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HookShot posted:Yeah, lately I've noticed that all the newer airport terminals make it impossible to get to your gate without going literally through the duty free store, constantly being badgered by people trying to get you to buy their poo poo when all you want to do is get to your gate/the lounge/somewhere to sit down/a restaurant/literally anywhere that isn't the duty free shop. I got thrown by the fact that the entrance to the Iberia lounge was actually in the duty-free shop itself. Oh well, I always buy something duty-free on my way back. Out of curiosity, why are there so many perfumes and whatnot? They take away space that could be devoted to more and better liquor.
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# ? Jun 2, 2015 12:25 |
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# ? May 11, 2024 14:58 |
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Wow. Zurich is awesome.
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# ? Jun 2, 2015 18:30 |
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Dead Pressed posted:Wow. Zurich is awesome. The weather has been really great here the past few days. Are you just staying within Zurich or using it as a base to go see more of Switzerland?
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# ? Jun 3, 2015 11:52 |
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Dead Pressed posted:Wow. Zurich is awesome. Get the Sbahn up to Uerliburg and walk along to Felsenegg. The views will be stunning with the weather today.
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# ? Jun 3, 2015 12:41 |
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Zurich yesterday, we just hung around the lake dangling our feet in. Today, we rode into Olten and met with some old airbnb guests of ours. Had a great time eating raclette in their home. Open day tomorrow, so maybe we will take you up on that recommendation. Weather is "hot", but by south eastern USA standards it's not too bad, we're just absolutely loving it. This area is by far my favorite in Europe so far.
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# ? Jun 3, 2015 23:01 |
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Husband and I are about 6 days out from our trip to London and Paris. Does anyone have any good recommendations for things to do in either city that aren't the usual tourist stops? We'd like to see beyond the tours and groups and get into the authentic / local things.
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# ? Jun 5, 2015 19:41 |
In Paris go to an actual boulangerie for breakfast and bread, if you see English written anywhere it's a bad sign. Other than that it depends on what you're interested in. If you like museums and such, the ones that the locals go to are also the ones that tourists go to since they tend to be the best ones. That really applies to most things. We'd go to the gardens at Versailles or jardins du Luxembourg and have picnics there when I was a kid because even though we weren't really tourists, locals still do it because they're absolutely gorgeous and awesome gardens. I always recommend the cathedral at St Denis if you like history and don't like crowds though. Tour books tend to not recommend it because black people are scary and the 93 is scary and you will be mugged to death (note: this won't happen) so there's never anyone there, and there's a lot of very interesting history in it.
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# ? Jun 5, 2015 21:12 |
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If you speak French, there are lots of shows (comedy, musical, whatever). If you don't speak French, they still exist but might be a little less interesting, but you'll be somewhat more limited to the usual tourist stuff. The only way to do something particularly non-touristy is to check out what events are in town that are temporary, like touring bands or whatever. Unfortunately it doesn't look like Cirque du Soleil is doing anything right now, which would've gotten an A++ recommendation from me and is (mostly) language-neutral. E: Honestly if it's your first time in Paris then just do all the touristy stuff. It's almost all super interesting and you could easily do 10 days just in the central arrondissements without getting bored or repetitive. Then there's Versailles and Fontainebleau just a little further out. I thought Fontainebleau was more interesting, mostly because there are like 0 tourists who go there so you have it all to yourself, and it's not caked in signs saying "no selfie-sticks". I'd recommend not doing both on the same trip because they're pretty same-y. Saladman fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Jun 5, 2015 |
# ? Jun 5, 2015 22:10 |
Yeah that's true too, I agree with Saladman. If it's your first time do the tourist stuff.
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# ? Jun 5, 2015 23:03 |
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Thanks guys - some very good things to investigate. We found a tour that does Versailles and the Monet Gardens. Thought that sounded a little different and a bit artsy.
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# ? Jun 6, 2015 04:19 |
The Monet gardens are a bit different and definitely artsy (and beautiful) and you'll probably love them. Just a warning though - if you're expecting them to be less crowded or less touristy than other things in Paris you'll be disappointed - they still do get pretty crowded.
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# ? Jun 6, 2015 05:24 |
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I have a ticket I bought for the wrong day and can't use through vueling airlines from Spain to Denmark, can I transfer it to someone else (a goon?) For free so it doesn't go to waste?
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# ? Jun 6, 2015 11:14 |
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So apparently to drive in Spain you need your home driver's license AND an international driver's permit (if you don't have an EU driver's license). I foolishly assumed that since the US and the UK reciprocally accept Australian licenses, it was just a general Western country thing and that all of Europe would be chill with it. Nope. Furthermore you can only apply for an IDP in your home country... so I'm sending some express postage back to the RAC in Australia with the fervent hope that it comes back before late July.
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# ? Jun 6, 2015 17:53 |
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Hadlock posted:I have a ticket I bought for the wrong day and can't use through vueling airlines from Spain to Denmark, can I transfer it to someone else (a goon?) For free so it doesn't go to waste? I don't know that specific airlines policy, but generally a name change is either not possible or there is a large fee involved. freebooter: Did you actually try to rent a car? Italy requires an IDP too, but I've rented cars multiple times and no one has actually asked to see it. I guess it could be an issue if I get pulled over by the police, but I don't think the rental car companies care at all and I'd be pretty surprised if Spain was different.
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# ? Jun 6, 2015 18:18 |
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asur posted:freebooter: Did you actually try to rent a car? Italy requires an IDP too, but I've rented cars multiple times and no one has actually asked to see it. I guess it could be an issue if I get pulled over by the police, but I don't think the rental car companies care at all and I'd be pretty surprised if Spain was different. Germany was like that. Asked for a credit card, passport, and drivers license from home country I believe. We had IDP's, but didn't ever need them. This was with Sixt.
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# ? Jun 6, 2015 19:29 |
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asur posted:I don't know that specific airlines policy, but generally a name change is either not possible or there is a large fee involved. Booking online and it's in the fine print. I'm going to call them during the week to check, but I really can't risk just booking one (and then booking a week of rural accommodation etc) and then turning up and having them say "nope." It just opens up this whole extra level of red tape hassle sending stuff back to Australia. Look at this poo poo on the RAC website: http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/racv/Internet/primary/travel/driving+overseas/international+driving+permits quote:If you are applying for or requesting the reissue of an International Driving Permit (IDP) from overseas, you are also required to provide: What the gently caress? Why would I have a visa in my passport for Australia if I'm Australian? Also how does showing you my Australian passport prove I'm not resident in England? So now I have to ring them up as well to get them to explain this nonsense.
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# ? Jun 6, 2015 20:20 |
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freebooter posted:What the gently caress? Why would I have a visa in my passport for Australia if I'm Australian? Also how does showing you my Australian passport prove I'm not resident in England? So now I have to ring them up as well to get them to explain this nonsense. I'm pretty sure they want to see the visa from the country you are staying in and that it has an end date. A plane ticket would fulfill the requirement as well. I think the passport thing is a carry over from when you lost your Australian citizenship if you became a citizen of another country before 2002
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# ? Jun 6, 2015 21:23 |
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I'm looking to further my Spanish education in Spain sometime in late July or early August, but I don't have any friends who can travel with me so I'm either going to travel with my dad or with a group. Does anyone know of good language schools/available flights to Spain/groups to travel with? I just graduated college and I'm looking to travel there for 3 weeks to a month.
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# ? Jun 6, 2015 21:58 |
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Australian going to Europe in March /April next year for a honeymoon. I've been to England, Germany, France and Turkey before but the missus hasn't been at all. I'm a travel agent so the flight aspect is good and I can get some decent rates on standard hotels. I'm more looking for ideas on what to do in each place as I realise sometimes I'm an awful travel agent who just suggests the 'main' things. I'd like to know what else is out there (example in NYC I loved doing the Empire State Building and Central Park, but really loved seeing stuff like The High Line which wasn't something I knew was there beforehand) Things that are small and out of the way. I love city tours with walking guides or ones that walk around a lot and only bus you between a few locations but unsure of any great companies (I might be able to comp these from work though) Itinerary- 4 Nights Rome 4 Nights Florence 3 Nights Venice Fly up to Birmingham and meet with family and drive around the UK for 5 nights 4 Nights London 4 Nights Paris Train to Amsterdam and go on a river cruise from Amsterdam to Basel. Train from Basel to Zurich or Geneva and fly home. What should I do that isn't bleedingly obvious in these cities (aka I'm not looking for "Hey the Louvre is an art museum you may have heard of") OR what is a unique and interesting way of doing those things. Also any unique/boutique (honeymooney) accomodation ideas in these cities would be appreciated. Cheers,
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 00:50 |
It's your lucky day, I'm procrastinating from doing any real work! This is a pretty awesome Paris 4-day honeymoon itinerary I came up with. Day 1: Get croissants/pain au chocolats/whatever from a boulangerie for breakfast. Eiffel tower in the morning. Stop at the musee des invalides and look at Napoleon's tomb. Visit Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle in the afternoon. If you have time, go to the Pantheon to see a bunch of famous tombs. It's also in a far less touristy neighborhood, so it's a good place to get a nice authentic dinner. Admire the tomb of one of my ancestors (it's the super cool one that's better than all the others and decorated with a ton of poo poo ) Day 2: Louvre in the morning*, walk through the jardins de Tuileries to Rue St Honore, walk along there for a while, it's basically the classic French style buildings, go to Jean Paul Hevin chocolaterie, buy some expensive chocolates that will blow your mind. Walk to place de la Concorde. You can then either walk down the Champs Elysees (I personally recommend this) or take the metro or whatever, but if you go all the way you'll end up at the Arc de Triomphe. Go up to the top, enjoy the view. Enjoy something to eat in the most commercial part of Paris. Day 3: Go to the 18th, walk around, visit Sacre Coeur, see the Moulin Rouge, enjoy the artsy district. Take the purple metro (I can't remember the line number) south to the Jardins de Luxembourg, grab some food and wine from some local shops, drink and be merry in the Jardins de Luxembourg. Day 4: Go to Versailles! This will take you basically the whole day. Pack a picnic lunch with you and enjoy it in the gardens. At night go up to the top of Tour Montparnasse and enjoy the view. *If you happen to be there on one of the days when the Louvre is open late (I want to say Friday and possibly Tuesday but can't remember off the top of my head) go in the late afternoon. Way less crowded, but if you wait too long some exhibitions (like the Dutch Masters) close earlier than the rest of the museum, so I'd aim for like 3-4pm. Honestly with four days in Paris stick to the main things, as has been suggested above. Paris is a great city to walk in, I really like the Louvre -> Arc de Triomphe walk, I included it with a small detour for chocolates that your new wife will love you for. The day 1 thing I have you doing a bunch of stuff along the RER C line but even walking it I'm pretty sure you could get from the Eiffel tower to the Pantheon via Invalides and Notre Dame in about 1.5-2 hours at a leisurely pace (not including the stopping in there for touristing, obviously).
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 05:11 |
For Rome Ostia Antica is pretty awesome. It's not exactly small though. I really liked seeing The Ecstasy of St Theresa at Santa Maria della Vittoria, it's a small but gorgeous church, and you get so much time to yourself as it's usually just one or two tourists or a small group that come in, snap a quick picture then leave, and you're on your own for another little while until someone else comes in. Ciampini gelato is the best gelato you will ever taste in your life, and it's very central. You will not eat gelato from anywhere else once you've tasted it. Central Rome is also really walkable. The Circus Maximus is awesome if you have someone you want to race down it on foot, but it's not exactly the most romantic place ever. Mainly filled with tourists slowly walking around it, and people racing each other.
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 05:17 |
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asur posted:I'm pretty sure they want to see the visa from the country you are staying in and that it has an end date. A plane ticket would fulfill the requirement as well. I think the passport thing is a carry over from when you lost your Australian citizenship if you became a citizen of another country before 2002 I'm a dual Irish/Aussie citizen so I don't need visas travelling between the two. And I can't imagine that's particularly uncommon. And a plane ticket - like, how could I prove I'm not just visiting Australia? I'm sick of this malarkey about "residency" these people always bang on about. It's the 21st century, there are plenty of people who maintain residencies in multiple countries, and it's not for the flipping automobile association to make decisions about my rights based on what they think counts as living somewhere.
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 09:31 |
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Hey! I've got a bit of a different question from the others in here but hopefully somebody can still help me out. I'm going to be in Switzerland next week for an indeterminate amount of time (one-way flight from Oceania, you know how it is) and this time I'd really like to make an effort to go out and meet new people/make friends while I'm there. Are there any Swiss residents here who'd recommend clubs to join or activities to do where I can go out and make friends or at the very least just keep busy and social? From what I remember most of the Swiss people here seem to be American expats so you might know some cool English-speaking places, meetups, pub quizzes or whatnot. (I can speak German, but I would love to be able to find some English-speaking stuff. No French though, sadly) Zurich's the closest city to where I live but Switzerland in general isn't too big so it shouldn't matter too much.
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 12:41 |
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Laverna posted:Hey! I've got a bit of a different question from the others in here but hopefully somebody can still help me out. Check out the ETHZ and Uni Zürich for activities / sports clubs / whatever. Everyone will speak English and many people will speak high German. Getting into the "real Swiss" culture will be a little more difficult, both because Swiss German will take quite a bit of time to understand, and because Swiss (as a generalization/stereotype with many exceptions) need six signed letters of reference before they'll invite you over to their house for dinner, or just two personal letters of reference to meet up in a park / cafe. I don't recommend using EnglishforumSwitzerland to meet anyone. I've lived in Lausanne the past 6 years, so can't really help you with anything more specific about Zürich.
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 15:49 |
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freebooter posted:So apparently to drive in Spain you need your home driver's license AND an international driver's permit (if you don't have an EU driver's license). I foolishly assumed that since the US and the UK reciprocally accept Australian licenses, it was just a general Western country thing and that all of Europe would be chill with it. Nope. can anyone confirm if this is true? first ive heard it... renting a car in Spain in 12 days from Hertz. Is that enough time to get this IDP? I'm from the US if that matters. Yossarian-22 posted:I'm looking to further my Spanish education in Spain sometime in late July or early August, but I don't have any friends who can travel with me so I'm either going to travel with my dad or with a group. Does anyone know of good language schools/available flights to Spain/groups to travel with? I just graduated college and I'm looking to travel there for 3 weeks to a month. I did this a few years ago, solo however. Really depends on what you want to do. A lot of schools are full of youngish students who are kinda using it as a sort of holiday more than learning experience, especially the ones around big cities where there are a lot of international people and english speakers. It's hard to learn there because it's so easy to just speak english. I ended up avoiding those and going here: http://ifspanish.com/es/ It's in Santiago de Compostela which is north of Portugal. It's not really on the traditional tourist circuit, though it is the end point for a major trek / pilgrimage. I picked it because it was out of the way and I'd heard there wouldn't be a lot of other Americans around. I had a great experience and thought it was very reasonably priced (I think 6 weeks + an apartment was just over 1k euro). There's a decent sized university in the town so there is plenty of young people around. My classes were a mix of students (18-22 on erasmus) and business people (30+). It Improved my skills a lot and did a lot of cool stuff that I never would have done as a tourist. It's a very unique region in Spain. This was a few years ago, but I can't imagine it has changed much. hbf fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Jun 7, 2015 |
# ? Jun 7, 2015 18:11 |
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hbf posted:can anyone confirm if this is true? first ive heard it... renting a car in Spain in 12 days from Hertz. Is that enough time to get this IDP? I'm from the US if that matters. I think you just go pay AAA $40 Let me know if you do it, because I'm gonna be in the states soon and I'm thinking about getting one just in case.
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 18:26 |
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DNova posted:I think you just go pay AAA $40 I just did some googling and it appears you need 2 passport sized photos and AAA office can do it on the spot. Some sites are saying it needs to be shipped, but I think they are referring to those who just mail in the form rather than go to an AAA location.
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 18:41 |
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Laverna posted:Hey! I've got a bit of a different question from the others in here but hopefully somebody can still help me out. http://www.glocals.com/forums/zurich/forum_list/ might be an option but I think it's mostly a Geneva thing There are a lot of groups around Zurich on http://www.meetup.com/ but I can't vouch for any of them. I've been to Glocals groups in Geneva and Bern and Meetups in both, they're all right. Seconding the comment about englishforumswitzerland above, I've managed to find some useful info there on occasion but you should never ever make your own thread there unless you like pedantic abuse.
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 18:48 |
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I wrapped up some personal stuff after spending a month in Berlin. I really meant to link up with some Berlin goons, but caught up in stuff with some friends living locally and a few hobby things and got distracted. But in any case, I needed to move somewhere else so chose Portugal, mostly because I speak the language (used to work in Brazil, and am a fluent Spanish speaker so that helps) and hadn't been here before. Lisbon has some really cool stuff, but downtown is crazy touristy, so I'm thinking of moving somewhere (even) smaller and getting an apartment for a month. Anyone know Portugal well? I'm looking for somewhere not too tiny, but that has a smaller city feel, hopefully some aspect of a punky/hip/artsy scene, and somewhere where having light colored hair does not automatically mean I'm being constantly hit up for tourist traps. A friend recommended Porto, so I might check that out, but open to other ideas. Going to mostly settle in one city for a month, and kick it while applying for overseas contract gigs online. Go to some local live music events, hang out in the park with a beer and a Portuguese guitarra, etc. Open to suggestions.
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 19:09 |
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DNova posted:I think you just go pay AAA $40 Yeah if you're still in the US at the moment you should be able to do it on the spot at the relevant authority. That's what I did in Australia years ago. My predicament stems from having an Australian license but currently being in the UK. I'd advise you to check your rental agreement, mine said any non-EU license needed to be accompanied by an IDP.
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 20:57 |
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Often times drivers licenses from the US are handled on a state by state basis. Germany recognizes Texas drivers licenses, but not some other states.
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 21:49 |
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Saladman posted:Check out the ETHZ and Uni Zürich for activities / sports clubs / whatever. Everyone will speak English and many people will speak high German. Getting into the "real Swiss" culture will be a little more difficult, both because Swiss German will take quite a bit of time to understand, and because Swiss (as a generalization/stereotype with many exceptions) need six signed letters of reference before they'll invite you over to their house for dinner, or just two personal letters of reference to meet up in a park / cafe. Oh, I do understand Swiss German too I just keep forgetting to make the distinction. But since I only speak High German I still end up feeling like a bit of an outcast anyway. Haha. I hadn't really considered the uni, thanks for that suggestion, I didn't know if they'd have activities open for non-students. greazeball posted:http://www.glocals.com/forums/zurich/forum_list/ might be an option but I think it's mostly a Geneva thing Thanks for the meetup link, some of the groups look kind of interesting and hopefully I find sort of what I'm looking for. Is there any sort of way you try and tell what a group's gonna be like before you go to a meetup or is it just wild guesses? I can't really bring a +1 to any of them but it's Switzerland so they're not likely to be dodgy I'm sure. I have heard a few times how terrible englishforumswitzerland is, I'm almost tempted to go and make a thread and see for myself. Glocals seems to want me to be 23 or older (is that a strictly enforced thing?) in which case I'm out for a few months. Laverna fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Jun 7, 2015 |
# ? Jun 7, 2015 22:39 |
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Laverna posted:Thanks for the meetup link, some of the groups look kind of interesting and hopefully I find sort of what I'm looking for. Is there any sort of way you try and tell what a group's gonna be like before you go to a meetup or is it just wild guesses? I can't really bring a +1 to any of them but it's Switzerland so they're not likely to be dodgy I'm sure. I was never exactly spoiled for choice, it was more a matter of is there something on near me this weekend, is it something I like doing, ok I'll check it out. I'd say about 2/3 Meetup events were ok-to-good and 1/3 was just meh. I did meet a couple of people I'm still in contact with occasionally, it's worth a shot if your other ideas run dry. You can totally bring a +1, you just indicate it when you're signing up for the event. I don't remember that Glocals rule when I signed up but there was a time when every page seemed to have a header that said GLOCALS IS NOT A DATING SITE so there must have been some creepers at some point and maybe they put that rule in around then. Their forums are also terrible, but not as bad as the other ones.
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# ? Jun 7, 2015 22:57 |
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HookShot posted:Admire the tomb of one of my ancestors (it's the super cool one that's better than all the others and decorated with a ton of poo poo ) Hey, we must be related ! HookShot posted:*If you happen to be there on one of the days when the Louvre is open late (I want to say Friday and possibly Tuesday but can't remember off the top of my head) go in the late afternoon. Way less crowded, but if you wait too long some exhibitions (like the Dutch Masters) close earlier than the rest of the museum, so I'd aim for like 3-4pm. The Louvre is not open at all on Tuesday. It's open late on Friday and Wednesday. That said, last time I went, I decided to go on Friday evening, because I thought it would be less crowded. I didn't realise there was free entry that night for some reason. The queue was unbelievable (and outdoors); it was raining. Not fun.
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# ? Jun 8, 2015 00:44 |
Istari posted:Hey, we must be related ! quote:The Louvre is not open at all on Tuesday. It's open late on Friday and Wednesday. Louvre by Hannah, on Flickr Louvre by Hannah, on Flickr Louvre by Hannah, on Flickr I love that last one because whatever just hangin' out under a Ruebens masterpiece BORED HookShot fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Jun 8, 2015 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2015 01:10 |
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:I wrapped up some personal stuff after spending a month in Berlin. I really meant to link up with some Berlin goons, but caught up in stuff with some friends living locally and a few hobby things and got distracted. But in any case, I needed to move somewhere else so chose Portugal, mostly because I speak the language (used to work in Brazil, and am a fluent Spanish speaker so that helps) and hadn't been here before. Lisbon has some really cool stuff, but downtown is crazy touristy, so I'm thinking of moving somewhere (even) smaller and getting an apartment for a month. Went to Porto last November for a few days and it's a really cool city, not too big or too small, quite beautiful, and the touristy part is mostly limited to the riverside. Don't know much about the artsy scene there, but the area around Galeria de Paris is a cool nightlife spot. Also, you have nice parks (especially on the southern riverside) and all the Porto wine you could ever drink! Can't guarantee how it would be staying there for a month though
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# ? Jun 8, 2015 10:09 |
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Going to be in Stockholm for a week over midsummer's. Arrive on the 18th, spend the 19th and 20th at a friend's place, then have the 21st through 24th to do whatever until I fly out in the evening. Any suggestions on activities to do for the last four days while I'm there?
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# ? Jun 9, 2015 20:26 |
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isndl posted:Going to be in Stockholm for a week over midsummer's. Arrive on the 18th, spend the 19th and 20th at a friend's place, then have the 21st through 24th to do whatever until I fly out in the evening. Any suggestions on activities to do for the last four days while I'm there? What are you interested in? Museums? Sightseeing? I tremendously enjoyed the Vasamuseet, built around an old ship they unearthed after it sank on its maiden voyage. It's conveniently located on the same island that houses both Skansen -- an open-air museum about the history of Sweden -- and a lovely royal park, the Djurgården. The Moderna Museet one island over is a nice modern art museum, and the view from the little island is very nice. Gamla Stan/Ridderholmen are good bets for both the royal palace and some of the old parts of town. Södermalm, south of Gamla Stan, is relaxed, hip and busy, and I really quite liked the atmosphere there. If you like vikings, check out the Historiska museet in Östermalm, which you can conveniently combine with a stroll down Strandvägen, the big promenade.
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# ? Jun 9, 2015 22:10 |
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Hollow Talk posted:What are you interested in? Museums? Sightseeing? Should have mentioned it but yeah, I'm more interested in museums and hands-on type activities than general sightseeing. Your suggestions are a great starting point, thanks.
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# ? Jun 10, 2015 07:08 |
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# ? May 11, 2024 14:58 |
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isndl posted:Going to be in Stockholm for a week over midsummer's. Arrive on the 18th, spend the 19th and 20th at a friend's place, then have the 21st through 24th to do whatever until I fly out in the evening. Any suggestions on activities to do for the last four days while I'm there? If you like beer or whisky, Akkurat (Hornsgatan 18, Södermalm) has an extensive selection of both.
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# ? Jun 11, 2015 09:34 |