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Chainclaw posted:My fiance and I are heading to Helsinki in a couple weeks for five nights, with a one day stopover in Reykjavík (Iceland Air is so inexpensive they must be subsidized to bring in tourists). We're looking for things to do so we can plan where we want our hotel. This trip is mostly for her, she's really in to design, and Helsinki is apparently super famous for design. My interests are retro games and synthesizers. I know gaming isn't a big thing there, there aren't really arcades, and dealing with PAL for old games is a pain. Most places should accept magnet strip cards - most of the chip cards still come with magnet strips in case the chip is damaged or fails otherwise. There's usually stickers on the door and/or near the register to indicate which cards are accepted. When in doubt, ask or have cash on hand. Definitely go to Suomenlinna as others have mentioned. Check out Senate Square as well. If your fiance's interest in design also includes architecture, there's several buildings by famous architect Alvar Aalto (the Academic Bookstore and Finlandia Hall for example). Temppeliaukio Church (the Church in the Rock) is also cool, but often full of noisy tourists - maybe go to a concert there? The Arabia factory (take a tram) is apparently pretty popular and has tours of the factory, an outlet selling several of the top Finnish brands, and a museum. The Artek store on Eteläesplanadi sells chairs, lamps, tables etc. by famous Finnish designers including Aalto and Tapio Wirkkala. There are a lot of small design retailers in Punavuori, Ullanlinna, Kamppi and Kaartinkaupunki, which comprise the so called Design District and are very nice otherwise as well - there's a lot of old architecture, small restaurants, bars and cafes. For restaurants, without knowing your preferences, check out eat.fi, which features practically every restaurant in the city with customer reviews and ratings - narrow down your search in the top panel. I can't recommend any hotels as I live in Helsinki, but as mentioned the public transport is great so you'll probably be fine anywhere. The coolest-looking hotel is definitely GLO Hotel Art. If you have any further questions, I'm happy to answer them.
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Oct 1, 2015 11:21
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Thanks all, that's all really useful and has helped fill out our shared doc full of stuff to check out. I also put the theme park nearby ( http://www.linnanmaki.fi/en/laitteet-ja-pelit ) on the list. We're both big theme park fans and go to Disney Land and World both frequently. For hotels, I ended up picking out the Scandic Grand Marina, Helsinki. It looks like it's about a 20 minute walk from the main train / bus hub. It didn't seem to have any hidden resort fees / other random fees. It's right on the water, and reviews said it was good for day trips to the various islands, so we should be able to visit Suomenlinna on a day trip. It looks like it's also a pretty short walk to the design district, as well as other shopping. Some of my cards do have chips on them now. Nowhere I've been in the US actually accepts the chips, and I haven't been to Vancouver recently, so I have never had a chance to verify they work. For night life stuff, I drink a bit but don't really like crowded bars. She doesn't drink but does smoke weed, what are the culture and laws around that like?
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Oct 1, 2015 16:52
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Chainclaw posted:Thanks all, that's all really useful and has helped fill out our shared doc full of stuff to check out. It's good you aren't going to drink much because a beer costs about a million dollars there.
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Oct 1, 2015 17:00
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HookShot posted:It depends on what you think "stupidly expensive" is. You can easily get a flight from JFK to Rome, and then fly to Lemezia Terme. That far into the countryside I'd probably rent a car from there and it's like an hour and a half drive. Looking on Expedia right now it's about $2500 per person for airfare in August...
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Oct 1, 2015 17:55
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Insane Totoro posted:Looking on Expedia right now it's about $2500 per person for airfare in August... There's multiple dates in August with about a 2 week stay that are around $1250. You can get even cheaper if you're willing to split up the flights as Ryanair flies FCO to SUF, but isn't a partner with anyone so you can't use them if you want to book direct. August is by far the most expensive month to travel in Italy, everyone gets between 2 weeks and the entire month off and heads south.
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Oct 1, 2015 19:40
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Chainclaw posted:For night life stuff, I drink a bit but don't really like crowded bars. She doesn't drink but does smoke weed, what are the culture and laws around that like? If you like beer, there are several good pubs with large selections of the stuff, including, but not limited to, Kaisla, Black Door, Villi Wäinö (features a ton of Finnish craft beers), Bier-Bier and BrewDog Helsinki. I don't smoke weed myself, but this is what I've gathered. Possession of (as well as selling, buying, or pretty much anything you might wish to do with) weed is illegal at this time. However, smoking weed is common enough nowadays that the police probably either won't care or they'll just confiscate your stuff and tell you to move along, provided that you've only got a joint or two - they've got better stuff to do than harassing recreational users. Theoretically you could be fined for possessing small amounts of drugs though. I don't really know about weed culture, but Helsinki is probably the most liberal place in Finland and attitudes towards mild drugs like weed are pretty laid-back among younger people at least.
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Oct 1, 2015 21:25
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Paper Clip Death posted:Finland's alcohol and drug legislation is a fantastic mess and I really wish it were not. Alcohol is very expensive compared to almost anywhere in Europe, because it's taxed like crazy. If you want to buy a beverage with over 4,7% alcohol you have to go to Alko, which has a monopoly on those (excluding restaurants and bars, of course). Also, you can't even buy the <4.7% stuff in the grocery store after sunset because of vampires, or something. I think the rule is actually 9pm or so, and coming from where I live to be honest it's a miracle that a grocery store is even open that late in the first place.
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Oct 1, 2015 21:42
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Trip Report Madrid: Madrid isn´t a desert, but it´s pretty dry. Unfortunately, all drinks are by the glass here; which can be quite the surprise if you´re used to all you can drink beverages in restaurants. My solution was to buy a couple of flats of soda and water and carry a couple with me everywhere. I had no problem getting them into museums, palaces, city hall, or anywhere else. The upside is that a glass of wine costs the same amount as a glass of soda or water. The glasses of wine are usually larger than the ones for soda/water. The wine was good everywhere I tried it. If you aren´t used to drinking a lot, I recommend ordering tinto verano which is like sangria but tastes better and is cheaper in Spain. It´s only got like half the alcohol and won´t leave you hungover the next day like I was after drinking wine staight all day. Some convenience stores will sell it right next to the wine or soda. There are a lot of tourists. Lots and lots. All the restaurants near touristy things are over-priced tourist traps, as are a lot of the places even one street over. You can find better restaurants if you are willing to go down a few side streets. That´s no guarantee of quality though. The worst restaurant of the whole trip, La Bodega Bohemia, is only two doors down from my favorite restaurant, Mesón del boquerón. Mesón del boquerón was the only place we both liked enough to go to twice; their vinegar sardines are fantastic. My wife doesn´t like sardines or vinegar and she loved them. The rest of the restaurants were some range from barely tolerable to decent. The tourist bus is probably the slowest way to get around town. It´s not bad if you just want to see where places are, but it takes a couple of hours and there are enough things to do in Madrid that even if you stay a whole week you´ll have better things to do with your time. Do get a Metro pass if you plan on taking the metro at all often. The 10-trip pass is a steal compared to other options. We stayed at the Petit Palace near the Retiro. They only have one kind of room and it was excellent. Good bathroom, big bed, plenty of space and an in-room laptop I am typing this up on. The breakfast is fantastic. All the jamon you can eat. Lots of other stuff too, but I when jamon is an option, who cares about the other stuff. Lots of places charge upwards of $20 for jamon so the breakfast is a steal. Usually had a taxi waiting right outside and the one time it didn´t; I flagged one down off the street in under a minute. The only downside was that it was a long ways away from Plaza Mayor and most of the food places so getting dinner was a chore every day. A couple of days we decided to skip dinner. 4/5, would stay again, but if you don´t want to travel to eat something on Plaza Mayor or in another food district might be a better choice. Food:
All the museums had audioguides, which were mostly boring. I was listening to the english audio guides but my wife was listening to the Spanish ones and enjoyed hers a lot more. We compared notes and the guides frequently covered different subjects on the same works of art so the Spanish guides are probably better.
LLSix fucked around with this message at 13:22 on Oct 2, 2015 |
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Oct 1, 2015 21:44
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I'm a little hot and bothered by all the jamon love I've been reading lately. I think I will have to find some to try.
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Oct 1, 2015 21:48
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LLSix posted:Unfortunately, all drinks are by the glass here; which can be quite the surprise if you´re used to all you can drink beverages in restaurants. I had bad experiences with seafood in Madrid. It cannot be that fresh, seeing how far away it is from the sea! Go to Lisbon for good seafood instead 
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Oct 1, 2015 22:29
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asur posted:There's multiple dates in August with about a 2 week stay that are around $1250. You can get even cheaper if you're willing to split up the flights as Ryanair flies FCO to SUF, but isn't a partner with anyone so you can't use them if you want to book direct. August is by far the most expensive month to travel in Italy, everyone gets between 2 weeks and the entire month off and heads south. Thanks! This is the kind of advice I'm looking for! I figured there'd be a commuter flight workaround....
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Oct 2, 2015 01:41
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So I'm in Prague by myself this weekend, before going to Vienna for the rest of next week. Anyone have any tips, or also there this weekend and up to having some coffee or beers with a Belgian who knows nothing about the place? Also what would be the best way to get to Vienna from Prague? Been looking into trains and buses but a mitfahr/blablacar might be better?
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Oct 2, 2015 09:10
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LLSix posted:
This is a Spanish thing which I thought everybody knew. I think they treat their water differently to how everywhere else does it, and it makes you ill if you aren't used to it. Sweevo fucked around with this message at 10:59 on Oct 2, 2015 |
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Oct 2, 2015 10:27
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Antwan3K posted:So I'm in Prague by myself this weekend, before going to Vienna for the rest of next week. Anyone have any tips, or also there this weekend and up to having some coffee or beers with a Belgian who knows nothing about the place? From a quick look around, Trains are about 19 to 34 euros on Monday and take 4 hours and 10 minutes. Multiple morning/early afternoon departures on Monday starting at like 6:50am. I used oebb.at to find these. Eurolines.at has a bus that takes 3 hours and 55 minutes for 22 euros. Monday departure times 8am, 11am, and 5pm. Hitchhiking or some kind of ride sharing are also options but you're on your own to arrange that.
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Oct 2, 2015 11:44
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Sweevo posted:This is a Spanish thing which I thought everybody knew. I think they treat their water differently to how everywhere else does it, and it makes you ill if you aren't used to it. This should be a general rule. If you go to a different country drink bottled water unless you want to run the risk of getting ill. There are only a very few countries I would drink water out of the tap.
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Oct 2, 2015 11:50
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Insane Totoro posted:Thanks! This is the kind of advice I'm looking for! I'd recommend using Skyscanner over Expedia - it's not as great as it used to be but it's still the best flight website, and it lets you be flexible and check prices for every day over a whole month etc. (Does expedia do that? idk.) Also bear in mind most flights websites won't show you good deals if there's more than an 18-hour layover or whatever. I recently flew from Europe back to Australia and saved like $250 simply by staying in a cheap hotel in Kuala Lumpur overnight and getting a budget flight the next day. So if you're stopping through Rome and you've never been, it may be worth just hanging out a couple of days anyway? (This is also almost always bulletproof advice for anybody flying from New York to London, or sometimes even North America to Europe: stopover in Iceland and save hundreds and hundreds of dollars!) PlantHead posted:This should be a general rule. If you go to a different country drink bottled water unless you want to run the risk of getting ill. There are only a very few countries I would drink water out of the tap. Really? What countries are those? I've drunk the tap water in Spain and Croatia and Greece and never had any issues. These aren't third world countries.
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Oct 2, 2015 12:02
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Sitting on Tegel airport and loving lol this place is tiny. Berlin was cool + good.
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Oct 2, 2015 12:10
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Sweevo posted:This is a Spanish thing which I thought everybody knew. I think they treat their water differently to how everywhere else does it, and it makes you ill if you aren't used to it. Lived there for almost 2 years and never noticed anything, and drank out of the tap 90% of the time. Maybe I got sick the first time and didn't notice it though. I still tell people the water there is fine to drink, but I guess individual results vary?
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Oct 2, 2015 13:14
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Chinatown posted:Sitting on Tegel airport and loving lol this place is tiny. Berlin was cool + good.
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Oct 2, 2015 13:25
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PlantHead posted:This should be a general rule. If you go to a different country drink bottled water unless you want to run the risk of getting ill. There are only a very few countries I would drink water out of the tap. Do you guys work for Big Water Inc or something? I can't imagine spending that much money on water anywhere. Water is fine basically everywhere in Europe and won't make you sick. It will probably taste weird due to differences in mineral and chemical composition but that won't make anyone ill unless they've got some unusual genetic factor going on. VVVV: Oh yeah, rural water is definitely worth checking into. The only time I've ever gotten sick from the tap water was in Switzerland of all places, in a mountain village near Zermatt (to be fair to Switzerland, it was clearly labeled "non potable"). Saladman fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Oct 2, 2015 |
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Oct 2, 2015 14:13
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Saladman posted:Do you guys work for Big Water Inc or something? I can't imagine spending that much money on water anywhere. Water is fine basically everywhere in Europe and won't make you sick. It will probably taste weird due to differences in mineral and chemical composition but that won't make anyone ill unless they've got some unusual genetic factor going on. There's definitely some exceptions and in general it was fine for me, but it's always good to read up on local issues with tap water before you travel. For instance, when I was in Siracusa I didn't know that the sea water had made it's way into the water table so the tap water was super salty and upset my stomach. Plus it feels weird brushing your teeth with salty water. But I can see how some people could get sick from unfamiliar tap water. When our family got our cottage I initially got sick from the tap water there and it's only 3 hours away from our home. So I just stick with bottled water on the off chance the tap water doesn't sit well with me. It's not a massive expense since you can get the big bottles very cheaply. MagicCube fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Oct 2, 2015 |
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Oct 2, 2015 16:24
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PlantHead posted:This should be a general rule. If you go to a different country drink bottled water unless you want to run the risk of getting ill. There are only a very few countries I would drink water out of the tap. I'm from an area where the tap water is basically mineral water, and I never had problems drinking plenty of tap water in various places in for example Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, or various airport washrooms where the water was supposedly not for drinking, or random drinking fountains on the street in Italy and Portugal. Haven't been outside of Madrid in Spain though.
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Oct 3, 2015 02:04
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sleepy gary posted:Also, you can't even buy the <4.7% stuff in the grocery store after sunset because of vampires, or something. I think the rule is actually 9pm or so, and coming from where I live to be honest it's a miracle that a grocery store is even open that late in the first place.
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Oct 3, 2015 18:17
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Hello from Paris! Staying on Rue Chevert for $58/night, it's just a tiny airbnb room. I got here on Thursday, done a ton of walking and seeing the major sights. I'm right next to Rue Cler which is awesome for getting produce and other stuff. Just got a ficelle which apparently is just a very thin baguette. I typically say "Bonjour" then "parlez-vous anglais." I've found most French know a bit of English. So I get by, then when I complete my business just "merci" and "au revoir." I'd like to think they appreciate the effort. The younger people seem to be much more likely to be fluent. I'm really amazed by how beautiful the city is. Also Champs-Elysees is absurd. I saw a poo poo ton of insane cars, including an $850k Porsche 918 Spyder (with Saudi plates, big shocker there). Anyway, I'm going to Mont St Michel tomorrow, then doing the four day museum pass. This is what is on my list right now, but let me know if you have any suggestions. Tuesday Rodin Napoleon's Tomb Arc de Triomphe Palais de la deoucverte (science museum) Wednesday Versailles (should be there a while) Orsay Orangerie (if I have time, otherwise move to Thursday) Thursday Louvre Friday Notre Dame Picasso Pompidou Also I'm a vegetarian, and was happy to see that Maoz is here, which is about the best street food deal you can get (4.90 euros gets you a falafel with unlimited toppings). I also tried Pizza Roma on the Champs-Elysees which was pretty good. Anyone tried Hank Burger? It's a vegan burger place near the Picasso museum on Rue des Archives. For today I think I'm going to hit up the left bank some more, and check out Luxembourg Garden. actionjackson fucked around with this message at 07:21 on Oct 4, 2015 |
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Oct 4, 2015 07:17
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When you go to the Louvre make sure you go through one of the entrances near the lion statue near the Seine - I think it leads into the African art wing? You can probably find a map online. There is never any line there, as opposed to the people who line up to enter through the glass pyramid and have to wait for an hour.
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Oct 4, 2015 10:09
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freebooter posted:When you go to the Louvre make sure you go through one of the entrances near the lion statue near the Seine - I think it leads into the African art wing? You can probably find a map online. There is never any line there, as opposed to the people who line up to enter through the glass pyramid and have to wait for an hour. Yes thanks, I actually found it today because it was in Rick Steves book. It's just for registered groups and museum pass users. It's basically to the left of the pyramid.
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Oct 4, 2015 17:03
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If you still can, book a guided tour that skips the line for Versailles. I've been there twice in June and October and the lines were insane both times. 3-4 hours in June and 2+ last October.
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Oct 4, 2015 22:40
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MagicCube posted:If you still can, book a guided tour that skips the line for Versailles. I've been there twice in June and October and the lines were insane both times. 3-4 hours in June and 2+ last October. Uh, did you line up at the normal pyramid or go through the underground mall entrance? Because I've never, ever had the lineup be longer than 15 minutes in the underground mall entrance and I've been to the Louvre probably >50 times in my life.
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Oct 4, 2015 23:54
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HookShot posted:Uh, did you line up at the normal pyramid or go through the underground mall entrance? Because I've never, ever had the lineup be longer than 15 minutes in the underground mall entrance and I've been to the Louvre probably >50 times in my life. Was talking about Versailles  but I actually did have to wait 2-3 hours at the Louvre once because I went on one of the free days without knowing about it.
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Oct 5, 2015 00:03
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MagicCube posted:Was talking about Versailles Oh durr my reading comprehension sucks. Yeah, Versailles can be really bad. Yeah if you go on the free days it can be super packed. Also, going in the afternoon means way shorter lineups. But if you wait too long parts of the museum get closed off.
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Oct 5, 2015 02:03
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Didn't realize the pass doesn't let you cut at Versailles. I'm going on Wednesday which is supposed to be less busy. I obviously don't have to wait to buy a ticket but I do for security. I will try to get there bright and early. The only bad things about Paris are all the smoking and those goddamn selfie sticks. actionjackson fucked around with this message at 04:55 on Oct 5, 2015 |
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Oct 5, 2015 04:51
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So I've never had an issue with the water in Madrid over the course of like 5 stops there, but it certainly does taste different than my water here. That is just an issue traveling much of anywhere though. I do need some actual advice. I'm going to be staying in Madrid later this month in an area I haven't stayed before. Anybody have input for some good places to give a try to within like a 5-10 minute walk of Calle Santa Maria and the Anton Martin subway stop? I've always stayed over by Plaza Mayor in the past and am not super familiar with places to eat near there.
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Oct 5, 2015 05:36
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Entropist posted:I'm from an area where the tap water is basically mineral water, and I never had problems drinking plenty of tap water in various places in for example Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, or various airport washrooms where the water was supposedly not for drinking, or random drinking fountains on the street in Italy and Portugal. Haven't been outside of Madrid in Spain though. All I can say is that you people have better stomachs than me.
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Oct 5, 2015 08:31
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actionjackson posted:
Don't know about Hank Burger but the best burgers I ever ate were at Blend: http://blendhamburger.com/home They do have a veggie one but I can't vouch for it since I'm a meat lover. They also have delicious sweet potato fries. Since you're vegan you could make a detour by Loving Hut as well: http://www.lovinghut.fr/ And if you want the best ice cream you've ever tasted go to Pozzetto: http://www.pozzetto.biz/ Trust me you won't regret it. Anyway, I might go on a week long trip to Finland with my girlfriend in November (from Nov 8th to Nov 14th) and I'm looking for some advice. The idea is that we want to watch the northern lights at http://www.kakslauttanen.fi/en/ and probably stop at Helsinki for a couple of days before or after that. Dumb questions: - How much snow are we likely to enjoy at that time of year ? - Has someone taken a similar trip and shared their experience in the thread ? (I don't have access to the search function unfortunately)
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Oct 5, 2015 13:45
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Canopus250 posted:So I've never had an issue with the water in Madrid over the course of like 5 stops there, but it certainly does taste different than my water here. That is just an issue traveling much of anywhere though. Pizzateca is right north of the metro station and is awesome and pretty inexpensive. If you have more money to spend, TriCiclo is really good but you'd have to plan ahead and reserve because it's always loving packed. Tacos Chapultepec is pretty good and is right on Calle Santa Maria as well. If you're willing to take the metro one stop to Tirso de Molina, you're within walking distance of La Latina and Calle Cava Baja, which is full of awesome little places to eat and drink. I was particularly fond of Taberna de los Conspiradores and Tempranillo. El b_us is also within walking distance from that station; I ate there a few times for lunch and it was good, although fairly pricy.
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Oct 5, 2015 17:53
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Yeah I am familiar with some good places on Cava Baja having stayed there before. I will check those other places out though, thanks!
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Oct 5, 2015 19:59
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MagicCube posted:Was talking about Versailles Oddly, if you go to Versailles on one of the free days (first Sunday of the month IIRC?), there aren't lines anywhere and it's way better in every way. This might not apply on nice days in summer, but we went in January this year on a sunny-but-cold day, and there were like 15 people in the entire garden, and like literally two people who weren't guards in the Trianon. Or you could go to Fontainebleu, which gets like 1/100th the number of visitors as Versailles. The gardens aren't as impressive but I liked the palace significantly more. I don't remember having to line up for free days in the Louvre either, but maybe I've gone late enough in the evening that most of the people are already gone by then. magicjackson posted:The only bad things about Paris are all the smoking and those goddamn selfie sticks. You're in luck: The Versailles interior has a selfie-stick ban, with signs everywhere depicting the ban. Though you'll find more than a few Chinese tourists who pretend to not know how to read pictographs/diagrams. Saladman fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Oct 6, 2015 |
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Oct 6, 2015 15:10
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Kill everyone that uses a selfie stick, IMO.
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Oct 6, 2015 16:35
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I went to Versailles today and there were definitely a lot of Chinese using them. Saw at least one person get reprimanded by security. I'm just glad I got there right when it opened, as it was super busy when I left a few hours later. That hall of mirrors is insane.
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Oct 6, 2015 19:54
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When I lived in Italy for three years, I was glad to be there during the proliferation of the selfie stick. Since I mostly traveled alone, I would always get asked to take pictures of couples with their smartfoans. I had to muster all of my decency to only emit a soft sigh or jokingly ask for six euros fifty cents for the service.
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Oct 6, 2015 20:01
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