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Entropist posted:In the Netherlands the magstrip cards have been basically phased out for security reasons, and I thought it was the same in much of western Europe by now? You can't get a non-chip card (and haven't for around ten years, I'm sure), but you can probably use them if only because America hasn't switched yet so there's still a reason to support it. Its really weird that the USA hasn't switched yet; bearing in mind that everywhere I used my card in Lithuania used chip and pin (and that was in Klaipeda, which isn't tourist central), and you'd expect the USA to have switched before Eastern Europe...
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May 16, 2014 21:26
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IceAgeComing posted:Its really weird that the USA hasn't switched yet; bearing in mind that everywhere I used my card in Lithuania used chip and pin (and that was in Klaipeda, which isn't tourist central), and you'd expect the USA to have switched before Eastern Europe... It's because the US is huge and had like 50 years with only mag swipe cards, and chip and pin had already been invented by the time Lithuanians and other Ex-Soviet states were allowed to dare think of capitalist corruptions such as credit cards or not using a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread. So by the time they got around to installing cards, chip and pin was easy to make ubiquitous. Similar story in Western Europe, but instead of Soviet demands was more just along the lines of mundane distrust of magic money cards. Good luck using a credit card in Europe in 1985.
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May 17, 2014 07:41
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emfive posted:I just stumbled across something randomly that suggested that American credit cards are sometimes not accepted in Europe (specifically England) because they're not chip and pin A lot of US companies have just recently (like within the past few months) started offering chip + signature cards. It would be worth checking with whoever you get your card from to see if they'll give you a new card with a chip.
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May 17, 2014 13:47
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. Is that true? Since virtually nobody here in the US issues smart credit cards, I would imagine that in areas regularly flooded with American tourists (London) to refuse such cards would be pretty weird, but I wonder.
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So I'm looking to make plans for going overseas again this year in September/October, most likely Spain again and had a couple questions. Does anybody have input on Valencia as a stop for 5 or so full days? For example I love Madrid and Barcelona (likely the two other major stops), Sevilla is very nice but seemed kind of dead some nights on the nightlife factor last fall, and Malaga was pretty but not really my style. Since this will be a solo trip I'm not super thrilled about driving any major distances. Are there some other cities that people might recommend on any of the high speed train routes? I've loved the Alcazars (Sevilla, Cordoba, and the Alhambra) I've seen down in the south and have no problems finding my way around places like the Centro in Madrid or Cuitat Vella in Barcelona. I suppose other countries like it would be cool but Spanish is my only non-English language. Canopus250 fucked around with this message at 22:28 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 22:09
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Canopus250 posted:So I'm looking to make plans for going overseas again this year in September/October, most likely Spain again and had a couple questions. Does anybody have input on Valencia as a stop for 5 or so full days? For example I love Madrid and Barcelona (likely the two other major stops), Sevilla is very nice but seemed kind of dead some nights on the nightlife factor last fall, and Malaga was pretty but not really my style. Since this will be a solo trip I'm not super thrilled about driving any major distances. Are there some other cities that people might recommend on any of the high speed train routes? If possible, check out Ávila/Segovia and Salamanca if you make it to central Spain. Also, San Sebastián and the rest of the greater Basque Country instead of Valencia.
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May 18, 2014 01:59
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I have a chase sapphire chip + signature card that I was able to use everywhere in Amsterdam that accepted credit cards, I just obviously had to sign the little slip of paper, but since they could stick the card into their machine it could be used. A couple of those places my friends weren't able to use their cards because they were just magstrip ones. Whether or not that's actually true or if they just didn't want to take the other cards I don't know, but I was able to use my card everywhere I tried whereas they couldn't. I did see some of the handheld machines that they had didn't appear to have a way to swipe a card, but I didn't closely examine them. If you can get a chip + signature card (I think there are a couple of other companies that offer it) you should be good for most places in Europe I imagine. But again, the standard magstrip cards seem to work at most places, especially in tourist areas. Some places didn't but I don't know if that's because they actually couldn't or just didn't want to! Who knows.
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May 18, 2014 03:11
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Just got back from a two-week trip to the UK, and every merchant that accepted credit cards had no problem with my US Mastercard. As another poster said, sometimes you'll have to tell them to swipe it, but everyone still seems to have a mag strip reader. Oyster card vending machines *won't* take American cards, though (which proved to be a bit of a pain for us, because the only machines that would sell new Oyster cards also didn't take cash bills, only coins, and the machines that would accept bills wouldn't sell new cards  ). It's also easy to get an automatic rental car, though I would recommend booking ahead, especially if it's during the busy season, just to make sure they set one aside for you (or at least give you a legit reason to bitch if they don't  ). I was even able to get one without any trouble at a little car rental place in Kirkwall.Driving on the left isn't very hard to get used to at all. As someone else mentioned, it's probably harder to get used to sitting on the other side of the car; you have to keep reminding yourself that you have several more feet of car on your left side than usual or else you'll find yourself drifting off center to the left a lot (which is especially bad on those narrow roads with five foot wide lanes and no shoulders; I sideswiped a hedge or two with my rental in Ireland the first time I tried driving on the left a few years ago). If you're coming from the US, the roads outside of the motorways and some of the major A roads will seem very narrow and the speed limits on them will seem ridiculously high; most roads outside of the center of towns and villages have no posted speed limit and the statutory limit is 60MPH on all single carriageway roads, even on tiny single-track roads winding through the hills/mountains. Their roads also seem to be a bit less forgiving than most US highways; we had a hair-raising (but beautiful) drive down one A road in Northumbria that hadn't been leveled at all and just followed every dip and hump of the surrounding land, not to mention quite a few hairpin turns and steep cliffsides with no guardrails. Just take it slow and pull over when it's safe to do so if you start collect a queue behind you.
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May 18, 2014 05:14
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Canopus250 posted:... Sevilla is very nice but seemed kind of dead some nights on the nightlife factor last fall... Do you mean the night CLUB factor? I thought there was live flamenco music and dancing in the non-touristy bars like 363 nights a year.
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May 18, 2014 08:17
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Yeah more so that. I was in the old city and really only know my way around there and a little of La Triana so while it was no issue to find nice spots to drink and meet random people I didn't know where to look really. I guess I've had much better luck finding people to drink with or go out with in El Born/Raval or being able to drink from like 10pm until 7am within a ten minute walk of an apartment in the centro in Madrid. I caught some good live flamenco last year and saw a ton of it like 6 years ago when I went with my dad since it was about the only night time thing he was down for. I'm betting I just didn't know enough about the area or where to go to but it was not a big deal really. I could probably spend 3 days straight wandering through the Alcazar in Sevilla so missing some late night stuff was fine. I did have a blast going out two nights last year with a gay British couple I met at dinner randomly, but that wasn't exactly my scene. Canopus250 fucked around with this message at 08:34 on May 18, 2014 |
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May 18, 2014 08:31
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Wow. France is dead on Sundays.
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May 18, 2014 10:00
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dennyk posted:Just got back from a two-week trip to the UK, and every merchant that accepted credit cards had no problem with my US Mastercard. As another poster said, sometimes you'll have to tell them to swipe it, but everyone still seems to have a mag strip reader. Oyster card vending machines *won't* take American cards, though (which proved to be a bit of a pain for us, because the only machines that would sell new Oyster cards also didn't take cash bills, only coins, and the machines that would accept bills wouldn't sell new cards I know this isn't very relevant for you anymore, but if you arrive in Heathrow, the little office at the entrance of the Tube station in Terminal 5 sells Oyster Cards, and I'm pretty sure you can use cash there, since you buy it from a person. Some of the bigger tube stations also have ticket counters or offices which might sell them directly, though the airport one is by far the most convenient for travellers. I'm not sure about Terminal 1, though, since I've never taken the Tube from there.
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May 18, 2014 13:56
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Kommando posted:Wow. France is dead on Sundays. Wait until you visit Germany!
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May 18, 2014 16:02
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Kommando posted:Wow. France is dead on Sundays. If you're in Paris head to the Marais (aka the Jewish neighborhood). Stuff is open there.
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May 18, 2014 20:19
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Kommando posted:Wow. France is dead on Sundays. Western Europe is generally dead on Sunday, although a few places are merely comatose (Rome, London, Madrid). This is because of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_shopping#Europe Edit: Wow, and it's amazingly recent in some of these places (e.g. post 2013 for Madrid). And Denmark is now open on Sundays too (post-2012). Crazy. Saladman fucked around with this message at 23:17 on May 18, 2014 |
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May 18, 2014 23:14
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I have kind of a blank slate itinerary right now where I have to get from Amsterdam to Paris between June 13 and June 18. Any recommendations? I was thinking of hitting up Berlin for a few days and takin a train to Dresden. Also, since there's so much talk about Madrid on this page, what's better for a tourist, Madrid or Barcelona? And what are their public transports like?
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May 20, 2014 00:00
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I am moving to Paris with my wife in August. I am (fingers crossed) keeping the job I have now and remoting in from their working with the time zone. If something were to happen, how hard is it for a foreigner to find a job? I am welcome to any other advice as this will be my first time living outside of the US.
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May 20, 2014 14:50
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Can anyone recommend any activities that would be fun for two 87-year-old people in Madrid? I'm heading over with my grandparents on the 29th and will be there for a week. I'll have a rental car and we are staying at the Silken Puerta America Hotel which is a bit far from downtown but we'll definitely be taking at least an afternoon in to see everything around gran via and all that main stuff. However, on all the other days I'd like to bring them somewhere more "suburban", so we can just park the car and see something nice and not have to deal with any huge crowds. I'm not describing what I'm asking for very well but the idea is just to find low-key places in Madrid. Any recommendations? My googling has brought me some good suggestions for day trips to other sleepy cities etc but I want to stay in the city if possible.
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May 20, 2014 17:47
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The broken bones posted:I have kind of a blank slate itinerary right now where I have to get from Amsterdam to Paris between June 13 and June 18. Any recommendations? I was thinking of hitting up Berlin for a few days and takin a train to Dresden.
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May 20, 2014 18:01
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Flaggy posted:I am moving to Paris with my wife in August. I am (fingers crossed) keeping the job I have now and remoting in from their working with the time zone. If something were to happen, how hard is it for a foreigner to find a job? I am welcome to any other advice as this will be my first time living outside of the US. Depending on your skill level and degrees and experience, it can vary from "basically impossible" to "not that hard as long as you don't mind lovely pay given how expensive Paris is" I assume you speak French well and that a spouse visa allows you to work in France. If "no" to both then I hope you have an amazing CV in a technical field that uses English.
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May 20, 2014 18:26
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Hollow Talk posted:Since nobody has replied to this yet: Berlin and/or Dresden are not exactly on the way to Paris, but might be interesting nonetheless. However, what exactly are you interested in? Would you like to go look at museums? Music? Opera? Nature? History? Architecture? Would you like to go to the sea? Depending on what you'd rather do, they might or might not be worthwhile destinations. Could you say a bit more about what you would be interested in? yeah, sorry, most interested in history, second-most interested in nature. Wanted to see the Berlin Wall and maybe do the Kurt Vonnegut tour in Dresden. I'm a big history dork. I'm literally ending my trip in Lisbon to see the Age of Discovery stuff. Out of the way isn't really an issue unless it takes too much time off the clock. I'll likely be flying instead of taking trains. I've been to Italy and Normandy and Nice so I wanted to try something a little different. Thanks for responding 
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May 20, 2014 18:42
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The broken bones posted:yeah, sorry, most interested in history, second-most interested in nature. Wanted to see the Berlin Wall and maybe do the Kurt Vonnegut tour in Dresden. I'm a big history dork. I'm literally ending my trip in Lisbon to see the Age of Discovery stuff. If you are interested in history, Berlin might very well be a good choice! Apart from various pieces of the Berlin Wall, I'd recommend the museum at the former Checkpoint Charlie (http://www.mauermuseum.de/index.php/en, which is rather conveniently located anyway). I don't know about anything about the Kurt Vonnegut tour, but I'm sure that'd be fine as well! Dresden also offers the Zwinger, the Semperoper, as well as various wartime things, so that might be interesting in general! Depending how far back your history interest goes, the Pergamonmuseum (http://www.smb.museum/en/museums-and-institutions/pergamonmuseum/home.html) in Berlin as well as the Jewish Museum (http://www.jmberlin.de/main/EN/homepage-EN.php) might be interesting as well! If you will fly, that'll of course negate the whole "out of the way"-problem! That said, depending on your finances, it might still be worth checking out the German Railways offers where you might be able to get offers for ~80€ from Amsterdam Centraal to Berlin Hbf nonstop! (https://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml)
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May 20, 2014 18:54
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If you go to Berlin as a history dork definitely do not miss the Pergamonmuseum, it's brilliant. In Dresden's historic downtown area there are a couple nice museums about stuff mostly from 16th-18th century (Grünes Gewölbe, Rüstkammer, Türkische Cammer - with some Ottoman stuff) and there is also a military history museum I haven't visited but sounds cool. A bit outside is the fortress of Königstein, make sure to visit that too, the surrounding landscape is great and the whole place is pretty interesting itself.
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May 20, 2014 22:21
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Flaggy posted:I am moving to Paris with my wife in August. I am (fingers crossed) keeping the job I have now and remoting in from their working with the time zone. If something were to happen, how hard is it for a foreigner to find a job? I am welcome to any other advice as this will be my first time living outside of the US. I'm an American and I found a job in Paris so I've been though this. If you find a job in Paris you'll have to go back to the US to get a work visa (it can't be done from France). It will also take a month or two to get it all processed. So don't forget to budget that extra expense for airfare. Getting a job will be difficult and I assume you don't speak French since you've never been outside the US. It is possible but French companies have to jump through a bunch of hoops to hire non-Europeans. What is your background? Not speaking French isn't a huge deal if you're a programer or something similar. In the mean time, you'll need to get a long-term tourist visa to stay longer than three months. This probably won't be too difficult if you can prove that your wife has a well-paying job (or if she is French). Omits-Bagels fucked around with this message at 23:29 on May 20, 2014 |
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May 20, 2014 23:24
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So 1 minor question, I suppose I just need to order extra baggage space in Easy Jet and I should be good to go right? Ok, almost finalizing my Going to be in Milan, Bologne, Swiss/Italian border, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Dresden, Berlin, and Amsterdam (June 27- July2）. I will be having a goon meet in Stuttgart and Amsterdam for sure. But any goons in the other cities? It would be cool to hang out. PM or post here  caberham fucked around with this message at 09:10 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 09:03
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caberham posted:So 1 minor question, I suppose I just need to order extra baggage space in Easy Jet and I should be good to go right? Only if you want to check a bag or have a very large bag. EasyJet is now much less dickly about bags than they used to be. I have a bag that's like 1cm under the limit in all dimensions and haven't had trouble with it in 3 years. I fly EasyJet maybe 10x/year. Checking is expensive if you have a bunch of flights but your itinerary looks like it's all trains so I guess should be fine. EasyJet has pretty quality service for a low cost airline. Just remember to print your tickets in advance at home.
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May 21, 2014 10:43
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Double post
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May 21, 2014 10:46
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I'm only need flight arrangements from Berlin to Amsterdam on my own. All the other time I will be driving in Germany and Italy to different factories. Welp. There's 5of us so we are renting a van. Seems to be cheaper and more freedom that way
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May 21, 2014 10:48
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Omits-Bagels posted:I'm an American and I found a job in Paris so I've been though this. My background is in IT. I am hoping, and have been talking to my current boss about keeping the job I have and remoting in. That way I don't have to worry about getting one over there. My wife is going to graduate school, she won't have a job while in France. I was just curious to see what it would take, hopefully I just keep my current job while I am over there. I don't know French but I am learning.
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May 21, 2014 13:26
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 Google bought Word Lens, the amazing visual translation app you might have seen a video about a year ago. For a limited time, they are giving it away free for both Android and iOS!  I recommend if you think it would be useful to you, even if not right now but in the future, to grab a copy while it's free, just in case! Find it here in the Android Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.questvisual.wordlens.demo And here in the Apple App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-lens/id383463868 edit: I am playing with it now and giggling like an idiot at how loving cool it is. It works REALLY WELL.
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May 21, 2014 15:48
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It made an obvious mistake there, though. It should really have translated the P into an R.
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May 21, 2014 18:05
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I went to the post office today to play around with it, it's super fun, I probably looked like a crazy person going around to all the French parts of the signs and holding up my phone to them though.
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May 21, 2014 19:51
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It also works without mobile data, it's all done in the device. It will work in airplane mode.
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May 21, 2014 23:17
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Flaggy posted:My background is in IT. I am hoping, and have been talking to my current boss about keeping the job I have and remoting in. That way I don't have to worry about getting one over there. My wife is going to graduate school, she won't have a job while in France. I was just curious to see what it would take, hopefully I just keep my current job while I am over there. I don't know French but I am learning. I believe you'll still have to get a long-term tourist visa. I honestly have no idea about the protocol for a spouse of a foreign grad student. You might want to call the French consulate. I've heard (but take this with a grain of salt) that the French govt wants to see $30k in the bank before they'll grant you one.
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May 22, 2014 04:15
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Can anyone recommend a good bar or club in Amsterdam on a Friday night? Preferably not that touristy if that's even possible.
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May 23, 2014 16:05
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Anyone know what I should definitely make time to see over my 3 weeks in Greece? Interested in History and pretty nature mostly.
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May 23, 2014 17:21
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Sergiu64 posted:Anyone know what I should definitely make time to see over my 3 weeks in Greece? Interested in History and pretty nature mostly. Kind of obvious and probably already on your list, but Santorini and Meteora. I've heard Olympia is a pretty big letdown if you've seen a lot of better-conditioned Greek ruins (see -> Italy) but people who have only been to Athens seem to like it.
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May 23, 2014 18:34
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madey posted:Can anyone recommend a good bar or club in Amsterdam on a Friday night? Preferably not that touristy if that's even possible. Are you looking to just drink or dance or hookup or what?
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May 23, 2014 18:39
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Saladman posted:Kind of obvious and probably already on your list, but Santorini and Meteora. I've heard Olympia is a pretty big letdown if you've seen a lot of better-conditioned Greek ruins (see -> Italy) but people who have only been to Athens seem to like it. Only Santorini was, cool I'll include Meteora and since my only other exposure to Greco-Roman ruins was in Croatia I'll give Olympia a try too. Is Rhodes worth trying to get to? Seems like the ferry doesn't go all that often and takes a day or two to get there.
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May 23, 2014 19:12
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Sergiu64 posted:Only Santorini was, cool I'll include Meteora and since my only other exposure to Greco-Roman ruins was in Croatia I'll give Olympia a try too. No idea about Rhodes, but I'd probably fly. I took a ferry to Santorini from Athens and that was far, and I think it's not even halfway. I flew back and while I'm glad I took the ferry once I wouldn't do it again (but doing it once was neat).
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May 23, 2014 21:15
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madey posted:Can anyone recommend a good bar or club in Amsterdam on a Friday night? Preferably not that touristy if that's even possible.
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May 24, 2014 00:20
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