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Rojkir posted:You must mean around Markermeer (145km), around Ijsselmeer is not even doable for most trained cyclists (in a single day). Around Markermeer would give you a day full of iconic Dutch sites though. Centers of Monnikendam, Edam, Volendam, Hoorn and Muiden and everything else is just wind, dykes and marshes, it's glorious I assumed 2 days. It is ~400km, that is doable for someone on a road bike (not on a heavy dutch clunker though). But yeah Markermeer is probably more realistical.
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Apr 26, 2012 19:30
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Rojkir posted:You must mean around Markermeer (145km), around Ijsselmeer is not even doable for most trained cyclists (in a single day). Around Markermeer would give you a day full of iconic Dutch sites though. Centers of Monnikendam, Edam, Volendam, Hoorn and Muiden and everything else is just wind, dykes and marshes, it's glorious Thanks, this is perfect! I'm sure it will be easy to find a non-touristy B&B in the area. Any recommendations for dutch specialty food to try in the country areas? Excepting the obvious edam from edam.
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Apr 26, 2012 21:13
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Check out this workout I did last year to get some route ideas if you need them (easily adjustable by a couple of 100 meters to actually go through centers). If you want to get real touristy you can include Marken. Stop for the night in Hoorn (I have no real advice on where to stay) and then just take the train or cycle back the next day. The whole eastern part of this route is for enthousiasts only. Food: get herring, http://www.design-your-travel.com/948/how-to-eat-raw-herring/ e; maybe you could take this discussion here: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3306562&pagenumber=5 Rojkir fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Apr 26, 2012 |
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Apr 26, 2012 21:32
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My flight gets in to Heathrow at 10:45pm, and I'm figuring that after I clear security it will be past midnight. Any suggestions of decent places to stay in London near LHR that will be open that late? Also, I'm only planning on spending the following day in London and then taking the DUTCH FLYER to Amsterdam in the evening. Are there any cool 1-day itineraries for London? I'll most likely be heading back there in December, so I'm not too concerned about missing out on a lot of stuff.
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Apr 27, 2012 13:19
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Laminator posted:My flight gets in to Heathrow at 10:45pm, and I'm figuring that after I clear security it will be past midnight. Any suggestions of decent places to stay in London near LHR that will be open that late? Also, I'm only planning on spending the following day in London and then taking the DUTCH FLYER to Amsterdam in the evening. Are there any cool 1-day itineraries for London? I'll most likely be heading back there in December, so I'm not too concerned about missing out on a lot of stuff. Do either St. Paul's Cathedral - Tower of London - Westminster Abbey, then walk across the Thames and ride the London Eye. OR: Westminster Abbey -- Buckingham Palace (you can't go inside if you're not there in Aug or Sept) -- St. James Park -- Trafalgar Square (National Gallery is there) then walk across the Thames and ride the London Eye. You would walk the latter option, use public transport for the former.
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Apr 27, 2012 17:30
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Right, so the owner of my company gave me the thumbs up on moving to Germany. I'm looking at July right now so I have time to sell my stuff and find a replacement room mate. I'm starting to make a list of the things I need to buy/do before I go. Trying to think of the stupid little poo poo that will either be annoying to find, or possibly more expensive over there. Any suggestions?
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Apr 29, 2012 17:35
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Have you really worked this through? I don't know your salary, but keep in mind that you will be at the mercy of exchange rates. Add to that, that you will most likely take a hit from transfering your monthly income to a german bank account. For a short term visit relying on atms should be fine, but if you live in the country, you'll need a german account and transfer fees can be a bitch.
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Apr 29, 2012 17:55
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elwood posted:Have you really worked this through? I don't know your salary, but keep in mind that you will be at the mercy of exchange rates. Add to that, that you will most likely take a hit from transfering your monthly income to a german bank account. For a short term visit relying on atms should be fine, but if you live in the country, you'll need a german account and transfer fees can be a bitch. He could set up a Bank of America account and just take money out when he needs it from a Deutsche Bank ATM (no fees) and then deposit it in his German account. But yeah, he should probably think about it some more because that is not ideal, but I know a guy who I think basically does that. He is working at the university here, but his grant is paid to an American account in dollars. You would have to plan it right so that you are able to have enough money in your account since you can only take out $X per day and you might need to pay rent, etc. As he's going to be moving to Cologne, I would hope his salary would be at least 1,200 to 1,500 euros net, it will need to be more if you are going to have to pay for a car, etc. If you end up in Cologne, let me know and I can do a little write-up for how to get started/some stuff to do. Total Confusion fucked around with this message at 19:04 on Apr 29, 2012 |
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Apr 29, 2012 18:51
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So I'm gonna be touring Europe this Sept-Oct and I'd really like to attend Oktoberfest this year! I'm looking for insight on hostels since everything I could find has it's prices jacked way up. Alternatively if any native goons would like to play couchsurfing host I would also be up for that!
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Apr 29, 2012 19:02
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Gold and a Pager posted:He could set up a Bank of America account and just take money out when he needs it from a Deutsche Bank ATM (no fees) and then deposit it in his German account. Right now I make about $60K USD. There is also a pay raise tied to this move that should have me netting higher than that after taxes and exchange rate. I am not planning on having a car right now. Probably just rent one as needed for work. I work for a mid-size tech company, so I'm not going to be driving around in the country visiting small shops or anything. The bank thing is definitely something I am thinking on, as well. As much as I hate BofA, they seem like a decent option all things considered. Right now I am planning on Cologne for at least 3 months to get acclimated and focus on my key customer in the region. As I add to my book of business, I will likely move around to be closer to target markets. Akion fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Apr 29, 2012 |
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Apr 29, 2012 19:05
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Akion posted:Right now I make about $60K USD. There is also a pay I live in Paris with my wife and only make about 2200€/month combined (after taxes) and we get along fine. Granted, we live pretty simply and can't really put anything away in savings but you'll be able to get along fine with your salary.
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Apr 30, 2012 07:58
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Miftan posted:So I'm gonna be touring Europe this Sept-Oct and I'd really like to attend Oktoberfest this year! I'm looking for insight on hostels since everything I could find has it's prices jacked way up. Alternatively if any native goons would like to play couchsurfing host I would also be up for that! You won't find a place that hasn't its prices jacked up.You will find a lot of annoying british,american and australian guys at Oktoberfest who will drink their own puke and piss for shits and giggles. (I wish I was kidding) Better avoid it.There will be "Oktoberfests" all around germany,which are cheaper and less crowded.I`ll recommend the one in Stuttgart. http://www.cannstatter-volksfest.de/index.php?id=2&L=1 or the Nürnberg volksfest
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Apr 30, 2012 14:32
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AstroWhale posted:You won't find a place that hasn't its prices jacked up.You will find a lot of annoying british,american and australian guys at Oktoberfest who will drink their own puke and piss for shits and giggles. (I wish I was kidding) What. I spent 3 days at Oktoberfest last year and can't say I saw this... and honestly doubt. Did you actually see that happening, or did a friend of a friend say they heard someone who saw it happen once? The only people I even saw vomiting were Asians, and at like 2pm. I did see a lot of drunk Australians though. So many. Oh and people pissing everywhere. It was a hell of an experience that I never really want to repeat.
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Apr 30, 2012 15:41
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Yeah, I was in Munich for Oktoberfest last year and it wasn't that bad. The bars/clubs were lovely, but the beer tents themselves were ok. I mean, it's definitely a tourist thing now. But nothing like what was mentioned above. Basically, got to Oktoberfest in Munich if for no other reason than to say you did it, but understand that it'll probably be different than what you are expecting.
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Apr 30, 2012 17:24
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AstroWhale posted:You won't find a place that hasn't its prices jacked up.You will find a lot of annoying british,american and australian guys at Oktoberfest who will drink their own puke and piss for shits and giggles. (I wish I was kidding) Can you elaborate on these other festivals? The link you provided looks like a theme park and not much of a beer festival. Keep in mind I'll probably be by myself there so I'd like to meet some people at hostels.
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Apr 30, 2012 18:20
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Miftan posted:Can you elaborate on these other festivals? The link you provided looks like a theme park and not much of a beer festival. Keep in mind I'll probably be by myself there so I'd like to meet some people at hostels. Oktoberfest looks a lot like a Theme park everywhere you go. It's a big celebration, it's just that the beer part is all you ever hear about. When I went to Munich, it took us about 10-15 minutes to find/get to the beer tents.
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Apr 30, 2012 20:28
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AstroWhale posted:You won't find a place that hasn't its prices jacked up.You will find a lot of annoying british,american and australian guys at Oktoberfest who will drink their own puke and piss for shits and giggles. (I wish I was kidding) Last time I was at the Theresienwiese (2010), the Italians were the craziest and the drunkest. The older locals seemed pretty cool, and I spent a while drinking in a tent with some of them. I rarely heard English spoken while I was there, it was mostly German, with a bit of French/English/Italian. So while I'm not saying you didn't have some sort of hellish time with a bunch of Anglos there, I didn't see any of that while I was there.
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Apr 30, 2012 23:57
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So I'm just back from Budapest, and it was amazing  Weather was perfect -A dry 25-35 degrees C and bright sunshine most of the time. We saw most of the main sights in the city and also made a couple of daytrips to see Lake Balaton and Szentendre. Unfortunately the curse of Bruce Willis struck me again  It's honestly getting a bit weird at this stage; in 1996 I was in Chicago for the summer, and couldn't get down Michigan Avenue for most of one day because Bruce was filming The Jackal. 10 years later I was passing through L.A. on my way to New Zealand and the shuttle bus I was on had to make a big awkward detour; Bruce again, filming Die Hard 4. Last sunday I was up on Castle Hill planning to visit the Budapest History Museum but the whole inner courtyard was blocked off by trucks so no access possible. we asked a couple of english tourists what was going on and they said that there was some film or other being shot today so no-one was getting inside. It was our last day, so a bit of a disappointment as you can imagine. "What film is it?" I asked idly. "Oh, its the new Die Hard" they said.  BRUCE WILLIS!!!
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May 2, 2012 09:41
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quote:Curse of Bruce Willis  I fly in to London in two days. It's going to be raining and colder than it is here.. where we're heading in to winter. At least I wont have to adapt to the weather on top of everything else. 
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May 2, 2012 14:42
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Alkazard.exe posted:That's hilarious, and way too coincidental given times and locations. Are you sure you're not stalking him? It really is bizarre; I have only EVER been inconvenienced by Bruce Willis, never any other actor. It's sort of reasonable to expect that there would be filming going on L.A. - I think that's pretty much continuous, but Budapest? And it's not like I travel continuously or anything - last week in Budapest was the first time I have left the country in over 2 years.
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May 2, 2012 15:42
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Preparing to move to Ireland from the US in two weeks. Looking for ways to solve the power situation in a sane way. I was wondering if someone would know whether or not I could use a UPS ( something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842107140 ) instead of mucking about with step up/down converters or transformers or other messier means of power conversion. Since that UPS can pull in 230V and output 110V, I'd assume it's fairly well ideal for the purpose. Anyone have any idea whether or not this would work?
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May 3, 2012 05:10
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dug fin posted:Preparing to move to Ireland from the US in two weeks. Looking for ways to solve the power situation in a sane way. Are you moving permanently/more than a year? What appliances do you absolutely need to bring with you?
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May 3, 2012 07:03
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Pookah posted:So I'm just back from Budapest, and it was amazing any suggestions for like a 3 day itinerary?
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May 3, 2012 08:08
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Miftan posted:Can you elaborate on these other festivals? The link you provided looks like a theme park and not much of a beer festival. Keep in mind I'll probably be by myself there so I'd like to meet some people at hostels. My advice would be to go early in the morning and have a beer and stand more of a chance of getting a seat (and avoiding the drunken, puking that happens later on) You will still get to sing all the ridiculous songs and have fun, you will just avoid most of the drunken mess that happens later on in the day. Almost every village in Bayern has it's own beer festival. The Dachau Volksfest or the Stuttgart festival are fun but really there are tonnes of them.
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May 3, 2012 11:33
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PlantHead posted:My advice would be to go early in the morning and have a beer and stand more of a chance of getting a seat (and avoiding the drunken, puking that happens later on) Was'n owns, you should probably go, there's less lines and fewer drunken tourists.
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May 3, 2012 11:39
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dug fin posted:Preparing to move to Ireland from the US in two weeks. Looking for ways to solve the power situation in a sane way. Step down transformers are smaller and weigh less than most UPSs. And, generally speaking, they're more reliable and handle more output. Unless your talking about something that needs to survive a loss of power just go with a transformer. Better yet buy stuff that works on 220 when practical.
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May 3, 2012 11:49
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Laminator posted:any suggestions for like a 3 day itinerary? Hmm - One thing you should absolutely do as soon as you arrive is buy a 3 day bus/metro/tram ticket (buy in any metro station). It is incredibly useful as Budapest's public transport services are awesome. Once you have this, you can do multiple things in each day without getting tired out walking from one to the other. So things to do in three days: 1. Get up to the Castle District - great views over the city, lots of beautiful buildings. 2. Walk down through Central Budapest - Vaci Street etc; sure its touristy as hell but it's still fun - also if you keep walking down to the end of Vaci Utca you end up right outside the Great Market Hall, which is a destination in and of itself and also a great place to get a cheap and authentic meal. 3. Go up Gellert Hill (get bus 27 from Móricz Zsigmond körtér) More great views, and a lovely walk down the front of the hill through the trees to visit the statue of Gellert himself and then you come out at the bottom near Elizabeth Bridge which is nice to walk across. If you need a rest from walking for a little whie you can get on tram 2 from just across the bridge - it runs along the riverside so the views are nice 4. Hero's square( Hősök tere) - A great big open square with awesome statues of Hugarian national heroes. It's right on a metro stop and both the Museum of Fine Art and City Park are adjacent, also the walk up Andrassy Street from the City centre to the square is really nice. 5. House of Terror museum - I haven't been myself ( I wussed out because I was enjoying the sunshine and relaxation too much) but friends of mine have been and have recommended it very highly. Edit: List not complete, I'm planning to add in other things as I think of them Also another thing is that my 8-day trip only cost me around 250 euro for flights and hotel so I was not feeling much pressure to rush around and see everything, the whole trip was kind of a last minute, "I have a week off, where will I go? " sort of thing.
Pookah fucked around with this message at 13:05 on May 3, 2012 |
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May 3, 2012 12:46
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dug fin posted:Preparing to move to Ireland from the US in two weeks. Looking for ways to solve the power situation in a sane way. Anything that would require a transformer is not worth taking with you. Problem solved.
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May 3, 2012 13:03
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greazeball posted:Are you moving permanently/more than a year? What appliances do you absolutely need to bring with you? Yeah, permanently. I definitely want to bring my TV - I paid 3k US for it a couple years ago and I don't want to abandon it. There's a bunch of kitchen appliances too that I need to run for a short while. elwood posted:Anything that would require a transformer is not worth taking with you. Problem solved. Over time I'll be replacing kitchen appliances and such, but it's not really practical to take thousands of dollars of electronics and toss them in the trash. Isn't that the kind of stuff Europeans mock/hate Americans for in general? :P I'm really just looking for a way to safely bring things until they wear out on their own / I can replace them. The move is just too expensive on its own for me to do it short term.
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May 3, 2012 14:08
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dug fin posted:
I'd check your TV is actually going to work in Ireland.
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May 3, 2012 15:54
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dug fin posted:Yeah, permanently. All of this may be moot because if you're moving in 2 weeks I assume you've already made arrangements to ship everything over? But like elwood and TheHoodedClaw said/implied, poo poo is a major hassle or just plain won't work. Unless they've made TVs so they can handle NTSC and PAL now (check your manual), you won't be able to do anything but watch the DVDs you already have. You won't be able to play DVDs you buy in Ireland unless you have a region-free DVD player. Kitchens will be A LOT smaller than in the states, especially if you're going to be in an apartment. A LOT SMALLER. Counter space? LMAO Houses/apartments in general will be a lot smaller, so you won't have room to store stuff either and guess how many people will want to buy appliances and gadgets that need adapters in Ireland? Put everything you can't absolutely live without on craigslist now and get whatever cash you can for it. Sorry man, but international moving sucks balls. Do you already have a place lined up? If you're moving into a newly built home in the suburbs of Dublin you might have a pretty modern kitchen, but if you're getting a flat in the city centre don't bring a lot of poo poo. In more positive news, I think you've got the right idea with the power converter. I don't know poo poo about voltage really (we just bought plug adapters when we arrived), so hopefully someone else can chime in. Can you not just bring a few normal power strips and just buy adapters for those? Then you'd have 1 adapter and 6 US plugs.
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May 3, 2012 16:34
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Pookah posted:
Awesome, thanks! Anything else you can think of would be great to hear. Any good food places come to mind? I'm planning on gorging myself on pretty much everything, it's a disguising and wonderful plan
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May 3, 2012 20:33
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Has anyone flown with Aeroflot or changed planes in Moscow (SVO)? What was it like? My sister found an insane price to come visit ($685 for LAX-GVA from 11/28 to 12/15) but she's flying through Moscow and in addition she has a 14 hour overnight layover on the way back. We've clicked all the way through and the price includes taxes, but something still doesn't feel right and that layover looks pretty lovely (from 10:45pm to 1:20pm the next day). How bad will it be considering she doesn't speak Russian at all? Also, will she be allowed to go to a hotel with a transit visa or will she need a different one? Can she even stay in the airport or will she be forced to leave?
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May 3, 2012 22:45
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greazeball posted:All of this may be moot because if you're moving in 2 weeks I assume you've already made arrangements to ship everything over? I've daisy changed adapters and power strips in countless configurations, it always works just fine. Personally I don't find dealing with transformers much of a bother for things like TVs, it's best not to use them for kitchen appliances though since they take up valuable counter space as you pointed out. If you start needing more than one or two you ought to consider buying some new stuff though. And keep in mind that the difference in Hertz means some things won't work right regardless, or they might wear out faster. But that mostly applies to smaller appliances in my experience. Alarm clocks in particular never work.
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May 3, 2012 23:00
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greazeball posted:All of this may be moot because if you're moving in 2 weeks I assume you've already made arrangements to ship everything over? My work is moving my stuff and I already have a place (signed lease and all). The place is crazy small (1050sq feet or so) for a ridiculous amount of money, but you have to make sacrifices. We're not bringing furniture (prefurnished rental) and only a few pieces of electronics - trust me, I'm well prepared for what I'm walking into.We don't need cable / anything in PAL format TV-wise; I haven't had cable television for 5+ years. The last hurdle is lining up adapters for the few things we're wanting to bring over. A transformer will work nicely, I think, I'm just worried about the frequency difference (50hz vs 60hz) - I know it will probably hose the internal clocks on the TV/etc, but if that won't hurt it otherwise then it's fine with me.
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May 4, 2012 00:14
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dug fin posted:A transformer will work nicely, I think, I'm just worried about the frequency difference (50hz vs 60hz) - I know it will probably hose the internal clocks on the TV/etc, but if that won't hurt it otherwise then it's fine with me. Most (All?) electronics made in the last decade or two are dual-voltage, and will handle 50/60 Hz and 110/220 V seamlessly. Just look at the UL panel on the back of your TV, and it will state what it can handle. Cheap kitchen appliances may not be able to handle it, but every computer/stereo/tv should have no issues.
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May 4, 2012 01:09
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SeaTard posted:Most (All?) electronics made in the last decade or two are dual-voltage, and will handle 50/60 Hz and 110/220 V seamlessly. Just look at the UL panel on the back of your TV, and it will state what it can handle. Already did - only has 110/60 listed. The voltage is easy enough to take care of, but I've read everything from 'It'll be fine' to 'It will make your TV come to life and murder your entire family at night.' so I'm not really sure as far as the frequency goes.
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May 4, 2012 01:23
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I'm headed to Europe in mid August. Lots of places will be a first--Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam. Also going to England as I have family there. I'll probably fly in to London, spend a few days, and then go to the other three. Thing is, I can't really decide on what the best order would be. The plan is to visit family in the UK, and then travel. For the travel portion, I'm hoping to be able to do HelpX or WWOOFing and work on a Spanish farm or vineyard for a week or two. I'll be there with my girlfriend who is psyched about that but also for a romantic/relaxing time in Paris. So I'm thinking of ending with Paris after working on the farm. So my question really amounts to: in your experience, when should I go to Amsterdam? I'm not quite clear on how different the cost would be if that was the second stop or the third. Bonus question: for those who have done helping work abroad: is it easy to travel to a countryside farm to help someone out? Will they generally pick you up if it's not too far? Any other tips would be nice. (I'm thinking of going with HelpX.net; it costs money to contact hosts, so I have to be choosy).
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May 4, 2012 01:54
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Going to Salamanca for this summer. What do students in Spain wear? As a guy, what do you wear on the beach in the south of spain? Any tips would be appreciated.
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May 4, 2012 05:01
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Cjones posted:As a guy, what do you wear on the beach in the south of spain? Any tips would be appreciated. Sandals, dark socks, bermuda shorts, England football jersey or topless if you are fat and have bulldog tattoos, horrific sunburn.
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May 4, 2012 06:41
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