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kiimo posted:did you go to Lake Bled Yes, and it's incredible. Rent a car in Slovenia, honestly. It's super gorgeous, very easy to drive in, incredible views, etc. One of my favourite countries and IMO the most underrated place in Europe.
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Jul 18, 2023 15:02
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Yeah absolutely agreed, Slovenia is hugely underrated. Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj, Skocjan Caves, Ljubljana...
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Jul 18, 2023 15:18
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Fun fact Tolkien modeled Lake Town in the Hobbit after pile dwellings in Slovenia. I've never been but that's how I imagine prehistoric Slovenia edit: to be clear so nobody says actually those pile dwellings aren't exclusive to slovenia they stretched all the way up to switzerland kiimo fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Jul 18, 2023 |
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Jul 18, 2023 16:17
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Good timing, as I'm about to set off to Slovenia, by car. I've been there before but not by car so I guess I'll go for the more obscure lakes that I missed.
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Jul 18, 2023 16:18
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If it's still a thing, make sure you get a vignette for your car. I remember renting a car in Croatia and driving into Slovenia and instantly getting a couple hundred euro ticket (don't remember the exact price)
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Jul 18, 2023 17:46
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Busy Bee posted:If it's still a thing, make sure you get a vignette for your car. I remember renting a car in Croatia and driving into Slovenia and instantly getting a couple hundred euro ticket (don't remember the exact price) Thank you! It's still a thing and I would definitely have driven through without knowing without your post. They sell 7 or 30 day passes for tourists so it's not too bad.
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Jul 18, 2023 19:35
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It was pretty easy to order online. As opposed to the Austrian one which seems to require ordering way in advance. I'll just get one at a border gas station like in the old days.
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Jul 18, 2023 22:32
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Interesting system, like an annual toll. And yikes: The penalty for driving on a motorway without a valid vignette or without paying the toll is a fine of EUR 300 to 800.
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Jul 19, 2023 00:06
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Magic City Monday posted:I think there are ferries every hour or so. But you wouldn't go from Gibraltar. Algeciras is right across the bay with a big port. But you'd probably not want to do Gibraltar and Morocco on the same day. webmeister posted:Yeah agreed, it's like a 90 minute ferry across the strait so spending 3 hours of a packed day on a ferry (probably more like 4 once you factor in waiting, embarking etc) feels like kind of a waste. Ah, ok. That's a bit far for one day trip from Malaga where we are staying. We are renting a car for one day to check out the wild monkeys mostly. Doctor Malaver posted:Looking for Stockholm recommendations for August. We'll be on a modest budget and with a 4 year old. My partner will spend most of the day on a conference so I need to entertain the kid and myself for hours at a time without going bankrupt. Spritmuseum is pretty fun, https://spritmuseum.se/. But if you want mostly art Nationalmuseum is fantastic. For modern art there are Moderna museet and Liljevalchs I suppose.
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Jul 19, 2023 03:04
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smackfu posted:Interesting system, like an annual toll. Yeah that happened to us a few years ago unfortunately. Made me think that it's a borderline scam, what with the vignette not really being advertised or anything. Definitely get it!
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Jul 19, 2023 09:18
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Chikimiki posted:Yeah that happened to us a few years ago unfortunately. Made me think that it's a borderline scam, what with the vignette not really being advertised or anything. Definitely get it! To be fair to the Slovenes, there are several sequential panels highlighting "Toll Road - Vignette" in multiple languages at the highway border crossings. You could get unknowingly screwed if you crossed on a small free road and then got on a highway later though for sure.
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Jul 19, 2023 10:43
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Chikimiki posted:Yeah that happened to us a few years ago unfortunately. Made me think that it's a borderline scam, what with the vignette not really being advertised or anything. Definitely get it! There is/was an actual scam in the Czech Republic where at the border parking lot there would be a vending machine hidden all the way in the back, and in the front there would be a separate business with huge signs "get your vignette here!" where they would get you one for the cheap cheap price of 5x as much as the government price. It's also possible to get one on your phone for the official price, through a webpage which is 5 minutes work. After some Czech travel youtuber made a vid about this, the Czech government forced at least one of those scam places to shut down but there may be others.
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Jul 19, 2023 11:31
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Saladman posted:To be fair to the Slovenes, there are several sequential panels highlighting "Toll Road - Vignette" in multiple languages at the highway border crossings. You could get unknowingly screwed if you crossed on a small free road and then got on a highway later though for sure. Yeah it may be better indicated nowadays, this was quite a few years ago (but I'm still a little bitter  ).
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Jul 19, 2023 11:51
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Carbon dioxide posted:There is/was an actual scam in the Czech Republic where at the border parking lot there would be a vending machine hidden all the way in the back, and in the front there would be a separate business with huge signs "get your vignette here!" where they would get you one for the cheap cheap price of 5x as much as the government price. It's also possible to get one on your phone for the official price, through a webpage which is 5 minutes work. Yeah, it was these guys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsWcc-9KMEc Their channel is a great watch, mostly focused on tourist scams in Prague but they also delve into the operation of criminal gangs behind the scams and how they operate with tacit acceptance from local authorities. They've also done videos about the bullshit that comes with living in a heavily touristed city, like the endless deluge of love locks (they cut them off and melted them down into a new bell for a historic church), or the infestation of "traditional Czech" food like trdelnik (chimney cake), which is neither traditional nor Czech. I've actually met them a couple of times and they are legit good dudes.
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Jul 19, 2023 12:36
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Saladman posted:To be fair to the Slovenes, there are several sequential panels highlighting "Toll Road - Vignette" in multiple languages at the highway border crossings. You could get unknowingly screwed if you crossed on a small free road and then got on a highway later though for sure. It probably doesn’t help that “vignette” as a word that has entered English doesn’t have any toll connotations. I guess it came from France directly which makes sense.
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Jul 19, 2023 13:26
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Chikimiki posted:Yeah it may be better indicated nowadays, this was quite a few years ago (but I'm still a little bitter Sure enough. I was curious so I google streetviewed a couple crossings over time. They always had signs (or at least as of 2011 / 2009) but gradually they got more signage and changed the color from white text on green background to black text on orange, and in a slightly larger printing size. Could still easily miss it if you entered the country on a small road and then got on a highway later though, just like in Switzerland or Austria or wherever else with vignettes. Apparently Slovenia exclusively uses a digital vignette since 2022, meaning you have to buy it in advance or you'll get fined by automated camera, so I guess it's now "gently caress you if you don't have roaming internet and only find out about it on the spot from the signage" and even if you do know I guess it's a fun 10 minute stop to muck around at the first exit/rest stop with trying to find the right website and figure out how to pay and fill in your details. smackfu posted:It probably doesn’t help that “vignette” as a word that has entered English doesn’t have any toll connotations. I guess it came from France directly which makes sense. Yeah I was also just thinking about that, although I have never seen another word used for the toll road sticker. I think anyone who has driven around Europe much would be familiar with the term regardless of their native language, since a lot of countries still use it. Saladman fucked around with this message at 13:29 on Jul 19, 2023 |
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Jul 19, 2023 13:27
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Any tips for using Android Auto/Google Assistant to navigate to foreign place names? It's already difficult to get it to recognise the places I want in Switzerland (speaking German), I know my Croatian is not going to be close. Just disconnect the phone and type it in and reconnect it to navigate on the screen?
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Jul 20, 2023 12:18
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You can also search before you get into the car and then use the search history.
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Jul 20, 2023 12:27
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You can also save those locations on your Google Maps connected account and if it doesn't show up in the search history, just type the first letter of the name you saved. I've never had any issues driving around those places with Android Auto.
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Jul 20, 2023 12:36
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Has anyone ever been to the Isle of Man? I'm visiting a friend in Manchester some time this fall, and since I've been through a decent chunk of England I wanted to throw in something novel as part of the trip. Looks like I could take a train over to Liverpool and then grab a ferry to the Isle. How long would be good to spend there? Is it nice? I don't need it to be exciting and full of tourist activities, but enough visitor infrastructure to get around (probably car rental, in this case?) and some scenery to wander would suffice.
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Jul 21, 2023 01:59
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Don't go during Isle of Man TT.
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Jul 21, 2023 03:59
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My family is from Isle of Man Seems boring they made the right decision. Waking Ned Devine had good cinematography though
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Jul 21, 2023 06:22
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Akratic Method posted:but enough visitor infrastructure to get around One of the few things I know about Man is they have some very quaint old railways every single tourist takes a trip on.
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Jul 21, 2023 11:39
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I visited the Isle of Man a several times when I was a kid (so, many years ago), and I always really liked it. Traveling around on the dinky little steam trains, and the electric trams was fun, and there are a good few places to visit, like the Laxey Wheel, and the top of Snaefell. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laxey_Wheel Near the harbour in Douglas, there is a Camera Obscura, not a destination in itself, but a fun thing to visit if you're going for a walk out that way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Union_Camera_Obscura Castle Rushen is pretty interesting too https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Rushen Peel Castle is worth a look too, though it is mostly ruins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_Castle edit: just look at how little the trains are, and they all have names   edit: just to add a little extra nostalgia, we used to sail there in a small boat, over from Howth in Ireland. It was a 16 hour voyage, and part of the time, we were out of sight of land, so arriving in Douglas felt like we'd basically crossed an ocean to get there
Pookah fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Jul 21, 2023 |
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Jul 21, 2023 13:04
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Chikimiki posted:Yeah that happened to us a few years ago unfortunately. Made me think that it's a borderline scam, what with the vignette not really being advertised or anything. Definitely get it! Okay so I just went through this, driving from Austria to Slovenia yesterday. The toll was not as well advertised as the Austrian one, and I can also imagine confusing it with the toll for the Karawankentunnel. I saw one big sign. However there were many places indicated where you could buy the Slovenian vignette, even already in Germany - you can buy it in gas stations even though it's an electronic one. And at the first gas station past the Slovenian border they sell it too with a big sign.
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Jul 21, 2023 22:45
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I'm planning on going to Turkey in about a month, but I've got multiple prescription medications that are giving me pause. All the information I've found on embassy websites is to bring only enough for the trip + potential travel delays, keep it in the original packaging, and get a written note from my doctor with Turkish translation for each medication. Is there someone I can just give a full list of each individual medication to and find out "yeah that's fine" or "next episode on Locked up Abroad"?
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Jul 22, 2023 02:02
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YoursTruly posted:I'm planning on going to Turkey in about a month, but I've got multiple prescription medications that are giving me pause. All the information I've found on embassy websites is to bring only enough for the trip + potential travel delays, keep it in the original packaging, and get a written note from my doctor with Turkish translation for each medication. That advice is right, assuming your intended trip is under 30 days. Basically no country will lock you up abroad for < 30 days of prescription medicine. UAE and Japan are the few countries that can famously gently caress with you for prescription meds in your name, but even then I don’t think anyone has been *arrested* for bringing sub-1-month prescription adderall into e.g. Japan, and adderall is illegal there even with a prescription and Japan is super harsh on drug laws. I think the only prescription drug that commonly gets tourists in trouble is people with prescription weed. Immigrants / students / people on long stays can get in more issues, but it’s not really an issue for common non-weed prescription medicines taken with under 30 days of doses. Every other “horror story" I’ve heard for a foreigner going to Egypt or whatever ends up actually being someone had 400 pills of OxyContin or whatever, which might be their real prescription but is still a pretty big edge case. Absolutely do not take marijuana though, prescription or not. I’ve travelled with Ritalin across many dozens of countries for years fwiw so I do pay attention to the general rules. I’d probably leave it at home if for some stupid reason I ever went to like, DPRK. Saladman fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Jul 22, 2023 |
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Jul 22, 2023 02:54
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Looking for London recommendations for cheap food. I'm Australian and the exchange rate is absolutely kicking my arse  Also anything cheap or cool in London to do you might want to share.
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Jul 22, 2023 05:37
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Chewbecca posted:Looking for London recommendations for cheap food. I'm Australian and the exchange rate is absolutely kicking my arse Where abouts are you staying? London is a big place so cheap food might not be convenient food... The Wellcome Collection is free and cool. The Hunterian is back open, also free. Going up Primrose Hill will give you great views. Ally Pally is also good for views if you're further North. Macbeth is on at the Globe, and you can get cheap tickets if you don't mind standing. It's a classic place to visit for a reason.
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Jul 22, 2023 10:41
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it’s also Proms season so you can cheap tickets for some of the best classical musicians on the planet if you don’t mind a bit of queueing
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Jul 22, 2023 18:19
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Wallace Collection is free and has a cool collection of armour, weapons, art and furniture
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Jul 22, 2023 18:34
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Bollock Monkey posted:Where abouts are you staying? London is a big place so cheap food might not be convenient food... Thank you! We are in Knightsbridge so it's expensive af. Thanks for the recommendations!
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Jul 22, 2023 18:40
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If you’re not talking about food but just cheap attractions, you kind of have to mention that admission to the British Museum is free.
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Jul 22, 2023 19:13
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Generally all museums are free. Go to Greenwich Naval Museuman and have a look at the blood stained musket hole where Lord Nelson got shot (plus Greenwich Observator is both interesting and offers good views) Go to the Science Museum as the only place in the world you can simultaneously be in the same room as the oldest surviving steam train and an Apollo command module. You can book a free ticket for the Sky Garden if you want a view over London, instead of paying to go up the Shard Food - I would suggest Knightsbridge/Kenningston/Chelsea is probably the worst place to go looking for cheap food as it's where all the rich people live.
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Jul 23, 2023 12:12
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Chewbecca posted:Looking for London recommendations for cheap food. I'm Australian and the exchange rate is absolutely kicking my arse I did Wimbledon (which is over), the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, and Tate Modern. The museums are all free and worth checking out, depending on your interests. I also enjoyed visiting Harrod’s even though I didn’t buy anything. For cheaper food, the area around the South Kensington tube station has some decent options. The pub at Imperial College is open to the public and pretty affordable.
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Jul 23, 2023 12:28
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Try some of these? https://www.timeout.com/london/food-drink/londons-best-cheap-eats
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Jul 23, 2023 12:41
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Pablo Bluth posted:Generally all museums are free. Just to point out, Greenwich Observatory is not one of the free ones. £18
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Jul 23, 2023 12:54
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Akratic Method posted:Has anyone ever been to the Isle of Man? I'm visiting a friend in Manchester some time this fall, and since I've been through a decent chunk of England I wanted to throw in something novel as part of the trip. Looks like I could take a train over to Liverpool and then grab a ferry to the Isle. Have you considered Scotland, the better England
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Jul 23, 2023 19:59
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London food is hit and miss. Yeah it’s immigrant central but some of it is really meh. Recommend hawksmoor in the original branch in east London for the Sunday roast, their gravy is top notch
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Jul 24, 2023 04:43
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Hawksmoor is the opposite of cheap food, though. Sunday roast starts at 39 pounds per person. Alcoholic drinks are near 20 pounds each. Their sticky toffee pudding is one of the best desserts I’ve ever tasted though. Difficult to imagine something that’s swimming in toffee yet not sickeningly sweet.
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Jul 24, 2023 15:03
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