When traveling abroad I always make sure to grab a few business cards (almost always found on the front desk) off the check in desk at any hotel I am staying in. Not only do they serve as a momento from my trip, they also come in very handy when taking a taxi back to the hotel. Just hand the card to the driver and it resloves the problem with the language barrier. For those who frequently travel abroad it is common knowledge (Rome is especially bad for this) that taxi drivers will take the longest rout possible or bring you to the wrong destination and blame it on the language barier. Also, if you have the option, always take a taxi with a meter, once while downtown Rome our group had to split up in several taxi's to take a short ride back to our hotel, several in our group took an un metered taxi, they were charged $48 (U.S.) while those of us in the metered taxi's were between $12-$15 (U.S.).

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