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Just got back from a honeymoon trip in Portugal. We did the Atlantic Coast. Some of the Pictures turned out well. I can't urge enough how cool Sesimbra and Portimao are in October, not too crowded. Lagos was gorgeous, also. http://www.flickr.com/photos/36805922@N06/sets/72157627873788990/ 
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Oct 12, 2011 16:09
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goldboilermark posted:On the other hand, every time I come to the UK, they glare at me like I am coming to take their pure, unblemished daughter out for a night of drunken debauchery and proceed to ask me question upon question upon question. I visited a friend in Liverpool 2 weeks after I moved from Dublin to Geneva so before I had my Swiss residency permit. I had written Switzerland on my landing card as place of residence but they hadn't stamped my passport on the way in and all I had in terms of Schengen residency was my Irish residency/work permit. I was fortunate to get a trainee immigration officer who had her supervisor standing behind her with his arms folded just glaring at me. I swear she asked the same 10 questions 17 times each until he just said, "OK that's enough" and they finally let me in. Honestly though it's not right for we Americans to complain about immigration officials after some of the stories I've heard about ours so  I guess.
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Oct 12, 2011 16:17
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Total long shot, but I just thought of this -- I have 4 passes to the Venice Biennale that I got bundled with my preview passes I used back in June. The show is amazing and runs until the end of November. They are worth 30 euro each but am willing to let them go for $20 shipped each OBO. Thought this thread is more focused than something in SA mart. PM me!
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Oct 13, 2011 07:21
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greazeball posted:Honestly though it's not right for we Americans to complain about immigration officials after some of the stories I've heard about ours so Never thought about looking at it like that, and now I feel like a major rear end.
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Oct 13, 2011 08:59
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goldboilermark posted:Never thought about looking at it like that, and now I feel like a major rear end. If you whine about something once, you just had a bad day and you're just getting it off your chest. If you whine about something constantly, then you're being a major rear end. I feel like my experiences with immigration into other countries has given me some perspective on just how much control a bunch of faceless unaccountable administrators who really don't give a poo poo have over people's lives. They've given me personal anecdotes to tell people who are completely unsympathetic and don't understand anything about what goes on in the process.
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Oct 13, 2011 10:22
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tzz posted:Regarding Istanbul: That's some good info - thanks. I thought Cappadocia was closer than it actually is. Looking at it, a lot of people go to Ephesus for a day or two - I'm guessing that's more realistic.
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Oct 13, 2011 15:13
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TasmanianX posted:Lagos was gorgeous, also. http://www.flickr.com/photos/36805922@N06/sets/72157627873788990/ LOVED Lagos. Possibly the favourite place i went on my trip... the beaches were great apart from the ice cold water, and the nightlife was awesome. Spain and Portugal on the whole were just brilliant. I just got back from 8 weeks in Europe a few days ago, really hard settling back into normal boring non-travelling life  jet-lag isn't fun either. Went to Italy last and didn't enjoy it at all (tho Venice was nice), so that was also disappointing to leave on a low note.
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Oct 16, 2011 07:02
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Which Eastern European country has some creepy places to go exploring on the side? Soviet-Era prisons, derelict hospitals, etc. (not Chernobyl please) Also interested in any festivals.
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Oct 16, 2011 09:02
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Patarei prison/fortress in Tallinn, Estonia is about as Silent Hill as it gets. Particularly creepy considering it housed inmates just a decade ago.
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Oct 16, 2011 10:42
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pigdog posted:Patarei prison/fortress in Tallinn, Estonia is about as Silent Hill as it gets. Particularly creepy considering it housed inmates just a decade ago. drat, I was hoping no one would suggest this. I should have mentioned, the Patarei is the only one we've already been to, and yes it was awesome. It inspired our interest in other similar places, surely there must be others similar to that?
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Oct 16, 2011 11:36
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Sleepy Robot posted:Which Eastern European country has some creepy places to go exploring on the side? Soviet-Era prisons, derelict hospitals, etc. (not Chernobyl please) Also interested in any festivals. Maybe the Wolfschanze in Poland? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf's_Lair
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Oct 16, 2011 19:53
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I'm in Paris for 3 more nights of my honeymoon and have (mostly) been eating at streetside cafe bistro dealies. Good enough food, but a bit cookiecutter for such a gastronomic place. I'd love a recommendation for a nice restaurant that I can take the wife ( that doesn't have a huge waitlist or will cost a small fortune.) To pay it forward I will say L'As du Fallafel on Rue Rosiers is the megabomb, and La Laduree really DOES have the best macaroons I have ever had. Transcendent!
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Oct 17, 2011 22:56
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Possibly not upmarket enough for such an event but theres a really nice tapas place called 'Pena del Medio' on 65 rue du ruisseau in Montmarte. There's a great Chilean waiter there whos obsessed with James Joyce and may well personalise your receipt with his drawings. Eating Tapas in Paris might seem a bit strange, but I spent two weeks in Spain after that and never had better. Not expensive at all, especially not for Paris.
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Oct 17, 2011 23:56
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pigdog posted:Patarei prison/fortress in Tallinn, Estonia is about as Silent Hill as it gets. Particularly creepy considering it housed inmates just a decade ago. Just got back from Tallinn and I'm not sure if it was this place but they were offering to lock you up for a few hours in a prison. I should have tried it but was too busy eating elk soup.
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Oct 18, 2011 01:12
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Kashwashwa posted:That's some good info - thanks. FWIW Ephesus is absolutely worth visiting if you have any interest in ancient Greek stuff. I didn't go to Cappadocia, though. Sleepy Robot posted:Which Eastern European country has some creepy places to go exploring on the side? Soviet-Era prisons, derelict hospitals, etc. (not Chernobyl please) Also interested in any festivals. Bulgaria has some awesome crumbling Soviet stuff. Especially the Buzludja monument, which looks like something out of Fallout.  Giant Hands by duralict, on Flickr  Atrium by duralict, on Flickr
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Oct 18, 2011 14:44
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Feenix posted:I'm in Paris for 3 more nights of my honeymoon and have (mostly) been eating at streetside cafe bistro dealies. Good enough food, but a bit cookiecutter for such a gastronomic place. I'd love a recommendation for a nice restaurant that I can take the wife ( that doesn't have a huge waitlist or will cost a small fortune.) My boss's husband is a chef and this is a restaurant he recommends. It's affordable but good. I've yet to go but I pan on going soon. You might want to call a day or two ahead for dinner. La Table d'Eugene 18 rue Eugene Sue Paris 75018 Tel: 01 42 55 61 64 I found this write-up about it: http://parisbymouth.com/la-table-deugene/
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Oct 18, 2011 21:07
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I have a friend of mine getting married in Krakow on the 21st of April. I'm figuring I'll use it as an excuse to travel Eastern Europe a bit. I'm going to assume maybe a week in Krakow, leaving me with about 2 weeks to do whatever. Having trouble figuring out where to start looking though, I'm generally into scenic stuff, and well as old stuff. I'm also into hiking so I'd be keen to do some day hikes, or a reasonably priced multi-day guided hike (I don't have any camping gear). I'm not particularly fussed about what countries I visit though, I just like the idea of doing Eastern Europe because no one else I know has done it. I'd also be travelling alone as a late 20's male
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Oct 18, 2011 21:56
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If you stay in hostels you shouldn't have a problem traveling alone, tons of people do it and you'll buddy up pretty quick. We mostly did cities so can't really help you on the hiking stuff but for a scenic spot I'd recommend Trakai near Vilnius in Lithuania, it's a small town on a group of islands in the middle of a lake with a castle and is absolutely gorgeous. We and most people we met were doing an up/down A-B route of Poland - Estonia which was great but if you are flying out of Krakow it's a bit of a dead end. Doing a Czech Rep. - Austria - Slovakia - Hungary loop might be more efficient.
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Oct 18, 2011 22:28
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aga. posted:Doing a Czech Rep. - Austria - Slovakia - Hungary loop might be more efficient. I immediately thought something like this. Spend a couple days in prague and Vienna and then choose if you want to go hiking in Slovenia (amazing countryside, castles, mountains the whole package), or do some more cities and go to budapest.
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Oct 18, 2011 23:08
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NZAmoeba posted:I have a friend of mine getting married in Krakow on the 21st of April. I'm figuring I'll use it as an excuse to travel Eastern Europe a bit. I'm going to assume maybe a week in Krakow, leaving me with about 2 weeks to do whatever. Stay in a place called Mosquito Hostel in Kracow. Great little place, cheap and friendly as all hell. Survive on nothing but €1 polish food and drink the rest of your money.
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Oct 18, 2011 23:53
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The Viper posted:drink the rest of your money. This sounds like an improper way to spend your money. Seconding Slovenia, if you make it down that way. There is also really good hiking in Slovakia.
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Oct 19, 2011 08:51
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NZAmoeba posted:I have a friend of mine getting married in Krakow on the 21st of April. I'm figuring I'll use it as an excuse to travel Eastern Europe a bit. I'm going to assume maybe a week in Krakow, leaving me with about 2 weeks to do whatever. I just did a few months of backpacking alone in Eastern Europe as an early 20's female and, if you're staying in hostels, you will meet loads of people and have a great time. The Baltics are great, but if you like hiking Slovakia is where it's at. There's a hostel in a town called Zdiar in the High Tatras called the Ginger Monkey and it's a really cool place and makes a good hiking base. When I stayed there, the staff would take people out on day hikes up the mountains. It's only a few hours from Krakow but it's kind of a pain to get to by public transportation (although still not as much of a pain as getting to Lithuania from Poland); I can give you more details if you're interested. If you want to combine hiking AND old stuff, Slovakia has plenty of castles on hills. I went to the ruins of Cachtice Castle (about two hours northeast of Bratislava)and I guess it was less of a hike and more of a climb. There are probably better ruins to visit; I really only went because of Elizabeth Bathory, but it was mad cool getting off the train in Visnove and just seeing this castle hanging out over a tiny rear end town in rural Slovakia. Since everyone is saying Slovenia...well, Slovenia has a much more romantic beauty about it as opposed to Slovakia's rugged beauty. At least, that's my feeling, and possibly why I spent so much more time in Slovakia than Slovenia. Maybe it was because I was traveling alone and didn't want to think about romantic things, but probably just because I have questionable taste. Also, because I'm obsessed with Budapest, I'm going to recommend you go there. It was easily my favorite place I visited on my trip. Like, blew away every other city I went to. I have dreams in which I am irrationally and desperately compelled to move there immediately. Anyway, I clearly love talking about Eastern Europe way too much, so if you have any questions I will try to help!
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Oct 19, 2011 19:31
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Could someone clarify passport requirements for traveling to Spain with a US Passport? I'm scheduled to travel to Spain at the end of November for 2 weeks. I'm an idiot and I just realized that my passport expires fairly soon - next March 2012. I've been reading things online that say your passport must have an expiration date either 3 or even 6 months ahead of the departure date. Would I be denied entry after I get there?
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Oct 19, 2011 20:30
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Hey, the wife and I are traveling to Germany (Bremen, to be exact) in early December and are looking for some cool things to do, but on the cheap if thats possible. We know all about the Christmas markets and plan to definatley hit that up wherever we are traveling through. So we have the first 4 nights that we must stay in Bremen for (technical conference), but we had some thoughts about possible things to do, and maybe some of you goons would have a better sense as to how worth it it is to attempt: 1) I have family in Poland and always wanted to visit Warsaw. How hard would it be to get out there from a friday night - monday morning? and what sort of cost. Ive looked at trains and planes, and they seem to be a couple hundred dollars. any cheaper alternatives? 2) The wife and I love scenery, so we want to travel down to the romantic road and see castles and cool stuff that way. Current plan is to get train passes (twin, 2nd class, 3 trips total) from Bremen to Frankfurt, rent a car, drive from saturday-thursday, then take the train back and leave from Bremen on an airplane. Are we crazy? Oh and also, how difficult is it to find hostels where you can have a private room for the night? We dont want to spend alot for hotels, but my wife is a little too high maintenance to just sleep in the car (read: CPAP machine+bad back) so I am trying to find a compromise in price/accommodation.
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Oct 19, 2011 21:01
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7 Bowls of Wrath posted:1) I have family in Poland and always wanted to visit Warsaw. How hard would it be to get out there from a friday night - monday morning? and what sort of cost. Ive looked at trains and planes, and they seem to be a couple hundred dollars. any cheaper alternatives? quote:2) The wife and I love scenery, so we want to travel down to the romantic road and see castles and cool stuff that way. Current plan is to get train passes (twin, 2nd class, 3 trips total) from Bremen to Frankfurt, rent a car, drive from saturday-thursday, then take the train back and leave from Bremen on an airplane. Are we crazy?
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Oct 19, 2011 21:41
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mA posted:Could someone clarify passport requirements for traveling to Spain with a US Passport? I'm scheduled to travel to Spain at the end of November for 2 weeks. I'm an idiot and I just realized that my passport expires fairly soon - next March 2012. I've been reading things online that say your passport must have an expiration date either 3 or even 6 months ahead of the departure date. Would I be denied entry after I get there? You shouldn't really have an problems, they usually just look at your passport and throw a stamp on it. As an american you're allowed to be in the EU for 3 months, if you try and do anything after that and they check your passport and see that you're over the time limit they get pissed.
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Oct 19, 2011 21:55
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mA posted:Could someone clarify passport requirements for traveling to Spain with a US Passport? I'm scheduled to travel to Spain at the end of November for 2 weeks. I'm an idiot and I just realized that my passport expires fairly soon - next March 2012. I've been reading things online that say your passport must have an expiration date either 3 or even 6 months ahead of the departure date. Would I be denied entry after I get there? It's late where I am so I can't be bothered to look it up but renew your goddamn passport and pay the extra $20 for rush processing so there's no chance they can find any reason to send you back. I sent mine away and got extra pages put in in 4 weeks with the rush processing so you should be able to get it renewed in time. 6 months from expiry is the typical requirement.
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Oct 20, 2011 01:44
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Thanks for the advise guys, I'm starting to think doing something like Krakow > Slovenia > Budapest > Slovakia > Vienna > Prague > Fly out might be the ideal trip, I'll just need to do some further research on things that'll be must-sees and figure out what I can fit into the 2.5 weeks I'll likely have. A detour to Croatia might be on the cards as well... If you want to give any further advise, please either just PM me, or email me at my username at hotmail.com.
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Oct 20, 2011 02:04
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I think you can get a new passport in two weeks if you're willing to go to the passport office yourself. There aren't a ton of them but if you live near Boston or charleston or something it'll save you some stress waiting. Definitely suck it up and renew it though, why take the risk?
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Oct 20, 2011 08:03
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mA posted:Could someone clarify passport requirements for traveling to Spain with a US Passport? I'm scheduled to travel to Spain at the end of November for 2 weeks. I'm an idiot and I just realized that my passport expires fairly soon - next March 2012. I've been reading things online that say your passport must have an expiration date either 3 or even 6 months ahead of the departure date. Would I be denied entry after I get there? I would guess it is 6 months...I would just get a new one before you left. Go do it TOMORROW! You can have it in like two weeks...maybe less than that.
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Oct 20, 2011 08:06
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I'm looking to, sometime in spring, go to Europe with my girlfriend. I want to be as frugal as possible, especially in regards to airfare. Any tips?
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Oct 21, 2011 01:28
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Aturaten posted:I'm looking to, sometime in spring, go to Europe with my girlfriend. I want to be as frugal as possible, especially in regards to airfare. Any tips? Do you mean airfares within Europe, or the airfare TO Europe? Where are you leaving from? Where do you plan to go in Europe? MORE INFORMATION PLEASE If within Europe, book all your flights before you go? When we were in Europe they were always like half the price if you booked 2 weeks in advance. Alternatively get trains and book them now because they're generally much cheaper, and when you include time to to check in, get your baggage etc, they're often just as fast (eg. Paris-> Amsterdam 1h15m flight, but could be like 3 hours with all the airport crap... the train ride is like 3.5 hours).
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Oct 21, 2011 08:13
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Basically use skyscanner.net for everything, both into as well as around Europe. Once you're here though you also need to check out train operator prices if there is a convenient route available and how much that might cost, but there's not really one website to handle all of that. DB.de does have timetables for all of Europe but won't always have the price for the journey.
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Oct 21, 2011 08:49
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Windmill Hut posted:Alternatively get trains and book them now because they're generally much cheaper, and when you include time to to check in, get your baggage etc, they're often just as fast (eg. Paris-> Amsterdam 1h15m flight, but could be like 3 hours with all the airport crap... the train ride is like 3.5 hours). Also note that trains stop right in the city centre so it also saves you money and time on cabs.
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Oct 21, 2011 10:00
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Rojkir posted:Also note that trains stop right in the city centre so it also saves you money and time on cabs. And you actually get to see something along the way, easier to go to the toilet, way more leg space, usually a train every couple of hours in the same direction, etc. When price and time are comparable, always go train. And yes, easily add 2-3 hours to the flying time to get a real estimate of how long it takes.
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Oct 21, 2011 11:57
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My girlfriend and I were working boring entry-level post-college jobs in the US and decided to move to France for a bit (she speaks French pretty well as she studied abroad in Paris for a few months). So we enrolled in a language school for 8 months and successfully acquired student visas. Now we're living in Montpellier, France until June-ish. We saved for about half a year and sold anything of value to afford this. Feel free to ask any questions. I don't speak very good French right now but am learning. We're both American.
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Oct 23, 2011 10:33
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FuzzyWuzzyBear posted:So we enrolled in a language school for 8 months and successfully acquired student visas. Now we're living in Montpellier, France until June-ish. We saved for about half a year and sold anything of value to afford this. How much does it cost and is it as awesome as it sounds?
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Oct 23, 2011 18:34
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Any recommendations as to what's good to do in Rome on New Year's Eve? I'm not much of a nightclub person, and I'll be travelling with my boyfriend. Cheers
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Oct 24, 2011 03:33
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Grok posted:How much does it cost and is it as awesome as it sounds? The school is costing us the equivalent of $6,000 for ~3 months of language classes and then another 5 months of internship experience. Not super cheap but it was about the cheapest way for us to get long-term visas comparable to graduate school. It is pretty awesome living here, but don't underestimate the weirdness of not speaking the language of a country you're in. Almost nobody here speaks perfectly fluent English and most don't speak much at all, if any. It's more pronounced than in Paris, say. This results in me not being able to communicate very much with the majority of the populace here right now until my French improves. The local students almost all speak great English, though, and the immersion in total French makes me learn faster. Beyond that, we're having to basically not spend much outside of food and rent to get by without working. The cost of living isn't high but when you have to live for the majority of a year on no income, it gets tough. Thankfully, my major hobby here is bicycling which is both cheap (ignoring my huge food intake) and easy to do with locals without having to know a large amount of the language. FuzzyWuzzyBear fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Oct 28, 2011 |
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Oct 28, 2011 18:03
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A friend and I are making an impromptu drive from Frankfurt to Brussels over the next 3 days, it's just a spur of the moment thing and we've hardly planned anything. We're going to a musical instrument museum which supposedly is raved about and someone mentioned supposedly the "Delirium" bar is great...What other types of things are worth checking out in Brussels, and is there anything worthwhile on the way? Thanks!
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Nov 2, 2011 00:06
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