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Ishamael posted:Hello travel goons! My wife and I are about to take a big trip to Italy and I was hoping to get some insight into a few areas from those of you who have done it before. I have a lot of questions, hope you don't mind! I don't have a lot of experience with Italy, but the breakfast was coffee/tea/juice, a pastry/roll with jam, and I think cereal. Eurail passes cover the ticket price on your travel day and that's it. You have to pay extra for reservations and for a sleeper, which was about 25 euro when I was there. It should cover regional trains, but only if it's one of your travel days. When you get your pass, it will have a little time table with slots for however many "travel days" it comes with where you write the dates you'll be using your pass. I know I thought it was pretty lame to have to pay extra for...well, everything, but train tickets can get really expensive if you don't have a pass, especially in those touristy areas.
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Sep 6, 2011 00:27
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Ishamael posted:-Has anyone used a sleeper train at all? How was it? quote:-Between Florence, Rome, and Venice, if you had 8 days, how would you spend your time - which place is coolest? From what I have read of the thread, I have seen a lot of Rome love, but I thought I would check. Florence: 2 days Venice: skip (it's out of the way for your itinerary and even fuller of tourists than Florence and Rome) quote:-Any recommendations for hotels, pensiones or hostels in Milan, Rome, or any of the other cities? My wife says we are too old to stay in the group rooms and wants a private room if we do a hostel, I am not sure how set she is on that. quote:-When a hotel in Italy says that breakfast is included, what does that mean for them? I know what to expect from a hotel here, not as much there. quote:-Any good restaurant recommendations in Milan, Rome, Florence, or Venice? We will be eating at a few fancy places I am sure, but most of the time we are going to be looking for quality cheap eats where we can get some real Italian fare. quote:-Rail pass questions:
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Sep 6, 2011 14:11
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Thanks for the information guys! It's always nice to have some inside info into places I haven't been.
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Sep 6, 2011 14:29
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Cometa Rossa posted:I was in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia for two months this summer - if anyone has any questions about those countries I'd be more than happy to answer them. Please tell us about the girls!!! Are they all super hot? Do they speak English? Are they friendly? What do they think of American guys?
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Sep 6, 2011 19:50
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Snakes88 posted:What do they think of American guys? They love them and will strip naked and throw themselves on the floor at once. Keep this in your mind and go to Eastern Europe instantly. You are the most interesting thing they've ever seen.
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Sep 6, 2011 19:54
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Fiskenbob posted:They love them and will strip naked and throw themselves on the floor at once. Keep this in your mind and go to Eastern Europe instantly. You are the most interesting thing they've ever seen. Assuming that you aren't being sarcastic-- why is this?
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Sep 6, 2011 21:16
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windwaker posted:Assuming that you aren't being sarcastic-- why is this? Eastern european girls will gently caress you and then get super clingy since they want to go to the EU/US/Canada and have a better life
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Sep 6, 2011 21:32
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Landsknecht posted:Eastern european girls will gently caress you and then get super clingy since they want to go to the EU/US/Canada and have a better life Supposing this fantasy is true, I must remind everyone that the only remaining non-EU Eastern European states are as follows: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, B-H, Kosovo. Better hurry up bruv!
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Sep 6, 2011 21:46
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I was being sarcastic. Sure, they might find you interesting, but don't go traveling through Eastern European countries (especially the EU ones) with your cock hanging out, expecting every girl to stop what they're doing to suck your dick. That might have been the case in the nineties, when you could travel all the way from Berlin to Moscow for a pack of Marlboros, but things have changed, even though many Americans seem to cling to the fantasy.
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Sep 6, 2011 21:53
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Fiskenbob posted:I was being sarcastic. Sure, they might find you interesting, but don't go traveling through Eastern European countries (especially the EU ones) with your cock hanging out, expecting every girl to stop what they're doing to suck your dick. That might have been the case in the nineties, when you could travel all the way from Berlin to Moscow for a pack of Marlboros, but things have changed, even though many Americans seem to cling to the fantasy. I don't think any of the eastern euros I've met have ever found americans really more interesting than lots of western euros. There's usually some surprise when you talk about financial matters (ie: holy poo poo you guys have that much money?!?!?!) but not much about anything else. Also, a lot of western euros find north americans (especially americans from the south/midwest) interesting in the sense of "what the gently caress what's with the massive cars/guns/lovely food/being fat?" but there's really not a lot of difference anymore between North west Europe and Canada/the US.
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Sep 6, 2011 22:04
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Oh, don't get me wrong. Being from Western Europe myself, I know what you mean. What I was trying to articulate was that they might find an American (or any foreigner) more interesting than the local dudes they usually talk to, but only in the sense that you're a foreigner, and most people find foreigners somewhat interesting to talk to.
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Sep 6, 2011 22:12
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Fiskenbob posted:Oh, don't get me wrong. Being from Western Europe myself, I know what you mean. What I was trying to articulate was that they might find an American (or any foreigner) more interesting than the local dudes they usually talk to, but only in the sense that you're a foreigner, and most people find foreigners somewhat interesting to talk to. Knowing a lot of eastern euro guys this is 100% true, a lot of what they talk about is just going to clubs/getting wasted/football (which isn't much better than west euros, come to think of it), so a foreigner who has traveled around from somewhere else is fairly interesting to the girls. TBH though it's usually pretty hard to have anything more significant than chitchat with the locals if you're only in a place for <5 days, some locals really take to talking with people but the majority don't really. Europeans just seem to appreciate being left alone a hell of a lot more than americans (especially in scandinavia), and it's pretty common to get a "WTF are you doing" look if you start to talk to someone when you don't have a question to ask/something important to talk about.
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Sep 6, 2011 22:26
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Landsknecht posted:Europeans just seem to appreciate being left alone a hell of a lot more than americans (especially in scandinavia), and it's pretty common to get a "WTF are you doing" look if you start to talk to someone when you don't have a question to ask/something important to talk about. I'm gonna let you in on a secret: we just don't want to talk to Americans. It's all an act.
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Sep 7, 2011 00:20
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Snakes88 posted:Please tell us about the girls!!! Are they all super hot? Do they speak English? Are they friendly? What do they think of American guys? I will vouch that, on average, the girls are super hot in pretty much all of those countries. As long as you're in big cities many people (younger ones especially) speak at least a basic, conversational level of English. I have a girlfriend and thus didn't go girl-chasing, and I've heard everything about Eastern European girls' attitudes towards North American dudes - ranging from instant pantie-dropping to complete indifference. A guy I met in Croatia said that the fall of the Eastern Bloc has instilled a new set of values in the younger generation, and money means everything. As long as you were rich, he said, you could pick up any girl in a bar, but being a poor backpacker like I was would just get me laughed at. Also, Croatian women are tall. Very, very tall.
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Sep 7, 2011 03:27
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Cometa Rossa posted:I will vouch that, on average, the girls are super hot in pretty much all of those countries. As long as you're in big cities many people (younger ones especially) speak at least a basic, conversational level of English. This is obviously a gross simplification. I'm a Croat, I have a lot of female friends and acquaintances and I will vouch that you couldn't pick up any of them in the bar by splashing your money around. You could if you were handsome, charming and splashing money but then you don't need the money anyway. But I hang mostly with students and go to "alternative" bars and clubs. If somebody wants to buy his way into bras, I would advise against Croatia. We're a tourist country and an American on our coast in summer is as rare as a seagull. Instead go to Ukraine and pick an ugly mid-sized town known for nothing special. Soviet-era concrete, men who do nothing but drink, slim blondes desperate for a better life. That's where you want to be.
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Sep 7, 2011 09:38
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I asked in the "Ask me about Germany" thread, but maybe this is also a good place to ask: I need a break from the past months of 12+ hour work and feel like doing something interesting before moving onto my next job. I'm currently in Germany and am willing to travel pretty far if interesting enough. Does anyone know of any interesting fests/shows/conventions/whatever going on in the near future in Germany? I'm open to Italy too, since I've got some fam there. Awesome hiking trails are also an option! I'll be researching this myself, but just wanted to take advantage of the wealth of info here on SA, so I don't miss out on anything neat 
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Sep 7, 2011 11:22
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Does anybody have any good suggestions for travel iPhone apps, specifically for Paris? My wife and I are headed there next Friday and I'd like to find something with decent offline maps. Not requiring a data connection is pretty important. I've already downloaded Metro Paris Subway for help with getting around, but I'd like something with offline maps and points of interest, etc. So far, Paris 2Go seems to look the best -- any opinions?
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Sep 7, 2011 14:11
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Another question - what do you all recommend in terms of cellphones? I know my phone doesn't work over there, do you think it's worth it to try to rent a quad-band from the Verizon store? Or should I just get a calling card and hope there are payphones?
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Sep 7, 2011 16:35
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Ishamael posted:Another question - There are basically no payphones anymore except in like train stations, so either buy a cheap feature phone and SIM card, or just use Skype and realize that you probably don't really need a phone while you're on vacation anyway.
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Sep 7, 2011 16:43
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Ishamael posted:Another question - Just buy a cheap phone + SIM when you get there. It won't be more than €30.
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Sep 7, 2011 16:49
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Sweevo posted:Just buy a cheap phone + SIM when you get there. It won't be more than €30. Ok, that's good to know. Unfortunately we have to have phone access because that was one of the caveats of my wife's office letting her take 6 weeks off - she has to check in occasionally via phone. Are there better or worse places to buy cheap phones? I am not much of a gadget guy so I am not really sure what to look for.
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Sep 7, 2011 16:56
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Ishamael posted:Ok, that's good to know. Unfortunately we have to have phone access because that was one of the caveats of my wife's office letting her take 6 weeks off - she has to check in occasionally via phone. Just go to Orange or T-Mobile or SwissCom or whatever major national provider is in the first country you visit and buy a cheap feature phone+SIM there and fill it up with €30 or something. The differences in provider are pretty minor (in your situation) unless you know people to call in Europe who you'd want to be on the same provider as.
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Sep 8, 2011 08:18
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Saladman posted:Just go to Orange or T-Mobile or SwissCom or whatever major national provider is in the first country you visit and buy a cheap feature phone+SIM there and fill it up with €30 or something. The differences in provider are pretty minor (in your situation) unless you know people to call in Europe who you'd want to be on the same provider as. Awesome, thanks!
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Sep 8, 2011 13:12
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I'm going to be in London for Halloween this year. Is it a holiday that Brit-goons celebrate at all? If so, are there any good parties / club nights / gigs on that weekend you would recommend? Musically I'm into the harder-end of dance music so any hardstyle, hard dance, breakcore, even industrial or ebm parties would be awesome. Failing that, just something kind of alternative and underground would be great. I was looking at the Torture Garden parties but I don't know if I want to commit to getting dressed up and spending heaps of money on a ticket just yet. Also, are there any weekly or regular 'rave' clubs in or around London? I don't mind if it's not a massive stadium rave but it'd be nice to hear some hard tunes and get my shuffle on.
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Sep 9, 2011 01:28
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Does anyone know if they don't stamp your passport, do they at least scan it? When I took Eurolines from London to Paris, they didn't stamp my passport when I crossed into the Schengen Area. I only ask because I am going to be cutting it really close to 90 days in the specific Area and imagine they are going to be interested in me when I'm leaving (I know it depends, but I saw a dude get pulled off a train in Slovenia leaving to Croatia) and I will have been over here well over 90 days. Should I keep my bus ticket? I get so confused, sometimes they stamp but they don't scan, other times they don't stamp at all and I don't know if they scanned it or not. Seems so hit or miss.
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Sep 9, 2011 07:09
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geera posted:Does anybody have any good suggestions for travel iPhone apps, specifically for Paris? My wife and I are headed there next Friday and I'd like to find something with decent offline maps. Not requiring a data connection is pretty important. I used Offmaps (http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/offmaps/id313854422?mt=8) a bunch last year for 15+ cities in Europe and it worked okay for me. You can download map data from home, but more ideally just hit up a cafe and mooch their wifi to download anything you need. Basically you can download map data (higher resolution requires more downloading ofc) and use it + your GPS without actually having wifi / Data. Works like your google maps in map-view (i.e. no satellite data). I purchased a couple of map packs with it but I never found them to be very useful.
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Sep 9, 2011 18:51
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Pieces posted:I used Offmaps (http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/offmaps/id313854422?mt=8) a bunch last year for 15+ cities in Europe and it worked okay for me. You can download map data from home, but more ideally just hit up a cafe and mooch their wifi to download anything you need. Google Maps has the same feature now (you have to enable it in Labs). I think it even caches satellite view.
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Sep 9, 2011 20:14
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Jeoh posted:Google Maps has the same feature now (you have to enable it in Labs). I think it even caches satellite view. I just checked Labs and I can't see it at all. Any idea what it's called?
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Sep 9, 2011 22:40
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NoArmedMan posted:I just checked Labs and I can't see it at all. Any idea what it's called? Disregard my post, it's just for Android.
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Sep 9, 2011 22:43
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cyberia posted:London halloween words After a bit of googling I think I'll be going to Sinistry:Halloween at the Lightbox on the friday night and then the Spirit of Labyrinth at Hidden on the saturday night. If there are any London goons passing through the thread I'd still love any recommendations for underground stuff to do and see.
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Sep 10, 2011 09:34
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We're thinking about getting the Elipsos overnight train from Paris to Barcelona, and it appears that from their website it is cheaper to book it in advance. So I was just wondering whether anyone can share their experiences with this particular train? Also, any recommendations on getting from Seville to Lisboa would be appreciated, thanks
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Sep 11, 2011 13:01
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I have this semester off and would love to go to Berlin for a month. I'd be staying with a friend so room is no worries. I'd love to know where the best spots to catch live music are at though if anyone has any suggestions. Also, a slightly esoteric question but I love track bicycling and was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of the Berlin Velodrom? In particular, if there any amateur events?
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Sep 11, 2011 21:12
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Planning to spend Christmas time in England by myself then on Dec 28 meet up a friend in Paris and then head to Northern Spain. What's Christmas like in England? Am I going to be "forever alone" cause everybody is at home with loved ones? The only definite place I want to check out is Oxford, other than that not much else. Should I go to Barcelona? I know I definitely want to check out Bilbao.
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Sep 12, 2011 21:20
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The main problem will be on Christmas Day itself, where literally everything will be shut, (apart from some restaurants maybe?) and if you just wanted to walk around seeing some sights the weather will probably be cold and wet. Also no public transport. However this will probably be the case throughout Europe I guess? Though some countries have the main day on the 24th. nozz fucked around with this message at 12:17 on Sep 13, 2011 |
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Sep 13, 2011 12:13
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I'm going to be going to Oktoberfest next year with a lot of people. Is there a hostel in Munich that anyone knows of which has dorm type accommodation (like 10 beds or something) which can be rented out?
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Sep 16, 2011 20:16
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Cheesemaster200 posted:I'm going to be going to Oktoberfest next year with a lot of people. Is there a hostel in Munich that anyone knows of which has dorm type accommodation (like 10 beds or something) which can be rented out? Check out hostelworld.com you can search for hostels in Munich and it will show the availability for each one. You can also book through the site.
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Sep 17, 2011 02:19
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Mongolian Squid posted:Planning to spend Christmas time in England by myself then on Dec 28 meet up a friend in Paris and then head to Northern Spain. Everything will be shut on Christmas including public transport. I think its just reduced for Boxing Day. So if you dont have a car you will be stuck within walking distance. But on another level its probably going to be the one day where the place will feel quite empty. Theres probably going to be some christmas lights/carols thing in some place though. If you dont like the thought of being alone you could always spend it doing charity work/helping homeless people have a meal etc. Quite a rewarding thing to do when you realise some people have that every year.
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Sep 19, 2011 07:33
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Indecisive last minute trip bullshittery! Ok, I leave for London this weekend, I was originally going to do Berlin and Amsterdam. I am thinking now that I'd rather do Ireland (Dublin, southern Ireland) and Scotland. Anyone have an opinion? I just figure- I like music and people and poo poo and the whole Ireland thing seems way more .... friendly than the Germany/ Northernish Euro area. Am I playing off negative stereotypes here? But yeah, I'm basically in from this coming Monday until October 11th with about 250 Euro a day to play with and absolutely no plans. This will be the best trip ever or complete poo poo.
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Sep 19, 2011 10:17
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Are you coming from the US for a big once-in-a-lifetime Europe trip? What's the purpose of your visit? Natural beauty? History and museums? Night life? Meeting locals? If you give some outline, I can offer info on Ireland as I grew up there, at least. Also Amsterdam is amazing (even if you don't smoke) and Berlin is too, for the record, so I would recommend you don't write it off just like that. Personally I have no great love for Dublin.
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Sep 19, 2011 12:09
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PadreScout posted:Indecisive last minute trip bullshittery! It sounds like you're more interested in nightlife rather than scenery so I'd definitely recommend Amsterdam/Berlin over Ireland/Scotland. Your budget is absolutely sufficient to have a great time in either one of those two cities.
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Sep 19, 2011 14:54
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