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Saladman posted:Yeah flying into Heathrow is OK, it's just transferring that sucks because you have to get your luggage and re-scan it and go through security again. My wife used to live in London like 12 years ago and I flew into Heathrow a bunch, and I flew in last summer for the first time in several years and it was totally fine. It's also possible I am basing my dislike of British airports off of experiences that are more than a decade out of date. I definitely preferred London City though, and flew that route when I could, back before Bern's airport essentially closed in 2018. Yeah, people talk highly of City. The size is the major difference I imagine, no trotting across terminals that are literally miles apart. Your experiences are probably still pretty accurate tbh. I can't imagine why anything might have improved at least, lol.
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May 15, 2024 16:55
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Don't get me wrong, overall the Eurostar is better than flying for any journey you can take on it, it's the entry/waiting are part which is worse. Like at gare du Nord the food options are mediocre and the two decent ones, Paul and Exki, are regularly out of stock.
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May 15, 2024 18:25
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distortion park posted:Don't get me wrong, overall the Eurostar is better than flying for any journey you can take on it, it's the entry/waiting are part which is worse. I still prefer the train by a wide margin but I think I understand what you mean.
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May 15, 2024 18:27
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London City is designed to get you out of the airport as quickly as possible. If the Elizabeth Line had a stop there I'd never go to another airport if I could. edit: The waiting area at St Pancras is always jam-packed with people and luggage, with nowhere to sit and nothing to do.
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May 15, 2024 18:27
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A decade ago I took a long flight from the US west coast to Heathrow (with a layover elsewhere in the US) followed by a Eurostar train home. Honestly, I wouldn't do that again, but mostly because having to get on the London Underground and then a train while you have a terrible jetlag and just want to be home wasn't a fun experience.
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May 15, 2024 22:14
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vanity slug posted:London City is designed to get you out of the airport as quickly as possible. If the Elizabeth Line had a stop there I'd never go to another airport if I could. City is great, but landing on that short-rear end runway always feels terrifying.
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May 16, 2024 06:43
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I'm in Copenhagen and ran into an absolute ton of 15-16-year-olds in skimpy party outfits riding the metro, is it a special day or is that just the weekend here?
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May 17, 2024 18:17
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It’s Constitution Day in Norway but I’m not sure that has anything to do with Denmark.
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May 17, 2024 18:36
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Hardly seems the way to celebrate it either, unless this country is much weirder than I've experienced so far.
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May 17, 2024 20:26
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My Lovely Horse posted:I'm in Copenhagen and ran into an absolute ton of 15-16-year-olds in skimpy party outfits riding the metro, is it a special day or is that just the weekend here? That's a normal Friday night, when its good weather and the kids haven't gone on vacation yet. My Lovely Horse posted:Hardly seems the way to celebrate it either, unless this country is much weirder than I've experienced so far. May 1st is our constitution day but uhhh yeah its probably weird. Tradition in Copenhagen is to gather in a park to listen to/ignore politicians giving speeches about workers rights while getting really goddamn drunk. Genuinely unsure how the trees survive the yearly deluge of piss. Fruits of the sea fucked around with this message at 21:29 on May 17, 2024 |
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May 17, 2024 21:25
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I may have left out some key details while mobile posting, a lot of them seemed to have a vague uniform theme going with their outfits or have otherwise coordinated and it just altogether felt like there was a specific event on. But maybe the Danish kids just go a lot harder than I'd assumed! I figured maybe it's final school exams done but I guarantee not a single one of them was older than 16, then again, I don't know the Danish school system either.
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May 17, 2024 21:41
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My Lovely Horse posted:I may have left out some key details while mobile posting, a lot of them seemed to have a vague uniform theme going with their outfits or have otherwise coordinated and it just altogether felt like there was a specific event on. But maybe the Danish kids just go a lot harder than I'd assumed! Could be something I'm not clued into? They do wear matching outfits for finishing exams but then they all crowd into army trucks converted into party buses and sing, again while getting really goddamn drunk E:if they had matching hats, it’s probably an extra party for the above. The party buses start later in the month Fruits of the sea fucked around with this message at 21:51 on May 17, 2024 |
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May 17, 2024 21:44
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That I have heard about (in fact I did see a guy in one of those caps but pretty sure he wasn't with them). Nah these were more like, sexy policewoman outfits or I saw at least two girls, at different metro stations, in an outfit involving hi vis straps. Oh well if it's not a super commonly known thing maybe there was just a high profile party somewhere in the Østerbro area.
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May 17, 2024 21:54
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Fruits of the sea posted:again while getting really goddamn drunk I'm sensing a theme here.
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May 18, 2024 08:39
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In Europe this is very normal 
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May 18, 2024 09:13
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The drinking culture here in France is completely foreign to me. Yesterday I saw a bar in a convenience store, and guys were drinking beer there in the afternoon. Every restaurant stops serving food for half the day, but they still serve drinks.
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May 18, 2024 10:24
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My Lovely Horse posted:I'm in Copenhagen and ran into an absolute ton of 15-16-year-olds in skimpy party outfits riding the metro, is it a special day or is that just the weekend here? lol was this yesterday? We ran in to the same thing. Apparently the last day of school per someone on the train? Edit: you weren’t coming back from the Louisiana by any chance? Residency Evil fucked around with this message at 11:30 on May 18, 2024 |
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May 18, 2024 10:57
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Yep, yesterday evening. And no, we were just on the M3, but it makes sense that we would have been around similar stations.
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May 18, 2024 20:23
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Drone posted:I'm sensing a theme here. It's improved substantially but Denmark's drinking culture is bad/fun. Can recommend the movie Another Round. It's quite accurate. Eerie when they got hammered in the same bars I frequented. e: So this is technically relevant to thread and film, Alléenberg, aka Psykopaten is genuinely an excellent spot if you want drinks with an older crowd after 2am. Yes, random guests do play the piano Fruits of the sea fucked around with this message at 20:31 on May 18, 2024 |
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May 18, 2024 20:29
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I'm probably gonna end up in Munich or Frankfurt during a long layover on my way to and from Denver on July 20 or 21 and July 31 respectively. Which city is better to wander around in for the layover and provides minimal hassle getting back to the airport from the downtown area via train or metro? I guess I’d want to try eating authentic currywurst and drink beer, not sure what else to do.
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May 23, 2024 08:10
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How long is the long layover? Edit: and if Frankfurt, make sure it's Frankfurt Airport and not Frankfurt-Hahn, which is 2.5 hours away and terribly-named.
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May 23, 2024 08:19
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Teriyaki Koinku posted:I'm probably gonna end up in Munich or Frankfurt during a long layover on my way to and from Denver on July 20 or 21 and July 31 respectively. Which city is better to wander around in for the layover and provides minimal hassle getting back to the airport from the downtown area via train or metro? Munich, by a very very very far margin. Unless you like open air heroin markets, bum fights, and the perfume of eau d'urine, in which case the downtown Frankfurt area is perfect. Frankfurt actually rebuilt some of its historic downtown -- finished in 2020 -- but it's very small and the rest of the downtown area is either soulless massive bank towers, a generic copy and paste shopping street with H&M and the like, or a wartorn shithole around the train station itself. The river area is kind of OK but holy poo poo you'd have to pay me to ever stop in Frankfurt again. The main train station area of Frankfurt is by far the worst part of any city in Europe that I've ever seen. It looks just like many American cities, like Detroit or downtown SF. I fly through there a couple times a year and one time did an overnight stopover to check out the city, on a beautiful midsummer day, and will not repeat that mistake again.
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May 23, 2024 08:21
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Saladman posted:Munich, by a very very very far margin. lol thank you for your service in recounting your horrible urban trauma for me. I appreciate the warning. So, Munich? Anything to note while on an overnight layover? Maybe a restaurant or two to consider? E: Marienplatz and Hofbräuhaus look interesting enough. I’d love to have some traditional sausage, pretzels and beer for dinner. E2: any cool and interesting modern hotels near Marienplatz to consider? I’ve had good experiences with Mercure before and their two-story “Privilege” room looks swanky, if a bit excessive. Teriyaki Koinku fucked around with this message at 09:20 on May 23, 2024 |
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May 23, 2024 08:47
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Frankfurt isn't nearly as bad as Saladman is making it out to be. That said Munich still wins by a country mile. Frankfurt does have some things going for it, but being an interesting spot for a foreign tourist to visit is very much not one of those things.Teriyaki Koinku posted:E: Marienplatz and Hofbräuhaus look interesting enough. I’d love to have some traditional sausage, pretzels and beer for dinner. In Bavaria you'll be better off doing the traditional sausage, pretzels, and beer for breakfast (I'm not joking, this is a thing and it's great). Hofbräuhaus is complete poo poo for tourists who don't know any better. If you want beer garden atmosphere, go to Augustiner (still very touristy but you'll find a load of locals there too). If you want more of a cozy publike atmosphere, go to Schneider. Drone fucked around with this message at 09:24 on May 23, 2024 |
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May 23, 2024 09:20
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....for breakfast?  I mean, sure, why not? Sounds like a fun “Do as the Romans do” experience. Just strange. Also funny that my one “lol elective” in freshman German as a graduating senior in high school might actually one day pay off. I just remember Guten Tag, Bitte, Danke Schön, and Eiswasser mit Zitrone, but it’s something at least!
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May 23, 2024 09:47
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Yeah, the breakfast variant is boiled Weißwurst served in a little pot of the hot water so they're super fresh. Traditionally you're supposed to suck em out of the casing but nobody's gonna think you're weird for just cutting them with a knife. Some sweet mustard next to it, a nice hot salty pretzel or two, and a glass of Weißbier. It's great.
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May 23, 2024 09:57
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Maxvorstadt is a college neighborhood with interesting restaurants. The Nymphenburg Palace was cool, though I think the carriage house and ceramics collection were the more interesting part. I did both of those in a day when my connecting flight was cancelled. E: weisswurst is a must if you haven't had it before.
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May 23, 2024 11:12
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Drone posted:Yeah, the breakfast variant is boiled Weißwurst served in a little pot of the hot water so they're super fresh. Traditionally you're supposed to suck em out of the casing but nobody's gonna think you're weird for just cutting them with a knife. Some sweet mustard next to it, a nice hot salty pretzel or two, and a glass of Weißbier. Do you normally get it in your hotel when you wake up or should you go out to some local eatery first for this tradition?
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May 23, 2024 11:27
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Teriyaki Koinku posted:Do you normally get it in your hotel when you wake up or should you go out to some local eatery first for this tradition? I'm sure some hotels will offer it but I'd just go somewhere else for it. Here's a list (in German) picked by one of the biggest newspapers in Germany for locations for a Weißwurstfrühstück (weisswurst breakfast), I'd say just pick the bolded name closest to where you'll be staying. https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/muenchen-weisswurst-fruehstueck-empfehlungen-1.5636099
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May 23, 2024 12:08
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Drone posted:Frankfurt isn't nearly as bad as Saladman is making it out to be. That said Munich still wins by a country mile. Frankfurt does have some things going for it, but being an interesting spot for a foreign tourist to visit is very much not one of those things. Yeah, I exaggerated, but it's still my least favorite city in Western Europe by a significant margin, although admittedly I have avoided going to rustbelt cities like Limerick, Glasgow, or Duisberg. This was the lovely view from the hotel I stayed at in central Frankfurt, which was representative of the entire Bahnhofsviertel. The only thing it was missing for an authentic American experience was the lack of the sound of gunshots, but you still had plenty of screaming, people passed out on the ground, tons of police and sirens going off regularly, guys peeing in the open everywhere, and every street covered in trash.  It's true that it's not quite as bad as Vancouver or San Francisco, as there wasn't really much if any physical threat.
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May 23, 2024 12:32
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Teriyaki Koinku posted:lol thank you for your service in recounting your horrible urban trauma for me. I appreciate the warning. I know you're only in for a layover but if it's your jam the Munich Glyptothek is the finest collection of Greek and Roman sculpture north of the Alps. Also seconding skipping Hofbrauhaus. Find a biergarten that has any amount of locals in it and go there instead. There's one south of the Marienplatz and the Alter Peter church in the market area, there's tourists there of course but also plenty of German folks. Had a nice chat with a priest there once after it started dizzling and the whole garten bailed except for us two, 'cause we still had bier to drink! Judgy Fucker fucked around with this message at 12:40 on May 23, 2024 |
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May 23, 2024 12:37
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Saladman posted:Yeah, I exaggerated, but it's still my least favorite city in Western Europe by a significant margin, although admittedly I have avoided going to rustbelt cities like Limerick, Glasgow, or Duisberg. You forgot to mention discarded needles and people casually smoking crack. It's also definitely worse than Duisburg. Duisburg is boring af and there's no reason to go there really but at least if you do happen to find yourself there, you'll feel at lot safer. Does anyone have any experience travelling from Serbia. Thinking of going to Belgrade next year and then Budapest. However, all anecdotal evidence I can find online says the road crossings have brutal wait times because of the Hungarian border guards ( all posts from the last couple years too, not from the height of the crisis in the mid 10s). Would a train crossing or flight be any better? I have an EU passport which may help but not if there's only one queue for people travelling from non-EU countries.
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May 23, 2024 13:23
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This kind of made me chuckle because it was like hey I'm going to be in a layover in the states and I'm looking for jazz, cocktails and cajun cuisine should I stay in New Orleans or Birmingham, Alabama?
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May 23, 2024 14:04
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I'm a weirdo who really likes Munich, more than most. The area south of the Hauptbahnhof has the cheaper hotels, I've stayed there many times. Boomers on TripAdvisor will steer you away from it, because of immigrants and "strip clubs". But it's fine, although last November sucked because the main station is under construction for the next 5-10 years so the streets were hard to navigate with construction equipment everywhere. I would skip Hofbrauhaus 10 out of 10 times for something just as touristy but much better, some Weissbier at the Chinesischer Turm biergarten.
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May 23, 2024 15:40
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schwarzbier goes down easy and is only like 5% alcohol despite looking like a stout. It's an easy drinking lager and will keep you from getting plastered in Munich. It's also the oldest brewed beer in Europe going back to like 800 BCE
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May 23, 2024 15:55
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Schwarzbier's good but it's not really a typical Munich style and especially not for the middle of July. OP grab yourself some proper Helles or Weißbier. Helles does have the dubious benefit/tremendeous downside of being far too easy to get completely wrecked on though for how easy it goes down.
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May 23, 2024 16:00
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Ferdinand Bardamu posted:I'm a weirdo who really likes Munich, more than most. The area south of the Hauptbahnhof has the cheaper hotels, I've stayed there many times. Boomers on TripAdvisor will steer you away from it, because of immigrants and "strip clubs". But it's fine, although last November sucked because the main station is under construction for the next 5-10 years so the streets were hard to navigate with construction equipment everywhere. I would skip Hofbrauhaus 10 out of 10 times for something just as touristy but much better, some Weissbier at the Chinesischer Turm biergarten. I briefly navigated that area on a train lay-over two years ago and I also thought it was fine. I also thought that the Altstad was not very special, but I lived in Amsterdam at the time so I might be ultra-spoiled.
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May 23, 2024 18:07
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Benny Harvey posted:Does anyone have any experience travelling from Serbia. Thinking of going to Belgrade next year and then Budapest. However, all anecdotal evidence I can find online says the road crossings have brutal wait times because of the Hungarian border guards ( all posts from the last couple years too, not from the height of the crisis in the mid 10s). I traveled twice from Belgrade to Budapest. Three years ago we went by car on a Friday afternoon and it was indeed brutal. Maybe my worst border crossing ever. Four hours in the car? Five? I don't know, it seemed like half a day. We also traveled by train six years ago and I don't remember the crossing or the trip as such being too bad. Maybe it was the life circumstances... We weren't in a hurry that time, we played a board game in the train. We are going again next month, by car, and my partner claims the crossing won't be nearly as bad since it'll be Wednesday morning. Looking for a sweating emoji, can't find any.
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May 23, 2024 20:29
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Saladman posted:Yeah, I exaggerated, but it's still my least favorite city in Western Europe by a significant margin, although admittedly I have avoided going to rustbelt cities like Limerick, Glasgow, or Duisberg. My first thought was whether or not you've been to Glasgow, lol. I actually like Glasgow, it's got character and it's not pretentious like (central) Edinburgh, but it's definitely rough around the edges and has some of the most deprived areas in all of western Europe. Pretty much every German I've ever met speaks badly of Frankfurt. It's either straight up crummy like you said or a symbol of everything wrong with Germany (since I often end up hanging out with dirty commies  )
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May 24, 2024 13:50
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Where other than Glasgow can you find this 3 floors tall Irish pub? It's a very nice place for a drink.
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May 24, 2024 17:03
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