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Edit: doublepost
maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Mar 13, 2017 |
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Jun 17, 2011 16:12
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GregNorc posted:Wall warts as in they take up space? Or there's something intrinsically bad about them? As in they take up space. I'd just buy a universal adaptor then, unless you plan on living in one of those countries or staying in one place for an extended period of time.
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Jun 17, 2011 16:49
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Hello goons! I have some questions about living in Frankfurt. There are public transport train systems in the city, how much area to do they cover? Are they convenient? How do they compare with places such as London or Tokyo's metro? Is it a necessity to be able to drive? (I can't). What is cycling in Frankfurt like? What is a nice area of the city to live in? How much of your paycheck should you expect to spend? Are the nice places all really expensive because of the bankers? What is the general cost of living like? Does Frankfurt have a china town? Is there somewhere to buy (good) chinese food and ingredients or stuff like magazines and movies? How easy is it to commute to london? Has anyone tried via train? How easy is it to get around without knowing German? (I don't mean things like paying for stuff in shops, that should be easy enough to learn, but doctor visits, setting up utilities, going to the town hall etc.) Rolled Cabbage fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Jun 18, 2011 |
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Jun 18, 2011 02:14
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Maybe this is a ridiculous question, and I apologize if so, but I changed some money over from Chinese RMB to Euros and got a 500 Euro bill. Is that going to be a bitch to get rid of? Will I have to go to a bank to get it broken down, or will the hostel/restaurant/store that I go to take a 500 Euro bill? Thanks in advance.
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Jun 18, 2011 09:05
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goldboilermark posted:Maybe this is a ridiculous question, and I apologize if so, but I changed some money over from Chinese RMB to Euros and got a 500 Euro bill. Is that going to be a bitch to get rid of? Will I have to go to a bank to get it broken down, or will the hostel/restaurant/store that I go to take a 500 Euro bill? Well, no grocery store or corner bar is going to take a 500 euro bill because they'd have to give you the entire contents of the cash register for change. If you were to go buy a computer, some furniture or an expensive watch or something like that, it would probably be accepted, but still not happily. Normal people never see a 500 bill and are not confident they would spot a forgery, and if the one they're taking from you is a fake, they are out a lot of money. I think it's better to try and find a bank that will change it into 50s. I don't know whether they do that if you don't bank with them, though.
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Jun 18, 2011 09:54
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Most places are going to hate you, but it is legal payment so they have to take it. Another problem might be that they just don't have enough cash to provide you with change, this is likely in just about every smaller store, hostel, restaurant etc, so if you do happen to pass a bank have them change it. e; beaten. Good point about spotting the forgery, they might worry about that yeah (though no sane forger would use 500 euro bills)
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Jun 18, 2011 09:58
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Alright, this was the denomination that the bank would give it in here in China, so I'll have to do that as soon as I get in. It's annoying, but they wouldn't break it down for me any more. Hope it isn't too much of a problem, thanks for the heads up guys.
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Jun 18, 2011 10:12
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Rojkir posted:Most places are going to hate you, but it is legal payment so they have to take it. No they don't. The term "legal tender" has a very specific legal meaning relating to payment of debts, it does not mean shops aren't allowed to refuse it. Sweevo fucked around with this message at 13:41 on Jun 18, 2011 |
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Jun 18, 2011 13:33
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Rojkir posted:Most places are going to hate you, but it is legal payment so they have to take it. No they don't. Try to go pay with a €500 bill or even a €100 bill in a supermarket and they will kindly tell you to gently caress off. They won't take your cents either. Even though it is legal tender they are not required to accept all bills.
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Jun 18, 2011 18:07
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I'm going to barcelona for 4 days, and Madrid for 2. At least for barcelona, I was thinking: Familia Sangrada, quell park, Las ramblas, a beach (or maybe Lloret de Mar), montserrat. Any other recommendations for things to do in barcelona? My girlfriend really wants to see a flaminco show and a bullfight, but I hear that it's unpopular(read:hated) in Barcelona. Any thoughts of whether is worth it or not to see a bullfight in Barcelona? Also, any good recommendations for a beach or a club, as well as a flaminco show?
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Jun 19, 2011 09:49
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The Atomic Man-Boy posted:Any thoughts of whether is worth it or not to see a bullfight in Barcelona? e: Actually I am wrong in the way that matters. The law banning bullfighting was passed in 2010 but it doesn't come into effect until January 1 2012. kissekatt fucked around with this message at 11:01 on Jun 19, 2011 |
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Jun 19, 2011 10:57
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The Atomic Man-Boy posted:I'm going to barcelona for 4 days, and Madrid for 2. Maybe the Dali Museum in Figueres. I havent been there in about 20 years, but back then it was interesting even for 12 year old me.
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Jun 19, 2011 11:05
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kissekatt posted:Given that bullfighting is banned in Catalonia (including Barcelona), watching a bullfight there should either be really really horrible or really really awesome. I knew about this, but Ive read that barcelona sucks for bullfighting because its just dumb tourists and most locals would rather be outside protesting (which apparently they do.) Just wanted to make sure.
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Jun 19, 2011 13:22
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The Atomic Man-Boy posted:I knew about this, but Ive read that barcelona sucks for bullfighting because its just dumb tourists and most locals would rather be outside protesting (which apparently they do.) Just wanted to make sure. I am on a tour of Europe right now. I am in Madrid and went to a bull fight today. They hold them at 7pm on Sundays and the cost is 5-150 euro. They do 3 bulls but I only sat through 1 and took off. Sounded like a weird cultural thing to do but it was miserable, mostly tourists, not too many people in there and all around a downer. I did not see protestors outside but I am sure they happen often. I suggest saving your time and money.
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Jun 19, 2011 20:16
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Uggh, anyone in Barcelona have a cheap POS digital camera they wouldn't mind selling/want to get rid of, and/or know a place in town where I can get a really cheap camera? Mine's under warranty, which is great for when I get back to the US, but I need something to get me through the rest of my time in Europe (June 30th). I just want the cheapest digital camera that will take pictures and not crap out on me like my own did. The one feature I WOULD like is the ability to take panoramic shots--I found myself using that a lot more than I thought I would here. Also feasible would be getting one in Berlin, sometime between 1AM and 9AM Tuesday morning!  I'd really like to get one here so I can take pictures my last day, and have one ready for the tour I'm taking my first day in Berlin (Tuesday, I get in Monday night/Tuesday morning after midnight, ugggggh).
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Jun 19, 2011 20:37
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I guess your best bet is to go to a Media Markt.
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Jun 19, 2011 21:08
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blinkeve1826 posted:Also feasible would be getting one in Berlin, sometime between 1AM and 9AM Tuesday morning! If you buy in Berlin just go to a Saturn or Mediamarkt and get one of the cheap 50-60 Euro ones. They are all over the city. Last time I was there bought an Ixus at one close to Potsdamer Platz.
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Jun 19, 2011 21:13
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The Atomic Man-Boy posted:I'm going to barcelona for 4 days, and Madrid for 2. Seeing a bullfight in Spain is one of the most depressing things I have done while travelling.
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Jun 20, 2011 23:29
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kri kri posted:Seeing a bullfight in Spain is one of the most depressing things I have done while travelling. Yeah, I figured I would go to one in Madrid, but just seeing it on TV was enough to really piss me off. The whole thing is just...unsporting. Barbaric, even. Very glad I didn't waste my money or time on it. Now, put one dude with one sword in the ring with the bull and then we'll talk. But having a whole group of guys in there, with armored horses and huge spears and all, well that isn't a fight at all, that's just cruelty.
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Jun 21, 2011 17:47
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Does anyone have any flea market, street vendor or thrifting recommendations for Milan? I've already got a list of outlet shops and flagship stores that we'll be visiting early July, but would still like some insight into less well known shopping in the area. We're staying about 20-minutes north-east from city center/Duomo and might hit up Como/Lake Como towns during the week. Going to be spending time with some local acquaintances and shaking them down for tips, and we're taking a half empty suitcase to fill with stuff that gets ridic import markups stateside. Hoping that the next Milanese vacation we take is during fashion week. 
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Jun 21, 2011 18:57
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I'm swinging through a few countries in Europe and I want to get a SIM card or something so I can call/text. Is that worth it and easy to do? I'll mostly be in major cities.
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Jun 23, 2011 01:21
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Rolled Cabbage posted:How easy is it to commute to london? Has anyone tried via train? Can't answer the other stuff but The Man at Seat 61 is your friend for Europe rail info: http://www.seat61.com/Germany.htm
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Jun 23, 2011 13:46
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Stephen Harper posted:I'm swinging through a few countries in Europe and I want to get a SIM card or something so I can call/text. Is that worth it and easy to do? I'll mostly be in major cities. Do you mean call/text back home, or call/text locally? The former is expensive no matter how you slice it, the ladder is cheap and easy. Some considerations: Unless you already know that your phone is unlocked and GSM, you'll need a new phone, not just a new sim. But buying a new phone w/ prepay sim is cheap and easy anywhere in europe. If your phone IS unlocked and GSM, buying a standalone prepay sim is also pretty easy. When you buy a sim, the rate you get is specific to calls and texts within that country. Luckily there is pretty good (and recent I think) regulation on roaming fees within EU countries. Still, it can add up. A Spanish sim in Spain gets free incoming calls and texts, and outgoing at some fairly reasonable rate. That same sim in France does not get free incoming, and the rate goes up pretty considerably, around .50 eurocents a minute I think. That's just for a local (french) number. In any country, calling a US number is going to cost...I don't know, at least 2 euro a minute, probably more. I don't really know anything about the cell providers in Europe, but I do know that Vodafone seems to be everywhere, so I went with them. Other ones that I can remember are Orange, T-Mobile, Cosmote. There are a ton more, though, and it's probably worth checking out if you plan to do a lot of talking. Myself, I've barely used it, because I'm traveling alone and don't know anybody in Europe. If you're traveling with somebody else, I highly recommend you both get some sort of cheap phone, if only so that you can call each other when one of you gets lost. Oh, and don't buy the phones in the US, I guarantee it will be cheaper in whatever country you land in.
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Jun 23, 2011 15:52
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goldboilermark posted:Maybe this is a ridiculous question, and I apologize if so, but I changed some money over from Chinese RMB to Euros and got a 500 Euro bill. Is that going to be a bitch to get rid of? Will I have to go to a bank to get it broken down, or will the hostel/restaurant/store that I go to take a 500 Euro bill? Other people in this thread told you that it will be a problem but in my experience (Germany) it has not been. Once I had a guy in front of me at the supermarket (Lidl) take out a whole stack of 500s from his wallet (must have been 20K at least) and pay for a pack of gum with one of the bills. The cashier was confused for a few seconds but accepted it. I would expect any mid/upper scale restaurant to accept 500 Euro bills. Edit: I looked it up. According to the internet, all stores have to accept 500 Euro bills in Germany unless they have a clearly visible sign stating that they don't. Alan Greenspan fucked around with this message at 16:26 on Jun 23, 2011 |
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Jun 23, 2011 16:15
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I've just purchased a 2 month Eurail pass for the countries of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia/Montenegro (counted as one for the Eurail pass) and Romania. I'm going to be making my way up through Greece to Romania starting late July and ending in mid September. I've already read some good suggestion on what to do in the Serbian city of Belgrade, but any suggestions of what to do in other parts of Serbia as well as in my other destination countries would be much appreciated. My schedule is super flexible and I plan on staying in hostels and giving couchsurfing a shot.
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Jun 23, 2011 19:54
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Just some fair warning. There's no Bulgaria <-> Greece train service right now, and probably won't be for the foreseeable future. You'll probably have to take a bus from Thessaloniki to Blagoevgrad or Sofia, then ride the Bulgarian trains.
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Jun 23, 2011 20:40
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Okay, thanks. Can you give me any ideas of what to visit while in Bulgaria? I remember you mentioning that Veliko Turnovo was the city to see; Wikitravel talks about the castle of the old Bulgarian capital and also says that there's various historical museums.
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Jun 23, 2011 21:28
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I'm in the middle of planning my honeymoon taking place next April and am a bit overwhelmed with all of the rail options. We're going to be flying into Florence, then traveling by train to Venice, then Brussles, then London. What's the best option to do this? My first inclination was to get a Eurail pass for the three countries, but England is the only country that doesn't seem eligible.  Is there some other pass option out there or am I better off just reserving tickets for each individual leg of the trip?
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Jun 23, 2011 22:59
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jerkstore77 posted:I'm in the middle of planning my honeymoon taking place next April and am a bit overwhelmed with all of the rail options. We're going to be flying into Florence, then traveling by train to Venice, then Brussles, then London. What's the best option to do this? I was going to ask you how long this trip was but it doesn't matter. If your trips are truly just Florence -> Venice, Venice -> Brussels, and Brussels -> London, then DO NOT GET A RAILPASS. For so many reasons. Since this is a honeymoon, I imagine you are booking fancy hotel rooms and such far in advance. Since your hotel dates are fixed, you gain nothing from the flexibility of a railpass. Your itinerary is bad for railpasses, too. You'd need a global pass I think to cover the trip to Brussels, and the short duration railpasses (of any kind) are a lousy deal anyway. On top of all that, Brussels -> London is not covered by the pass. That isn't strictly true but essentially it will cost you 150+ euro with the pass, with limited availability for passholders, whereas buying a regular ticket in advance is, what, 50 euro? Also: Italy is not that great for rail passes. Their highspeed trains have 10 euro reservation fees, even for short trips. Buying in advance, you'll get a discounted price that includes that fee. So here is my suggestion: book your hotels in advance (duh), then book your trains in advance to match them. Oh, one last thing: Venice -> Brussels looks a little bit hairy, by train or air. By train you can do it fairly easily (for example) by Venice -> Paris overnight, then Thalys to Brussels in 90 minutes. Beware that Thalys is pretty pricy though. And for the love of god, book a private sleeper for the overnight! This is your honeymoon, man. By air, it looks like ryanair can do venice to brussels, but the airport that they label "brussels" is wicked far away. Upside is that you go from ~15 hours on a train to an hour and a half flight (plus two hours to get to the airport and check in, plus another hour to get from the "brussels" airport to actual Brussels). The choice is yours. Anything that I missed? It should be pretty clear that railpasses are not in your future.
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Jun 24, 2011 00:23
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Neris posted:As always, would strongly, strongly urge you to skip Dublin and see some of the west coast of Ireland. Dublin, in my view, is such a grey flavourless tourist-let-down over priced part of Ireland. I grew up on the South West coast and you couldn't do better, in my view, than to rent a car and drive around Cork and Kerry - seriously, it's unbelievably gorgeous. Seconding this. I did just that last month; rented a car and drove around southwest Ireland for two weeks, staying in Dingle, Kinsale, Waterford, and Kilkenny, and it was amazing. Lots of pictures here if you're curious.
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Jun 24, 2011 00:45
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Magic Underwear posted:By air, it looks like ryanair can do venice to brussels, but the airport that they label "brussels" is wicked far away. Let me guess, Brussels "South"/Charleroi?
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Jun 24, 2011 09:46
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Frags posted:Okay, thanks. Can you give me any ideas of what to visit while in Bulgaria? I remember you mentioning that Veliko Turnovo was the city to see; Wikitravel talks about the castle of the old Bulgarian capital and also says that there's various historical museums. Veliko Tarnovo is definitely the place you want to go see in Bulgaria, but there are a few others. If you can make it to the Black Sea, Varna is really nice to spend a couple days in, as are some of the older Black Sea towns like Nesebar and Sozopol which have 'old towns' as well as resort areas. Coming from Greece, Blagoevgrad is nice but there isn't a whole lot to do here. If you like wine, I'd stay for a night in Sandanski, which is about 30 minutes from the Greek border, and take the short bus ride to Melnik. It's an old Bulgarian town and every house has a wine cellar that you can do wine tasting in. Melnishko wine is pretty famous; it was Churchill's favorite and he used to special order casks of the stuff from Melnik. You can spend a day and night in Sofia. One group started offering New Europe-style free tours and a friend of mine is a tour guide. I haven't done it but people who have say it's pretty good, so I'd recommend that. Sofia is generally pretty boring, ugly, and gray but you might as well see it since it will essentially be your transport center up to Romania and Serbia. If you can, try to take a bus from Belgrade to Sarajevo and spend a few days there. I know I say this to everyone, but Sarajevo is something you have to experience if you're spending time in the Balkans. In Romania, Bucharest is worth spending a few days in. But I recommend going up to Brasov. Very beautiful city. Stay in the La Despani guesthouse, I can't recommend that place enough. On the way up to Brasov or back, stop at the ski resort town of Sinaia on the train. From the train station it's about a pleasant 30 minute uphill walk to Peles Castle, which might be the most beautiful building in the world. Bran Castle is the so-called Dracula castle, but is uber-touristy and stuff. Peles has tours, but is much less crowded and far more impressive in my opinion.
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Jun 24, 2011 10:33
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Ok, one more question about barcelona. Anyone have a suggestion for where to see a flamenco show?
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Jun 25, 2011 15:09
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I just got an Eurail pass for Spain and France and only have 10 days to visit. I was planning in doing something like Madrid->Sevilla->Barcelona->Toulouse->Paris->Madrid, but now that I started doing some planning it looks ridiculous since apparently I can't reserve trains online with the pass. Should I just skip Paris and visit something closer like Bordeaux->Bilbao or Marseille?
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Jun 25, 2011 18:50
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Talas posted:I just got an Eurail pass for Spain and France and only have 10 days to visit. I was planning in doing something like Madrid->Sevilla->Barcelona->Toulouse->Paris->Madrid, but now that I started doing some planning it looks ridiculous since apparently I can't reserve trains online with the pass. Your plan will not work. Do not attempt it. What does anybody say except "slow the gently caress down, you'll enjoy it more", and yet every god damned person wants to see 5 capital cities in 10 days. It isn't that big a deal that you can't reserve in advance (except maybe paris->madrid), if you're nervous you can reserve the outgoing leg when you get in to a city. If I was you I'd forsake the France part entirely, but that's just my opinion. I do highly recommend the Guggenheim in Bilbao as a day trip if you are at all interested in architecture or modern art. Be aware that eurail is not that amazing in Spain. You still pay reservation fees (6.5 euro I think) on highspeeds, plus an extra quarter just for passholders (those jerks). Here is the biggie though: several desirable overnight routes (among others, barcelona and madrid to paris and milan) are monopolized by the TrenHotels, expensive but supposedly "classy". Passholders get hosed here: I took the Madrid->Paris route and it cost me 74.50 euro. That's over $100 WITH the pass. It was a poo poo cabin too, tiny and old and worn. The beds are better than a couchette, however.
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Jun 25, 2011 22:45
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HELP! I'm going to Europe, what do I do? - Slow the gently caress down
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Jun 25, 2011 23:03
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Neris posted:HELP! I'm going to Europe, what do I do? - Slow the gently caress down I think people don't realize that although the US is huge and Europe is tiny, it's only tiny in comparison, and not actually tiny. France is still the size of Texas, and Texas is a huge place. Someone needs to put together a map of Western Europe superimposed on the US and put that in the OP so people don't think that going from Paris to Berlin in one day is actually a reasonable distance (maybe me, if I'm not lazy next week and still remember this post). For example, Atlanta and Philadelphia are the exact same distance apart as Madrid and Paris. E: Something like this, but not using the same contour lines (but keeping the same scale): 
Saladman fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Jun 25, 2011 |
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Jun 25, 2011 23:20
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Here's a hastily drawn terrible image of the EU on the US (minus Malta, sorry dudes, and plus Yugoslavia, high five bros), with Australia also overlaid, because that was my reference image. Also, the country lines are drawn by a five year old (me) and the source map I used still had the loving GDR on it, so there are some approximations. Also Finland/Sweden/Norway aren't included. If the OP is still around to stick this in the OP, I'll draw a better version of this in Illustrator or something. I'm not actually retarded, just lazy. E: In any case, maybe people would get the idea that going from Paris to Berlin to Rome in 4 days isn't a reasonable itinerary. (Your itinerary should skip Paris for sure if you have to come back to Spain for your return flight, Talas, although it's not the most crowded itinerary that's been posted here.) Saladman fucked around with this message at 23:44 on Jun 25, 2011 |
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Jun 25, 2011 23:40
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http://goeurope.about.com/od/europeanmaps/l/bl-country-size-comparison-map.htm Check out this handy map! You can move it around and poo poo. Also, not only is Europe bigger than some people imagine, it's also very diverse culturally. Spain and Germany might not be that far apart in distance compared to the US, but culturally you're traveling a lot further than from Texas to North Carolina (mind you, I've never been to the US, so it might be a bad example). It's not even the same language. So to really "experience" a place, you need more time than what many people think. A lot of Americans talk about European mentality, and there might be some truth to that, but there's also huge differences between the individual countries.
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Jun 26, 2011 01:08
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Magic Underwear posted:Your plan will not work. Do not attempt it. What does anybody say except "slow the gently caress down, you'll enjoy it more", and yet every god damned person wants to see 5 capital cities in 10 days. Saladman posted:E: In any case, maybe people would get the idea that going from Paris to Berlin to Rome in 4 days isn't a reasonable itinerary. (Your itinerary should skip Paris for sure if you have to come back to Spain for your return flight, Talas, although it's not the most crowded itinerary that's been posted here.) Thank you guys.
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Jun 26, 2011 02:18
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