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unpacked robinhood posted:Anyone familiar with the northern coast of Spain ? We drove the northern coast, a circle from Lisbon up along the coast through the border, over to San Sebastian (with a side trip to Biarritz, just to say we also made it to France), down through Pamplona and back through Madrid to Lisbon. We took about 10 days, spending a few days in the major cities but a TON of time driving around the countryside. This was in 2007 or so, way before smartphones. We had an old travel guide and my friend spoke very poor Spanish and was able to use our mobile phone and book hostels as we drove around. We often called ahead from payphones on the road. We went in early July. It wasn't terribly busy anywhere at all, and the weather was great. We did a lot of exploring the coast, old bunkers and castles and villages and stuff. I don't speak Spanish, my husband didn't speak it, our friend was mediocre at best, but everyone wanted to practice their English with us and they were very friendly towards tourists. We encountered a ton of toll roads, and this was right as an economic boom was taking off so there was a ton of construction all over Spain and Portugal. We often think of the nightclubs that didn't really pick up until 2am, the free hardcore porn on public television and all the pilgrims we passed on the Camino de Santiago. We were safe, the most annoying thing was all the dudes trying to sell us dope in Lisbon. "Smoke two joints" "Co-kaine! Co-kaine!" we love blurting those lines out at random moments. We also encountered a very friendly drug dealer in Dublin - we parked our car, stepped out of the parking garage, and the dude was all over us asking if we wanted any blow. It was amazing, we could barely understand him through his accent and we just thought he was a friendly local. For our one and only afternoon in Dublin, it was very memorable.
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Sep 3, 2016 04:11
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Also recommend staying around France and staying longer if you are renting a car. Drive to Mont St Michel as well and stay in air bnb or other bed and breakfast, once you leave Paris it's pretty easy to navigate. And then drive straight to the airport when you leave. I like Versailles, yes it's crowded but if you come in the morning or stick around longer it's a lot more manageable. That's the great thing about renting a car, it's just so much easier getting around the more rural places. As for Amsterdam, it depends on how much you guys are packing. If you travel light within one bag then it's definitely doable. Europe is super easy to get around nowadays with websites to order tickets and make accommodations. I did enjoy trying some amazing traditional Dutch food. I never realized that pea soup and potatoes can taste so good yet at the same time look so plain. It keeps you nice and warm during winter!
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Sep 3, 2016 06:33
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unpacked robinhood posted:Anyone familiar with the northern coast of Spain ? I've been to A Coruna and San Sebastian, although not driving. San Sebastian was a bit expensive, talking about the city itself, but the surrounding countryside was gorgeous, so I think driving is definitely the way to go. A Coruna was an awesome small city, very friendly and not expensive at all, and with a very nice beach. I think I was paying around 70€/night for a beachfront 4-star hotel, with a room that was a gently caress sight bigger than anything I've seen in Madrid for under €200/night. I can't think of any "traps" to avoid in either place, really, but I don't know that much about the huge stretch of land in between. The only thing I can think of is, if you're a wine drinker, drink the local wines in lieu of wines from the more famous Spanish regions like Rioja -- Galicia in particular has some stunning and very affordable white wines that are almost unknown outside the area. I think you would be okay without speaking Spanish. I always felt quite safe and I never ran into any problems.
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Sep 3, 2016 23:41
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Is there anything in particular to know about visiting Croatia? Stuff to see, unexpected pitfalls etc?
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Sep 4, 2016 04:12
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Go to Plitvice Lakes national park.
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Sep 4, 2016 04:39
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Thanks for the Spain tips !
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Sep 4, 2016 17:02
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IXIX posted:Is there anything in particular to know about visiting Croatia? Stuff to see, unexpected pitfalls etc? What time of the year?
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Sep 4, 2016 21:19
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Doctor Malaver posted:What time of the year? October-ish.
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Sep 4, 2016 21:25
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I have a question that isn't specifically Europe-related, but you guys have mastered the art of travel, so here I am. How long should I give myself between international flights for a self-transfer (claiming my luggage from check-in, rechecking it, and going through security) ? I'm looking at flying from Toronto to Barcelona with a 5h55m layover in Ponta Delgada, and a 4h30m layover in Lisbon. Is this doable ?
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Sep 5, 2016 12:28
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IXIX posted:Is there anything in particular to know about visiting Croatia? Stuff to see, unexpected pitfalls etc? Zagreb is known for being... kind of boring. I'm here now and I'm not sure I disagree. Plitvice lakes and the coast are kind of the big draws afaik.
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Sep 5, 2016 12:31
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The Schwa posted:Zagreb is known for being... kind of boring. I'm here now and I'm not sure I disagree. Plitvice lakes and the coast are kind of the big draws afaik. Zagreb is like a carbon copy of Bratislava. I've been there some twenty years ago on a field trip, and the similarity was staggering. We ate at a really unsanitary restaurant (this sort of thing wouldn't fly today in 2016) and the funny thing is that railway stations in Zagreb used to operate restaurants of the exact same kind in the 90s. The unfriendliness of the staff became the stuff of legends. You'd pick out something on the menu, only to be told that "no you may not have this." The reason behind this was that these restaurants used to be so poorly stocked that about the only thing they had was a can of goulash from 1982. If you were lucky, they would have even warmed it up for ya!  The times have changed, but Zagreb remains decidedly boring. That's why I always warn people to expect very little and that they should just crash at a cheap backpackers' hostel for the night and then take the bus to the coast in the morning.
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Sep 5, 2016 12:57
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GAY 4 ORGANS
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Istari posted:I have a question that isn't specifically Europe-related, but you guys have mastered the art of travel, so here I am. For the times you gave, absolutely yes. Check in usually closes 90 minutes before a flight, at the earliest (some low-cost flights close one hour before), and usually from landing you should account for another 90 minutes (to play it safe) for the plane to roll to the gate, disembarkation and baggage claim. So three hours total. That would give you a 2h55m margin in Ponta Delgada and 1h30m in Lisbon as a safety margin in case the inbound flight is late or something, I'd say that's enough.
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Sep 5, 2016 13:09
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Istari posted:I have a question that isn't specifically Europe-related, but you guys have mastered the art of travel, so here I am. I really hate stressing at airports so I'd do 90-120 minutes and then I'd feel pretty good about making it. Basically as much time as you'd usually allow for arriving and checking in at the airport. If you're booking the whole journey as one purchase, even if there's a delay on your first flight they'll get you to your destination. If you're buying the legs separately (I highly recommend NOT ding this) then you're the one responsible so maybe give yourself extra time.
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Sep 5, 2016 13:10
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Thanks, guys.
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Sep 5, 2016 13:43
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Istari posted:I'm looking at flying from Toronto to Barcelona with a 5h55m layover in Ponta Delgada, and a 4h30m layover in Lisbon. ...how much money are you saving by doing this? There are numerous ways to do the same route either direct or with a single connection managed fully by the airline. Why are you considering two self-transfers? Those layovers are doable, but they add up to longer than the whole itinerary would be if you flew a different routing.
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Sep 5, 2016 14:57
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hackbunny fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Jul 2, 2020 |
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Sep 5, 2016 16:02
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Now that we're on beer, a huge seller is Ožujsko brand of beer, however, it's spectacularly poor value for money and I'd recommend that you pass if offered. The thing about this beer is that it's a nauseating mixture of aggressively clashing tastes, and you're gonna pay through the nose to feel this "privilege" - which will probably end up with you driving a porcelain bus. Tomislav, on the other hand, is a good ale, rich in texture and not overly bitter. Tomislav is made at the same brewery as this Ožujsko pig piss, which just goes to show that the latter is nothing but overpriced sucker bait. Pubs serve seriously good craft beers.
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Sep 5, 2016 16:35
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PT6A posted:...how much money are you saving by doing this? There are numerous ways to do the same route either direct or with a single connection managed fully by the airline. Why are you considering two self-transfers? Those layovers are doable, but they add up to longer than the whole itinerary would be if you flew a different routing. I'm meeting up with someone in Ponta Delgada.
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Sep 5, 2016 16:40
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hackbunny posted:herbal/citrus soda Cockta That's pomegranate juice with lemonade 
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Sep 5, 2016 17:21
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Istari posted:I'm meeting up with someone in Ponta Delgada. Ah, that makes more sense.
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Sep 5, 2016 17:46
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hackbunny fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Jul 2, 2020 |
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Sep 5, 2016 20:43
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I've got a job in Brussels starting in the first week of October for the winter and I'm trying to find somewhere to stay over that time and I'm struggling to find anything particularly cheap. I was wondering whether anyone had any experience of doing this, and what I should be checking to make sure that I'm getting something good? The only sites that I have are the ones that I was recommended by the folk that are employing me and they're all flats that are slightly outside my budget and a single flat share site which looks dodgy as gently caress...
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Sep 5, 2016 21:11
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IceAgeComing posted:I've got a job in Brussels starting in the first week of October for the winter and I'm trying to find somewhere to stay over that time and I'm struggling to find anything particularly cheap. I was wondering whether anyone had any experience of doing this, and what I should be checking to make sure that I'm getting something good? The only sites that I have are the ones that I was recommended by the folk that are employing me and they're all flats that are slightly outside my budget and a single flat share site which looks dodgy as gently caress... Ask if anyone in your office knows someone personally who is looking for a flat share for a short term. I wouldn't trust anyone on the internet for anything, the whole situation is ripe for fraud: a big city full of foreigners (usually well off) constantly coming and going and all of them needing flats right away. I lived in Geneva and it was a complete nightmare for this reason. Maybe Brussels if different but I would be extremely wary of making any arrangements without getting keys in hand and moving in the next day.
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Sep 5, 2016 21:20
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I have no one there to talk to though; that's part of the problem. The only contact I have is someone in the group that I have the thing with and all they gave me were this list of sites, most of which are things that are way too expensive. I've tried doing research about it but its hard and I want to get something quick... Its a temporary thing as well which makes it harder still...
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Sep 5, 2016 21:24
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IceAgeComing posted:I have no one there to talk to though; that's part of the problem. The only contact I have is someone in the group that I have the thing with and all they gave me were this list of sites, most of which are things that are way too expensive. I've tried doing research about it but its hard and I want to get something quick... Ask them to send an email around the office, "we have a new person who's looking for a flat for a week while they find their own place" something like that so you don't have to get fleeced by a letting agent or screwed by a scammer. Maybe I'm being melodramatic and one of the Brussels goons will have a suggestion but it seemed like just about every ad for an apartment in Geneva was fake--a bunch of clicks before people pick up the phone, I can't meet you but just wire me the money and my friend will give you the key kind of poo poo. Good luck tho :/ edit: Once you're there, you can put up a little flyer around the university or areas like that looking for a flatshare. I'm sure there are people who need lodgers.
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Sep 5, 2016 21:38
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IXIX posted:October-ish. Zagreb is not as bad any more as other posters are saying but you can skip it if you have experience with other mittel-European cities. That's a good time of year to visit Dubrovnik and I'd go to Split too just for the palace. Plitvice Lakes are always a safe bet.
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Sep 5, 2016 23:27
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I enjoyed randomly mooching around Zagreb but I'd agree there really isn't all that much to do in the city itself, I wouldn't spend more than a few days there and that's including a trip to Postojna caves which are definitely worth seeing. One thing I would absolutely recommend is the Museum of Broken Relationships, it's an exhibition of the things that people have left behind after breakups and the stories behind them. It sounds depressing as hell (and it is, a bit) but it's also incredibly moving. You might need a stiff drink afterwards, though. There's also a cool to-scale installation of the sun and all the planets scattered around the city centre so you can spend a morning hunting them all down. Dubrovnik should be really nice in October and reasonably empty of tourists too. Lots of Game of Thrones tours if you're into that. Lots of the islands are worth visiting, I went to Lokrum which was absolutely amazing (might be a bit cold to go swimming in October though). There are also loads of vineyards around the coastal region if you want to do some wine-tasting.
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Sep 6, 2016 00:14
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As for homes, maybe rent a week off Airbnb so you won't feel so desperate? The most important part of any deal is being able to walk away
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Sep 6, 2016 03:56
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That Zagreb museum sounds awesome.
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Sep 6, 2016 07:20
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greazeball posted:Maybe I'm being melodramatic and one of the Brussels goons will have a suggestion but it seemed like just about every ad for an apartment in Geneva was fake--a bunch of clicks before people pick up the phone, I can't meet you but just wire me the money and my friend will give you the key kind of poo poo. Good luck tho :/ Geneva is the worst city on the entire planet for that, no joke. Someone should do listings, but Zurich, Copenhagen, etc would fly a mile behind. Brussels should be okay as its occupancy rate is not 99.99% like loving Geneva's. I was amazed at how easy it was to move to Zurich. I even knew all the tricks in Geneva, and we lived in Lausanne instead. IMO for people moving to Geneva just pay a chasseur d'appartement in Geneva and get it over with. Flat sharing for Brussels sounds like a good idea too, just use a site with students on it (if other poster isn't older than like 30). If you have a big company / office mailing around sounds great, but if it's like 5 people you'll have to stake it out on your own. Depending on how temporary it is, you could rent a furnished flat - these are always a ripoff but they're for semi-short stats (several months) and IME always have rooms available... if you're willing to pay 50% over market for the size you're getting.
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Sep 6, 2016 07:49
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skooma512 posted:That Zagreb museum sounds awesome. I went yesterday! It was pretty good, funny and sad. ASF, do you have any other recommendations while I'm here? I leave on Thursday or Friday. Once it stops raining we are going to climb... something.
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Sep 6, 2016 09:05
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The Schwa posted:I went yesterday! It was pretty good, funny and sad. ASF, do you have any other recommendations while I'm here? I leave on Thursday or Friday. Once it stops raining we are going to climb... something. There are some absolutely wonderful hiking trails on the Medvednica mountain, especially the trails that are not overly steep and go through the gentle suburbia where the last houses meet the woods and the mountain. Unfortunately, since it's been raining the past few days (as it ALWAYS does at the beginning of September for some reason), this could turn into a very wet, muddy and miserable experience. How about hiking from Bizek, seeing the abandoned stone quarry, uphill to Glavica and then grabbing something to eat there at the mountain inn? http://blog.dnevnik.hr/nepoznatizag...stazomfont.html There are dozens upon dozens of hiking trails but I'm just about the worst person to ask about this, as I honestly don't care about hiking at all. Too bad you're not gonna stick around till Sunday to see the Jakuševac flea market. It's like a giant open-air museum and everything is for sale: cars and trucks, clothes (both used and new), household appliances, books and magazines, obsolete electronics like 1960s RTR tape recorders, every obsolete computer part you can imagine, vinyl records, tacky grandma poo poo, bootleg tobacco and booze, guns, pre-WWII radio sets and then some. I once bought a 1960s electronic organ there (the fucker must have weighed something around 100 pounds, good thing that I came with a car!) But since the weather is not exactly what you'd call pleasant, few people will show up since everybody fears their stuff getting wet. How are you going to dry three cubic meters of clothes if they get rained upon? Veneer on wooden stuff will chip and that's a fiddly and expensive repair! edit: how about hopping on trams no. 6 or 7 and seeing the impossibly ugly corrugated ALUMINUM commieblocks in the Zapruđe estate? This isn't something that is usually shown to tourists because holy gently caress is it ugly. These shits were completed in 1966 and it was the space age, and of course you'd like to live in a concrete-glass-asbestos-plywood-aluminum capsule. https://www.google.hr/maps/@45.7805...!8i6656!6m1!1e1 A SWEATY FATBEARD fucked around with this message at 14:01 on Sep 6, 2016 |
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Sep 6, 2016 13:49
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Yeah, the rain is supposed to stop today but I don't think the mountain trails are going to dry up while you are still here. There are asphalt roads that go all the way up, but that's not really the same, isn't it.
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Sep 6, 2016 14:19
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A SWEATY FATBEARD posted:There are some absolutely wonderful hiking trails on the Medvednica mountain, especially the trails that are not overly steep and go through the gentle suburbia where the last houses meet the woods and the mountain. Unfortunately, since it's been raining the past few days (as it ALWAYS does at the beginning of September for some reason), this could turn into a very wet, muddy and miserable experience. Jakusevac and hiking are great advice but I'm not sure the Zapruđe buildings can be interesting to anyone except maybe someone in construction/architecture. I was in one of those buildings with my father while he was considering buying an apartment there and the experience was utterly unremarkable. Instead I would suggest taking a look at Art Park, which is next to funicular. Or Food Film Festival in Zrinjevac park (starting Thursday). The same day opens the "How the people live" exposition in MSU (museum of modern art) which could be interesting to you as a foreigner. It's about 8 families from different parts of Croatia. Tomorrow start Dani Savske (Savska street days) in Vintage Industrial Bar - a combination of free concerts, used records selling and a photo exhibition. If you're here on Friday you can see Cat Power live in Tvornica. To see an old-school socialist era cinema, visit Tuškanac cinema and enjoy this week (foreign) movies from Vukovar Film Festival.
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Sep 6, 2016 19:46
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Doctor Malaver posted:MSU (museum of modern art) Coincidentally, that's less than five minutes away on foot from my place. One of the best places in town to rifle through the trash in search for empty bottles and cans to trade for recycling money.  ninja edit: Jakuševac is maybe the only place on Earth where you can buy an 18th century cannon replica, a 1970s analog synth from the USSR, a baby bunny and a Yugo in less than 15 minutes time. A SWEATY FATBEARD fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Sep 6, 2016 |
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Sep 6, 2016 19:58
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A SWEATY FATBEARD posted:ninja edit: Jakuševac is maybe the only place on Earth where you can buy an 18th century cannon replica, a 1970s analog synth from the USSR, a baby bunny and a Yugo in less than 15 minutes time. I'm pretty sure you can buy all those things at Arizona market in Bosnia.
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Sep 6, 2016 20:31
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Has anyone here spent enough time in Rome to know their way around the restaurants, or just so happens to know a nice non-Italian and non-French restaurant there? I'm looking for something with a kind of fancy and/or uniquely interesting ambiance (i.e. to celebrate an occasion, so nice atmosphere) that's preferably not Italian or French. Pickings on TripAdvisor are pretty slim—although there are so many restaurants I haven't flipped through even the first 10 pages completely. The same search in Paris or London would leave me overwhelmed with possibilities, but instead all I find is a snarky 2008 NYTimes opinion piece about how the foreign food in Rome is limited to cheap kebab and Hard Rock Cafe. E: Found the general style of thing I'm looking for: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/rome/articles/rome-restaurants/ , nearly all Italian and French ... although I guess Italians, French, and Japanese cuisine have a near-monopoly on that type of setting for whatever reason. That article's writing style is insufferable though. At least twice s/he uses the phrase "in the last millennium" to mean the 1990s. Saladman fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Sep 7, 2016 |
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Sep 7, 2016 20:28
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we went up to Sljeme this afternoon! my body hurts. I leave tomorrow, but apparently tonight there's a festival opening (maybe a literature festival?) so we're going to a party thing for that. maybe around the student centre, not sure. luckily I'm staying with friends so we're mostly just going out a bunch
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Sep 7, 2016 20:36
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Saladman posted:Has anyone here spent enough time in Rome to know their way around the restaurants, or just so happens to know a nice non-Italian and non-French restaurant there? I'm looking for something with a kind of fancy and/or uniquely interesting ambiance (i.e. to celebrate an occasion, so nice atmosphere) that's preferably not Italian or French. Pickings on TripAdvisor are pretty slim—although there are so many restaurants I haven't flipped through even the first 10 pages completely. The same search in Paris or London would leave me overwhelmed with possibilities, but instead all I find is a snarky 2008 NYTimes opinion piece about how the foreign food in Rome is limited to cheap kebab and Hard Rock Cafe. Try the fork app. I've had good luck with it in Spain. The reviews here are mostly in Spanish and sound like they are from locals. When I put Rome in as a location it looks like most of the reviews are in Italian, which seems like a good sign. Hashtag Banterzone fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Sep 8, 2016 |
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Sep 7, 2016 23:59
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IceAgeComing posted:I have no one there to talk to though; that's part of the problem. The only contact I have is someone in the group that I have the thing with and all they gave me were this list of sites, most of which are things that are way too expensive. I've tried doing research about it but its hard and I want to get something quick... On the other hand the whole region is rather densly populated though, so maybe looking in other cities might be an option for you? If yes, try: Antwerpen or Gent (or some of the smaller cities in the area).
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Sep 8, 2016 14:54
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