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If it's just a strike here or there it's not that bad. Sometimes the unions all get together and they ALL strike at the exact same time and the entire country shuts down until the government basically has to cave into everyone's demands. Of all the time I've been in France I've never seen a strike that affected me though. In two weeks in Rome there was a transit strike on one of the days!
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Jun 26, 2013 02:26
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DNova posted:I lived near Paris for a semester and near the end of my time there, the garbage men went on strike and spread tons of garbage on the big plaza in front of l'Hôtel de Ville. I think going on strike is a national hobby in France. Italy likes to strike as well. I almost wasn't able to catch the metro to my hostel due to a strike that lasted from 8am to 5pm then 8pm until 11:30pm. I got into Rome at 6:30pm. Kolta fucked around with this message at 09:05 on Jun 26, 2013 |
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Jun 26, 2013 09:03
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Just got to Barcelona / Sitges. Is there surfing around here?
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Jun 26, 2013 13:06
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I just found out Lisbon's striking tomorrow. I hope I don't end up having to walk to the airport.
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Jun 26, 2013 18:07
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Mr.AARP posted:I thought it would be a good idea to save going up the Eiffel tower until my last day in Paris. And then I get there to find out a labor strike started today. gently caress. I just got to Paris and it's closed. I don't know if it'll open before I leave. I guess I can always go up the Arc de Triomphe instead... Or cone back to Paris one day. Anyone know how to say "the bathroom light doesn't work" in French? That's my only other Paris problem. Someone tried to pull the dropped jewellry gig with me, but I just gave her a look and crossed the road.
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Jun 26, 2013 20:56
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photinus posted:I just got to Paris and it's closed. I don't know if it'll open before I leave. I guess I can always go up the Arc de Triomphe instead... Or cone back to Paris one day. La lampe dans la salle de bain ne marche pas. Or something like that. Go up Tour Montparnesse as has been recommended recently. sleepy gary fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Jun 26, 2013 |
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Jun 26, 2013 21:14
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photinus posted:I just got to Paris and it's closed. I don't know if it'll open before I leave. I guess I can always go up the Arc de Triomphe instead... Or cone back to Paris one day. The strike at the Eiffel Tower is because of the renovation works on the West elevator. They started working on them in 2008 and it was supposed to last two years, but it's still not over. The other elevators will need to be stopped for their renovations next year. So no elevators, added to the fact they're still working on the first floor (though it's still open) means longer waiting lines, unhappy customers and worse conditions for the employees. The last strike was in 2010 and lasted two days, I don't know if this one will last. La lampe dans la salle de bain (or la lampe de la salle de bain) is correct.
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Jun 26, 2013 23:33
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photinus posted:I just got to Paris and it's closed. I don't know if it'll open before I leave. I guess I can always go up the Arc de Triomphe instead... Or cone back to Paris one day. Ah, the dropped jewellry gig. I had something similar happen. I was crossing a bridge and an old woman came running up offering me a gold ring. I was naive enough to think it was going to be for free and when I had established with her that it was free, I took it and walked off. Big mistake. She comes running up again and demands I give her something of equal value in exchange. Fortunately my dad came to the rescue, but back then I was a total idiot when it came to scams like that. I even came close to giving money to those guys outside the Louvre too. When I was in Vietnam a year later I adopted a ruthless policy of ignoring anyone of that kind, so I'd like to think I'll be a bit smarter when I'm on my own in Europe this year. Octy fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Jun 26, 2013 |
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Jun 26, 2013 23:38
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I've never heard of the dropped jewelry gig. What's the angle? I love learning about common non-violent scams. Here's one I caught in a major piazza in Italy:  Notice the book the mark is holding... edit: If you aren't aware, the deal is, they tie your finger up with string under some premise and then demand payment to be let free. I don't know the entirety of the mechanics of the scam. They do this at Le Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, Paris as well. I tried to convince my friends to pitch in with me and offer one of these guys 5 or so euros to explain the scam in full to us, but they wouldn't go for it, and I didn't want to try it alone. edit2: I have a lot more balls now and if I encounter them again I will engage them in a discussion of their work. I am genuinely curious. sleepy gary fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 26, 2013 23:59
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DNova posted:I've never heard of the dropped jewelry gig. What's the angle? I love learning about common non-violent scams. Here's one I caught in a major piazza in Italy: Octy explained it pretty well. You're walking in the street, you hear something fall right behind you, a helpful man picks it up and gives it back to you since it must have fallen from your pockets - it's a gold ring or something like that - and if you take it they'll expect compensation. It's done to everyone, not tourists only, and not touristy places only either.
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Jun 27, 2013 00:35
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pylb posted:Octy explained it pretty well. Oh. This is a bit disappointing. I'm always expecting a little more sophistication.
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Jun 27, 2013 00:41
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DNova posted:Oh. This is a bit disappointing. I'm always expecting a little more sophistication. I just wish they were a little less deceitful and more like poor people in England asking for money upfront because they're genuinely homeless and can't afford to feed themselves or their children. Those are the people I give money to. I didn't come across a single scam in England whereas the Continent and a lot of parts of Asia are rife with them.
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Jun 27, 2013 00:56
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Someone attempted to scam me outside Gare du Nord in Paris, he asked me if I spoke English to which I responded "no" and then immediately continued talking to my group of friends in fluent English in front of him. He had a map and a pen. We later saw him and a few others that were nearby running like hell from a couple of cops. Also, gently caress I wish I spent more time in Munich. Rain for two solid days, and on the day it was nice out we spent most of our time at BMW Welt/Museum and factory tour (the tour had to be booked in advance). Olympic park was nice but we didn't get to see the Englischer park, or the FC Bayern Munchen victory parade 
Cacator fucked around with this message at 07:41 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 07:38
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photinus posted:I just got to Paris and it's closed. I don't know if it'll open before I leave. I guess I can always go up the Arc de Triomphe instead... Or cone back to Paris one day. Go up the Notre Dame bell tower for 9 euro.
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Jun 27, 2013 12:24
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When we were in Berlin we had a lot of people come up to us and ask if we spoke English, then hand us a piece of paper with all sorts of different stories on it. In the end I just started telling them what they had written down wasn't English. That confused them for long enough for us to make an escape while they were still looking down at their note with a furrowed brow.
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Jun 27, 2013 13:21
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Another popular Paris scam is a guy trying to tie a bracelet around your wrist when you're unaware then demand money for it. I got pretty pissed.
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Jun 27, 2013 16:48
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Ulysiss posted:When we were in Berlin we had a lot of people come up to us and ask if we spoke English, then hand us a piece of paper with all sorts of different stories on it. In the end I just started telling them what they had written down wasn't English. That confused them for long enough for us to make an escape while they were still looking down at their note with a furrowed brow. Shared this with my wife. She thought it was as funny as I did. Speaking enough German to get myself in trouble, I've always done the polite "Nein, danke." and act like I don't know what they are talking about. Sure, the square headed, young, affluent looking guy and his wife in Germany that speaks German, but doesn't understand you in English(, as though this guy wouldn't speak English). That's probably a little confusing to them too. After all, you'd think I'd speak, as the Germans say,  "a little bit" of English. This along with a lot of other things (including traveling to most of the bigger towns in all of Europe) are the reasons why we prefer the little known, less tourist-ed places. We've really made a knack for picking up smaller, less exposed cities and having a blast in them without having to deal with all the romas, panhandlers, beggers, street walkers, and scamsters. LaserWash fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 17:09
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Winklebottom posted:Another popular Paris scam is a guy trying to tie a bracelet around your wrist when you're unaware then demand money for it. I got pretty pissed. I posted a pic of this a few posts up. That was in Italy but I've seen in in Paris also.
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Jun 27, 2013 17:27
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LaserWash posted:as the Germans say, Followed immediately by a complex and fluent conversation in English. Damnit, people, you're making me look bad when I say I speak a little bit of German. I really mean it.
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Jun 27, 2013 17:30
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This got lost in all the discussions about scams, but does anyone have any experience driving in Croatia and Bosnia? We're doing Dubrovnik > Mostar > Sarajevo and vicinity and I'm having trouble convincing MY FIANCEE that driving will be safe.
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Jun 27, 2013 17:42
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DNova posted:Followed immediately by a complex and fluent conversation in English. Damnit, people, you're making me look bad when I say I speak a little bit of German. I really mean it.  I will say this. Being able to make my wife an appointment for a doctor over the phone, mailing something from a Czech post office and a German flower shop, having small conversations, and getting and understanding directions all in German this year made me feel like a total bad rear end in front of my wife.
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Jun 27, 2013 17:48
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SurgicalOntologist posted:This got lost in all the discussions about scams, but does anyone have any experience driving in Croatia and Bosnia? We're doing Dubrovnik > Mostar > Sarajevo and vicinity and I'm having trouble convincing MY FIANCEE that driving will be safe. I drove in Croatia in 2008 and found it safer than i.e. Italy although there were a few "NO I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU MERGE rear end in a top hat" moments. But it's far from the true nightmares of Asia/Africa.
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Jun 27, 2013 18:52
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DNova posted:Followed immediately by a complex and fluent conversation in English. Damnit, people, you're making me look bad when I say I speak a little bit of German. I really mean it. imho they do this because of the style of teaching in institutional schools. They focus a lot on grammar, for example, and at the higher levels they just have more and more esoteric and exceptional grammar cases to study and learn. This leaves the students with the feeling of always coming up short. peak debt posted:I drove in Croatia in 2008 and found it safer than i.e. Italy although there were a few "NO I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU MERGE rear end in a top hat" moments. But it's far from the true nightmares of Asia/Africa. I drove in Slovakia and Poland which were not really that dodgy at all, but whenever I'm driving in a new country or in a strange situation I avoid driving at night--lighting can be poor and there's more of a chance of meeting drunks or boy racers on the road. Just drive during the day and delegate the navigation entirely to your fiancee so you can keep your eyes on the road and you'll be fine.
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Jun 27, 2013 20:01
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From Slovakia to Czech to Berlin and Zurich I might of been pestered maybe 5 times? Now I'm in Rome and suddenly I'm everyone's friend and I get "special discount". I love to troll these guys since I've picked up a bit of Slovak and none of them know it. I'm also French Canadian so I throw in a few slang words and sentences that not even the mother land of France would have any hope of understanding. Guy: "Allo my friend do you have tickets to the Vatican museum today" Me: "J'men calliss tabarnac du pape! Trouve moi une criss de poutine dans sa shack sal pis on a une deal!"
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Jun 27, 2013 20:04
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I had to call to order a taxi in German once because my husband, who actually took German in high school, decided that peeing was more important. So I basically just asked for "ein taxi, Panorama Dreilandenpunt, bitte" or wherever the hell we were. Then the guy starts trying to ask me something, and so I just answered "nein sprechen zie Deutsch" and I could hear him laughing with one of his friends in the background. I later asked my fluent-in-German mom why they were laughing, and she said it's because I told them "You don't speak German"
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Jun 27, 2013 20:40
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I'm going to be traveling throughout Europe in August-September, and I was slightly confused about the application of the 7PM rule for Eurail passes (I did an analysis and it looks like I come out ~$100 ahead with the pass). On one leg of the trip, I'm looking to get from Prague to Venice via a stopover in Munich. As it stands, it looks like I'm able to take a bus from Prague to get in around 3PM, and explore the city for 6 hours. I'd then head back to the train station and board an overnight train to Venice around 11PM. The only sticking point is the 7PM rule - is it absolutely mandatory I use the subsequent day on my rail pass (which would put me over the 10 day limit)? Or is this more of an optional benefit?
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Jun 28, 2013 06:12
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E: miss read your post If you get on a train after 7pm and the time on the train goes over 12am, it only counts as 1 day of travel. I believe you'd have to put another day in for travel. However, since I've been using my pass I don't know how they would keep track. Allot of ticket checkers have their own way of validating your pass. Some scribble, stamp, crimp or punch holes. Chances are the person checking your pass on your overnight train may not even notice you've taken a train on that day before 7pm. Most of them don't even check the schedule you need to write in on the folding half of your pass. So it's a bit tricky. Worst case scenario you need to play the dummy card and fill in the date. Leaving you to pay for one extra day of trains. Kolta fucked around with this message at 09:39 on Jun 28, 2013 |
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Jun 28, 2013 09:30
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My go to response in France and Italy so far is just to stay "Je parle Finlandese" and "Parlo Finladese" and that's worked pretty well for keeping scammers and whatnot away. Hopefully I don't run into a Finnish one though. Although I did almost get pick pocketed by a group of children at the Eiffel Tower.
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Jun 28, 2013 10:13
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Yeah. When going out in a city like Paris it's probably best to be minimalistic in the things your bring. Cards, passport and big money in a money belt.
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Jun 28, 2013 10:57
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I just put my wallet in my handbag, closed it and hung onto it properly, like I would in London and I was fine. No valuables in the pockets anyway, usually, since girl's skinny jeans or whatever are more or less useless for anything other than storing change. I had no problems, but maybe I'm more used to keeping my elbow firmly clamped down over my bag because of living in a big city already. And being insanely distrusting of anyone wanting to give you anything or do anything for you! 
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Jun 28, 2013 15:14
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I did a similar thing while in Europe, I bought a passport necklace type thing and just put my cards, money and passport in there. Because it was cooler than I was used to I would always have a couple of layers on to help hide it. The worst thing was when for some reason you had to get anything out of it, I either had to pull it out of my shirt from the top (which was just to difficult) or lift my shirt up from the bottom and bend down till the pouch was low enough for me to open it. Half the time it looked like I was bent almost double, fiddling with my crotch, but safety first and all that. At the the end of the day we were quite lucky and didn't have much trouble at all with scammers or beggars. A few in Berlin and a near miss with a pickpocket in the Parisian Underground and that was all.
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Jun 29, 2013 05:55
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The last time I went to Europe, I just put my wallet in my side jacket pocket. My hands were in there most of the time because of the bitter cold anyway. I never had any trouble with attempted pickpockets that I'm aware of. I understand you wouldn't even notice if you'd been pickpocketed successfully though. By the by, what are some good tips for writing day-to-day itineraries? I can only make half-educated guesses as to how long some things I'd like to see would take, but apart from that I'm clueless. For example, the Louvre is going to take up more time than a monument like the Arc de Triomphe, obviously. Octy fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Jun 29, 2013 |
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Jun 29, 2013 06:52
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Ulysiss posted:I did a similar thing while in Europe, I bought a passport necklace type thing and just put my cards, money and passport in there. Because it was cooler than I was used to I would always have a couple of layers on to help hide it. This applies to everyone, not just you personally, but do you do the same thing when you go to Chicago or New York City or Boston, too, or just European cities?
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Jun 29, 2013 11:38
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Arnold of Soissons posted:This applies to everyone, not just you personally, but do you do the same thing when you go to Chicago or New York City or Boston, too, or just European cities? Personally I haven't seen the same level of aggressiveness in beggars and scammers in US or Canadian cities as I've seen in European cities. Then again I also haven't seen the complete destitution of some beggars that I've seen over here as well. The beggars who are lying in the street with their heads on the ground and arm out is terribly sad. I was shocked when I saw that because I wasn't used to that at all. For me I find that the language barrier also played/plays a part in how safe I feel. It might be stupid but I felt safer in the UK and Ireland knowing that if something happened I could immediately get help as opposed to struggling through different languages in France/Italy (even though a lot of people I've engaged with spoke some English).
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Jun 29, 2013 13:48
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I've never been to America (well, I've been in the country, but never really visited) but I honestly don't even do as much as most people here. I had my camera bag act as a combo of camera bag/purse, I kept all my stuff in it including my passport, although my passport was in a compartment where they'd have to have the whole bag to access it. I made sure to always have one hand on the strap, and that was it. Last time I was in Europe I never came close to being pickpocketed once. The police presence around the Tour Eiffel and a few other major tourist spots has increased so much that the pickpockets don't hang around there as much as they used to. A few idiots tried to scam me, but I'd just tell them to go away in French and that was it. The worst was in Italy when a guy tried handing me one of those roses that they then charge 10 Euros for so much that I yelled at him in English to gently caress off, and when I did that he did.
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Jun 29, 2013 17:43
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Today at the Termini station in Rome I was waiting in line to buy an espresso when a man came up to me and asked for some change. I shook my head and he continued down the line. 30 seconds past and he was on his way back up the line and asked me again. This time I said no. I then got up to the counter an bought my espresso and the man handed me my change. I turned around and once again there's the guy asking me for my change. This time I got aggressive and really slammed hard on the no. You'd think this was the end... It wasn't. I wasn't finished taking 3 sips of my espresso and he bumped into me and asked. I literally almost saw red. I said "for the loving forth time today and for the last you're not getting any of my loving change." Then he headed off. He did eventually come back but this time he gazed over me and kept walking. I don't know what I would've done if he asked again.
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Jun 29, 2013 19:02
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Still planning my Dubrovnik > Sarajevo drive. Found out about the Bay of Kotor and everything's so close I'm tempted to fit that in. But in only four days there's obviously not enough time. So... which of the following do I cut: - a day driving around the Bay of Kotor - a day in Dubrovnik - a day in Mostar - a day in Sarajevo I'm thinking of cutting time in Dubrovnik because it will be very touristy in August... but probably sticking to the original plan and skipping Kotor is the better option. Any other suggestions? I could fit everything, but that would mean driving 1-2 hours every day and not having a full morning to night day in any one place, spending just ~ 24 hours each in Dubrovnik, Mostar, and Sarajevo. E: On second thought, I'll probably spend less time in Mostar, and drive on through to Sarajevo that evening, giving me a full day there at least. SurgicalOntologist fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Jun 29, 2013 |
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Jun 29, 2013 20:27
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Octy posted:By the by, what are some good tips for writing day-to-day itineraries? I can only make half-educated guesses as to how long some things I'd like to see would take, but apart from that I'm clueless. For example, the Louvre is going to take up more time than a monument like the Arc de Triomphe, obviously. This is just me, but rushing around is the opposite of what I think a holiday should be. I plan one thing per day and then the rest of the day just happens. If I have time and energy after that and I can do another thing, that's great, but I enjoy just getting lost and wandering around places and going down canals and alleyways and poo poo. It also helps prioritize things to only the absolute essentials, and I never leave a place that I'm enjoying to go to a different place.
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Jun 29, 2013 21:30
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greazeball posted:This is just me, but rushing around is the opposite of what I think a holiday should be. I plan one thing per day and then the rest of the day just happens. If I have time and energy after that and I can do another thing, that's great, but I enjoy just getting lost and wandering around places and going down canals and alleyways and poo poo. It also helps prioritize things to only the absolute essentials, and I never leave a place that I'm enjoying to go to a different place. Ah, but you live in Switzerland. It's a 24 hour flight to Europe for me plus a $2000 return ticket (I was lucky to get it on a hugely discounted sale, actually). For Australians these things take lots of time and money and we want to make the most of it by seeing as much as possible because who knows when we'll next be there?
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Jun 29, 2013 23:52
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Howdy y'all, I'm in Berlin right now, and I'm about to head to Heidelberg for a few days tomorrow. After that, I don't really have a definite plan, except that I'm flying out of Brussels on the 15th. Does anyone have any advice on good places to visit in the middle there? I was thinking somewhere along the Rhine, and maybe somewhere, or a few places, with good breweries in Belgium. I'm mostly looking to relax on this trip (I did my partying in Berlin). Nice, semi-rural places are fine, as long as I can at least find a hotel with an internet connection. I'd also be interested in towns I can use as a "home base" for local day trips by train. I realize this is pretty broad, but I'm trying to keep it loose and have fun.
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Jun 30, 2013 13:32
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