Traveling abroad where it's hot and NOT HUMID

Last night, I chatted briefly with one of my Japanese friends. She just came back from a 1-week trip to the Mediterranean. She was touring Italy and Rome and some other big cities. I asked her how it was and if she got to see all the famous places and art while she was there. She of course laughed because it would be impossible to see everything in a week. She visited about 4 different cities in all, but I could only recall Rome specifically. She was ecstatic about having been able to book a visit to see the famous painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. Apparently, these days, you cannot just show up at the place and expect to see the great masterpiece, you must book an appointment in advance and the viewing only lasts 15 minutes. You must show up on time for your appointment and you must leave at the end of your time period. She loved being able to see the famous painting, but bemoaned the lack of sufficient time to appreciate the huge work of art.

On the more interesting off-hand commentary note, she also mentioned that the Mediterranean was hot. "But not as hot as Japan, right?", I asked her. "Worse. Over there, it's HOT and DRY, no humidity at all," came the surprise reply. Wow. I didn't expect that. I guess growing up here in Japan, you're just used to all the humidity. It's like that comforting, familiar feeling of being at home and at ease during Japanese summers. You know it's going to be hot, but you don't need lotion because you're always slightly moist and sticky due to the 60% + humidity daily. But to complain about the extremely lack of it? Hmmmm. I'm not sure I would choose daily humidity over dryness. You can always slap on extra strong lotion, but it's not like you can carry a purse full of sodden towels or handkerchiefs without smelling like you're carrying a bagful of dirty laundry, or a gymbag full of freshly used hockey equipment.

Come to think of it, I have experienced HOT and DRY climates before. In the Caribbean. It was actually nice. Needed lots of sunblock during the day and lots of after sun lotion at night. The nicest thing was that you could literally jump in the pool for 15 minutes in the morning and hop out, walk back to your room and be dry enough to go grab some breakfast.

Here, it's about a 12 minute walk to the nearest train station. I can do it mostly by walking indoors, underground, or with reasonable shade. Yet, when I reach the entry gates, I'm literally starting to break out into a sweat and I'm not doing any stressful running or anything, just walking at a leisurely pace. Nothing dries off your body. You have to look for air-conditioning or carry lots of handkerchiefs. I'm thinking of investing in a parasol. I don't even like carrying an umbrella to keep the rain off me, but here I am thinking that it would be about 10 degrees C cooler under the shade of parasol. The problem I have is that I would have to carry it around with me.

Call me a wimp, but give me HOT & DRY anyday. I can't do laundry fast enough to keep up with these HOT & HUMID Japanese summer days and HOT & SULTRY Japanese summer nights.

As for my Japanese friend, she returned to the motherland slightly parched, in need of lotion, and fully satisfied with the art and the shopping in Italy. She actually expressed some gratitude for all the humidity we were having lately. And she picked me up a pretty, little omiyage in the form of a glass beaded bracelet. How very thoughtful and so very Japanese. Wazawaza - to go through all that trouble for little old me. :-D

Now, if she could just do something about all this humidity.