But where I REALLY want to go is northern Europe.
hellooooooo travel thread
I've been kinda doing a travelogue thingie in the general thread because I'm currently on vacation in Wales, but it seems like maybe I should continue here? I'm gonna do it brace yourselves
WALES ADVENTURES
~*travelogue part 3*~
- we finally found out how Llanelli is pronounced. something like FHLENEHFLIUH, but i forgot it just as i wrote it down anyway. good job haiz
...
also, i've kinda been all over europe with a few exceptions? often because we travel between norway and czech, and a lot because my mom has a constant urge to leave norway. So if anyone wanna hear about anything I have quite a few stories ahahahah
Oooh! That looks like so much fun! Wales is so colorful (and you are too! Nice pants hehe)
Wales has always been a Place I Want to Travel, almost as much as Welsh is a Language I Want to Hear Spoken. Seriously, the phonetic rules are awesome/ridiculous.
Nice piccies! Those lambs are sooo cute, especially the one that looks like it's doing a cat impression!thanks! love the lambs
The "LL" in Welsh is tough to pronounce. First off, it's unvoiced. It's produced by starting like an "L", but allowing air to escape past the sides of the tongue -- so instead of pulling your tongue back to make an "L" sound, you have to make your tongue narrower to allow space between it and your side teeth!
BBC Newsreaders have it rewritten as "HL" to make it easier to sound half-way right. So "Llanelli" is sort of pronounced "Hlanehluh".
Irish has a similar sound only it's much sharper, and is often transliterated as "CL".
...and planning on studying in Germany from autumn on.Wow, great! Do you already know which city? :)
Wow, great! Do you already know which city? :)Potsdam, preferably. Otherwise other alternatives are Hildesheim and Cologne.
I was curious so I went to google translator to listen to how Llanelli is pronounced and it sounds a bit like the Icelandic double L, although softer. Icelandic one actually sounds almost like a TL - you start out by placing your tongue at the teeth but then blow air by the side of the tongue and the sound forms into an L. No one can entirely agree on which side of the tongue this should be, or should it even be both sides at the same time, of course (my opinion: left side). ;D I remember someone once describing it as a hi-hat sound, which actually sounded hilariously accurate.
Haha, I just love how this thread became a series of posts on Wales. We don't usually get a lot of attention when people outside the UK consider holidays, so gotta admit that all of this really warms my heart ^_^ (there was a point where I'd carry a map of Europe with me when travelling so that when people would inevitably go "Wales?", or the worse "isn't that a part of England" I'd be prepared to explain)ahahaha the wales spam is my fault for posting pics from each day's adventure. there are some in the general thread from before this thread happened
Glad you're having a good time there Haiz, and that you're dealing with the rain and muck in good spirits. It rains quite a lot in Wales but I've always liked the rain, and never really understood why it made some people act so soggy! Anyway, it looks like you've been having an amazing time there and I hope that the rest of your holiday is super-duper-mega-awesome as well :D
And then, right after that, I'm off to the United States of America, visiting New York City for a week with brother and grandmother. First week of July. I know there's a lot of things to do there, and we probably won't have time for everything. I'll come back to this in a few days, as I'll discuss it with my travelling companions over the weekend; but if you know the places that *must* be visited (including the lesser-known ones), or those that might not be worth the trouble, please tell :)
And then, right after that, I'm off to the United States of America, visiting New York City for a week with brother and grandmother. First week of July. I know there's a lot of things to do there, and we probably won't have time for everything. I'll come back to this in a few days, as I'll discuss it with my travelling companions over the weekend; but if you know the places that *must* be visited (including the lesser-known ones), or those that might not be worth the trouble, please tell :)
And then, right after that, I'm off to the United States of America, visiting New York City for a week with brother and grandmother. First week of July. I know there's a lot of things to do there, and we probably won't have time for everything. I'll come back to this in a few days, as I'll discuss it with my travelling companions over the weekend; but if you know the places that *must* be visited (including the lesser-known ones), or those that might not be worth the trouble, please tell :)
Downtown Manhattan also kind of sucks and it's easy to get lost in.
Getting lost in Manhattan is a feature, not a bug
I live where the all streets are numbered, so it's actually very hard in those parts...Me too! we visited Boston over Spring Break and all the streets are like "Wheeeeeee! I can make *curves*! Watch this -- I'll join up to myself!" and also NONE OF THEM ARE NUMBERED, so you don't know how many blocks you are from somewhere.
Me too! we visited Boston over Spring Break and all the streets are like "Wheeeeeee! I can make *curves*! Watch this -- I'll join up to myself!" and also NONE OF THEM ARE NUMBERED, so you don't know how many blocks you are from somewhere.
I love the grid system.
I live where the all streets are numbered, so it's actually very hard in those parts...
North of Houston, then? And nowhere near Inwood :)
I don't know what you consider as a cheap place to stayI... don't know either :o it'll be the first time I pay for my own travels so... a small hotel would be nice I guess
I'm looking for bar/pub recommendations in Turku, Finland, especially ones with good local beer (terva snapsi is a big plus)
I'm looking for bar/pub recommendations in Turku, Finland, especially ones with good local beer (terva snapsi is a big plus)
I asked a friend who used to live there and she recommends the Koulu (http://www.panimoravintolakoulu.fi/), who have their own brewery. If you're going in summer the river shores will be packed with all sorts of places worth checking out :)
Hello!
We're going to go to Lappeenranta this summer. What places would you recommend to visit there?
Some details:
We'll go by car. Most likely, just for one day (NOT any weekend).
"We" = me, my husband and his mother. I'm the only English-speaking person in the family. None of us had ever been in Finland before.
We're interested in sightseeing, not in shopping.
Hello!
We're going to go to Lappeenranta this summer. What places would you recommend to visit there?
Some details:
We'll go by car. Most likely, just for one day (NOT any weekend).
"We" = me, my husband and his mother. I'm the only English-speaking person in the family. None of us had ever been in Finland before.
We're interested in sightseeing, not in shopping.
! When will you be there? Just reserved a cottage west of Lappeenranta, and will be driving through it every day to Joutseno from July 18-24.Hello! We have finally got our visas and solved other issues, thus I know the dates.
Aaaah I totally forgot that this existed. Of course I could have put every little story of my trip in here *facepalms* thanks for Auleliel to kinldy remind me about it. Maybe some of the festival picks next week will go in here =)
I even could remove them myself o_O *pondersondoingthat*
That's right, I forgot! :P The power lies within you too, Kjeks!
Finally, is the duty-free shop the best place to buy Lakka (cloudberry liqueur)? (That's for taking home, hoarding, and only doling out on special occasions.) ;D
I am about an hour north of LA. I haven't read the Minnions meetup forum yet, but I can say that SF is a bit too far for me to drive (at least on a short notice)! Glad to know there are some other fans out here around me though :)
HOLD THE PHONE
Other Californians?! Why am I only hearing about this now? I missed out on San Fran meetup?!
NooooOoooOoooOoooOOooo
I live in the OC, you're like a 2 hour drive away, tops!
>snip!< So yeah, any travel advice and tips?
AH HA HA
Clearly you aren't familiar with Bay Area traffic, padawan. *Santa Cruz* (where RTR is spending the summer) is 2 hours from San Francisco. Orange County is at least 6 hours... 5 1/2 minimum depending on traffic and bathroom breaks.
Not that we wouldn't love to see you (and boy, would you fit into the costuming community here in the Bay Area). It's just a longer drive (and higher gasoline bills) than you might think.
Not specifically local, but mass German Volksmarches sounded like an open-air party I always wanted to try. :) Also, geocaching (geocaching.com (http://geocaching.com)) is a fun, free, & portable activity that can structure undesirably empty time. (Some empty time on vacation being highly desirable, of course! ;) )
I recommend also pasting your query into the Minnion Meetups! thread, and the current comments as well. Maybe the chatroom, too. Not everyone reads the forum.
Okay so now that a few people here have been/are from to Iceland , I have an embarrassing question... It looks lovely, but... I am not an outdoorsy person, you see. I have never hiked in my life and camping terrifies me. So... is it worth going, knowing all that?
And yes I know there's Reykjavik but it seems silly to go to Iceland and only stay in one city :P
Are there any Finnish beers similar to the dark, low-hopped, "bread-in-a-glass" Czech varieties? (That's for preference.) :) Also, what are the popular Finnish beers? (That's for experience.) 8)
Finally, is the duty-free shop the best place to buy Lakka (cloudberry liqueur)? (That's for taking home, hoarding, and only doling out on special occasions.) ;D
Okay so now that a few people here have been/are from to Iceland , I have an embarrassing question... It looks lovely, but... I am not an outdoorsy person, you see. I have never hiked in my life and camping terrifies me. So... is it worth going, knowing all that?
And yes I know there's Reykjavik but it seems silly to go to Iceland and only stay in one city :P
...I'm heading to LAS VEGAS tomorrow morning...
Also go visit Laufey because she knows where the yummy ice cream place is and also this really cute cafe with good tea.You had me at "ice cream", but I cannot resist the words "cute cafe", regardless of where this happens to be located.
There's plenty more to see and to do, don't worry! Besides some parts of the nature are within reach, no hiking needed; everything in Golden Circle (Gullfoss, Geysir, Þingvellir), waterfalls in the south and the glacier lagoon, Snæfellsnes and so forth. In many places you can also decide yourself how much sporty stuff you're willing to do - you can see Skógafoss without climbing on top of it (there's an amazing view from up there though) to name one example.Ah, that's good that there's still stuff to do that isn't "lets spend a week in the frozen wastescapes of Iceland, because nature" :) I do enjoy festivals...
Reykjavík has plenty to offer, especially in the summer when all the summer festivals are on. Music, art, Medieval stuff, museums, swimming halls (they're somewhat unusual here) and so forth, and if you rent a car and drive around the Ring Road 1 I'd also recommend visiting Borgarnes, Stykkishólmur, Akureyri and the Mývatn area, and in the south Hafnarfjörður, Selfoss, Hveragerði and Vík. Plus if you ever get a chance at spending time on an Icelandic summer cottage grab it immediately!
Soooo, I just wanted to dispense a tip to anyone traveling to North America and planning to do outdoor activities: watch out for poison ivy. >snip!<
Ah, that's good that there's still stuff to do that isn't "lets spend a week in the frozen wastescapes of Iceland, because nature" :) I do enjoy festivals...
Soooo, I just wanted to dispense a tip to anyone traveling to North America and planning to do outdoor activities: watch out for poison ivy. Apparently it doesn't grow in Europe (you lucky ducks) so I thought it might be worth mentioning. Poison ivy rashes stink, and they're a great way to ruin a vacation. Ok, I'll go away now. Sorry if that was totally obvious and didn't need saying.
I wish someone had warned me before our trip to England that stinging nettles burn like bloody hell just from brushing against the plant, and can scare the blue blazes out of a neophyte before it fades in about 10 minutes. Most embarrassing! :-[OK YES these are important. I don't know much about poison ivy, but Westernpoison oak (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicodendron_diversilobum) (which is in the same genus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicodendron))has dark-green, irregular leaves that turn bright red in fall and come in clumps of three. It's a small shrub/ground-cover kinda thing and usually grows under trees off the beaten path. You only get this species of poison oak on the west coast of North America, but other species are found all over the continent. There're cream thingies that you can buy to make the rash go away, and you should also wash any clothing/skin that touches it with soap to get the irritant off.
Hello all!
First off, sorry if reviving this thread is awkward... it seemed like the preferable option to starting a new redundant topic.
So! This coming May I am planning my first solo international trip... to ICELAND!!!! (I'm pretty stoked if you can't tell.) I have travelled alone within the US before, and I've also traveled a fair bit outside the country, but this is the first time I'm doing both and I figured it would behoove me to seek guidance from my sage elders (that's you guys. ;) )
One of the things I'm having trouble with is figuring out an appropriate scale for the trip. I'm going to be there for about nine days, not including the days I fly in and fly out. How much of the island is it feasible, and rewarding, for me to try see in that time? Is it worth it to take a bus or fly to the eastern region for a few days, or should I concentrate my focus in the area around Reykjavik so I don't lose too much of my time transporting around various places?
Speaking of transportation, any opinions on renting a car versus bus transportation? From my research, it seems like the bus system is pretty comprehensive, and I prefer the idea of getting to meet and chat with other people on the bus to driving around by myself the whole time.
Third, any recommendations for things I simply must do while I'm there? In particular, does anyone know of any ways I could get in touch with other hiking groups? I'm excited to get out and explore some of Iceland's natural beauty, but I would feel more comfortable joining up with another group of people than heading out alone in some places. However, I'm also really interested in exploring Iceland's cities and culture, so if you have any non-nature favorite destinations, I'm all ears!
And, of course, if there are any Minnions interested in meeting up I would be delighted to do so!
Thank you if you got to the end of this wordsplurge, and a double thanks if you found the patience in your heart to reply. I love you all!
https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=431.msg55346#msg55346
My friend's daughter just got back from a week in Iceland through a school trip. If you like, I can ask her about the issues of packing to visit an Arctic land when you live in temperate California. (She said the weather was the one thing she didn't like -- everything else was awesome.)
A friend of mine recently visited Iceland! They said that be sure to bring enough money - apparently it was more expensive than they had anticipated. They also recommend going to the hot springs, I think they're called? I'm not sure on what the transport or hiking there is like though, I'm sorry!!
And to hijack the thread (sorry!!) - I'm looking at visiting Sweden this summer. I'll probably be in Stockholm but was wondering if anyone had any advice on where to go/what to see? I've spotted the natural history museum so I'll obviously be spending at least a day there (I love me my natural history) but not sure what else. I'm not really that interested in art galleries.
And transportation and travel advice is also good! Are there any systems in place like there are in Amsterdam with GVB and the trams?
Any hope of a side trip to Mora, Sweden? (Capital of Post-Rash Scandinavia (http://sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=121)...)I do want to go...
I do want to go...Dare ya! (https://www.google.de/maps/@61.0031219,14.5365966,3a,15y,278.47h,83.83t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s57nrYvLX3s3UNpcdTqXqjA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1) >:D
I'll bring back little wooden horsies for everyone.
And to hijack the thread (sorry!!) - I'm looking at visiting Sweden this summer. I'll probably be in Stockholm but was wondering if anyone had any advice on where to go/what to see?My brightest memories from Stockholm are the Vasa museum
Uppsala had some amazing gardens and parks. The Linnaean Garden, near the University, is well worth a visit.Exactly!
Found out I'm going to Peru and the Galapagos Islands instead of South Africa, if anyone has any suggestions or advice about those locations, I am interested!
Hi everyone! I just found out I'm going to Norway in july, and I think this is the perfect place to ask, so, which places do you recommend visiting? For now we only have the plane tickets to Oslo (and ten days to explore!). Any advice about anything will be so welcome. Thank you!
I imagine a lot of us would love photos from the fjords around Dalsnes (http://sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=199)...To quote a warning straight off Dalsnes' wiki page (http://sssscomic.wikia.com/wiki/Dalsnes):
Anyway, the SSSS Dalsnes is nowhere near the real world Norwegian Dalsnes (which is 40 km East of Trondheim, much farther North). According to comments posted by the author (http://www.sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=70#comment-1277383446), the SSSS Dalsnes is entirely fictional.
Hi everyone! I just found out I'm going to Norway in july, and I think this is the perfect place to ask, so, which places do you recomend visiting? For now we only have the plane tickets to Oslo (and ten days to explore!). Any advice about anything will be so welcome. Thank you!
There's hundreds of places to be recommended, literally. It all depends on your interests, budget, mobility and physical shape. In my opinion you should get out of Oslo pretty early.
Uhm, yeah, I know I should be more specific. We were thinking (maybe) about traveling to Bergen by train, and then rent a car there. Also we can hike, but not a lot (I think over 20km a day would be too much for us), and I can't imagine us camping. Personaly, I'm more into medieval stuff, but I think the general idea of the trip will be to visit natural attractions. :3
I'm sory I can't express myself correctly, I'm tired and kind of stressed out. O_o
I'd stop over on the way to Bergen at Finse station (aka. planet Hoth from Star Wars) and maybe take a walk on the outskirt of the Hardanger highlands. I'd definitely consider renting bikes and going down Rallarvegen (http://www.furusethfoto.com/images/syklister-30-7-08.jpg)to Flåm (https://www.visitflam.com/globalassets/sognefjorden-cruise/flam-0910-1286.jpg). From there I'd take the Flåm (https://www.visitflam.com/globalassets/flamsbana/flamsbana-morten-rakke.jpg)rail back towards Finse or Bergen. There's usually a viking market/festival in Gudvangen, just 20 minutes from Flåm, in July. I believe there are regular buses from Flåm to that place. They're making a kind of viking village there nowadays. There's also a reconstructed stave church in Bergen.
It's a few hours away from Bergen, but Trolltunga (https://res.cloudinary.com/simpleview/image/fetch/c_limit,f_jpg,q_64,w_800/https://media.newmindmedia.com/TellUs/image/%3Ffile%3DF10F507C47CCE2C04A03D90D4D8B74675B4E4D5D.jpg%26dh%3D533%26dw%3D800&.jpg)is a popular hike and it's also fairly close to Jostedalsbreen glacier with skiing or hiking opportunities all year long. It's in the Hardanger (https://res.cloudinary.com/simpleview/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,h_575,q_64,w_1200/v1/clients/norway/hardangerfjord-hardanger-norway-2-1_59d8215d-6715-4c48-ae08-a669931ae760.jpg)fjords just east of Bergen, known for fruit and coastal villages - apparently it's where Aksel and Sigrun Eide live and where Sigrun comes from. Tourists (Germans and Brits) seem to like to fish there.
I'd also consider heading south for a bit to Rogaland county with Stavanger (https://www.sailonboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/stavanger-port.jpg)city, Hafrsfjord (http://www.turer.no/image/sverd_stavanger_H.gif)battlefield prekestolen (https://www.google.no/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjFpKT19OfTAhWJjSwKHVrvBJ4QjBwIBA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.trvl-media.com%2Fmedia%2Fcontent%2Fshared%2Fimages%2Ftravelguides%2Fdestination%2F6056649%2FStavanger-155123.jpg&psig=AFQjCNFkRrg-eiQPzoD63EGy5e8i_MEd4w&ust=1494594523071443) and the Jæren (https://www.google.no/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjFpKT19OfTAhWJjSwKHVrvBJ4QjBwIBA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.trvl-media.com%2Fmedia%2Fcontent%2Fshared%2Fimages%2Ftravelguides%2Fdestination%2F6056649%2FStavanger-155123.jpg&psig=AFQjCNFkRrg-eiQPzoD63EGy5e8i_MEd4w&ust=1494594523071443)cultural landscape.
North of Bergen you find the Sognefjord, which is the largest fjord of them all. It's very popular, but I haven't been there much so refer to the official guide (http://en.sognefjord.no/) for that one.
"Original taste" Coca-Cola? Made with cane sugar not corn syrup?I suspect that the "original" refers to the state of affairs preceding the pick-a-random-"great new taste"-between-1985 (https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-lore-new-coke)-and-the-near-future (http://fijisun.com.fj/2018/04/21/fiji-among-the-first-in-the-world-to-taste-the-new-coke-no-sugar/). ;)
To big apple and back
Basically experiences could be divided to three things, the good, the bad and the what. I'm not going to sights, becaus everyone can just google those if they like, more on these daily occurences.
Good things were surprisingly clean city, despite of the size, and general feeling of safety, we did not encounter aggressive or threatening behaviour at all. Naturally there was quite bit to see and not all could be visited at once. People in general were nicely indifferent, nobody was pushy on sales, and street service vendors (like bike rentals, hop-hop busses etc) took polite "No thanks." with grace. Also, to foreingner inequality seemed to be rather nonexistent to casual observation, everyone being part of same society. Subway was surprisingly good (=excellent) way to move about, especially to one who's not used to public transportation actually to be reasonably working option. Also ease of finding clothes of appropiate size.
Bad things were excessive (unseasonal they said) hot spell on weather, rush hours in trafic and at sights where standing in line was norm and when weather took turned to hot, appearance of homeless. Very little these, comparad to expectation built on education at eighties, based on information from seventies.
There were quite few of these "What?" experiences. Tips? Like... every time? On this narrow range of 15 to 20%? Ok... and a pro tip from guide, double the tax to be in ballpark. Also size of food protions delivered. Triple size we're used to. Everyone was with this "Sir" ... like in every other sentence or so. Polite but wierd. Subway show bits... breakdance and italian opera, just like that, on moving train. Chronic (unnatural) smile on TV news achors... just wierd, not in good way. A lady asking me about nearest organic veggie restaurant on subway station ... like I would know "Sorry, I'm not a local." Paying with credit card... like it's been decade since I last signed card payment manually, or any other method than pin. Or if there was complication just an casual "try an other" ... like who has more than one credit card? Everyone in US it seems.
Well... that was New York City from point of wied of one finnish person. All in all, it was nice place, not an overbearing or pushy.
-C
We only got chip-and-pin in the US a couple of years ago. (Interestingly, when I travel in Europe I need to sign for my US card; it won't accept the PIN)
As far as "foreigner inequality" -- NYC is a very international city. We get everyone coming from all over the world all the time, so we don't really have a "you're from <X> so you're not as good" thing here.
Chip card is nice, and I've recently warmed to NFC payment, nice for small transactions and doesn't require PIN (all the time). I was bit surprised as our guide told, that bills are paid by posting cheques in snailmail... where as nowdays here getting paper bill in post cost extra and everything is expected to done in net bank (e-mail bills are dropping off from the use).
Yes, it was comfortable, the internationalness. Still bit 'acclimation' was needed.
-C