very high) altitude climates like La Paz, Bogotá, where temperatures never change. It's always a bit chilly. I like seasons.
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Only if you’re away from the water and near sea level. But that’s why Athenians and Romans abandon those cities in July and August (leaving them to stupid tourists who don’t know any better), and head to the seaside or hills. The elites have done so since ancient times. These days practically all of Italy leaves the cities for the entire month of August.
Otherwise, if you are in the littoral zone it is fine, and just up the hill it’s fine. The old towns and villages are almost always on a hill, with narrow streets for shade during the day. You can often need a light jacket in the evening even in August. It’s just in our dumb modern times that they’ve built housing down in the valleys.
That’s Gordes in Provence. Outside of the direct sun, you can be comfortable in long pants in August. And I say that as a person who always runs hot. If you want to swim in the hotel pool, you need to stay down in the valley. All of the old villages in the region are up on a hill of some sort, except for the trading cities (like Avignon) which are along a river by necessity.
And Bogotá is basically too cold year round. Medellín is better.