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Thanks for everything so far! I'll look into that hostel you recommended. I have been to Berlin before, but basically the only thing I saw was checkpoint charlie. Another quick question: How bad is the airport generally with regards to lines and stuff? I know you can take a train right to it, but if my fllight leaves at around 9:30, what time should I get to the airport to be safe?
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Dec 10, 2012 20:30
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Which airport? Tegel or Schönefeld? Since you mention taking a train I assume Schönefeld. 60 minutes before is plenty in my experience if you checked in online and only travel with hand luggage.
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Dec 10, 2012 21:09
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Woohoo, just booked my hotel for Oktoberfest 2013! Took advantage of all the points I've earned with Hilton this past year traveling for work so I'll be there Monday-Friday of the first week. I'm a bit amazed I was able to use points to book a room during Oktoberfest. 4 nights will give us time to spend mornings doing BMW Welt and a few other things I'd like to see, a few nights at the festival, and a day trip to somewhere nearby. The plan is to do a three part trip with each leg being 3-4 days. Munich is the middle part and we're thinking Berlin for either the first or final leg. Haven't decided yet on where the third leg will take us - might do another region of Germany, might skip down to Italy or over to Prague. Any suggestions? It'll be myself and my girlfriend and we are slightly to old for hostels. I've been to Germany once before for about 2 weeks and speak the language passably. She's never been to Europe and speaks no German. We figure we'll get our partying out in Munich and our culture/museum kick out in Berlin, so open to pretty much anything for the third leg. Thoguh fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Dec 26, 2012 |
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Dec 26, 2012 22:43
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Thoguh posted:We figure we'll get our partying out in Munich and our culture/museum kick out in Berlin. You should really do it the other way around.
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Dec 26, 2012 23:30
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A fun game to play in museums in Germany (well, Berlin anyways) is counting all of the times you see a sign claiming that they had more/similar things but the Soviets took them and won't give them back. The Germans don't seem to appreciate the irony of complaining that someone took their ancient artefacts from Turkey/Greece/etc and won't give them back.
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Dec 27, 2012 00:05
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Gold and a Pager posted:You should really do it the other way around. I'd like to spend more time in Bavaria. But I figure the whole region is going to be overrun with tourists at the end of September. So I thought it would be better to check Oktoberfest off the bucket list and then get out. Anything outside of Munich you'd recommend? Thoguh fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Dec 27, 2012 |
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Dec 27, 2012 04:22
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Thoguh posted:I'd like to spend more time in Bavaria. But I figure the whole region is going to be overrun with tourists at the end of September. So I thought it would be better to check Oktoberfest off the bucket list and then get out. Anything outside of Munich you'd recommend? There are no tourists outside of Munich at the end of September. My advice would be to just get out of the city and get as close to the alps as possible. To be honest I know jack poo poo about Bavaria and what you should see as a tourist despite having lived here all my life. What I do know is this though: the scenery in southern Bavaria is loving beautiful and fall is a great season to hike and do outdoorsy stuff. Also: Allgäu>all
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Dec 27, 2012 08:31
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Does anyone have any tips for claiming German citizenship as a US citizen or have any info on how to start? I was born in Germany (Berchtesgaden) and moved to the US (California) at a young age (4) with my mother. My father still lives in Germany but my mother is only a US citizen so I don't think I should run into any eligibility issues. I mostly would like to be able to own German land/have the EU passport.
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Dec 27, 2012 21:32
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supersteve posted:Does anyone have any tips for claiming German citizenship as a US citizen or have any info on how to start? http://www.canada.diplo.de/Vertretung/kanada/en/02/citizenship/__citizenship.html#topic6 Are your parents German citizens, or not?
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Dec 27, 2012 22:04
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HookShot posted:I posted this on the last page when a similar question popped up: Thanks for the link. My father is a German citizen and my mother is not. They were never married, if that makes a difference.
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Dec 27, 2012 22:23
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supersteve posted:Thanks for the link.
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Dec 28, 2012 02:24
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supersteve posted:I mostly would like to be able to own German land.
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Dec 28, 2012 09:10
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Thoguh posted:I'd like to spend more time in Bavaria. But I figure the whole region is going to be overrun with tourists at the end of September. So I thought it would be better to check Oktoberfest off the bucket list and then get out. Anything outside of Munich you'd recommend? It's not that Berlin doesn't have a ton of culture and museums, it's just that Munich doesn't have a great nightlife/party scene and Berlin does, unless Oktoberfest is what you look for in a party.
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Dec 28, 2012 09:16
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supersteve posted:Thanks for the link. You should speak to the consulate. I know when I claimed my German citizenship I had to provide the original marriage certificates going back to my grandparents and the divorce certificate of my parents. It may be a critical issue to the Bundesverwaltungsamt. Even with all the papers (which took me 9 months to gather together since many of them had their own waiting time) my process still took 19 months from submitting the documents to receiving my Ausweis so hopefully you're motivated. You're going to need to furnish a lot of paperwork, but it's a good exercise in getting in touch with your german roots. Another reason is I've heard Germany may be or recently has changed the rules so that in order to claim citizenship the child needs to be registered with the German authorities within a few years of birth. I don't know if this applies retroactively or if it's only for children born in the oughts. You'll have to talk to them eventually anyways so you might as well start now 
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Dec 28, 2012 15:34
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HookShot posted:Then as far as I can tell as long as your dad was a German citizen when you were born you can get it through descent. I would really stop posting baseless simplistic things like these, particularly if it's about people's futures. German citizenship is generally not as simply to determine as others. The rule of thumb about German citizenship is that Germany wants people to gently caress off. This is not a country like Italy, which (at least according to posts here) seems to embrace people even when their ancestors have had foreign citizenship for several generations. Another aspect is that even if you're eligible to acquire German citizenship, you will most likely have to give up all other citizenships that you hold. This doesn't necessarily mean that the poster is out of luck, but there's a need for some research into the situation. supersteve posted:Does anyone have any tips for claiming German citizenship as a US citizen or have any info on how to start? From what I gather from the English- and German-language articles about German nationality (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_nationality_law), you will have had German citizenship by descent. However, if the article at http://www.legalzoom.com/marriage-divorce-family-law/family-law-basics/is-your-child-us is accurate, then you will only have acquired US citizenship on entering the US for the first time. Therein lies the rub: German law states that if you acquire any non-EU citizenship, you'll lose the German one automatically at that point in time. There's no simple way to gain it back. Then again, there's all kinds of conflicting information to be found about this on the web. I'd consider consulting with a German lawyer for this. At least try to contact a German consulate or embassy.
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Dec 28, 2012 15:56
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Looks like the German consulate is the way to go. Thanks for the help, everyone.
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Dec 28, 2012 21:01
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Gold and a Pager posted:It's not that Berlin doesn't have a ton of culture and museums, it's just that Munich doesn't have a great nightlife/party scene and Berlin does, unless Oktoberfest is what you look for in a party. Bullshit.
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Dec 28, 2012 23:22
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Previously on GBS posted:Bullshit. Not really, Munich has some good clubs but on the whole I found the scene there more clique-y and less open/easygoing than what's in Berlin. Look at the amount of clubs in Berlin and what goes on every weekend and no city can compare.
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Dec 29, 2012 11:41
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Maybe but just because Munich's nightlife is less tourist-friendly doesn't mean it's not pretty great.
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Dec 29, 2012 12:03
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Previously on GBS posted:Maybe but just because Munich's nightlife is less tourist-friendly doesn't mean it's not pretty great. I wouldn't say it's less tourist friendly, Berlin is currently notorious for trendy people hating on tourists/those who weren't there first. I think my issue with Munich is that if I want to go out for some interesting music I have to go to Harry Klein or Rote Sonne, and if I happen to not like one club then I'm stuck with the other one until something else comes along (which it really hasn't). I think this leads to the whole thing being more clique-y, there is a smaller scene so people congregate together, and if you don't see eye to eye with that group you're out of luck. Just look at the club offerings in Berlin; with Berghain, Watergate and Tresor being huge, internationally known clubs, but beyond that you have Arena, about :Blank, Horst, Kater Holzig, VIsionaire, Stattbad, Suicide Circus, Brunnen70, Cassiopeia, Gretchen, Farbenfernseher, Ritter Butzke and more. This is so much loving nightlife that you can see unbelievable amounts of poo poo in one weekend, and you can't do this anywhere else. Munich doesn't have bad nightlife, it's just normal. I can get the same level of nightlife in any other decent sized city, be it Zurich, Kopenhagen, Milan, Lyon, Manchester, Barcelona or whatever. It's just not on the level of Berlin. Besides London, there's probably no city in Europe that has as much cool poo poo happening as Berlin seems to, there's a reason why budget airlines fly lots of people in friday nights and out sundays.
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Dec 29, 2012 12:18
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Berlin is not more friendly to tourists in the literal sense, but its nightlife is more accessible to non-locals. It's been a few years since I left Munich but in addition to those two you listed I always liked Registratur, 59:1, Kafe Kult... I've been to many of the places in Berlin you listed and I liked some of them but in many places there are just too many drunk tourists and/or people who are way to busy being cool to enjoy themselves.
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Dec 29, 2012 12:38
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Previously on GBS posted:Berlin is not more friendly to tourists in the literal sense, but its nightlife is more accessible to non-locals. Registratur closed down. The tourists are both good and bad in Berlin. They get drunk, some are rude and often they really don't care about anything besides a good time. But they are also always spending shitloads of money (there's a reason "locals" can get free drugs from "friends" and no cover entries to clubs), and I've found that if you want to get laid there's a lot of attractive tourist girls who are out for fun and are easygoing. Without the tourist money though at least half the clubs in Berlin would have to close or drastically scale back on the acts they bring in.
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Dec 29, 2012 12:46
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Previously on GBS posted:Bullshit. Angry Bavarian detected.
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Dec 29, 2012 15:08
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Not a Bavarian.
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Dec 29, 2012 18:26
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Gold and a Pager posted:It's not that Berlin doesn't have a ton of culture and museums, it's just that Munich doesn't have a great nightlife/party scene and Berlin does, unless Oktoberfest is what you look for in a party. I was at Maifest this spring and that was pretty much exactly what I look for in a party. Oktoberfest will be much more crowded but its a bucket list thing to go for that. I have zero interest in going clubbing and am much happier finding a pub or beerhall to spend an evening in. I think I am going to look into the suggestion of finding somewhere closer to the Alps in Bavaria for some hiking for a few days. So that leaves either a few days in Berlin or substituting somewhere else for Berlin. I'm getting not very subtle hints from the girlfriend that a detour to some wine country would be a good idea. Thoguh fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Jan 1, 2013 |
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Jan 1, 2013 21:38
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Thoguh posted:I was at Maifest this spring and that was pretty much exactly what I look for in a party. Oktoberfest will be much more crowded but its a bucket list thing to go for that. I have zero interest in going clubbing and am much happier finding a pub or beerhall to spend an evening in. I think I am going to look into the suggestion of finding somewhere closer to the Alps in Bavaria for some hiking for a few days. So that leaves either a few days in Berlin or substituting somewhere else for Berlin. Fair enough, then there are plenty of cultural things to do in Berlin.
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Jan 1, 2013 21:53
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Thoguh posted:I'm getting not very subtle hints from the girlfriend that a detour to some wine country would be a good idea. Rheinhessen is really nice.
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Jan 2, 2013 02:43
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So I'm traveling on business to Lossburg in Baden-Württemberg next month for 5 weeks or so. What's in that area that's not to be missed? I know I'm out of the way from the major spots like Berlin and Munich, but I know there's a lot to see in Freudenstadt and Stuttgart. Keep in mind I will only have the weekends for longer trips and I will have access to a vehicle, but definitely prefer to travel by train or bus whenever possible. Wow, going back and ready a bit of this thread has shed light on some stuff. For instance, I work for a medium sized German company in the USA and I always thought it was strange that they had me take a headshot on my first day to "send back to Germany"; but now I know its a bewerbungsfoto. Sock The Great fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Jan 4, 2013 |
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Jan 3, 2013 22:25
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Sock The Great posted:So I'm traveling on business to Lossburg in Baden-Württemberg next month for 5 weeks or so. What's in that area that's not to be missed? I know I'm out of the way from the major spots like Berlin and Munich, but I know there's a lot to see in Freudenstadt and Stuttgart. Keep in mind I will only have the weekends for longer trips and I will have access to a vehicle, but definitely prefer to travel by train or bus whenever possible. Munich is totally doable with a car/train on the weekends: http://goo.gl/maps/Be6wB
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Jan 4, 2013 13:40
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Sock The Great posted:So I'm traveling on business to Lossburg in Baden-Württemberg next month for 5 weeks or so. What's in that area that's not to be missed? I know I'm out of the way from the major spots like Berlin and Munich, but I know there's a lot to see in Freudenstadt and Stuttgart. Keep in mind I will only have the weekends for longer trips and I will have access to a vehicle, but definitely prefer to travel by train or bus whenever possible. Freiburg is a pretty nice city, good for wandering around in. Or come to Karlsruhe to look at our fan shaped streets and building sites!
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Jan 4, 2013 15:58
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Generator posted:Freiburg is a pretty nice city, good for wandering around in. Also I am in Freiburg! 
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Jan 4, 2013 18:05
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Don't forget to look across the border, where there is Strasbourg, definitely worth a visit! It's actually closer than the other places mentioned.
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Jan 4, 2013 20:15
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Freiburg is really nice, I used to live there. You could also go to Colmar in France or get the train down to Basel. There's the Vitra design museum in Wei am Rhein which is cool if you like expensive furniture and stuff. And you could visit some lakes and go for nice walks, or visit Germany's (second) highest waterfall in Triberg.
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Jan 6, 2013 02:08
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My family is planning to buy a house in Germany in order to move there permanently. We all are EU citizens and crave to live in a country where everything works. My parents are retired and will be able to afford several decades of pensions and bank savings. The budget is around 130k euros for an einfamilienhaus, somewhere in the suburbs of a large city that is not either former DDR or with 60% Turkish population (sorry I have close minded parents). We also know some of the hidden gems of living in Germany as residents (the mandatory healf insurance tax), is there anything else we should know?
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Jan 12, 2013 14:00
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Is that 130k incl. notary costs, land register fees, taxes, maybe even a realtor and renovations? If yes, that won't happen.
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Jan 12, 2013 14:17
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Dj Vulvio posted:The budget is around 130k euros for an einfamilienhaus, somewhere in the suburbs of a large city that is not either former DDR or with 60% Turkish population (sorry I have close minded parents). Sorry to disappoint but it's either/or here. The East isn't all that bad, really. Leipzig, Dresden etc. are all nice cities and there are few, if any, brown people around.
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Jan 12, 2013 15:12
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elwood posted:Is that 130k incl. notary costs, land register fees, taxes, maybe even a realtor and renovations? If yes, that won't happen. Of course there are separate funds for that, no big deal. So far I have calculated around a 6% of buying price, another 1% of notary costs and of course the agent commission (5-10%?). More info on that would be well appreciated before going scouting around the country for properties ourselves. NihilVerumNisiMors posted:Sorry to disappoint but it's either/or here. The East isn't all that bad, really. Leipzig, Dresden etc. are all nice cities and there are few, if any, brown people around. I definitely agree on that, but we're talking about people from another generation that are going to keep thinking this way. It doesn't help that my parents had to move out of our decades home property due to white flight that basically turned the entire neighborhood into poo poo.
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Jan 12, 2013 15:35
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Dj Vulvio posted:The budget is around 130k euros for an einfamilienhaus, somewhere in the suburbs of a large city that is not either former DDR or with 60% Turkish population (sorry I have close minded parents).
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Jan 12, 2013 17:13
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Dj Vulvio posted:The budget is around 130k euros for an einfamilienhaus, somewhere in the suburbs of a large city that is not either former DDR or with 60% Turkish population (sorry I have close minded parents). What's the problem with former DDR? I'd say with that budget you could only get something decent in a less wealthy part of Germany, e.g. not the south and not in a big city (10-20km outside might be doable).
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Jan 12, 2013 20:22
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I'm going to be in Frankfurt on Wednesday for only 1 day, 13 hour layover, and I figured I would explore the city some. Any particular recommendations of what to check out? I'm going to wander around a bit and check out some of the older buildings and whatnot, but other than that, no real plans. As a total beer snob, any local brews or bars I should check out? Must try food? I've never been to Germany, if that makes any difference.
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Jan 12, 2013 20:25
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