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Saladman posted:You know that the USA already does this and the EU/Schengen is implementing this also in 2023… right? The EU one is called a ETIAS. Some other countries do this too, eg Turkey. Also while it can take "up to" 48 hours I imagine it will be instantaneous in practice like the ESTA for 99% of visa waiver people, unless you’ve been to a handful of countries that people don’t usually travel to, plus Iran and now since Biden loves implementing Trump policies, also Cuba. Thank you thank you! Will buy tickets in Rome in advance and try to book a restaurant or two. And definitely going to the Vatican. I will also try to shift my travel schedule, fly in Milan, go to Naples on a cheap flight, then work my way up? Is it a little silly to go from Naples to Florence then down back to Rome/Vatican just to avoid the Easter crowd or should I just wake up at 5am and beat everyone Any recommendations for a day hike or excursion? Thanks everyone and also would like to ask about dinner times. Many Restaurants don’t really open from 6-8 right? They expect you to eat some light snack and just wait? My coworkers and had a little bit of culture shock, they are used to eating at 6 or 530 Are most Italian city or town Centres like the ones in padova or bologna? Everything just oozes with cobble stones and architecture. But once you leave that nice city center ring you get a lot of dilapidated infrastructure and poverty and things become super sketchy to the max. Like supermarkets will lock your backpack up because too much theft Wonton fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Jan 29, 2023 |
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Jan 29, 2023 03:37
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Hadlock posted:Kneecapping euro tourism seems like an awful and ineffectual way to resolve the problem though Yes, obviously no one is now going to places like America or Canada that have had these for years. This is truly going to collapse *checks notes* tourism to Europe from other western countries over a ten minute online application and $8 fee.
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Jan 29, 2023 03:44
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Check your notes about increasing friction for doing business in Europe too. There's an ease of doing business index. You want to be at the top
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Jan 29, 2023 03:50
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Yes, truly this ten minute process that already exists in America, Australia and Canada, and has for years will cripple the business cycle of an entire continent. This is a hill you should die on, it's absolutely worth the meltdown you're currently having.
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Jan 29, 2023 06:11
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Hmm yes truly
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Jan 29, 2023 08:00
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You should be angry that America has poo poo public transit and infrastructure, not using metric, and that every other country’s economy is basically subsidizing America. USA is the only country in the world that can print as much as it want and raise the debt ceiling whenever it wants without worrying about their currency becoming useless. For being the largest economy in the world and the bastion of cutting edge research, the average American lives in lovely mind mumbling car brained suburbia and eat garbage high fructose corn syrup laced food. Man I need to go to Italy and eat some cheese and meat. Anyone have Italian vegetable dishes to recommend? I’m getting old, I need to eat my green veggies (salads ok but want something else )
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Jan 29, 2023 08:21
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Waci posted:The global south, famous for previously benefitting from effortless and free entry to Western countries. Americans having to put in almost one tenth of the money and effort required for travel documents will surely somehow affect them. I already made a meltdown post so let me just quote this guy.
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Jan 29, 2023 08:33
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Wonton posted:Thank you thank you! Will buy tickets in Rome in advance and try to book a restaurant or two. And definitely going to the Vatican. I will also try to shift my travel schedule, fly in Milan, go to Naples on a cheap flight, then work my way up? Is it a little silly to go from Naples to Florence then down back to Rome/Vatican just to avoid the Easter crowd or should I just wake up at 5am and beat everyone The train from Naples to Milan is crazy fast, but a flight is likely a lot cheaper. Still, worth looking at the train depending on your budget as trains are way more comfortable than flying, and they'll both take about the same amount of time in terms of city center to city center – or likely, even faster for train for that exact route. I'm not sure I'd do it to avoid Easter crowds in St Peters though. Just don't go on the Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon of Easter, and since you had 5 days I guess you have 1 day that's not in that window, and spend the other 4 days doing the forum and medieval Rome and etc. Italian restaurants open usually around 7pm to 8pm (some at 7, some 7:30, some 8, varies by region slightly and from restaurant to restaurant). However everywhere you're going is like Mega Tourist Center, so there will be restaurants open like from 10am until 2am nonstop. If you go to some little Italian village, then yeah I would literally never expect to find a restaurant kitchen open between 2pm and 7pm, meaning you'd at best be able to get a coffee and panini. One thing that might trick you is that a lot of restaurants are actually "open" from 10am until midnight, but if you walk in between 2pm and 7pm, all you can get is drinks and maybe a few cold plates or something very simple like bruschetta. If you want to eat at Italian-weird hours (i.e. 6pm), make sure to ask if the kitchen is open. Yes most Italian cities have a beautiful core and then are ringed by kind of gross 1970s apartment blocks. They're overwhelmingly not dangerous, just kind of visually scuzzy. I always walk through grocery stores with my own bags and stuff -- my wife is very militant about being able to use her own shopping bags -- and the only time I've ever been asked to lock my stuff up was once in Luxembourg City next to the train station. That said, prejudice works in my favor, although I guess you are Asian if I interpreted the previous post correctly, so probably it will work in your favor too, unless you wear hoodies and sweatpants all day, have facial tattoos, and have a cig hanging out of your mouth while walking. For day hikes and excursions: too many possibilities really, would have to know your personal interests, fitness, ability to rent a car, etc. Like Rome for instance has some nice hikes near Castle Gandolfo and Nemi, which are poorly (but possibly) accessible by public transport. Florence also... but no idea what is accessible by public transport. There are lots of lovely hills though, possibly better to just rent a car for the day. I'd suggest picking up a guidebook or look at the Wikivoyage page for whatever region/city and flip through it. Wikivoyage pages have wayyyy too much detail about public transport routes and schedules, but they also have pretty good maps highlighting points of interest. Or you could buy / download the Dorling Kindersley (DK / Eyewitness) guidebooks which are always good. Saladman fucked around with this message at 11:43 on Jan 29, 2023 |
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Jan 29, 2023 11:16
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For Italian cities, we enjoyed the Rick Steve self guided audio tours (they're free in his app). They're kinda cheesy and not hugely insightful but it's a nice way to see the main sights and be able to learn a little. My startup idea has always been an audio tour app but I see that VoiceMap exists, will have to try that out.
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Jan 29, 2023 11:41
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I think I've seen almost all 134 episodes of Rick Steves' Europe including like, Iran. They're short and easy to have on in the background while my attention is wrapped up in iPad games. He's such a dork but I'd absolutely love him if he was my endearing uncle or something that brings over apricot liquor he got in Austria or something at Christmas.
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Jan 29, 2023 17:04
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I’ve probably seen most of his episodes too. He’s definitely a dork but I find it relaxing and inspiring for new trip ideas. Just a quick overview of places without going super deep. Me wife and I were in a pub in Ireland and Rick Steves came in. Apparently he would pick random tours from his company and go on the trip with them as a surprise. He was in town with one of the tours and I think just hitting some pubs on his own to chat with random people. I didn’t talk to him but everyone who did said he was really nice and genuine.
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Jan 29, 2023 18:21
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It's really funny how he dresses and what cameras they use because I absolutely thought these were filmed in like 1989 until I started paying attention.
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Jan 29, 2023 18:38
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Someday I want to try the Rick Steves super minimalist packing system. All fancy travel clothes, you have one change of clothes and you wash in the sink every night or two. Everything fits in a day pack.
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Jan 29, 2023 18:52
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smackfu posted:Someday I want to try the Rick Steves super minimalist packing system. All fancy travel clothes, you have one change of clothes and you wash in the sink every night or two. Everything fits in a day pack. His guides do look interesting, I'll check it out for future use.
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Jan 29, 2023 19:13
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I've done similar except I always kept an extra dress shirt tucked away. Works great for long hiking trips. Throw on the fancy shirt on day three and go to a nice restaurant or whatevs
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Jan 29, 2023 20:17
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I tend to pack a 35L backpack or regular carryon completely full, regardless if I go somewhere for a long weekend, or if I go for a four month backpacking trip. I switch between carryon and 35L pack depending on if I think I'll be walking with it a lot, or if the luggage will just sit in a car or hotel 99% of the time.
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Jan 29, 2023 21:20
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I respect all you light packers. I'm more like Tom Hanks in Joe Vs The Volcano when I go on a trip
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Jan 29, 2023 22:59
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Light travel is great, but you look like a god drat travel dad dork, like wearing Columbia wind proof pants in Paris. And all your travel photos look silly because you look more like a photoshop cut in instead of a real person. And you also need to be in shape, I got a bit of a tummy in the last 10 years, so I look even more ridiculous than before with the ultra stretch quick dry clothing. The whole look is called “urban athleisure” wear or something but you come off as a broke rear end techbro. You can pack in a nicer pair of shoes and clothes for a night out, but deep down you know they take up precious space because you also need a nicer set of socks and jacket. light traveling means you won’t have much room to buy souvenirs or do any shopping. Unless you bring an empty duffel just for shopping and checked the luggage on your return journey. Washing in the sink every night also gets a little tedious, when you come home a little tipsy or after a long evening, the last thing you want to do is scrub scrub scrub your clothes. If it’s coin laundry in the hotel then you have to fight for a spot with everyone else for the laundry machine and then grab your clothes at weird hours. It’s very satisfying to waltz out of the airport and go immediately to the city, with no checked bags to wait, and no silly SIM card to buy in the airport(because you already have data). But you do have a few trade offs, it’s not for everyone. A group of 4 in Europe don’t have to worry so much about light travel, just rent a car and go from point to point (not counting euro truck simulator routes)
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Jan 30, 2023 04:14
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That just sounds like you care too much what other people think of what you look like. As long as you dress respectfully of local norms, no one cares if they even notice. If going somewhere cold, a nice warm jacket, neat button down long sleeve shirts and jeans are no problem to take for a light packer. Agreed you can't do too much souvenir shopping but for me that is a feature, not a bug (or buy a bag for the return journey like you suggest). Sure, if you are carting booze/gifts/shopping for friends, carting hobby equipment, travelling with kids or permanently moving then will more likely need hold luggage but most people just pack too much poo poo. If doing a road trip, then just making sure that the cabin isn't too full of crap is the main thing otherwise go hog wild, make sure there is an esky to hand full of snacks and booze and a few iced coffees for the driver currently driving.
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Jan 30, 2023 09:34
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Electric Wrigglies posted:That just sounds like you care too much what other people think of what you look like. As long as you dress respectfully of local norms, no one cares if they even notice. If going somewhere cold, a nice warm jacket, neat button down long sleeve shirts and jeans are no problem to take for a light packer. Agreed you can't do too much souvenir shopping but for me that is a feature, not a bug (or buy a bag for the return journey like you suggest). I don't think it was other people, so much as what the OP wants for their own photos of the visit. Even when I pack super light I always pack a pair of nice clothes -- and tend to wear them more often -- so that all of my travel photos aren't me in a pair of zipoff-short North Face cargo pants. As utilitarian as zipoff-short North Face cargo pants are, I don't want to remember all of my trips with me in those and and a navy blue long-sleeved icebreaker T with rolled up arms, regardless of their versatility form a utilitarian standpoint. I also always take only dress shoes, unless I know I'm going on a multi-day or serious hike. VVVV: Yeah on longer trips I've gone shopping in the middle too. Sometimes it works, like in Latin America, other times it doesn't work so practically, like anywhere in most poorer countries that is not a very large urban center. Saladman fucked around with this message at 11:52 on Jan 30, 2023 |
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Jan 30, 2023 11:34
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E: so this isn't only ranting about luggage: Recommendations for day-trips in Majorca? Going to be there for about 10 days in July A backpack that is carry-on size is plenty for a decent pair of slacks and a dress shirt on top of socks and boxers. Plus a camera/laptop/return bottle of booze depending on what kind of trip it is  I recommend rolling up a set of thermal underwear too. Helps if its cold and it takes about as much space as a pair of socks. Also strongly recommend hiking pants that aren't covered with zippers and pockets. Tourist-dad look isn't inevitable.I had a eureka moment when I realized I could just buy a shirt/pants/shoes etc on arrival, it's pretty fun to do that when arriving in a large city. Not gonna hate on folks who do pack luggage - I just take a lot of 3-7 day trips in the EU so travelling light is preferable. Fruits of the sea fucked around with this message at 11:50 on Jan 30, 2023 |
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Jan 30, 2023 11:45
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Electric Wrigglies posted:That just sounds like you care too much what other people think of what you look like. As long as you dress respectfully of local norms, no one cares if they even notice. If going somewhere cold, a nice warm jacket, neat button down long sleeve shirts and jeans are no problem to take for a light packer. Agreed you can't do too much souvenir shopping but for me that is a feature, not a bug (or buy a bag for the return journey like you suggest). Anecdotal and niche so I won’t overgeneralize but having been to Paris many times, often as part of a tour group my family led, how you dress definitely has an effect on how people interact with you. Many Parisians will not give the time of day to shlubbily-dressed tourists, and scam artists/pickpockets single such people out. It’s easy to avoid the thieves if you know what you’re doing but it’s better to just blend in in my experience. More than once a Parisian has mistaken my wife and I for locals and when they figure out we’re Americans they do the Looney Tunes thing where they run away so fast there’s a little wispy outline of themselves where they used to be. Like dressing in white trainers and a windbreaker won’t ruin your trip but also sticking out like a sore thumb does have consequences that can wear on you. And at least while I was around the other people in our group weren’t doing the usual American thing of “being really loud” that would explain negative interactions. I did my best to keep us on good behavior. Judgy Fucker fucked around with this message at 14:05 on Jan 30, 2023 |
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Jan 30, 2023 13:47
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We travelled for 6 months with 40l backbags with my partner, with temperatures ranging from -1C and snowing to +35C. I managed to fit several outfits in my bag, most of it stuff I wear regularly anyway. Uniqlo is pretty good if you want comfortable, lightweight and easily packable clothing fit for many occasions that doesn't look extremely sporty/techy or break the bank.
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Jan 30, 2023 14:38
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The white sneakers part I get, and have heard that mentioned for decades. But windbreakers are US-centric? What’s the European solution for waterproof light jacket then?
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Jan 30, 2023 15:15
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You don't need to dress like a bum (and/or tourist dad) when packing lightly, unless it's like hiking trip just take normal street clothes. Considering we're in the Europe thread, clean jeans and button-down shirts will be fine, if it's cooler I have a down jacket like everyone wears but you can dress it up with a sports coat and that will be enough to put in in the 1% unless you're planning on attending an opera or something.
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Jan 30, 2023 15:36
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:The white sneakers part I get, and have heard that mentioned for decades. But windbreakers are US-centric? What’s the European solution for waterproof light jacket then? I won't claim to be an expert on Parisian culture or anything, but based on my experiences from (I think) 9 trips there, almost all in March: most Parisians dress in neutral sweaters regardless of the weather. Sunny and in the 60s F? Sweater. Cloudy and in the 40s? Sweater. Raining? Sweater with umbrella. Wearing anything that isn't black, charcoal, or dark brown immediately pegs you as a tourist. Also Parisians wear nice shoes all the time. Judgy Fucker fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Jan 30, 2023 |
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Jan 30, 2023 16:09
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Compared to 20 or even 10 years ago , outdoor gear like Columbia/north face/pantagonia/arcteryx were considered only for outdoors but nowadays there’s so many collabs, and they have become fashionable brands. Even stuff like Canada goose or Montcler down jackets are status symbols. Athleisure is the future because it’s freaking comfortable, and I think lulu lemon and other brands are trying to make the wind/water proof clothing more subtle for everyday use. Looking at this video, you don’t see too many thin wind proof shell in crazy colours but mostly down jackets. https://youtu.be/Qs-md5G-btI
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Jan 30, 2023 16:10
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Plenty of folks in the EU go around in rando jackets, that's unexceptional. Usually whatever jacket is trendy in the US is big in Europe one year afterwards. Carharrt is loving huge right now, if you want to blend in with the hipster crowd. Related, teens and 20-somethings are really into white dad-sneakers but you gotta pair em with loose ankle height khakis and a tucked t-shirt. Thin merino wool sweaters are warm, small, lightweight and presentable everywhere, pretty great for minimalist travel. e: Judgy Fucker posted:Wearing anything that isn't black, charcoal, or dark brown immediately pegs you as a tourist. also this Fruits of the sea fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Jan 30, 2023 |
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Jan 30, 2023 16:16
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Judgy Fucker posted:Wearing anything that isn't black, charcoal, or dark brown immediately pegs you as a tourist. Also Parisians wear nice shoes all the time. Like 95% of Europeans under the age of 25 wear white sneakers every day now, at least for the past couple years. They’re huge, just like high waisted jeans on girls under 25. I don’t think my sisters in law even own daily shoes that aren’t white sneakers, and 3 of the 4 of them are Gen Z. I’m in the train right now and the 3 other guys in my area all have on white trainers. Europeans also don’t dress that much better than Americans. There’s definitely a specifically American dad shorts and t shirt and beer belly look. Pea coats are way more common here but I don’t think it’s a huge difference. Admittedly I haven’t been to America in the winter since COVID so maybe I just have bad memory.
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Jan 30, 2023 17:47
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Likewise I haven’t been to Paris since 2015 or ‘16, and sheesh yeah that was 7-8 years ago now that I think about it. It’d be surprising if trends hadn’t changed.
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Jan 30, 2023 17:52
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The most “I’m an American” look I ever saw in an Edinburgh hotel. The man was wearing matching bright yellow t shirt and shorts, I think it was the Iowa football colours or something. I was in a lift with him and we started talking, I don’t think he got my joke when I asked him where he was from.
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Jan 30, 2023 17:53
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Saladman posted:Europeans also don’t dress that much better than Americans. True. But they do in the central part of big cities.
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Jan 30, 2023 18:00
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Rojkir posted:True. But they do in the central part of big cities. Yeah, but that is probably true if you're in like the business district of Boston or New York too, right? I mean other than the massive amount of mentally ill street homeless that the US has in its central business districts. Dunno though, I haven't been to New York or Boston in winter & don't plan on it, and people definitely dress better in cold weather than warm weather. I was in the grocery store just now, and these shoes are pretty representative of your average Gen Z European:  Wearing sports jerseys is a 100000% exclusively American (probably Canadian too) thing now that I think about it.
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Jan 30, 2023 18:13
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Usually, you can hear Americans before you can see them, so once they are close enough, the combination of trousers, shoes, and other garments just confirms what you already knew.
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Jan 30, 2023 19:53
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Americans also like to wear sweatshirts with university names on them. They even buy University of Florence shirts for their plane ride home.
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Jan 30, 2023 21:56
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American tourist sneakers are big chunky running shoes though, scoring zero for both form and function since they usually just do hop-on hop-off bus tours. WaryWarren posted:Americans also like to wear sweatshirts with university names on them. They even buy University of Florence shirts for their plane ride home. A couple of the schools around me have started selling these but they thankfully aren't catching on.
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Jan 30, 2023 22:10
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Wonton posted:LETS DO IT I'd PM you but you aren't fancy enough! send me an email and we can figure stuff out - (gmail account, but swap out the "l" in my username for an "r")
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Jan 31, 2023 01:59
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Saladman posted:Wearing sports jerseys is a 100000% exclusively American (probably Canadian too) thing now that I think about it. Yeah, sport jerseys and college/university sweaters make it super easy to spot Americans. Shorts as well I think, maybe not as much Europe but definitely in other parts of the world
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Jan 31, 2023 02:48
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WaryWarren posted:Americans also like to wear sweatshirts with university names on them. They even buy University of Florence shirts for their plane ride home.
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Jan 31, 2023 03:47
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A Swiss tourist abroad is easily identifiable. Always wears ON brand sneakers, hiking pants with leg pockets, a checkered short sleeve shirt, and when it's cold a Mammut brand down jacket.
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Jan 31, 2023 09:51
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