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Aradekasta posted:I'm thinking of taking a solo European vacation, but I'm a little old for hanging out in hostels and getting drunk with Australian backpackers. Kind of a vague question, but does anything come to mind as a particularly awesome place to visit alone? The only advantage to travelling with another person is you get a better deal on rooms. Other than that, travelling alone is great! You go/eat/sleep where you want, when you want. Any place that you've ever wanted to visit with someone else is worth visiting on your own. It doesn't matter what we think is an awesome destination, because it's your trip. In fact, if I were you, I would try and think of the craziest, most specific plans I could--the kind that I would never be able to get anyone else to agree to do with me--because this is the perfect opportunity to visit the sites of notable farts throughout history or whatever.
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Sep 24, 2013 08:17
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greazeball posted:The only advantage to travelling with another person is you get a better deal on rooms. Other than that, travelling alone is great! You go/eat/sleep where you want, when you want. Any place that you've ever wanted to visit with someone else is worth visiting on your own. It doesn't matter what we think is an awesome destination, because it's your trip. In fact, if I were you, I would try and think of the craziest, most specific plans I could--the kind that I would never be able to get anyone else to agree to do with me--because this is the perfect opportunity to visit the sites of notable farts throughout history or whatever. Depends on what kind of person you are. Personally I hate travelling alone, and couldn't care less to see some fantastic castle or drive through the winding mountain roads of coastal Scotland or whatever if it's just me being there. This applies less if it's somewhere totally completely new. When I travel alone, like for work, I either meet people and go out with them and do whatever they want, or I just sit in my room and wait for my flight home. To be honest it's usually the latter, because after having been to enough old history things, I really couldn't care less about cathedral or castle no. 1823 unless I'm with someone who I enjoy the company of. E: I like history too and don't have any social anxiety issues or fundamental ennui.
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Sep 24, 2013 10:17
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Can anyone recommend some good, cool bars in Budapest? Like a ruin pub with a good atmosphere? We're a couple so it shouldn't be too rough, but not touristy either.
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Sep 25, 2013 17:17
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Szimpla Kert in Kazinczy street is well worth checking out.
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Sep 26, 2013 00:26
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Probably changed since i moved out but Szimpla and Instant was the 2 more popular ones back then. Corvin was pretty fun also at Blaha.
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Sep 26, 2013 01:06
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So I am going to be moving NZ -> UK in november. I am going to spend maybe 6 months traveling Europe before settling down somewhere to look for work or to study further. To be honest I haven't got a lot in the way of firm plans at the moment other than to visit some family scattered around the UK and have a good time. Luckily for me I am a British citizen through my father and have a UK passport so travel/work is fairly simplified throughout the EU (at least that is my impression?), I also speak passable German although I have been informed my accent is extremely entertaining. I had two main questions people might be able to answer. First can anyone recommend a way to transfer money from NZD to GBP and Euro. There are so many options and they all seem to drain off horrible percentages of the money transferred. Secondly my British passport actually expired last year. Renewing it from over here is hideously expensive ($400+ compared to £81.25 from inside the UK) and a total pain in the rear end requiring documentation which I am unable to obtain from the British high commission here so I will be entering the UK on my NZ passport and applying for renewal of my British one once i'm there. I don't need a visa to travel the UK for up to 6 months but I am uncertain as to the best course of action to take. Obviously I could enter the country under my NZ passport 'pretending' to be a tourist and then renew my passport and get copies of my citizenship certificate etc but I am somewhat worried this might not be the optimal course of action and could get me in trouble somehow. Does anyone have any other ideas? Saros fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Sep 26, 2013 |
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Sep 26, 2013 05:26
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Saros posted:So I am going to be moving NZ -> UK in november. I am going to spend maybe 6 months traveling Europe before settling down somewhere to look for work or to study further. To be honest I haven't got a lot in the way of firm plans at the moment other than to visit some family scattered around the UK and have a good time. 2) Enter the UK on your NZ passport, apply for your UK passport, get it, go to mainland Europe for however long you want (I can't remember if the UK has exit customs or not but it being Europe probably, so exit the UK on your NZ passport, but use your UK passport to enter Schengen if you plan on spending more than three months there) then re-enter the UK on your UK passport. I mean in reality you'd probably be fine if you just applied for your UK passport inside the UK and didn't tell anyone, but the way I've posted above does get all your immigration ducks in order.
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Sep 26, 2013 05:55
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HookShot posted:1) Wire transfer direct from bank to bank is probably going to end up being your cheapest option if it's a large amount of money. If not, withdraw it from an ATM with your debit card once you're there. YMMV but I found these to be in the opposite order of price. ATM withdrawals with a debit card (at least from the US) have the lowest percentage of fees and don't require a trip to the bank, but they have the down side of a daily withdrawal limit. Wire transfers let you send it all at once, but at a higher price than using the ATM. In the US, at least, they will require someone whose name is on the account to come in to the bank and physically sign for an international transfer, which was a pretty horrible surprise when we didn't bother putting anyone on our joint account because we were told we wouldn't need a physical signature, and both flew to Europe and then found out that the branch manager had 100% mislead us and subsequently refused to add anyone else to our account with out our physical presence, and oh god that wound up being the biggest nightmare. Anyway the ATM thing wound up being cheaper anyway, which was cool, but it was a pain in the rear end having to transfer our entire savings 500USD per day and going to the ATM every single day. e: anecdote->data: the ATM/wiretransfer price thing has fit for all three banks I have received money from from the US and was confirmed by a friend of mine who also received some money from a US bank.
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Sep 26, 2013 10:49
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Arnold of Soissons posted:e: anecdote->data: the ATM/wiretransfer price thing has fit for all three banks I have received money from from the US and was confirmed by a friend of mine who also received some money from a US bank. The US has a particularly medieval banking system though.
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Sep 26, 2013 13:38
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Jerry Cotton posted:The US has a particularly medieval banking system though. If you ever get a Swiss bank account, then you'll really understand how medieval banking can be*. (Or maybe I'm just not a high enough roller to get anything other than the worst service ever, but my experience with Chase Manhattan >>>>> Credit Suisse) Also I found that wire transfer was far cheaper than ATM for transferring large sums of money (~$10k). ATM hits you with a fee each time and in my experience wire transfer to bank account gives the same rate as ATM transfer. Much larger "fixed cost" ($25? $50? I forget) for wire transfer, but all the ATM fees add up. This requires having a foreign bank account to wire the money to in the first place though. * for the curious: 1) no debit cards -- at all 2) No interest on savings accounts 3) credit cards basically disallowed for foreigners unless you are super wealthy; if you are a non-rich Swiss you can get one with like a $500 limit 4) loving terrible customer service 5) monthly fee for having the account open (~$15/month) unless you have > $5k in the account. 6) probably more poo poo I can't think of I still have my US bank account even after living here for more than four years, since otherwise it is literally not possible for me to purchase things online, like plane tickets or whatever. Consequently I do several wire transfers a year. VVV Yeah, #1 is because I'm American, #2 is because I'm American, but I'd need more money to qualify for that account type even if I wasn't (something like $50k minimum balance for those types of accounts, IIRC), and #3 is because I'm a non-EEA foreigner. The rest are equally bad for Swiss clients. Saladman fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Sep 26, 2013 |
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Sep 26, 2013 13:55
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Saladman posted:
This is partly because you are from the US and they don't want your business. The US is being a bit of dick, to Switzerland, about banking secrecy at the moment. Swiss bank accounts are probably the most up to date there is, although they do make you pay for it up front, instead of through stealth payments which you are never quite aware of. PlantHead fucked around with this message at 17:59 on Sep 26, 2013 |
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Sep 26, 2013 15:56
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I was wondering, which hostels would you guys recommend for Copenhagen, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Edinburgh?
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Sep 26, 2013 18:12
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Arnold of Soissons posted:YMMV but I found these to be in the opposite order of price. ATM withdrawals with a debit card (at least from the US) have the lowest percentage of fees and don't require a trip to the bank, but they have the down side of a daily withdrawal limit. Wire transfers let you send it all at once, but at a higher price than using the ATM. And usually the fee to withdraw from an ATM is $5 compared to about $30-$40 total for a wire transfer. Plus the exchange rate on a wire transfer is better than an ATM in most cases. If you're transferring more than about $3000 a wire transfer is not only more convenient, but usually cheaper. http://www.anz.co.nz/ratefee/forexchange.asp You're losing an extra 2% in value by withdrawing from an ATM, which definitely adds up.
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Sep 26, 2013 18:44
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I have two vacation weeks next year, and since I have a terrible tendency to stay at home and do nothing special during my vacations, I've decided that this time I'm going to do some traveling. I've never left the U.S. before (  ) and I'd like some advice regarding options. I've read through all of this thread and I'm working on the Southeast Asia thread, and I've tentatively settled on Central Europe and Thailand as the places I'd like to go. Both of my vacations are nine days long (one work-week plus the flanking weekends), so I don't have a tremendous amount of time. I want to eat foods I haven't tried before, see sights, take pictures, meet people, and acquire experiences. I'm in my late 20s and I'm not a party animal, but I was thinking I would stay mostly in hostels for the social aspect (maybe one or two nights in nice hotels, though, since that's also an experience worth having). My budget isn't particularly tight but it's not  either. For the Europe vacation, I was thinking to go to Prague, stay there for maybe three days, and then go to Budapest for another three days. That gives me a day on each end for flying there and back, and a day in the middle for moving between the cities. Avoiding the urge to try and do too much is the top piece of advice I've picked up from this thread, so I'm keeping it simple. Based on the descriptions given here, these places seem like good destinations for me. The big question I have right now is this. My vacations are scheduled for the middle of January and the end of May. Should I go to Thailand first and Europe second, or vice-versa? I would think Central Europe would be a lot nicer weather-wise in May than January.
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Sep 26, 2013 19:34
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Kylaer posted:I have two vacation weeks next year, and since I have a terrible tendency to stay at home and do nothing special during my vacations, I've decided that this time I'm going to do some traveling. I've never left the U.S. before ( Pretty much everything you've said is spot on and a good idea. And yes, Europe sucks in January (it's not all that cold, but it is that dark and cloudy).
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Sep 26, 2013 19:47
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While Thailand sucks in May because it's too bloody hot, december/januari is actually a great time for SE Asia.
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Sep 26, 2013 20:49
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Saladman posted:If you ever get a Swiss bank account, then you'll really understand how medieval banking can be*. (Or maybe I'm just not a high enough roller to get anything other than the worst service ever, but my experience with Chase Manhattan >>>>> Credit Suisse) Shoulda gone with Post Finance, they're the only ones left who don't have enough US interests to give a poo poo about Americans.
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Sep 26, 2013 22:59
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Short notice but.... My boss told me to take a day in Paris (though will also be in London and Dublin) to have dinner out on the company. Only caveat is it costs less than 1k usd. Any suggestions that don't need a ton of advance booking or require a jacket are appreciated. Edit - leave tomorrow for Paris so very last minute.
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Sep 27, 2013 05:34
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transient posted:Short notice but.... My boss told me to take a day in Paris (though will also be in London and Dublin) to have dinner out on the company. Only caveat is it costs less than 1k usd. Any suggestions that don't need a ton of advance booking or require a jacket are appreciated. $1k for .. how many people? It will be basically impossible to find a restaurant running you more than €100/pp even including alcohol (as long as you don't go retarded and pay €200 for a €40 bottle of Hennessy or whatever). Since you didn't give any other clues as to what you want, just check whatever Michelin *** and ** restaurants still have openings. Otherwise would need more info (what type of cuisine, classy, casual, semi-classy, business, romantic, etc). If you can do it in London instead, Clos Maggiore is a fantastic nominally-French restaurant and has separate areas accommodating romantic (ground floor) and business (upper floor). Will run you about £50pp including regular alcohol consumption. This is the only restaurant I go to regularly that's in a town I've never actually lived in.
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Sep 27, 2013 06:36
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So I posted a few months back about my trip to Malta to study for a year. I'm here now, and the advice I was given on obtaining a visa was invaluable. I just wanted to thank you guys for that. Malta tends to be a very niche', overlooked destination in Europe, but maybe I can get a bit of advice? My roommates and I are considering a day trip to Comino, the small island to the west of Malta. Does anyone have any advice on how best to get there and what spots to focus on? It's a very small island and isn't hard to get around on, but we'd like to spend most of the day swimming in the "blue lagoon" we've heard about. Any specific spots to see before we leave would be great to have. Chips Challenged fucked around with this message at 08:34 on Sep 27, 2013 |
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Sep 27, 2013 07:14
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If your budget is seriously that big just pick a restaurant to call in advance and see what they can do for you. The best meals are off-menu and take a day to prepare. Go all out
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Sep 27, 2013 07:57
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Saladman posted:It will be basically impossible to find a restaurant running you more than €100/pp even including alcohol. I think ** and *** usually run you about €200-€250 pp including the recommended wines for every course. I have never heard of one that requires a jacket, but that seems like a perfectly normal thing to ask on making the reservation
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Sep 27, 2013 08:55
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The advice probably depends on how many people are going. Ten people won't go terribly far, but it'd also be awful to have a $1k dinner budget and nobody to have dinner with.
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Sep 27, 2013 09:09
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Sulla-Marius 88 posted:The advice probably depends on how many people are going. Ten people won't go terribly far, but it'd also be awful to have a $1k dinner budget and nobody to have dinner with. That budget is so ridiculously high that it almost purpously contains room to arrange a companian. Or maybe transportation and hotel rooms are included..
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Sep 27, 2013 09:19
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That's what I figured but the OP also said it was an impromptu arrangement and he had to jet across to Paris tomorrow for a day. Also made it sound like it wasn't to meet clients etc, more of a "hey here's some cash, go hog wild" affair. Until the guy comes back and explains, not much we can do. Depends what the budget is per-head. If there are 4 people going (or less) I'd just say call up any restaurant that seems nice and say you have $1000 flat, not a dollar more, and want a big to-do. It'd be super easy to find a place that'll go off-menu for that, you could get a whole lamb or pig or something and have them prepare it overnight along with an array of wines, entrees, desserts, etc. And you'd be able to sit down in a corner of the restaurant for a number of hours to enjoy it. We went to this place last time we were in Paris and the food was amazing, but unless you eat forty courses each I'm not sure you'd be able to burn through any appreciable amount of that budget: http://www.la-mosquee.com/htmluk/entreeuk.htm Although if you call up they may have specials for whole lamb, pig, etc. (But they don't serve alcohol)
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Sep 27, 2013 09:58
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Saladman posted:swiss bank stuff Maybe it's just because of my decent work contract, but I found it very easy to get an account with UBS in Zurich as an American (I was going to go with Credit Suisse, but the UBS branch was closer to the tram stop and I'm lazy). I got a debit card, a savings account with 1% interest (100 times higher than my US rate), two credit cards, and no fees. I'm not rich or anything, I'm making ~85k chf a year which from what I understand is fairly average around here. The only annoying thing was that I had to go to the main downtown branch to open the account because hte local one didn't have the FATCA forms. On another note, I've been living here in Zurich for just over a month now, and still panic trying to remember how to say "sorry my german sucks" every time someone tries to talk to me. I am getting OK at reading German, but I'm awful at speaking it and understanding other people. I try to avoid using the crutch of asking if they speak English all the time, but it's hard not to when the alternative is just nodding and smiling like an idiot at the person talking to you. Hopefully by the end of my two years here I'll be able to construct a mildly coherent sentence or two. Maybe I should just give in and buy rosetta stone or something. yeah I eat ass fucked around with this message at 15:00 on Sep 27, 2013 |
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Sep 27, 2013 14:46
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Try duolingo. It has you translating words and small sentences back and forth in 5 minute blocks and I've found it good for building vocabulary. The hard part is putting some time in every day, but it's quite easy to just do for 10 minutes (and ending up spending two hours). There's a mobile app as well but it's a bit awkward because of all the typing. There's no pronounciation training from it and the robot voice can be a little weird, I just speak aloud when I type something in. Also there's no lists of conjugations or anything so buy a grammar book for reference.
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Sep 27, 2013 16:53
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Chips Challenged posted:So I posted a few months back about my trip to Malta to study for a year. I'm here now, and the advice I was given on obtaining a visa was invaluable. I just wanted to thank you guys for that. I didn't go to Comino, but as I recall there's a simple ferry which goes every so many hours or minutes. Gozo is fun too. There's a good Sicilian pizza restaurant on the seaside in St Julians next to a place called Barracuda and there was a good milkshake stand in front of the Meridien hotel. That's what I remember from about 5 years ago. Thanks for the tips on Budapest, we'll probably go to Szimpla Kert tonight!
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Sep 27, 2013 19:06
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Murphy Brownback posted:Maybe it's just because of my decent work contract, but I found it very easy to get an account with UBS in Zurich as an American (I was going to go with Credit Suisse, but the UBS branch was closer to the tram stop and I'm lazy). I got a debit card, a savings account with 1% interest (100 times higher than my US rate), two credit cards, and no fees. I'm not rich or anything, I'm making ~85k chf a year which from what I understand is fairly average around here. The only annoying thing was that I had to go to the main downtown branch to open the account because hte local one didn't have the FATCA forms. Are you American? I make 62k chf a year so it's not like it's that much worse, although I am technically still a student. I went in last week to Credit Suisse and told them I'd been at Credit Suisse for 3 years and I'm American and asked them if there was any way I could get a credit card, or prepaid debit card, or anything to buy stuff online, and they told me to go to Migros. I told the clerk to go gently caress himself (I was polite before that; he wasn't). E: And I opened a post finance account and drained (but didn't close) my Credit Suisse a couple years ago... then found out that some things like paying apartment deposit cannot be done with Poste Finance because "it's not a bank." Anyway rant off about Swiss banks, at least I still have a regional US bank that will deal with me. Saladman fucked around with this message at 19:47 on Sep 27, 2013 |
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Sep 27, 2013 19:42
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Saladman posted:Are you American? I make 62k chf a year so it's not like it's that much worse, although I am technically still a student. I went in last week to Credit Suisse and told them I'd been at Credit Suisse for 3 years and I'm American and asked them if there was any way I could get a credit card, or prepaid debit card, or anything to buy stuff online, and they told me to go to Migros. I told the clerk to go gently caress himself (I was polite before that; he wasn't). Yes, born in the USA and have only lived here about a month. I'm glad I didn't get an rear end in a top hat when I went to the banks. Even the ones who couldn't help me were nice and helpful. I was going to go with post finance/migros/coop/whatever type of bank, but I kept finding conflicting information about whether they "count" as a bank or not and decided to pursue either UBS or ZKB. I guess I just got lucky.
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Sep 27, 2013 20:12
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Murphy Brownback posted:Maybe it's just because of my decent work contract, but I found it very easy to get an account with UBS in Zurich as an American (I was going to go with Credit Suisse, but the UBS branch was closer to the tram stop and I'm lazy). I got a debit card, a savings account with 1% interest (100 times higher than my US rate), two credit cards, and no fees. I'm not rich or anything, I'm making ~85k chf a year which from what I understand is fairly average around here. The only annoying thing was that I had to go to the main downtown branch to open the account because hte local one didn't have the FATCA forms. Just sign up for a class, it's easier to put in the effort if there are other people involved. Once you get up to B1+ you'll be fairly independent and can really start learning well on your own (reading 20 Minuten, watching TV, having random conversations, etc.). But having a teacher means you can just write down lists of what you want to do or say and hand it over to them (seriously, motivated students are better than passive lumps). I've bought a poo poo-ton of books and honestly I never use them. The schools are kind of hit and miss, it really depends on the teacher. I had a good one and a boring one at Alemania, friends have had similar good/bad luck at Migros Klubschule. Inlingua and Berlitz work for some people but their one-size-fits-all approach turns me right off.
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Sep 27, 2013 21:59
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transient posted:Short notice but.... My boss told me to take a day in Paris (though will also be in London and Dublin) to have dinner out on the company. Only caveat is it costs less than 1k usd. Any suggestions that don't need a ton of advance booking or require a jacket are appreciated. You can spend $1k on a single meal here: http://www.latourdargent.com/ but for real, go here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187147-d943245-Reviews-Table_d_Eugene-Paris_Ile_de_France.html Omits-Bagels fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Sep 28, 2013 |
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Sep 27, 2013 23:57
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Sulla-Marius 88 posted:That's what I figured but the OP also said it was an impromptu arrangement and he had to jet across to Paris tomorrow for a day. Also made it sound like it wasn't to meet clients etc, more of a "hey here's some cash, go hog wild" affair. Trip was planned, just not the extra dinner. It would have just been my girlfriend and I but a friend of mine is in town at the same time so I invited her as well. Thanks for the advice everyone. Just settling in and reading up.
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Sep 28, 2013 12:02
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Looking for some suggestions for New Year's Eve in London. Is it worth being down by the river for fireworks, or are there any recommended clubs/parties to check out (suit and tie)?
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Sep 28, 2013 22:23
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Hey guys. I'm off to Rome in November. First time being abroad, I'm really looking forward to it. Was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on travelling/tourism/sightseeing/things to do while over there? Do we have any goons in Rome? Also some advice on the metro line/bus lines would be really good too? The hotel I'll be staying at is a bit out from the centre so I'll need to take lines in and out. Thanks very much.
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Sep 29, 2013 13:20
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WMain00 posted:Hey guys. I'm off to Rome in November. First time being abroad, I'm really looking forward to it. Was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on travelling/tourism/sightseeing/things to do while over there? Do we have any goons in Rome? Also some advice on the metro line/bus lines would be really good too? The hotel I'll be staying at is a bit out from the centre so I'll need to take lines in and out. If you can cancel your hotel and get it refunded, I recommend getting one in the center instead. Taking the bus in all the time is a real bummer, especially for your first time abroad. Basically it means you're committed "all in" to stay out once you leave in the morning, which can be exhausting (unless you're a rare breed). You'll enjoy everything more if you pony up the extra €20/day and get something in the old town. Also I highly recommend getting a short term rental apartment (e.g. via vrbo.com) instead of a hotel--unless you're going by yourself, in which case it's a tossup, and if you're young and single, a hostel is probably better. Metro / bus depends 100% on where you are staying. Just take whatever one goes into the center-ish without a transfer. The main train station, Termini, is not in the center, look more for like the Pantheon. After that the Old City is very walkable although distances can be kind of far (Vatican to Roman Forum is maybe an hour by foot). How long are you there? If you're there a week there's enough to do in central Rome that there's no real need to go outside unless you have something in particular you want to see like Ostia Antica. The famous sites are all worth hitting, Vatican, Forum, etc. I wouldn't worry about finding anything hidden 'off the guide books' since the main sights are really quite fantastic, and in November they won't be particularly crowded. Do you speak Italian?
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Sep 29, 2013 16:37
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The hotel I got is in the Nomentana district - got excellent reviews, about 5 walk away S.agnese/annibaliano metro and 10 min away from Bologna metro stations. I went for a hotel over an apartment due to costs really and I am not keen on hostels. I don't think I can cancel out. Yes, i'm going on my own. I don't speak a huge amount of Italian, no. Time for me to buy a guide book... Communist Bear fucked around with this message at 17:50 on Sep 29, 2013 |
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Sep 29, 2013 17:48
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I stayed in the same area and it was alright, you can probably also take the tram in that area. Most of Rome is really walkable, anyway.
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Sep 29, 2013 20:51
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WMain00 posted:Hey guys. I'm off to Rome in November. First time being abroad, I'm really looking forward to it. Was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on travelling/tourism/sightseeing/things to do while over there? Do we have any goons in Rome? Also some advice on the metro line/bus lines would be really good too? The hotel I'll be staying at is a bit out from the centre so I'll need to take lines in and out. We stayed in an apartment just around the corner from the Pantheon and it was a fantastic location both for sightseeing and for shopping. Having stayed out of the central area in other cities, do try and get something central if you can. Also, I found most people spoke enough English for me to get by - and when they didn't, there was lots of pointing and smiling and nodding which generally got the point across. We were only there for three days unfortunately but definitely climb up the cupola in the Vatican; and hit the forum, the coliseum and Palatine Hill if you can. I loved Rome and really wished we had more time to spend there. Edit: DON'T get sucked in by the douchebags who prey on people lining up to enter the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel. Entry costs 16 euros for adults, 8 euros for students. The dickheads who accost people in the queue will try and sell you tickets for 45+ euros, and they also tried to tell us that we'd be in line for over three hours when we were inside within 30min. Also, unrelated rant: what the gently caress, Sorrento? The town itself was okay but the hands down worst experience of my whole trip was encountering the lovely entitled teenagers who live in the small, rich towns down the Amalfi Coast. After waiting for 1.5 hours in the middle of the day along with about two busloads worth of other people, a bus finally arrived. Just as people were about to board, 15 teenagers who I guess had missed the school bus roared around the corner and started physically shoving tourists, including mothers with small children, so they could cut the queue and get on first. People starting by asking the teens to join the queue but it devolved into trying to wall off the teens so people could board and the little kids wouldn't get trampled, and the teens nearly started a drat riot. They were shrieking and yelling and trying to push people over, and I nearly got punched by some lovely kid who was yelling about how because he woke up at 6am to go to school (and had finished by 1pm) his life was exceptionally hard. When I finally got to board, the teens grabbed at me and were trying to pull me out of the doorway and I had to spin around and shout gently caress off at the top of my lungs before they backed off enough for me to get on. What the gently caress is wrong with people honestly. Tamarillo fucked around with this message at 07:17 on Sep 30, 2013 |
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Sep 30, 2013 06:50
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| # ? Jun 10, 2024 09:05 |
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Tamarillo posted:We stayed in an apartment just around the corner from the Pantheon and it was a fantastic location both for sightseeing and for shopping. Having stayed out of the central area in other cities, do try and get something central if you can. Also, I found most people spoke enough English for me to get by - and when they didn't, there was lots of pointing and smiling and nodding which generally got the point across. Since he's going in November, he won't really have any problem with lines (there will be lines, of course, but not very long ones). Also if you go to the Vatican museum/Sistine Chapel—which you should—you can buy the tickets online—which you should. My personal favorite thing in Rome was simply just walking around aimlessly although the major sites are cool too. The Vatican is one of the most impressive things I've ever seen (I'm not Catholic either), and the the Pantheon is pretty drat amazing too. The Colosseum and Roman Forum are neat, but sometimes I get sick of seeing ruins. YMMV, definitely go to both (Colosseum and Roman Forum are the same ticket.) If you're religious and/or Catholic, or into Roman stuff, you could probably spend a lifetime in Rome and still be endlessly amazed. I'm not any of those three things, but I spent 10 days there and every day was stunning and different. I can't think of any other single city I've visited and thought the same thing, although London comes close.
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Sep 30, 2013 09:02
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