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if google is correct 60 f is 15c? Thats way too cold for ac, wtf
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Nov 29, 2019 09:11
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Shy posted:What's the weather like in Lisbon in April? Nice enough, but there's a good chance of rain. And of course five nights isn't "too much" in a major cultural centre like Lisbon, since you'll probably spend one day of it in Sintra Also, I realise that Americans defend their love for the AC with like "you try living in North Florida without one", which I understand, but then someone goes "it's 15c out and the AC is off!" and I',m just like ???????????????????
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Nov 29, 2019 09:31
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I am also going to Portugal! I've booked my flights for the end of March, I'm going to fly into Faro, then train up to Lisbon, then train up to Porto, and fly back from Porto. It might be a bit tight on a 10-day schedule but I think it should be acceptable overall. Any advice for any of those destinations?
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Nov 29, 2019 15:55
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Oh no, I totally get it. I don’t blame the hotel folks for keeping the AC off, but the room is still a solid 8 or so degrees warmer than what is comfortable due what I imagine is everyone else around us blasting heat. It’s not terrible, but it is enough that I have to sleep on top of the sheets.
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Nov 29, 2019 18:21
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Warbird posted:Oh no, I totally get it. I don’t blame the hotel folks for keeping the AC off, but the room is still a solid 8 or so degrees warmer than what is comfortable due what I imagine is everyone else around us blasting heat. It’s not terrible, but it is enough that I have to sleep on top of the sheets. If 8 degrees higher than the ambient temperature of 60°F makes you sweat and unable to go under the sheets, you might literally want to see a doctor about that? Either that or it's actually way hotter than you are estimating. But yeah many places in Europe heat absurdly in winter, it's as bad as many places in the south of the US cooling everything off to 68° in the middle of summer. My wife used to work in a bookstore when she was in uni, and I would absolutely not go in its upstairs section during winter because it was at least 30°C, I don't know what the hell was wrong with the management there, as it was unbearable to enter there in winter clothing and they got numerous complaints from customers... plus it must have cost them a fortune. Buses tend to have the same issue. You don't need to heat a goddamn bus to 25°C in winter; everyone is already dressed for walking around outside where it's 5°C. I stayed in a friend's dorm in NYC quite a number of years ago and they had to have their dorm room window open the entire winter, as the heating could not be controlled by the students, and for some reason the entire building was on "Qatari summer" setting. Which meant that part of the room was unbearably cold, and part of it was unbearably hot. At least it wasn't suicide-proof back then. I don't even know what kids living in that dorm do now.
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Nov 29, 2019 21:47
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Thanks for the help with Amsterdam. Completed what I had intended, stayed in the city, saw the museums, ate the food, drank the drink, walked all over the city and have one more day to take it easy.
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Nov 29, 2019 22:17
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Saladman posted:If 8 degrees higher than the ambient temperature of 60°F makes you sweat and unable to go under the sheets, you might literally want to see a doctor about that? Either that or it's actually way hotter than you are estimating. Sorry, I meant ~8F degrees warmer than what I personally find comfortable rather than the ambient temp. (Though I will admit to a slight exaggeration.) "Comfortable" here meaning somewhere within a degree or two of 74F/23.3C. I'd take a guess that the room's somewhere around 78F/25.5C, but the humidity here is a bit different than what I'm used to so I might be a bit off. If I could get some proper airflow in here I think it would be perfectly fine, but that doesn't seem likely to happen before we leave. I'll power through it. General Burd/American hotel practice is to take that AC and crank that poo poo as low as possible and get nice and toasty under a nice thick comforter/duvet without overheating. It's quite nice and sleeps great. Different strokes for different folks.
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Nov 29, 2019 23:07
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My dad wants to take the extended family and some friends over to London next summer, maybe 15-20 people. It could use some organizing for flights, hotel or place to stay, and probably a weekend trip to Paris. Anyone know of a travel agent we could use to help keep the flights/reservations organized?
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Nov 30, 2019 00:36
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Right, I'm moving to Berlin on Sunday, who fancies a couple of pints and a chat
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Nov 30, 2019 03:53
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Shy posted:What's the weather like in Lisbon in April? It was good when I was there a couple years ago in April. It was warm and sunny for the entire four days, which I thought was enough. Five nights is too much even with visits outside the city.
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Nov 30, 2019 08:56
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Saladman posted:If 8 degrees higher than the ambient temperature of 60°F makes you sweat and unable to go under the sheets, you might literally want to see a doctor about that? Either that or it's actually way hotter than you are estimating. Oh god this - I spent a week in Budapest in February a couple of years ago, right in the middle of a cold snap, and the hotel room was ridiculously overheated with no possibility of adjustment. We had to open the window to let in the -10 celcius breeze. Very handy for chilling beer though.
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Nov 30, 2019 10:57
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PT6A posted:I am also going to Portugal! Check my posts in this thread, I've posted about it
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Dec 1, 2019 16:29
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orange sky posted:Check my posts in this thread, I've posted about it In fact, I believe you may have already posted about it in response to me last time I was considering going to Portugal. Thanks! I’ll hit you up if I have any more specific questions. Edit: after a bunch of deliberation, I’ve decided to stay at a place that seems basically on the border of Baixa and the Alfama in Lisbon, and then a spot around Ribeira in Porto, and a place that’s walking distance of the historic centre in Faro. All the most fun I’ve had anywhere in Europe is staying in a walkable place and then loving around, so I think I’m well positioned from what I’ve read. It seems the trains only allow bookings two months out, is that the case or am I insane? PT6A fucked around with this message at 04:21 on Dec 2, 2019 |
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Dec 2, 2019 04:09
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PT6A posted:It seems the trains only allow bookings two months out, is that the case or am I insane? Weird, but sure enough. That's especially annoying since Portugal (like many countries) gives you a huge discount on train tickets if you buy them in advance.
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Dec 2, 2019 10:21
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Saladman posted:Weird, but sure enough. That's especially annoying since Portugal (like many countries) gives you a huge discount on train tickets if you buy them in advance. Just wanted to confirm it was that, and not something like one encounters with Renfe where the website is just a barely functioning piece of poo poo.
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Dec 2, 2019 17:04
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Heading to Athens on Friday for a week. I have a lot of touristy stuff planned, including a day trip to Sounion and one of the islands close by. Any recommendations for cocktail bars? Brettos, The Clumsies, Noel, Drunk Sinatra, and Kolokotroni 9 are on my list. Also looking for recommendations in general for hidden gems. Smaller museums, restaurants, sightseeing.
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Dec 4, 2019 16:21
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Shy posted:What's the weather like in Lisbon in April? asur posted:It was good when I was there a couple years ago in April. It was warm and sunny for the entire four days, which I thought was enough. Five nights is too much even with visits outside the city. Weaponized Autism posted:Heading to Athens on Friday for a week. I have a lot of touristy stuff planned, including a day trip to Sounion and one of the islands close by. Any recommendations for cocktail bars? Brettos, The Clumsies, Noel, Drunk Sinatra, and Kolokotroni 9 are on my list. Also looking for recommendations in general for hidden gems. Smaller museums, restaurants, sightseeing. Bollock Monkey fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Dec 7, 2019 |
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Dec 7, 2019 19:17
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I've spent several weeks there over the course of three visits. If you get bored in a place like Lisbon after a few days, you have a serious lack of imagination.
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Dec 8, 2019 01:53
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Entropist posted:I've spent several weeks there over the course of three visits. If you get bored in a place like Lisbon after a few days, you have a serious lack of imagination. Frankly, this applies to pretty much any place I've been, even places I didn't particularly enjoy. Bollock Monkey posted:Don't eat anywhere with an English menu outside. This is excellent and crucial advice for literally any place I've been in Europe. With the possible, but not certain, exception of the UK  To add to this, look for places that have high but imperfect Google/TripAdvisor ratings. #1-rated on TripAdvisor is as big a red flag for me now as anything.
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Dec 8, 2019 02:39
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Nah, in my experience Google and TripAdvisor ratings are quite different. TripAdvisor ratings are by American tourists, Google prioritizes locals. Some of the top restaurants on TripAdvisor in Amsterdam are pretty bad. Google Maps ratings work well, though it's still good to check there if ratings in the local language don't deviate strongly from the average, or to see if all the bad ratings are in English and are complaining about service - in that case, ignore them.
Entropist fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Dec 8, 2019 |
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Dec 8, 2019 21:45
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I'm staying in Barcelona in a couple weeks and paid in full for my hostel in October. I booked through Hostel World. The hostel are now asking me to pay 30% more than I already have because some of the credit card information for other stays they received was fraudulent. I don't even know what that means, really, but presumably they're trying to make up for lost money by charging more. Anyway, they said my card came back as "invalid" - I don't remember giving them my card since I paid through Hostel World. Am I right in thinking this is shady? Surely they are not allowed to do this. Just not really sure what to do here. Edit: Okay I just got an email from them saying it was a misunderstanding and I don't need to pay anymore. So good, I guess. snoremac fucked around with this message at 21:55 on Dec 8, 2019 |
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Dec 8, 2019 21:47
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Tripadvisor is an almost completely useless website
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Dec 8, 2019 23:41
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Shibawanko posted:Tripadvisor is an almost completely useless website It’s good for nonprofessional photos. Bad for everything else.
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Dec 8, 2019 23:55
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Entropist posted:Nah, in my experience Google and TripAdvisor ratings are quite different. TripAdvisor ratings are by American tourists, Google prioritizes locals. Some of the top restaurants on TripAdvisor in Amsterdam are pretty bad. Google Maps ratings work well, though it's still good to check there if ratings in the local language don't deviate strongly from the average, or to see if all the bad ratings are in English and are complaining about service - in that case, ignore them. I always tend to see on Google Reviews either almost 5 stars or 1.5ish stars (usually at the airport or very popular places). I only use Google Reviews to look at pictures though. It's as if there's no average or mediocre food on Google Reviews. Tripadvisor has a wider range of reviews but as always, I only use them for pictures. The only good indicator about both of these is that, if it's horribly rated by almost everyone, you can be pretty sure it's very VERY bad. The same can't be said for highly rated places, ie people who know nothing about food are easily impressed. But that's my take anyway, since I used to work in the restaurant industry.
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Dec 10, 2019 21:30
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Thanks for the Lisbon advice! In Rome I didn't go out of the city as was suggested because it was completely overwhelming and five nights wasn't even close to enough, so I'm honestly not worried about being bored. TripAdvisor helped me find a hotel in Vienna, it was this https://www.das-tyrol.at/en/ it was the nicest place I've ever stayed in by a wide margin. If anyone travels to Vienna and 200 eur/night sounds reasonable take a look. Shy fucked around with this message at 09:34 on Dec 11, 2019 |
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Dec 11, 2019 09:16
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Shy posted:Thanks for the Lisbon advice! Yeah I think I’ve spent 11 days in Rome over the past few years and the only day trip I’ve done from there is Ostia, which was cool but I kind of regret not going to Tivoli instead. It’s incredible how much there is there.
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Dec 11, 2019 12:30
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Knight Corgi posted:I always tend to see on Google Reviews either almost 5 stars or 1.5ish stars (usually at the airport or very popular places). I only use Google Reviews to look at pictures though. It's as if there's no average or mediocre food on Google Reviews. Hm, I guess it's better where I've been, places have quite a few ratings and thus there are not a lot of 5s or 1s. My Google Maps rating impressions: 1-3 stars: Most likely a total disaster 3-3.8 stars: Generic, mediocre, boring, not worth visiting, except if most complaints are about service or from people who don't know the cuisine - there's a Sichuan restaurant near me with a 3.6, the food is excellent and authentic but the service is pretty terrible so there are lots of negative reviews about service or from Dutch people not understanding the food, or takeout issues which doesn't matter if you eat there. 3.8-4.1 stars: Average. Can be worth going to if you like the cuisine, pictures, location etc. 4.1-4.5 stars: Usually there's a few of these in a given area and they're likely to be quite nice experiences 4.5-5 stars: Quite rare. Probably either a really expensive starred restaurant, or a great local hotspot that surprised people, or a real specialist in a particular culture's cuisine. If the total number of reviews is low, like less than 20, be skeptical, though (that goes for all of the categories but especially here).
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Dec 11, 2019 15:57
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That's pretty much in line with my experience of Google reviews as well. 4.1 and above is going to be pretty decent. Though this doesn't apply in SEA where usually the best-rated place in town is the McDonalds or Pizza Hut with 25,000 reviews and a 4.7 rating 
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Dec 11, 2019 23:09
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Is it possible to spend just a single night in Amsterdam? I fly in on Sunday at 6:30PM and fly out the following Monday at 1PM. In theory, I could at least see the waterway, walk around, get something to eat, a hotel, wake up and get breakfast and then make my way back to the airport. Or would this not be worth it? Would a Sunday night be too boring? Is stuff even open?
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Dec 12, 2019 02:34
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Tab8715 posted:Is it possible to spend just a single night in Amsterdam? I fly in on Sunday at 6:30PM and fly out the following Monday at 1PM. I don't think it'd be worth it, nothing but the red light district and cafés open, and I never thought Amsterdam at night was all that beautiful. But if you're flying from Schiphol and you're looking for something to do, it's not the worst idea. Edit: Schiphol train station is pretty integral to the airport, so it's incredibly easy to get to, and the connection to Amsterdam is frequent and takes 15-20 minutes. I'm not sure of restaurant opening hours on sundays, but normally they stop serving food after 9 or so. You can probably get a proper meal instead of airport food. Dance Officer fucked around with this message at 10:46 on Dec 12, 2019 |
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Dec 12, 2019 10:26
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It can be done. A typical canal tour is 1 hour and they also run in the evening and gives a nice summary, and Amsterdam can be nice at night especially in winter when all the lights are up. It is not true that everything is closed - this is not Germany. Shops, restaurants, and some museums are open and things are plenty crowded on the weekend. More stuff is closed on Monday than on Sunday. Do keep in mind that most restaurants stop taking new eaters around 21:30. And indeed, it's only 15 mins from the airport.
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Dec 12, 2019 12:10
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you can experience dutch fast food by getting snacks from an wall automat, those should be open till late night
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Dec 12, 2019 14:35
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Tab8715 posted:Is it possible to spend just a single night in Amsterdam? I fly in on Sunday at 6:30PM and fly out the following Monday at 1PM. Is there some reason you would bother doing this? Like do you have to fly through Schipol and your options are either an overnight layover, or a regular transfer? Otherwise it sounds like a huge waste to fly to Amsterdam for like, 4 hours in the evening and another 2-3 hours in the morning. Also what time of year? Assuming that you have to fly through anyway, if it's now that seems OK but in like Jan/Feb that sounds pretty lovely, ymmv.
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Dec 12, 2019 16:00
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Berlin goons holla pls
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Dec 12, 2019 16:30
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Entropist posted:Hm, I guess it's better where I've been, places have quite a few ratings and thus there are not a lot of 5s or 1s. My Google Maps rating impressions: I live in Paris so I guess all the women who get proposed near the Eiffel Tower are overexcited by everything. But still, it's quite weird since Parisians are known to be tremendous assholes so I am surprised that I don't see too many negative reviews about snobby waiters who refuse to speak English or tourist trap food (loads of them near the touristy places, obviously). I guess it's still very different from one country to another. But yeah, to whom it may concern, if you ever come to Paris, be wary of very positive reviews, just check for pictures to get an idea.
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Dec 12, 2019 20:04
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kru posted:Berlin goons holla pls some folks apparently going to Das Gift tonight to despair over the UK election results
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Dec 12, 2019 20:09
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Saladman posted:Is there some reason you would bother doing this? Like do you have to fly through Schipol and your options are either an overnight layover, or a regular transfer? Otherwise it sounds like a huge waste to fly to Amsterdam for like, 4 hours in the evening and another 2-3 hours in the morning. Also what time of year? Assuming that you have to fly through anyway, if it's now that seems OK but in like Jan/Feb that sounds pretty lovely, ymmv. It’s a super long layover. It’s just the way my ridiculous travel worked out because airlines are basically cartels that own specific routes. I could hang out in the airport but it’s not like I’m able to visit Europe anytime so figure why not check it out. Gucci Loafers fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Dec 13, 2019 |
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Dec 13, 2019 04:27
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Dance Officer posted:I don't think it'd be worth it, nothing but the red light district and cafés open, and I never thought Amsterdam at night was all that beautiful. The internet tells me the RLD is scam ridden and just not worth it. I would like to be able to smoke just a single joint in a coffee shop if at all possible. I could care less if I’m overcharged I’d just like to do so just for the sake of novelty maybe in the company of some local folks.
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Dec 13, 2019 04:38
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Tab8715 posted:The internet tells me the RLD is scam ridden and just not worth it. I would like to be able to smoke just a single joint in a coffee shop if at all possible. I could care less if I’m overcharged I’d just like to do so just for the sake of novelty maybe in the company of some local folks. I'm not very familiar with Amsterdam, but I always get the feeling the coffee shops in the touristy areas don't get any locals.
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Dec 13, 2019 07:28
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Tab8715 posted:The internet tells me the RLD is scam ridden and just not worth it. I would like to be able to smoke just a single joint in a coffee shop if at all possible. I could care less if I’m overcharged I’d just like to do so just for the sake of novelty maybe in the company of some local folks. Maybe an Amsterdam goon can hook you up with some weed and a place to crash.
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Dec 13, 2019 08:24
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